I don't want to play alone

I found that staying in solace bridge and killing the wolves there until my bow broke got me to level 5 adventurer which made it so I could hit stuff near soltown in the swamp occasionally. I still can't fight half the stuff there but if I run away enough I can randomly kill something.

I'm not going to make this thread very happy but my answer is going to be having my guild carry me at a later date most likely. I know many of you don't have that option but I have star studded guild of amazing people who can help me through a pickle and I'll use them to help me get my adventurer level up so I can enjoy the game a bit. If you guys have friends I suggest you do that. If you don't I suggest you put on plate armor and use swords.

 

Yeah, had enough of the plate armor and swords approach at low levels from prior releases ...and unfortunately I am usually online when most of my guildmates are not Will just have to take things nice and slow for now

 

There are already sheep and cows random encounter scenes on Perennial Trail. Or were you talking about regular scenes like that? That's kind of what an overworld is about, skipping over all the boring stuff. (Not that boring areas are bad, but I've been in a non-overworld MMO, and it can take an hour to walk between major cities if you know where not to go, or half an hour with some sort of mount.)

 

I take it you've never spent an hour watching wildlife, sad it is.

 

I think the sheep thing etc is to help lvl up the archer cause at this point that's all we can kill, that and the poor lil rabbits etc

 

More like spent way more than my share a long time ago.

 

They definitely do need to do another pass at how wilderness scenes are designed relative to each other, especially towns, from small to large. The simple methodology I've always suggested is: areas of high traffic / populace and radiate outwards increasing in difficulty. The further out from anywhere, the more potential (but not strictly) for danger. I started mapping out all the types of resources / mobs in every wildnerness area and it's all over the place currently. Although the path from South Valeway -> Kingsroad -> North Valeway on the Hidden Vale are indeed quite "starter" areas and adjacent to well-travelled paths / towns.

Don't give up! I think in SPO those mechanics should follow FPO / OPO to some degree. But Single Player Offline must be decidedly different in mechanics and balancing. Every mob, be it rabbit or mega BOSS, should eventually be taken down solo if you continue to advance your skills. They may be seemingly impossible at first, but under no circumstance should they remain impossible. AI helpers, companions, etc. could also come into play for offline mode.

 

If you're still looking, as the others have suggested, Hidden Vale with South/North Vales, and Kings Road are not bad starting places. The spiders in the area tend to be bunched in a certain area and as long as you don't cross the line it's not all that bad. The skeletons are rather nice for money if cooking isn't your thing too.

Other than that, I'd like to push the idea of getting into a random encounter - I know they aren't popular but unless you get the one with spiders (mostly appears in areas when you walk in forest overland mapwise) they're not a bad place to work on mobs and resources. Most of them you can pick off singularly - after you shake off the intial pack rush.

 

When I'm feeling arachnophobic, I enter Solace Bridge but don't go through the gate. There are only Zombies and Brown Bears. The Zombies and bears can be killed with a ranged spell, so you don't have to get close, but I have the Purify spell ready to use if I do contract the plague. There are also re-spawning cotton and trees and some iron nodes.

 

... come on... we all know what's missing... it's a requirement of all crpg's.... the basement full of rats...

 

You and your wifey need to give it more time and not want to skip through the game to the top first... I spent a good 2 hrs looking through the skills changes, trying to figure out what to do... I had just changed to polearms and my skill was (0) zero in the first tier, I had 10 blades, but I wanted polearm... And I play solo exclusively...

The thing is you have to work your way up the skill ladder, go back to the easy areas, kill stags/bunnies... Move up to wolves/bears, those small spiders are still pumk'n me, so RUN... Expect to die a lot, what's the big deal, go rez and try again, the key is your skills are going up... I had to go back to a completely locked deck so I could use the skills I want to go up in... I'm up to 10 in most all of them now and it only took a couple of hours and a boat load of deaths... I got like 56 in health, 43 in focus, my str is 22...

Man don't give in...

 

Oh this is a for sure thing in them shifting their focus. It is sad, but true.

 

For me was difficult to find places to fight when I first started playing. There is no way to see what the mob's difficulty is in relation to you, there's no easy way to see how difficult the individual areas are, and there's no clear progression a player to follow. You're simply dropped into the world and left to fend for yourself. I like that fact but that's also going to make the game less accessible to new player which I think is the point of this post.

I've seen people suggest simply keeping everyone equal (I think street fighter was an example given). If you do that then there is no character progression. It just isn't an answer to this particular problem. If I'm the same after a year of playing as I was when I first logged in then what's the point? Most of the people that are currently frustrated with the game aren't into just dressing up and decorating houses. Character progression needs to stay at the core of the game.

 

To many out there want to be able to go out and "finish" the game in a week ???? Deffinatly NOT the game I want, and yes some places should be ONLY able to be finished with other players is SPO then those areas should no exist.

Right now you HAVE to go kill a Rabbit and work you way up to a Sheep then to a Wolf - on and on that is AWSOME, keep it up.

 

Why?

 

The only way to tell, is how fast they kill you... But in the last hang out they said they are going to put "skulls" on the banner and stone arch to indicate what level zone your entering... 1 skull is easier than 5 skulls... So that should help a bunch...

 

Some of the random instances around Soltown are newbie instances. One has low level wolves, one has cows. however the undead one would not be good for a starter. Issue there it seems they don't respawn.

There are some player driven things we could do. Portalarium could give us a forums section dedicated to guiding newbs if they wish it. However, a large amount of players will not come to the forums or chats.

We could schedule some newbie classes and/or leveling runs.

Someone could make a newbie web page for helping folks get started, keeping it updated every release.

We could do something like we did on Siege Perilous, which is to have a newbie guild. There was usually a couple leaders who showed the newbie all the ropes.

Leveling for me is going slow, so groups would help. Vio, it sounds like you wife's play style is similar to mine. If I had been a newb on release day, I most likely would not have stuck. If you all want to do some group leveling, let me know.

 

I am always down for grouping as well. Just add me and if I'm around and not messing with something else I will definitely tag along. Earlier tonight I grouped with a lovely individual so I could be his heals. We chatted, he fought, I healed and we had a grand 'ol time. It was also the perfect opportunity for me to focus on well, my focus. Everything else in the skill tree turned off. Just focus and heal trees on. Nice change of pace and it benefited us both.

I'm in the same boat as you, btw. My gf refuses to play Shroud with me. We played together for about a month. Then she finally admitted she couldn't stand it because I had more play time which meant I got further ahead, then she just felt behind and felt like when we did play she wasn't doing anything useful.

 

With frequent wipes, and in R21 skill wipe = fresh start, that's basically a moot point.

Also, any couple of arms in a group are welcome - the more the merrier. DPS from newbies is DPS nonetheless.

 

i bought this game a frind few days ago, and he realy enjoys it. searching for quests and enemys to progress.