@halpot I think that any MMORPG should have gameplay for solo players and group of players. For example if game is based on questing (do quest to lv up) it should have quests that are easy (for solo players), and hard (for groups).
i'll say what i've said before, I personally think WoW did it best. Theres group play and solo play, but you won't get nearly as good quality gear just by soloing. I would never play a game that forced me to group 24/7, on the other hand i'd never play an mmo that was just solo play. Of course i'm a casual player (i guess? 2 hours a day) sometimes I don't have an hour to wait to join a group i'll probably leave 40 mins into it.
never played WOW before but agree on your comment. just solo or just group both gets boring soon.
Im gonna have to dig up City of Heroes here. The game never made you feel like you were missing out if you chose to login to solo for a bit, but made you feel that much more powerful on the right team.
Im gonna have to dig up City of Heroes here. The game never made you feel like you were missing out if you chose to login to solo for a bit, but made you feel that much more powerful on the right team.
Yep, funny how some of those classic games got things right. Simple, yet right.
Originally posted by toddze this isnt my fight but i am going to put in my 2 cents here. I want you to name AAA games post wow thats made a game for groupers. Now name games post wow that was made for solo'ers.
AAA games post WoW that have zero solo content: DDO. They soon changed that.
Everquest 2 had forced teaming but after the mass exodus of players, they quickly changed their draconian tune on both forced teaming and crippling death penalty system.
Originally posted by toddze this isnt my fight but i am going to put in my 2 cents here. I want you to name AAA games post wow thats made a game for groupers. Now name games post wow that was made for solo'ers.
AAA games post WoW that have zero solo content: DDO. They soon changed that.
Everquest 2 had forced teaming but after the mass exodus of players, they quickly changed their draconian tune on both forced teaming and crippling death penalty system.
It wasn't [literal] forced grouping, it's just that MOBs were often balanced for group play (i.e. too hard for players to solo at level). The Shared Death Penalty did cause a huge uproar and never should have been in the game to begin with.
EQ2 had more problems than that, though. Don't think many people could elven run the game back in 2005. The engine makes even modern PCs cry.
I think one of the key handicaps to grouping is forced synchronous vs asynchronous game play (you have to be online the same time as your group).
If your friend can buf you in the morning (during work week), so when you login, you would then be ready to take on the content. This might widen the game play options available in the mmo.
I suspect its not practical for many of us that have busy lives (most people after college) to play with the same folks at same exact time consistently enough to challenge the same content.
I think one of the key handicaps to grouping is forced synchronous vs asynchronous game play (you have to be online the same time as your group).
If your friend can buf you in the morning (during work week), so when you login, you would then be ready to take on the content. This might widen the game play options available in the mmo.
I suspect its not practical for many of us that have busy lives (most people after college) to play with the same folks at same exact time consistently enough to challenge the same content.
Yea the political economy is defo important. There is a diverse player base nowadays (I work too or I may live in a different time zone). The idea of the guild is also perhaps outdated - it comes from medieval times (?) where there are strong and hierarchical relationships. I often don't have the time or inclination to make such relationships. OTOH I enjoy loose, egalitarian or brief relationships in an MMO; I don't play an MMO to play a completely solo game and solo games often don't have the richness and feel of an MMO. So perhaps MMOs can offer a wider and more equal range of solo and group content (and don't necessarily have to reward top gear for the hardest content).
In general, MMO's need to cater to as many players as possible, that means having both solo and group content. Some do it better than others. I think most of them get it right overall - you can reach the level cap solo if you want to but you'll never experience all the content without grouping.
The most annoying thing I've ever seen is in GW2 where you can solo your characters entire storyline up to the very last quest and you feel involved to some extent. Then the final quest bombshell hits - it turns out to be a group dungeon in which your character suddenly comes pretty much redundant to the story.
lunawisp was my peacebringer in City of Heroes. She lives on, in memory, as my gaming id
You COULD solo, but it was slow, much less effective, more expensive and oftentimes painful, but if you really wanted to, you COULD solo and reach max level.
But grouping and having friends/willing to play with others speeded up questing considerably.
The most annoying thing I've ever seen is in GW2 where you can solo your characters entire storyline up to the very last quest and you feel involved to some extent. Then the final quest bombshell hits - it turns out to be a group dungeon in which your character suddenly comes pretty much redundant to the story.
What I found annoying with GW2 was the class epic weapons. You'll find yourself working on some epic weapon/shield/offhand item that your class usually doesn't use.
This is why I believe sims will be making a big impact on gaming. No more artificial mechanics that allow or dont allow you to do what ever you want. Just add the physics you want and let the players do the rest. Same with grouping and solo, there should be both, but obviously the richest rewards will the toughest and you're going to need help with that.
I prefer a 60% soloable 40% group content mix. As an older player with limited time, I want to be able to play AND accomplish something any time I log on, as well as find more in depth play with others when I have the time.
Massively Solo Offline Game. Really ruins the point of an mmo but I do understand some solo players that just enjoy leveling because I enjoy leveling by myself sometimes.
The acronym MMORPG use to mean Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.
But the acronym MMMORPG now currently means Microscopic Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Kappa.
I like the idea that all content is soloable in theory, but in practice, a solo level 80 is going to have to do content meant for grouping level 20s if they want to have a reasonable chance of success (unless, of course, the player in question is a pro e-sporter and/or has top tier gear).
Being someone whose Real World friends dont like MMORPGs, or even anything outside of FPS games i personally love games that have the ability to solo at the beginning at least, and can in theory be done totally solo (or atleast without knowing other peoples) though are better when played with others.
Theres nothing quite like meeting a bunch of awesome people in game, learning from one another, talking crap and batlling the beasts..
So yeh, then again id prefer it if my friends outside of gaming weren't all lame, but hey, cant have it all. (Just like the perfect MMORPG)
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Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
lol
Just give people the option to play/level up to 5 characters simultaneously, and have 5 character end game dungeons, and they're good to go.
EQ2 had more problems than that, though. Don't think many people could elven run the game back in 2005. The engine makes even modern PCs cry.
If your friend can buf you in the morning (during work week), so when you login, you would then be ready to take on the content. This might widen the game play options available in the mmo.
I suspect its not practical for many of us that have busy lives (most people after college) to play with the same folks at same exact time consistently enough to challenge the same content.
Werewolf Online(R) - Lead Developer
The most annoying thing I've ever seen is in GW2 where you can solo your characters entire storyline up to the very last quest and you feel involved to some extent. Then the final quest bombshell hits - it turns out to be a group dungeon in which your character suddenly comes pretty much redundant to the story.
You COULD solo, but it was slow, much less effective, more expensive and oftentimes painful, but if you really wanted to, you COULD solo and reach max level.
But grouping and having friends/willing to play with others speeded up questing considerably.
No more artificial mechanics that allow or dont allow you to do what ever you want.
Just add the physics you want and let the players do the rest.
Same with grouping and solo, there should be both, but obviously the richest rewards will the toughest and you're going to need help with that.
But the acronym MMMORPG now currently means Microscopic Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Kappa.
Theres nothing quite like meeting a bunch of awesome people in game, learning from one another, talking crap and batlling the beasts..
So yeh, then again id prefer it if my friends outside of gaming weren't all lame, but hey, cant have it all. (Just like the perfect MMORPG)