Let's say you encourage grouping and design content geared for parties for a typical MMO. After 3-6 months of service and the mass wave of players reach mid to end content comfortably, how are new players who are slowly trickling into the game supposed to get through the group-orientated content (assuming that the game has matured there are less new players)? A lot of MMOs face this problem and designers just start nerfing party mobs and zones so that new players can solo through. Otherwise, new players would end up quitting.
Originally posted by nilden It boggles my mind how something as fundamental as making sure you can always group to do content is something some MMOs screw up. MMORPGs should never force you to solo. They should never break up groups forcing people to do solo instances. How can any MMO screw up the simple basic design of playing to it's strengths by encouraging grouping?
Though I mostly solo, I would say there should ALWAYS be group content.
It boggles my mind when the few times I get people together to do something, we can't do anything because "you must be level 25 to enter this area" or some such thing.
There should always be multiple areas where players can get people together and because of their efforts be rewarded in a unique way.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I'm convinced that most of the people who don't understand where the OP is coming from have just never quested with others. That's okay. Most of us spend a lot of time in MMOs playing by ourselves. But let's say you happen to be running along with a friend or two, doing your thing, when all of a sudden the game tells you, "Sorry, you can't play together for the next few minutes because this is a solo instance." That's stupid game design. It's not about the difficulty of content or lack thereof; it's about the fact that you're playing a game whose, arguably, most attractive feature is that it involves other, real people and the game is telling you that you can't play with them.
Solo content is great. Group content is great. There's no reason an MMO shouldn't have content of varying difficulty for varying groups of players. But telling you to sit on the sidelines because your friend has to do some part of a quest by him/herself is just dumb. Hell, even SWTOR didn't make this mistake. I mean... SWTOR!
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Though I mostly solo, I would say there should ALWAYS be group content.
It boggles my mind when the few times I get people together to do something, we can't do anything because "you must be level 25 to enter this area" or some such thing.
There should always be multiple areas where players can get people together and because of their efforts be rewarded in a unique way.
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
I'm convinced that most of the people who don't understand where the OP is coming from have just never quested with others. That's okay. Most of us spend a lot of time in MMOs playing by ourselves. But let's say you happen to be running along with a friend or two, doing your thing, when all of a sudden the game tells you, "Sorry, you can't play together for the next few minutes because this is a solo instance." That's stupid game design. It's not about the difficulty of content or lack thereof; it's about the fact that you're playing a game whose, arguably, most attractive feature is that it involves other, real people and the game is telling you that you can't play with them.
Solo content is great. Group content is great. There's no reason an MMO shouldn't have content of varying difficulty for varying groups of players. But telling you to sit on the sidelines because your friend has to do some part of a quest by him/herself is just dumb. Hell, even SWTOR didn't make this mistake. I mean... SWTOR!