Where's the pleasure anymore

As a Fire Mage/Focus spec. AOE nerf didn't affect me, but would like to see a slight increase in Fire Arrow or Flame Fist in physical dmg or the DoT affect it has on the mobs.

 

Playing all content solo in a MMORPG is an unreasonable expectation. So is expecting to maintain interest in solo players if all your endgame content is group focused. Seeing as the SotA population is not vast they would do well to not disaffect any portion of it.

So, all content solo, no. Enough to maintain solo engagement, well if not we'll see how that goes for them.

 

The way some titles do this successfully, FFXIV, for example, is via Story.

The story is essentially a level balanced solo campaign that take the player on an enjoyable and immersive journey through the game's content. It is entirely possible to play solo-only for months or years if the MMO has a good enough and lengthy story. The story in FFXIV us 'almost' as absorbing and fun as The Witcher Wild Hunt which is designed ground up as solo, so it is possible in an MMO to solo via Story.

The one slight omission I made there is that FFXIV and other MMO's have level balanced multiplayer 'gateways' in the story at set points that must be undertaken to progress the story to the next chapter, it is usually a Boss kill in a dungeon and the games have a PUG mechanism to assemble a group to do this.

The solo player is obliged to do these gateway scenarios, but only once, to progress their story. It is however an enticement to group play and the exp and loot rewards are high and many players power level by doing group gateway dungeons repeatedly.

The 'true' group play in these games is the PVP arenas, of which the various mechanisms have been discussed here and these are totally opt-in systems with gear and currency designed only for the Arenas

I have solo'd FFXIV and several other MMOs of this design to the end game content, I had fun and 'won' the game.

I have to say that the least fun aspect is the PUG Multi player gateway content. I meet some real ass hats there on a regular basis and on completion of the stage I am always relieved that I do not have to do it again, for a while, and it reinforces why I mainly solo in MMOs these days and only group when I'm in the mood, meet some nice folks randomly, or have no choice..

 

This is a wonderful idea to incentivize PvP. I would only modify it to request an equal 4 PvE focused castles with the same 10+ retinue of mobs, for those of us less inclined to PvP. If that's too much (spreads the population to thinly), then split it evenly: 2 PvP (with incentives for PvP) and 2 PvE (with incentives for PvE).

In all honesty, you may not even need to create "new zones" as these castles can be put in the shard/ruins zones - splitting them evenly between PvE zones and PvP zones. Additionally, Control Points could also be split in this manner - making half PvP and the other half PvE.

Further implementation can be made using standard PvP mechanics: capture/defend the flag; free for all; team deathmatch; etc.

Just some thoughts.

 

Brother I agree wholeheartedly, what I threw out there was at best a rough blueprint for others to help
tweak into something @Chris may be able to work with and use for EP2.

It’s not just as the OP said to bring back pleasure but as I preach to make a bold statement of intent to the rest of the MMORPG community. R /Boris

 

agree...

The problem they have is the team size is way too small the income is way too low, also the pvpers are a huge minority for the amount of effort required where there are other things the current player base salivates over like crafting eps 2 content new mobs new zones and so much more . We all know a good pvp system with lots of participants would be good for the game.

look at the bloodbay experiment this was gonna be the thing and they spent so much money and time making it the thing, it now sits abandoned.

I don’t see this ever happening. It’s a nice pipe dream but not in sota’s future.

 

This right here.

As I understand it the majority of the changes in 1118 were intended to reduce "farmability" and force or not so gently encourage people to group because some people could solo, duo or 3 person content that was intended for a full group. That's all ok and I more or less support the idea if not necessarily the execution of the idea.

My issue with it is did anyone ever consider that boosting undead HP ~50% would impact people that couldn't solo, duo or three person a zone that was intended for a group? That someone that doesn't use magic would be impacted by the HP buff to undead FAR more than the people that could solo that content easily? As a melee build, swords specifically, it was an eye opener to step into Ravensmoor or the undead pockets in Ulfhiem and run into skeleton archers with ~2.2hp, mages with ~1.9k and footmen with 2.5k. To make it even better they appear to give the same xp as before they were buffed.

With care I can still solo these areas but it definitely feels as if I've backed up 15 levels or so and makes me question why I'd spend my free time or cash supporting the game. I'm not out the door yet by any means but I can see it clearly.

FYI Catnip, not everyone is in the top 10% of the game. You'd do well to remember that.

 

I see your frustration especially if you went the swords route like I did. I noticed it with the skeleton archer that guards the garbage chest at the top level of the Rise. Seems they doubled his HP and raised his defensive ability. So they feel Fire Mage and other AOE build is OP and while “adjusting” the AOE decided to make the mobs tougher. Double Adjustment anyone? More negative QOL and they wonder why numbers do not go up. I also see the light at the end and the lightbulbs on the exit sign get brighter each release. R/Boris

 

It definitely feels as if Catnip is hell bent on reining in the top X%. Which from a totally selfish viewpoint I understand but they forget that not everyone is in that top percentage and these changes impact those below that top percentage far more than they impact the top.

If I get weaker my only real options are to try to strategize around it or go elsewhere. I'm running out of "elsewhere's" to go. It's also kind of funny that level 8+ zones (Ravensmoor, Ulfheim undead, etc) are now harder for me than level 10+ areas like Spectral Peaks. In what sane world does that make sense?

 

I would suggest the Rise which I farm daily. I farm it solo in Party mode and have a non-stop pattern of the barracks, kitchen , two hallways, mage room and dog run. I don’t waste time on the Dragon, Ogre nor Lich upstairs. The juice is not worth the squeeze on those 3. I make a modest 1 mill xp per hour and about 700k per week averaging 3 hours play per day.

It is what it is with blades and rest assured nobody comes knocking on your door often with this build but I will continue to do what I do and make money till either something better comes along or the lights get turned off. The first month or two after EP2 will likely determine if this games continues or gets sold to another company IMHO. I will have enough time to continue to also raise ranged for a change of pace.

R/Boris

 

Unless that was a selling point of the MMO, as it was in Shroud. I suppose it is technically true that it was never directly said that all Shroud content would be soloable. But I think it is also reasonable that, given the game's promotion as "selective multiplayer," 85% or so would be soloable. Otherwise, what would be the point of ever playing in the solo mode if it meant most of the content was gated from you? And while you could also argue that 85% of the content is currently soloable, given the quantity of tier 1-4 scenes, I think it is also reasonable to expect that soloability would be spread across all levels of content. Because again, what would be the point of playing this game long-term if you were never going to be able to do end game content in the mode of play that sold you on the game in the first place? Unless, Port's internal marketing plan was always to make the solo version of the game unplayable for most after a point, to get people to transition over to multiplayer. Which would be a legitimate reason to rage quit. (I don't believe that is the case.)

 

I have said for years. There should be a Cardinal Rule for all MMORPG(s). Once you have given the players something, never, never , never ever take it away. If you need to balance, balance up not down. Balancing down does nothing but create angry players and just creates another imbalance somewhere else.

Cardinal Rule #2 See Cardinal Rule #1.

Cardinal Rule #3 See Cardinal Rule #2

Players should not have to adjust to negativity, Developers should have to.

 

Farming in Party / Private, doesn't that reduce the likelihood of finding artifacts, bags and other interesting items? I understood the XP was less also.

 

It only affects the xp, no competition helps me overcome that by faster killing. Tried in open mode and the place was crowded. R/Boris

 

Ahh. Good to know. thanks!!

 

Anytime brother; Depending on your build you may only find the elven warrior at entrance of the dog run room to be a bit of a pain. I still use a haste/poison potion in him and always use my water ellie/soothing rain and death shield. A couple of body slams and 3 stack rend tends to soften him up. Ice field comes in handy to pull from a distance. It can be non-stop if you set up a pattern never having to wait for a re-spawn. I call it a 2 hour frenzy “Grins”. R/Boris

 

Love the idea but I already see the pitchforks on the horizon...

This would work ONLY IF the gathering/resource part cannot happen when the zone is "contested". Without that simple mechanic, people would conquer and fill it with alts and milk it as much as possible. Allowing for contesting the zone prevents the exploitation of the zone but at a cost to the contester, they need to be present and actively take points to keep the zone contested. This would in turn lower the profitability of the zone for a large guild who just wants the advantage without the pvp aspect. Contesting would inevitably end when the contesters ressurection and lack of "point taking" becomes too expensive. All this requires either ransoms to come back into play, or some kind of cost to contesting and claiming the zones.

Also Catnip needs to reinstate the fact that PvP should bring more rewards because in turn when people PvP, they stop exping and stop gathering resources... PvP is the solution they are looking for but are too affraid to admit it. PvP solves a lot of problems.

 

Thank you for your input on the blueprint. Maybe we can get more ideas on it and I welcome it. I gave the idea about 30 minutes to formulate and had previously proposed stuff like this. Catnip could also control when these fortresses can be attacked/controlled then contested by other groups. Another requirement would be to tweak the guild controls to allow allied guilds to take over one of these fortresses. the time of control can be changed from 1 week to 2 days, The amount of extra resources can be adjusted as well. Main intent of this blueprint is to liven up PVP with an actual "end-game" purpose where this is far more lucrative than ransom IMHO. R/Boris

 

You get 10% more experience per kill in Open mode but then you have to compete with other players.

 

I don't know that the story bottlenecks you mention are only a slight annoyance, to everyone at any rate, as cash shop items are provided so players can buy their way out of the need to do them. Such would seem a poor purchase if the same can be accomplished quickly and easily by a pug.

The only things forced group play provides to those that prefer solo play are annoyance and inconvenience. Those that prefer group play or are open to it don't need the enticement. They've already bought into it, or are happy either way.

My girl's son is heavily into the game, and spends the vast majority of his time in dungeon play. Apparently at least some feel PvE group play is true enough at high level. However, he doesn't play constantly, so he may be one of those that returns for expansions until he's bled the content dry and then goes on hiatus until the next drop, and thus not involved with PvP particularly.