Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
The solo player should be able to prepare their character to the point where they can be accepted within that group-play content but not exceed the pure mathematical requirement where their characters can easily out-perform a group who's been completing the content regularly.
As an alternative form of solo content, I'd suggest "class mastery challenges". These could take place at varying levels of progression to test player skill and provide you with performance based rewards depending on how you did. Your tests would be measured using C, B, A, S, S+ ratings (or a #) per challenge to offer some re-playability.
Keep up the good work and stay away from crunch!
This may sound like I'm being Captain Obvious, but artisan classes should work the same way. Don't get me wrong, I like the romantic idea of having to have a group of people to get a certain material for a potion, or that ore used to make a powerful weapon, and maybe that can be the threshold for legendary items. After all, a legend is only as good as their companions. Still, players shouldn't feel like they have to ask for help with this personal progression, even if it helps the group dynamic.
I don't want another MMO that has turned into a solo game that you only group for weekly progressions (Popular games need not be named). I do want enough content available to me, so when I log in after working all day I can focus on small things before my friends and family get on to play together. Bottom line: Please don't force me to ask for help when it's something I should be able to take care of in my own time and not stop the group (i.e friends/family) from what they are doing.
I'm.an EQ1 vet, so basing soloability on that : ). If a game is soloable, people don't group, even if grouping is way better. People only group when they have no choice. I hate single player mmos. Please don't makes ashes yet another single player mmo : (.
I think that solo players should at least be able to complete the "core" of the game, e.g. hitting level-cap and reaching endgame, completing the main questlines, crafting, buying a house, etc. They can get decent equipment, make some money, live peacefully on their little corner of land...
But, like in human society, there is only so much you can accomplish alone. I feel that MMOs should reflect that, and encourage grouping up to really experience the game to the fullest, to clear the biggest, craziest bosses and quests, and get those hard-earned resources and powerful equipment only strong teamwork can provide.
You shouldn't stray too far from well-established systems: an easy and intuitive grouping and matchmaking system, difficulty and rewards scaling according to the group's size, and even downscaling your level to match the current zone you are in (so you don't one-shot everything and ruin the experience for you and other players, GW2 pulled this off beautifully).
A well-built and though-out system will naturally make players band together. And AoC looks like it already has the right structure: one can contribute to a node's development either solo or as a group, but actually experiencing and participating in the node's life, like politics, trading, diplomacy, waging wars with other nodes, clearing surrounding dungeons and raids, defeating huge bosses, etc... strongly encourages you - but never forces you - to socialize, group up and earn the big rewards. And hey, perhaps you'll make some of the best memories you have of MMOs along the way.
I think group style stuff is needed though, and the time zone issue could be handled if says there was a people filter (LFG filter) by time zones.
People shouldn't be soloing city raids, or city defenses, or some major bosses. Doesn't matted if your a lvl 200 whatever and have super mad skills, if your facing off 80 enemies, eventually that one lvl 2 lucky archer is going to get an arrow into your brain pan.
Generally I think the awards should be circumstance oriented, somethings yield better to solo, others to groups.
For example, Exploring (Cartography, resource discovery, etc... ) should yield more experience to the solo player then a group.
Where as major battles and bosses should yield more exp to the group then to someone solo the same activity.
And quests designed specifically for either of the styles depending on the nature of it.
Maybe a simple bit flag that goes with the total exp to award for an activity, such that if solo is true, then the solo person get 10% over the total reward, where as a group would not. Vis versa for it not being solo flagged then the group would get the 10% bonus. Something along those lines.
Whats the point? Why spend time and money playing a online Multiplayer game only to shun all the other players as best as possible?
There are a lot of single player RPG's out there that seem like they would be more to you liking.
In the end it is your $15 but I am curious as to why?
One thing that MMOs have that most single player RPGs don't have is continuous content updates. In single player games you finish the story and any minor side quests and you're done. In MMOs you always have something to work on and strive towards. In this thread I have been a huge proponent of incentivizeing group play over solo, but I am still largely a solo player, and I love playing solo in MMOs as much as I can, I just don't think the endgame progression path for solo play should be on par with group play.
I think if you want to build a community however you need to create an interdependence between players.
MMO's over recent years have mostly created dungeons to do this but that creates such a small time of group interaction that they become routine speed runs.
The balance I would like to see is some a fair amount of content out in world where it beneficial to have more than one player. I would like to see two grades, Co-op and group.
Co-op content should be at a difficultly level where a solo player at a high skill cap could eventually solo it but would be a regular difficulty challenge for any 2 players grouped up regardless of class. Think WoW's elite mob area's and elite quests or SWTOR's 2+ quests.
Group open world content should be doable with a half group at high skill cap but really should be aimed at a holy trinity full group.
If I don't have a clear advantage being in a group for the bulk of my time then I won't feel inclined to interact with the people around me then I get upset because I feel like I'm playing a single player game. This is despite being very aware of the hypocrisy in that.
My most memorable casual grouping content in the last few years was Warhammer online's public quests and how seamlessly it lead to random people working together regardless of what part of the event I arrived at.
Finally a couple of please don't dos.
Don't do what ESO did and create so many phases on a quest that it actively makes it hard to quest with friends.
While I fondly remember my time back in EQ1 and want that sense of community back. I am very aware of how extreme the need for a group was to experience any of its content. Don't feel the need to go that extreme.
What about when you try to get a random group? It becomes ultra cutthroat. Also, once again, the groups don't talk with each other. You can go from 1 to level cap without actually talking to or meeting a single person. That's what having soloability in an MMORPG does to a game : /.
I will say that way back when, in the old EQ1 days, I would sorta shout out the challenge I'd want to do, the zone I'd want to tackle, and see who'd be interested. Met a lot of cool people that way and we accomplished some pretty wild stuff. Was always fun ^_^.
The other argument is, "how do I progress when I don't find a group?" "what if I just want to solo for awhile?" Well, some MMORPGs had these REALLY rare items that you'd have to spend weeks to get. When people would be LFG, they'd be killing time by camping ultra rare spawns. These rare spawns couldn't be solo'd by players at the level of those spawns. A level 60 might camp a level 40 spawn. People also worked on tradeskills and gathering. Some people, while lfg, would just randomly help out other parties or chill in chat or work the markets. There should be solo content, it shouldn't just tie directly into progress/exp. For example, gathering materials can be totally soloable. Same with crafting = ). I don't think hunting should ever be soloable though.
By making all hunting group content, the game can REALLY focus hard on class interdependence and preparing to clear content. To give an example, in some of the zones I was in, some of the mobs had increased movement speed. They'd also run at low health. If they weren't instantly killed or their movement speed was slowed, they'd cause huge trains. For this reason, you'd need some sort of massive nuker to finish them off or a class that could slow them down. I can only imagine the things a modern MMORPG could try out and what interesting combinations of groups you could come up with.
As others have pointed out, some of us are ultra old school. We play MMORPGs for the MMO in the MMORPG. We don't play to silently solo amongst a mass of other silent soloers. We want that social experience, teamwork, class synergy, interdependence, and to solve content like solving a puzzle. Figure out how to counter the content, what classes you need, and do it. Think about some anime. A party might advertise for their next adventure that they need a fire wizard to do it. Heck, it shouldn't even be possible to just play with your friends for all content either as the group might not have all of the appropriate roles. This would really give an opportunity to invite randos to a party, not to just fill out the slots, but to fill out a particular role that the party is lacking. Pretty sweet, no? Promotes that social experience while also giving interesting and meaningful content = ).
Soloable content is always very limited. The content must be very bland as you can't mix in elements from different classes into that content. Not to mention that it kills the social scene. Now when people can't group with their friends, they will just solo instead. No more PUGs : /. We're back to that silent mass of soloers.
I also feel solo players should be able to solo group content to an extent, using a mixture of parkour, stealth, diplomacy, and sheer overpowered stats. They shouldn't be able to solo via convential means -- a group is stronger than an individual -- but they ought to be able to progress via unconvential ones.
Necromancy is when you raise the dead. Necrophilia is when the dead raise you.
dungeon finders are bad mmk.
Let me put it this way: You can go to a bar, have a drink and enjoy the atmosphere. Maybe chat with some people. Or you can get your gang together, go and hang just with your friends. Which is more social?
For me, group content is like going with some people to a dance club, where the music is too loud and you can't really converse or talk or anything, but have to stay with your group anyway. Why bother? I guess some people like it, but I don't get it.
I like smaller groups, I like atmosphere, and I like being able to interact with others on my own terms. This is what I seek in an MMO. Soloable content is important, but so is a world that provides the mechanics for my efforts to affect and interact with other players without having to get all hot and sweaty with them.
One of the best feelings in any game is overcoming a tough challenge - whether solo, or in a group. I also like thought puzzles and freedom in games as much as possible, which is very difficult from any perspective to properly incorporate in to an online mmorpg. If you compare it to the table-top Dungeons and Dragons version, the player is only truly limited by his/her own creativity. There's even forums dedicated on how to beat the most difficult creatures, theoretically, with the lowest level character(s) possible.
There's a lot of great points in this thread in both directions. I, personally, think that whatever gives players the most freedom is best. I think that there should be both easy challenges and very difficult challenges; solo-designed content, and group-designed content. I also think there should be some content that should be impossible without a specific item, gimmick from the environment, or player craftiness. A small example would be must having a magical weapon to damage a certain type of creature or bypass its 'resistances'. Another would be needing a one-of-a-kind Vorpal sword to actually slay this one creature.
I, personally, want much of the content to not display levels or even damage/healing numbers. I think the difficulty of all areas and creatures should be discovered, not telegraphed to you. I'd be okay if there's some class 'spell' or 'skill' that gives a player details, but I also think that breaks immersion.
Similar concept would be Armor Class. Sure, it's a numerical value for the player. But the "character" has no concept of a number representation. All he sees is a person (or thing), either wearing armor or not. He might have crazy dexterity skills and super fast, thus impossible to hit. Or so decked out in invisible magic that the second you even think about attacking him, something compels you to hand him your weapon willingly. Or a player so decked out in armor, you'd have to remove or damage the armor enough to deal damage. Or it could be a dragon with scales so thick, it would be impossible to penetrate his armor unless you somehow snuck in to his lair and talked him in to revealing the only thing that could hurt him.
All that being said, I think it's possible a solo player should be able to overcome any of it. But it will always be faster and easier with the help of companions.
Example: Assume I'm a rogue. I want to kill that dragon and take all of his treasure. I might need to construct a crazy elaborate trap where, once activated, it gasses the dragon's whole lair and seals him in until he dies from lethal poison damage (pick your type). It would cost a lot of time and money to set up something like that. Possibly longer to recover the loot, but it would all be mine if nobody else discovered it in time.
Or, I can find a mage, tank, healer, and a couple other strong friends, and get their help to just poke him to death in about ten minutes... but, then I'd have to share the loot.
tl;dr - Everything should be soloable, but being in a group is always going to be easier.
besides that in MMO's in general, Solo play for me was usually re-specing or working on my HUD or looking up a rotation and setting up my hot bars or gathering to work on my gear / market board stuff.
We want the game to be challenging and engaging. Not a single player rpg game.
Mmorpgs are about players playing together or against online in the same environment.
Progression should take into account:
Class
Crafts
Abilities
Factions.
Group play requires sacrifices and coordination. A solo player progressing with the same ease as a group means the open world is not challenging, nor will mmorpg players feel accomplished for their gear, level and character in general.
As games have become more appealing to people of all ages, this means that a lot people have families and obligations.
Many mmorpg games have catered for very casual players and the result is that we tend to get bored very fast becsuse we achieve everything fast and easy.
I think progression for casual players should be slow but still fun. Not grinding.
However they should find people to play with at their own pace, while the oldschool mmorpg players finally find in AoC what we have been missing since Line][Age
Maybe as a way to integrate solo play into group content there could be a scaling feature in dungeons. If you are solo instead of having complete piece of gear drop you get segments of gear that drop. You can take those segments to a crafter with a high enough skill level who can combine those segments into a full piece of gear for you. It would enable solo players to experience group content without making solo zerg game play more efficient that group clearing content. It could also promote crafting as a profitable en-devour since lone wolves would be paying for their services to have fragments converted for them.
While I know how important group play is in an mmorpg, I believe that leveling and main story content should be 100% completable by solo players.
I have joined guilds in the past, despite being a solo player, and usually they are with like minded players. We all solo but want a place to chat, hang, and occasionally create a small party to just derp around.
For me the content is not important for a solo player. If the game is quality, and my A.D.D. can just wonder and look at an amazing fantasy world I'll be just fine if it's not solo friendly.
The thing about this tho is, only challenging yourself really makes you grow so while he can probably aquire that raidgear through money, some character progression might be behind that group content.
So I don't know. I think they should be able to progress however far they want, but some things should be obtainable only through hardship. If that hardship requires a group, well then that is how it is.
I can be a life devouring nightmare. - Grisu#1819
Solo content is great to have, being able to partake in activities without having to find a friend or a group of players is a must. You should not be able to get to the top or be the "best" without having the support of friends/guild and progress should be much slower.
Game for fun, not for life
Yo you said it so good man very nice 👌