Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Comments
To be clear, the following is my stance:
1. I advocate for solo game play as well as group game play.
2. I believe better rewards should be given to group game play.
3. The examples I gave in my previous post, were only to provide some examples of reasons that some people play solo. Those people should not be given the same rewards as those that achieve group effort.
Hope that clears it up.
She is a casual player which means she wants to have plenty to do, not necessarily "complete most of the content". Complete most of the content is a goal for hardcore Achievers.
The content we will be primarily completing in this game is building and defending our Metropolis. We don't have to be in a group to do that.
There should be plenty of solo content to keep Welphryn's mother occupied.
Especially since in Ashes, it's not possible for players to complete most of the content - the content is not static. Those who weren't around when the metropolis was a village probably won't get the chance to help build that village into a metropolis.
There should also be plenty of party and raid content for those who love hardcore challenges.
Having a legendary dungeon designed for solo players in no way detracts from there being a legendary raid dungeon. As long as it's not possible to solo the raid dungeon.
For me, the question remains - what should the legendary solo reward be?
I don't know that it has to be a weapon or gear.
I'm thinking it could be non-combat fashion wear. Or it could be a cute pet version of the boss. Or it could be a trophy. Or maybe a painting of the deceased boss to hang on the wall in a freehold. Maybe it's a skin for a freehold.
I am a casual player, so I prefer fashion over function. I want to wear something that makes me look unique and that will spark in-character conversations - I don't really care about uber gear.
So, it seems to me that the rewards for defeating an instanced legendary solo dungeon don't have to be anything like the rewards for defeating an instanced raid dungeon.
The rewards can be designed to appeal to casual players rather than hardcore players since the challenge of the instanced legendary solo dungeon will be more casual compared to a raid dungeon.
Questing
crafting
breeding
gathering
also non combat event around the nodes were you have to find out why there is like a eternal winter geuss you can class it as solo.
Now there was nothing said about how good crafting gear will be but gear for dungeon and raids should stay on the group side of things no solo at the end off the day its a MMORPG not a RPG.
In this modern age, many of us who live in major metropolitan areas tend to work frequently/irregularly & can have unpredictable schedules. I've been a gamer most of my life, so it's not something I believe I will ever give up. However, time constraints can often limit my play time to 30-60 min sessions. Executing group content in such a brief time-frame can be nearly impossible. I tend to believe that multiplayer activity should be prevalent & encouraged, but not forced in order to progress.
That being said, I still enjoy being a part of the community and doing group content! I will more than likely join a casual guild who can tolerate my irregular play schedule.
I gotta agree with @Mandras on this one. I agree wholeheartedly with being a part of a guild (else why would I lead one?) but I also agree that at times IRL gets in the way of making time for a group event that can take hours out of a schedule. As we get older, sadly, and pick up responsibilities, and work shifts that don't always meet a strict schedule of when most people can do group activities; and as our interests wane from being the "best" and having our names on leaderboards, but rather wax toward seeing and experiencing all the content out there ... then solo play becomes a panacea, a way of relaxing from a crazy long day of dealing with lots of folk.
From what I've seen, IS is set on a course of allowing both types of play, of encouraging growth of a community, not just groups of power-leveling players. And that community can also be enhanced by the lone wolves who go off to explore, then bring back tales and wonderful goods from far places.
I don't see many solo players soloing raids and heroic dungeons.
And, yes, it's probably a problem for Killer/Achievers that they tend not to group unless they are forced to group.
So, once more soloable content is made, Killer/Achievers will race through the soloable content solo.
But, that's not really an issue in Ashes.
In Ashes... we can't build a Metropolis alone. We also can't defend a metropolis alone.
And even soloers are sending xp to the nodes.
Gear repairs will primarily be coming from players rather than NPCs.
So, we will have more motivations to continue interacting with each other regularly - even if we aren't necessarily in a formal group.
We can't solo a Spider Demon - let alone a Dragon.
I don't see the difference between a dungeon being 1x hard for solo players and 4x hard for a group of 4.
Both require the exact same amount of effort on each players part.
You may require 8 people to clear an 8 man dungeon....but none of those players can give anymore than 100% from an individual point of view.
Thus for me all arguments about group size vs difficulty are a strawman.
And besides, as already stated. This game is not about 1 person vs X person. As these are just tiny groups compared to the node population. Both of them are irrelevant and pale into insignificance when compared to the 'node group' which includes lots of 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/-40 man groups. All working as one unit in their own way.
Its like the argument over who has mat rights. When mats wont be a single player pick up. They will require a whole group to harvest and work together, even requiring the use of extractors.
Many quests may even require the use of varying group size and make up to be successful anyway. You don't send a 40 man raid into a narrow underground tunnel to sneak through the back door
1 That full 40 man raid will be fully armoured and make a racket.
2 That 40 man raid is not exactly inconspicuous and able to jump out the way and hide.
I like the idea of solo play in that some times I will go in game at odd hours when most are sleeping or working just because I can. Not everyone plays at prime time. It's nice time to be able to explore, gather or craft. It's going to be dangerous roaming the lands due to PVP. I am hoping quests and dungeons have a good punch to them. I do like to group and I used to love healing in PVP as well as PVE but I also like my solo time to chill out.
Many dungeons and quests in recent games have been dumbed down as so many players reached max level and they try to entice new players to jump in and reach higher levels fast. When starting out most times you had to be higher level before you could do the dungeons. Then you have the games where they listen to the loudest complainers crying things are too hard. Hopefully Intrepid steers clear of that dilemma.
You'd start of the chain at a lower level and you'd find out more about your class, test your class-specific abilities and complete quests that were more oriented to your class.
As a Paladin I had a path called The Test of Righteousness and it involved me vanquishing tainted foes and travelling to the far corners of the world to obtain the resources in order to have my light-imbued mace created for me.
As a Warrior I was pitted against countless foes and was eventually told to test my mettle against a giant elemental on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere in order to be granted my Whirlwind Axe.
Having class-specific quests in my eyes adds a lot of flavour and gives an opportunity for the developers to give us a bit more story and lore behind our classes and how they came to exist.
I can't see that happening. Though solo players should not be penalized either. Group objectives/challenges are made to be harder to do and always in my experience given due rewards.
" Hack-&-Slash ~ where is my reward ? then repeat "
There are other kinda of Missions that a rare-few MMOs implement - sometimes you'll have to search for something, other times,you have to create something, you might have a Stealthy Mission, excavation missions - an many others
( without being Spoon-fed & without Online Guides )
but its all dependent on how its executed - and they can do this because they have the experience in other MMO Projects.
The Modern MMOs are deceiving you in what an MMO truely is - and thats what recent MMOs have been doing ... just half-a$$ing it with a bunch of Micro-transactions.
And thats not how it is. I recall reading a discussion ... where it talks about how a guy met HIS WIFE while playing an MMO ... and i wouldn't be surprised if Newer MMOs could create an Atmosphere like that - but this MMO plans to re-introduced that kind of Atmoshpere & so much more.
(i.e. Going back to its Roots, from its Pioneer-MMOs)
This is going to be a new Experience for the Newer Generation who hasn't played something like that before - but it'll be a breath of Fresh Air
( I'm hoping they do implement a " Randomizer-Coding " for certain Quests / Crafting Materials to prevent Online Guides ... and to prevent (possible) repetitive-ness )
i'm inclined to disagree.
I've seen what happens when the Community wants to ... "Speed-Up" everything. And that resulted in most Player's Subscription ending too soon due to that "same Speed-Boost" - finishing Content and End-game too quickly
And this results in changing their Payment Model.
Players shouldn't focused on:
"Dude i can't wait to get the next level to play with you guys"
They should, instead, be focused on just relaxing and enjoying their experience. In other words, content shouldn't be closed off to them just solely because of Level.
I'd hope Devs implement missions, in which, Low-Levels & High-Levels can still Intermingle with one another. (a PvE View)
Besides, The Devs said that a Player's Level Vs. Player's Skill will be a thing - 2 different things that will affect the victor.
In short, Bustling & Sporadic Activities actively happening around the Player(s) by other Players, Missions that don't have a set area for certain Levels ... but instead Overlay onto a other areas. Because most MMOs i see ... once you've reached a Certain Level* ... you never have a reason to re-visit other areas. And i find that shocking. And the only time when you do, is if its a repeatable mission.
What if Zone D needs you to Travel back to Zone B ? What if the Travel back will be different than last time ? What if you take a Different Route Back due a Corrupted Player being near that area ? or Maybe the Season Changed and that same Path is blocked-off ? what if this new road have other new discoveries ? what if you come across a place for Fishing ? or Maybe A resting area made for travelers ? All the while ... You won't see the same Crowd of Players you seen at Starting Zone - you'll instead see other Players moving-about - doing their own-thing or mission lead them their. And not every player could come across the same* mission you did too.
All-in-all ... they'll be so much going on around you that you might even forget what mission you were doing that lead you there in the 1st Place.
And I hardly ever see that on recent MMOs - and these Sole-ing aspects ruins any potential of an experience like that.
I have no clue what you think you were disagreeing with.
Soloing does not equal speeding anything up.
Take your time enjoying what you're doing as long as there is enjoyable stuff do - rather than tedious time sinks.
We agree.
you stated:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Which is, indeed, what most MMORPGs have done for the past 15 years.
We don;t need to return to the old days, we just need a revolutionary game design...
Like EQNext and Ashes."
"Ashes will have fast travel."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is was what i'm referring to.
But if you agree, then nvm.
But i still think it was needed to be said for others to see
Ashes has fast travel in the Scientific Metropolis.
It's local. But it exists. That's just a fact.
Olden days includes stuff like invisible walls creating unnecessary mazes and load screens and static, pre-existing starting cities which you out-level in a matter of hours or days.
Where we do disagree is that I argue that fast travel isn't the problem plaguing MMORPGs. There are all kinds of other problems - like people getting tired of those invisible wall mazes and being sent on a mission to kill 5 Skeletal Survivors only to discover that you have to kill 30 Skeletal Lurkers in order to get one Skeletal Survivor to appear.
We don't need that any of that.
We need better solutions than that to have everyone enjoying their time without racing to max level. And Ashes is providing better solutions.
At one time I would have been insulted to be so a solo player who is so horridly misunderstood and dismissed. Now as I read through the amazing comments here... Seriously, I love some of you, how fantastic it is to be part of a community where so many understand that MMO's are a many-splendored thing.
)
I do feel that some mobs really can only be defeated by a group of people working together. Some timing of switches and gears in dungeons can only be completed by a group. If you are a solo player you know that. Being a solo player doesn't mean you can't play with others. It just means you strongly prefer not to.
Will I join the guild in taking out the 'big bad'? Eww, if I have to but I find large groups clunky and slow to deal with. Do I want to go to dungeon 'B' at time slot "A' with group mix 'X' to get prize 'beta z'? No, please no. I really don't. (please note, I realize that this is not the way many of you experience this.
I have more fun throwing myself at impossible odds and sometimes succeeding alone. I like to be able to take totally random breaks and answer to no one but the dog sleeping at my feet.
I also don't think I am a 'casual' player who solos because it is easy. I have been playing since UO. Averaging 12 or more hours a day. I tend to one of the richest, one of the faster at harvesting and a well known crafter. I am social, I am an active part of the guild I belong to. I have led guilds of over 500 players and tiny guilds of 30. The days of being a leader are past for me. I still pay my dues and then some, I help equip, harvest build. I guard when needed I teach what I can. I chat in text, not in voice, I am forever online and in game.
I also am not the one to take on a raid, I like to hunt by myself. I find it peaceful. No one telling you what to do, where to stand, when to text. Yes, a group may be able to take out that Troll guarding the bridge faster then I can. It doesn't mean I get any less satisfaction then they do when I take it out.
Do you love to group, do you always play with friends? Arms linked, shields guarding each other, do you roar with delight when the dragon falls lifeless at your feet, when the city falls because you worked together, fought together?
That is also awesome, I am so happy you have found what you love to do.
Having a solo challenge has never been the focus of an MMO that's more of an RPG game thing. MMO challenges come from working together as a team to overcome overwhelming odds and great evil. This builds friendships and creates memories that will last you a lifetime and I want this to be restored into the MMO genre after having it watered down over the past 10 years.
The less we do together the less we socialise and this hurts the community and the game overall. Yes, solo content is needed to some extent but not at the cost of watering down the overall MMO experience.