The first MMORPG I played for any length of time was Runes of Magic. I really didn't feel like grouping at all. But at the end of the first zone, there was a lair/dungeon that was basically impossible to beat on my own. So I bit the bullet and found a group. After that, I was fine with grouping. And it wasn't difficult to find a group without a built-in group finder. Of course, this was back in 2008.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that probably more people will group if the game forces them to group in order to complete certain quests.
EDIT: Well, it's not actually forcing them to group, it's just encouraging to group.
Post edited by Ancient_Exile on
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Yes they should. There should be no forced group content at all. Make it like UO was back in the day. I was more social in that game than anything else since.
This doesn't work with themepark games though. It makes it almost pointless for it to even be an MMO. Works best in virtual world games.
The whole point of an MMO is that you play with others. Dungeons and Raiding should not be designed with soloing them in mind.
Being able to solo current content just makes you a god-like player. It shouldn't be something that the game 'just allows you to do'. It's something only a small % of whichever games' player-base should be able to achieve.
HOWEVER... I HATE it when bosses CANNOT be soloed due to specific mechanics. Such as a boss phasing you into another part of the fight (requiring more than 1 person) and despawning because there's only yourself in the group.
Or being cast in stone and requiring another person to break you out, things which make soloing purposefully impossible, no matter how much skill that player has.
Because most MMORPGs are designed using single player mechanics, and those mechanics drive people apart. The mechanics segregate players, so regardless of how many people happen to be online or on your server, only a very narrow slice of the population will ever be available to play with. Over time, your population will end up at endgame, so any group content during the leveling process becomes a big barrier.
So, instead of trying to fix the underlying problem with the mechanics, devs took the easy route: make everything soloable until you hit endgame where there is a large enough population to form groups with.
It sucks.
So, in answer to the question, no, MMOs should not be mostly soloable because that defeats the entire point of the genre. Massively multiplayer.... we're supposed to be playing with other people, you know, the multiplayer part. It's the only unique selling point of the genre, yet it is almost entirely ignored.
However, until devs start designing their mechanics with massively multiplayer in mind, it would be pointless trying to put more group content in. They would just end up repeating the same mistakes of the past.
Finally, whilst I do want a revolution in mechanics and much more group content, I also feel that there should always be some sort of solo content available. Regardless of the design, each of us will have valid reasons why we don't want to group at that particular time.
Maybe we're a bit burned out. Maybe we want to play on our own timescales. Maybe it's 4am and the server is dead.
So, solo activities should be there for when we hit whatever issue it is we have with grouping at that particular time. If the solo activities aren't there, or aren't worthwhile, then we'll just log off. But, solo should never be the focus, just an additional option.
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When I was playing EQ it started where I had to group every day and could only solo on my druid where it was extremely slow (and lonely)......Then people started to complain about having to wait for groups and by the time I left in 2005 I was able to solo any class other than cleric all the way to max level. If yo uwant to blame anyone, blame the players. They were the ones that whined and complained.
Sometimes you can't find a group. And sometimes you can't make the necessary time commitment to a group, and don't want to let people down. So there needs to be a way where there is still something worthwhile to do, and you don't just have to log off when that happens.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Sometimes you can't find a group. And sometimes you can't make the necessary time commitment to a group, and don't want to let people down. So there needs to be a way where there is still something worthwhile to do, and you don't just have to log off when that happens.
I think a player should be able to solo but I think group content should be the "better" way to advance.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I could see an mmo designed to be "soloable", actually meaning that it just possible to do so with "intimate understanding of mechanics, perfect play, exta attunement requirements, and expending more resources in consumables/repairs than value you would get out of the fight". (Essentially a hardcore/pain mode)
Though going in with a friend/guildy or three would mean that the people you're going in with cover the other attunement requirements (rather than yourself covering all of them). That since there are more class resources (health/mana/abilities/whatever) available you might not even need to use a single consumable.
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
"At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."
Sometimes you can't find a group. And sometimes you can't make the necessary time commitment to a group, and don't want to let people down. So there needs to be a way where there is still something worthwhile to do, and you don't just have to log off when that happens.
I think a player should be able to solo but I think group content should be the "better" way to advance.
I agree, and it's a fine line.
The hard part is building a system that feels rewarding throughout, even more rewarding when played with a good group, but somehow manages to stay rewarding once the game and playerbase matures into having a bunch of max level characters.
WoW classic is suffering from some pains right now due to this. The servers are so filled with max level characters that a significant portion of characters under level 60 are merely alts of players with level 60s. These players are buying "boosts" through dungeons from other players to expedite the leveling process, leaving actual new players kind of lonely when it comes to doing group content. That's a tough problem to solve, as a lot of things affect it, some the devs can directly control (player economy) and some the devs can't (population numbers).
IDK what the split should be. You obviously need solo content for grinding.
And MMO dictates robust multiplayer options.
I guess the answer is a question. Why can't it have oodles of both?
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This doesn't work with themepark games though. It makes it almost pointless for it to even be an MMO. Works best in virtual world games.
Being able to solo current content just makes you a god-like player. It shouldn't be something that the game 'just allows you to do'. It's something only a small % of whichever games' player-base should be able to achieve.
HOWEVER... I HATE it when bosses CANNOT be soloed due to specific mechanics. Such as a boss phasing you into another part of the fight (requiring more than 1 person) and despawning because there's only yourself in the group.
Or being cast in stone and requiring another person to break you out, things which make soloing purposefully impossible, no matter how much skill that player has.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Though going in with a friend/guildy or three would mean that the people you're going in with cover the other attunement requirements (rather than yourself covering all of them). That since there are more class resources (health/mana/abilities/whatever) available you might not even need to use a single consumable.
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
"At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."
The hard part is building a system that feels rewarding throughout, even more rewarding when played with a good group, but somehow manages to stay rewarding once the game and playerbase matures into having a bunch of max level characters.
WoW classic is suffering from some pains right now due to this. The servers are so filled with max level characters that a significant portion of characters under level 60 are merely alts of players with level 60s. These players are buying "boosts" through dungeons from other players to expedite the leveling process, leaving actual new players kind of lonely when it comes to doing group content. That's a tough problem to solve, as a lot of things affect it, some the devs can directly control (player economy) and some the devs can't (population numbers).
And MMO dictates robust multiplayer options.
I guess the answer is a question. Why can't it have oodles of both?