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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.
Balancing guilds with solo play
derp
Member
I have seen a lot about the exciting guild incentives and mechanics planned for AOC which I am all for. My only concern is that this may require an environment whereby you HAVE to align yourself with a guild to be relevant in the game. Personally as a solo player I'm of the opinion that joining a guild should always be out of choice, not necessity. In which ways do you think solo play can be balanced so that solo players/small teams of friends can still choose this path?
One idea I propose is that solo players could carry out as questline to become a mercenary. Mercenaries would be neutral alignment but could be hired by guilds to assist in seiges and bosses etc. This way solo players are not gated away from content but likewise are still able to enjoy soloplay when they choose to.
Just as guilds can acquire reputation, so could mercenaries. At higher reputation levels your price as a mercanary would automatically increase. Reputation would be based on successful "missions"(hires) and feedback from guild seniors (e.g. a simple rating system).
Just as there will be a leaderboard for guilds, there could be s leaderboard for mercenaries. Perhaps this system would be tied to military nodes.
What are your thoughts?
One idea I propose is that solo players could carry out as questline to become a mercenary. Mercenaries would be neutral alignment but could be hired by guilds to assist in seiges and bosses etc. This way solo players are not gated away from content but likewise are still able to enjoy soloplay when they choose to.
Just as guilds can acquire reputation, so could mercenaries. At higher reputation levels your price as a mercanary would automatically increase. Reputation would be based on successful "missions"(hires) and feedback from guild seniors (e.g. a simple rating system).
Just as there will be a leaderboard for guilds, there could be s leaderboard for mercenaries. Perhaps this system would be tied to military nodes.
What are your thoughts?
5
Comments
But I come from a 'main' game where there are no 'Guilds' and the only benefit you get from grouping together in the equivalent way is an ingame chat channel.
Guilds are a convenient way for games to offer ease of communication and management to people. Therefore I think any system that is built to help 'players who don't want to join guilds' must be convenient for both sides.
I don't view a full mercenary system as MORE convenient for both sides.
MMOs are meant to be played in a company and not alone. There's way better games for solo or limited multiplayer gameplay, so why turn the only genre that supports huge groups of people working together towards one goal with adding mechanics and features that splinter that group into singular characters.
I've never understood what people with this mentality even see when they look at an MMO, what makes them want to play a game that basically all but REQUIRES you to get involved with other people, group up, be social, rely on other players, ect. There's other games that will cater to this style of game play much better, we don't need to water down games to accommodate these confused people.
Maybe you just don't want to play MMORPGs.... This is like going to a Mexican Restaurant and saying "I don't like Mexican food, please make me a hamburger".
I hear Bethesda is releasing Elder Scrolls 6 soon-ish, and I'm sure you can probably play Skyrim on your Apple Watch here soon.
If I do some self-reflection related to the socialization, I can see how my behaviour has changed from past 10 to 15 years. I have less will to group up nowadays even that was a daily behaviour back in the golden days. That does not mean that I would ever do group content or that I would not interact with other people. Interacting can be small chatting, trading and even ganking, for example. I do not have time to group up all the time or will to do so after the working day but I like to do that sometimes, especially if the activities are related to group content such dungeons and raids or open world PvP.
Exactly this - Its ok to group up when I feel like it but I don't necessarily want to be attached to a guild 24/7.. I think it would be a mistake to overpower guild buffs and leave players with no choice in how they want to play because that's what guilds do. Empowering the solo player/small group can only be a good thing. If you read my initial post you'll see the mercanary system I mentioned allows for solo players to still enjoy group content but it would be optional rather than enforced by a guild leader.
I've played MMOs for 20 years and no, they don't only require you to play in a guild/zerg.. there are plenty of MMOs that thrive from solo/group content. In fact, I would say that MOST MMOs have a lackluster guild system therefore people end up playing solo/small groups anyway. So no, your point does not stand.
I think this approach would be a mistake
I like your approach but why should it be necessary for a solo player to create a guild to play solo? Also a solo player would definitely not progress the guild quick enough. I read that they are planning to have a sliding scale of buffs Vs number of players, if this is the case i would love for the scale to slide all the way down to 1 so a solo player gets the most buffs at the expense of not having other guildies to enjoy guild content with
What if the player could set their own rate and the guilds could "bid" on whoever they felt was most suitable?
I'm not against guild content but they're talking about straight up stat buffs via enchantments and stuff. The moment this happens it makes it impossible for a solo/small team to be viable in PvP/pve, therefore making it MANDATORY to be in a guild.
There shouldn't be a mmo that caters to people that don't want to have any commitments to a guild. That just ruins the point of guild system, and why i think Lost ark guilds are complete trash and annoying to build up.
If you don't want to be in a guild don't join a guild, if you want to be in a guild talk and find out about the guild if it matches your style. What you are pretty much saying is "Hey i don't want to help your guild at all but I want all the perks you guys work towards, thanks."
End of the day that is on you, if you don't want to be social even if it benefits you and want to run around as a solo player. Though i respect powerful solo players and though it can be fun if you are a social solo player.
BDO is a great game if you want a single player mmo where you don't interact with people i hear. Me im TIRED of solo player mmorpgs, i want the entire game to be like you need a group, i want it to be that you can always be in a group, and you always have group content from hour one to hour 8+ every single day of the week, Exactly why though NW was lacking it was great because i can always group and docontent with my friends when I want.
100% believe if someone wants to solo just t avoid social interaction and working together with people they better be geared and skilled to tackle things. No system should be in place to allow them to have a single player mmo experience from lvl 1 to end game. System should be in place where you want to find a group and need to, and of you refuse its only your own loss.
Again, it's not that I NEVER want to do group content. I just don't think that it's good for players to have the flexibility in whether or not they want to join s guild
Why is this good? :S 1v1 PvP can be the most exciting PvP. Again mass PvP will be really fun but why should it not be viable for solo player to 1v1 a guild player?
Some's PKing you while you're out and about alone? Ask someone in the guild to help out. You're having problems crafting smth? Ask someone in the guild to help. You wanna fight some small boss? Same shit. All it takes is just finding a guild that'll be good for your playstyle.
Maybe I just had a bad experience with guilds in the past. My guilds were always hyper competitive and it turns playing a game for fun into a full-time job (less fun)
Again - not against guilds, just don't want it forced upon me
Do you think there will be any solo content? Some of my best experiences have been solo pve. Again, I know I'm harping on about solo stuff but I do love group content too. I'm only asking about solo stuff because I think it's important to have variety in gameplay
Oh, and those solo mobs won't give you BiS and I highly doubt they'd give you pre-top either. This is an oldschool mmo that requires you to participate in social structures in the game. If everyone could just farm their shit solo - why would they be social?
Ashes supports solo play.
Of course, solo is not the same thing as not being social - it just means you are adventuring while not joined systemically to a group.
It is possible to kill bosses while not joined systemically to a group.
It's also possible to acquire BiS gear, in several ways, without being joined systemically to a group.
Solo does not mean you do not have friends who will help you acquire BiS gear.
Literally nothing just wants the benefits of being in the guild for whatever amount of time, some reward and prob helps in some form of pvp.
Joining a guild isn't forced you will just have a ton of negatives if you don't. If you have a bad experience with a guild then join another guild it isn't hard to do that. Not everyone guild is try hard, but if you are joining a top guild that gives you a insane amount of perks and you don't want to do any kind of group things to help them its not surprising if one gets a boot.
You simply need to join a guild that is at your level with your play style.
As for me my guild will 100% have discord as mandatory as well as voice chat, because its easier to form groups and do things together and have fun. As well as how important it will be for pvp sieges. Besides that people are free to do whatever they want and people naturally group up and do content with each other when people are within voice and guild.
I understand being introverted because I am as well, but just because you are in a guild and in discord doesn't mean you need to talk much or be forced to do much. People simply want people to hang out around so the hard content is do able and have fun together. Elite guilds are trash though that force heavy things on you because they deem its effective / meta.
There will be some small, casual guilds that don't require members to do stuff - if you want guild perks.
Might be possible that Social Orgs or Religions will have something like your proposed Mercenary mechanic.
Might also be able to do something like that via Taverns.
I dislike mmos where guild membership is optional, like eso and ff14.
I have completed anything I set my mind to do so in those games without joining a guild. It was boring. It was ez.
People should join a guild out of necessity. That would mean that the game has depth.
Mmos are not for solo players. People can play solo. The systems should not be for solo.
Ffs...