The Playable Modes: Incentivisation for some, punishment for others?

According to the kickstarter, there are 4 ways to play the game. There is the offline mode, there is the single player online mode, the friends only mode, and the MO mode. I primarily want to play in single player online. I do not generally fit in with the modern MMO crowd and although they might be great people they do not care about the immersion or the RP that other people do. So in the kickstarter it was mentioned that there are 4 modes listed, and the word "or" is present. To me this means that they are modes that we can play to our liking, and not having to go to another mode. So why are they incentivizing the MO part and the now "MMO" part? Do they not think people like fantasy and immersion anymore? Why is single player online getting bastardized? It is why I wanted to play and I am sure many others also.

 

there is no real difference between multi / friends and solo mode if you arnt grouping. They are all exactly the same.

The only dif may be the 10% bonus in multi but I have found most 5 skull zones to crowded now so I gain farm more experience having the zone to myself for efficient farming.

 

There are several benefits for playing in SPO/FPO, so they are incentivizing the multiplayer mode. There is no real punishment.

 

I guess I do not understand then. Is there not a group bonus for leveling? Is there not a bonus for crafting when you are grouped with a grandmaster? Can I kill all the mobs by myself in single player mode, granted it might be very hard, but is it possible?

 

@Darlok Brimstone

If by incentivizing the MO part you are refering to the XP bonus then that is the reverse.

The problem is an economy/balance one. The content built in the online parts are all part of the online economy/balance and as such must always take all three online modes into consideration.

So if I run a scene in Single Online I can earn more XP and more loot since there is no competition of the mobs.
Thus to make a small balance thing, they have the Party XP bonus, and the Multiplayer XP bonus. Neither which fully gives the advantage hunting in Single Online gives.

So if it is the XP thingie you are talking about then it is currently more adventageous to hunt in Single Online then either other modes, regardless of those XP bonuses.


The one thing where Single Online is a detriment is boss battles, where the bosses are balanced for a party of players so Friends or Multi online. This because the loot given (like artifacts) are the same in all Online modes.
The only way to make balance the Bosses to be more Single Online friendly, would also by necessity of the shared economy have to include a big nerf to loot from bosses in Single Online mode. Which wouldn't go down well with solo players.


If you are not refering specifically to XP or boss battles then please elaborate a bit on what that incentive is that you are refering to.

 

I guess what I am trying to understand is exactly what you stated. You did clear up some of what I am talking about with the exp bonus in the MO mode. I think you cleared it up well and I understand why you can gain more exp in single player mode. I also understand when you say that they would have to scale the loot (which I do not agree with fully) in the single player mode. Maybe they could implement companions to make the story more exciting. They could make a gold sink out of companions and make them very expensive to have them journey with you. I hope you see how someone could see this as a limitation or "punishment" for single player. I can see them not making it a priority, but it is perhaps something that should be thought about as I do not feel I am the only one that feels this way.

 

Anyways, thank you for your replies. I think for now I will keep this game on the shelf, I had just stopped in to ask this question. Have fun Y'all.

 

Alas, like you I was hoping that companions/mercenaries/hirelings etc would be a thing also in Single Online. But they have stated that those are exclusively going to be Offline mode.

Though in some quests you will get an NPC which comes with you, but those are scene specific so not something you can bring along to fight a dragon or something like that.

But I would have loved to just hire some extra NPCs as fodder or healer to bring along even if they aren't fully fledged companions with dialog etc.

You are definately not alone in the feeling. We have posters on a weekly basis with similar types of concerns. But also on the other side it is something which the devs take very seriously and talk about a lot in the hangouts and when one reads the release notes.

Also since you mentioned that above, please note that all bosses in game have been defeated by solo players, so it is certainly doable. It is just that they are balanced for groups, so unless you are hardcore about it then it would be a very tough to do it.

Now in offline mode though then they have said that there will be an 'easy' mode for boss battles and that there will be companions.


Regarding the GM bonus, it is only in the application of pool XP to the skill, not in the earning of XP to the pool. So again someone who only plays Single Online has an advantage over someone who only plays multiplayer since they earn more XP to the pool. However here there is a loophole in that one can first earn to the pool in Single Online, and then switch to Friends Online and party with a GM to apply XP to the skill faster.

 

refreshing options for all play styles.
AFAIK, all the great single player features go in at the end.

Also, the way the scene is instanced, you can block people and mute them, which makes it rare that you will spawn in the same scene as them. There are times when multiplayer online feels like an MMO, and there are times when its more immersive and real than any other game before it.

 

Oh I'm sorry when people who don't watch play with others won't at least come in and let us show them some of the features of the game. There is truly some amazing things we could show you and then you could take those back to being solo and all by yourself. For example music in the game and the brand new large harpiscord that' just got added to the game. Shroud of the avatar actually has some of the best animations I've seen for playing music of any game. I checked YouTube. Anyone can play music. We have sheet music we can hand someone and instrument in AZ sheet music and thinking play fantastic music. There's so much to see and more and more is coming all the time. And well that's not all the game is about there is so much more that is not always visible and that others can share even to those solo players who then can go back to being solo after wards.
Anyway I just wanted to say that and I wish you all the best. If you ever change your mind, I am Majoria in game and I would be happy to help.

 

Hrm, tanks evryone for the responses. I guess we do not see things the same way. Majoria I just want solo online, not caring about musics or other stuffs. I was reading the cabalist thread. Can these be done in single player. Bowvale says she does not know ayone who solo dragons. Maybe someone can make a video of them soloing all the bosses for me to watch.

 

There is push towards MMO for whatever reason. Maybe nostalgia. I can't imagine why anyone would now jump upon a ship that ist overloaded, hit an iceberg and now struggels to stay afloat... But such is the will of the whales.
In the end we will see if SotA can survive as an MMO. My guess is... no.

 

So let's see here.

Yes one can solo the cabalists. Etc.

But here is what I don't get. Why would you want to?
Since this game has all those different modes then some things will be designed for the multiplayer side. Other things for the single player side.

For instance there are several scenes surrounding the story which forces the player into Solo and thus is balanced for solo.
So the whole main story arch and the quests around that is designed for solo play.

On the other hand there will be bosses specifically made to be challenging for whole groups of players.
That content is never critical for the story arch.

So just like with the features like dancing or music, why not just ignore the parts not designed for solo?

For instance some of those boss fights designed for groups are quite fun for groups, but if you solo them then it is rather tedious since it will take you that much longer to do it solo.

Why not instead go for the content designed for solo which is made to be fun for solo players?

And if you want all the content and it balanced for solo with companions then why not go for offline?

*shrugs*

This is the same in plenty of games. Elite Dangerous you don't go into multi missions and expect a solo experience.

 

In an ideal game everything could be done the way people like to do it. Why restrict scenes to solo at all? Why "force" players to do PvP in some scenes? Why create insteresting scenes like the shardfalls when I cannot discover anything about them there but just fight?

Therefore the idea of having two modes for every scene - a story mode and a social mode - would solve so many problems. If I enter a scene in story mode, I can do everything alone (or in a party with friends), kill the dragon, have quests with visible and lasting consequences and simply a great story-time without having to deal with other players or their dumb housing etc. I just get immersed in the game and the atmosphere.
If I want the MMO side of the game, I enter the scenes in social mode where I can meet other players and do social stuff. Enemies will be tougher but there won't be story-related quests. But the player housing is there.

As for the fear of people just using the story-scenes to farm resources or enemies, here is a simple solution to this: Have no (or a very slow) respawn in story-scenes as well as much less resources or even no resources at all there. If someone wants to gather and craft, he has to enter the social mode of a scene.

 

@Spoon, The game was advertized with 4 ways to play, it did not say that I have to play in MO. If i got vendor from purchase then I can sell wares off of it. If I cannot get the same wares or posibility of getting same wares as other modes then I am punished. You can force a person to single player and no problem but if you force person to mo and expect him to play nice then its another. I do not want mo because I tell off weak people and they report or ban me. I want to be just the avatar in my own persistant world.

 

In areas that are mandatory PVP / MO you are not being forced to enter them. You are making an informed choice. Your choice of not playing nice is also your choice.
Not knowing anything more about you, I would encourage you to continue to be just an avatar in your own persistent world.

 

I'm in the same boat where I prefer the friends only mode, which really isn't friends at all, but a solo/party mode. I was picturing that mode to simply filter anyone out that wasn't directly a friend, or perhaps friends of friends or in my social circle. But at any rate, single player online is penalized in a way. Offline you have the advantage of companions, or at least you will. I'm not sure they're all completed/implemented. Crafting at the obsidian forge, or even acquiring resources for things like bone armor are significantly more difficult solo. Even things you might take for granted like teachable recipes are a significant gold sink to the solo player.

On the flip side, no one would want to group if there wasn't a challenge and reward to do so. The multiplayer raid like content should be available to support that crowd. It's not all about the difficult content, but also a social aspect of gaming which this mode supports. It's not for everyone, though.

It might be nice if we could have companions in single online mode, to attempt the same content and challenge. Restricting it to that mode should prevent parties of people and their companions from farming hard content in easy mode. (I'm sure people are already farming hard content in easy mode without the need for companions in multiplayer). I don't see how that would impact the shared economy. Multiplayer people still go into single player mode to farm resources, and that's probably part of the issue. Maybe looking at higher dynamic resource spawn rates in heavier populated scenes in multiplayer. You should need to be forced in to single player mode any more than single players should be forced into multiplayer.

The game has many modes available, however, you can experience more of the game in some modes than others. The question is, are there solutions that can be made to balance and improve these modes across the board without negative side effects. I think some drawbacks are by design, but there are still areas to improve upon.