Future for single player pve.

CaptainObvious · February 2015

This discussion is a good example of what not to do when marketing a product.

While they were never intended to support content where players can choose to group together or run material solo, they were informed by their customer base they needed to adapt or die.

TES has primarily been a solo content oriented series. One might acknowledge that an online version might accommodate the mode of content delivery accustomed to the original audience or at least cater somewhat to the audience that has made them successful for years.

Dazin93 · February 2015

This game has no future, PvE or otherwise. The smart players realized this and left in the first several months. I wish I had done the same......

Holycannoli · February 2015

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

If you want a single-player Elder Scrolls experience, you have five excellent games to choose from. This game is an MMO, not a single-player game that happens to have other people running around in it.

It sort of is a single-player game that happens to have other people running around in it. You can't even distinguish between players and AI without observing them, by design. The main quest is solo, the guild quests are solo, most world questing is solo up until endgame levels. It doesn't even have faction-wide auction houses.

I'd say ESO is a single-player MMO with grouping options, and for contrast classic Everquest is a group MMO with single-player options.

I pretty much solo all the time unless grouping is required. I've done the mandatory grouping thing in other MMOs and grew sick of it long ago. I like the freedom to log on at any time and do whatever I want without having to rely on others or spend time in chat saying "LFG".

Valencer · February 2015

CaptainObvious wrote: »

TES has primarily been a solo content oriented series. One might acknowledge that an online version might accommodate the mode of content delivery accustomed to the original audience or at least cater somewhat to the audience that has made them successful for years.

But 90% of the game's content is solo. Isn't that already catering towards the solo-oriented players?

The new justice system is also a solo system for all intents and purposes. No real benefit to grouping up.
I think these sort of systems provide a much more interesting experience, instead of 1 new zone which people would burn through anyway. And surely you agree that the justice system is being added because the original TES audience requested it? They've said as much.

Celless · February 2015

Thought this thread was about an offline single player version of this game.

My interpretation of the 'massive' in MMO is that the game is no longer a single player game with a mult-player element, it is a game designed for group play at its core. ESO seems to be an exception initially in that there is far more solo content than I ever expected there to be in an MMO and I'm grateful for that.

I would expect future content released to be focused more on the group aspect, but would be greatly appreciated if a soloable version of previous content were available, perhaps with a solo tag. Strip out the loot and achievements, scale down the encounter, throw a few NPCs in there if need be, so we can experience the story and some of the boss fights at a solo pace.

Sometimes it is difficult to find others who are willing to let you listen to quest text and ask the NPCs questions. This would give folks an opportunity to go back and do that. If a solo player is seeking a challenge, then they can attempt to play the traditional group zones as they are or as far as their might will allow. If players are seeking rewards or achievements, then they will need to do the group content that is currently in place.

If players absolutely want the designs that come with raid gear, but do not want or plan to ever raid, offer the appearance of the item in the Crown Store two or three updates later for purchase.

gunplummer · February 2015

I really don't understand why the heck ZoS doesn't just make all content solo/group optional. There are tons of games out there that do. I'm playing DL right now if my friends are online we play together, if not i play solo.

When we group the mobs increase, solo they decrease either way i don't lose progress and i'm not forced to wait 6 months to complete content while trying to find a group.

Most ESO dungeons are this way already you can go it solo or with 100 people why is this so difficult. Since its already set for instances anyway wouldn't this be an easy fix. At least everyone would be happy.

Jeremy · February 2015

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

You refer to the argument being made that multiplayer games should focus on single-player gameplay , but to be honest I never see that argument nor do I ever make it. I see the argument that multiplayer games should focus on a variety of content and play-styles, including solo, group and raid content, PvE and PvP content, plus other things like crafting and housing.

I see this argument made all the time though.

Right here in this thread I have read posts of people saying they should be able to reach the highest achievements on this game and obtain everything there is by soloing.

I can see just one post in which there is a complaint about the lack of solo content at VR11- VR14 and the lack of best gear for solo players, but if I'm missing any others please let me know. It's certainly valid to ask for a game that provides solo content through 95% of the levelling process to add it for the other 5%, but I don't think you'll find many solo players who expect or demand that they should receive the best gear equivalent to group or raid drops/rewards. For one thing, if they aren't doing the group or raid content they don't need it, and for another thing the option is still there for them to do some group or raid content if they feel the need to get the gear it offers.

There are a lot of solo players who ask for that.

And I am talking about multiplayer gameplay in general. I'm not limiting my comments to raids which misses my point.

As I stated earlier - the more popular MMOs succeed because of the availability of their multiplayer content. Elder Scrolls Online already has an excellent single-player experience that is far and away better than what other MMORPGs out there have to offer. It's weakness is that it fails to effectively accommodate the multiplayer aspects of its gameplay. And that is critical if you want to be a popular MMORPG over the long term.

Audigy · February 2015

The question is, what is solo and what is group content?

In reality we are never solo in an MMO, as we meet others and quest together. That's why we have the passer bye system in so many recent MMOs. You can play with everyone, hardly anyone really plays alone for himself there.

What is outdated however is the instanced group content like Craglorn and all the Trials. Its content that takes so much development time, but only a small niche of players actually goes there.

We need more MMO content, more public zones, dungeons, quests where everyone can play with everyone. What we however don't need is more stuff like Craglorn and all the instanced garbage (sorry my wording) there.

In the first MMOs you didn't had invite to group mechanisms and instance portals blocking your way. No everyone could go everywhere and if someone wanted to go into a huge cave of a dragon then he did so. Maybe he was fried in the process or he met others and they looted the dragons eyeballs.

This is what defines an MMO for me, what we have with Craglorn or at other games with instanced content (WOW, SWTOR, GW2) doesn't.

Jeremy · February 2015

Audigy wrote: »

The question is, what is solo and what is group content?

In reality we are never solo in an MMO, as we meet others and quest together. That's why we have the passer bye system in so many recent MMOs. You can play with everyone, hardly anyone really plays alone for himself there.

What is outdated however is the instanced group content like Craglorn and all the Trials. Its content that takes so much development time, but only a small niche of players actually goes there.

We need more MMO content, more public zones, dungeons, quests where everyone can play with everyone. What we however don't need is more stuff like Craglorn and all the instanced garbage (sorry my wording) there.

In the first MMOs you didn't had invite to group mechanisms and instance portals blocking your way. No everyone could go everywhere and if someone wanted to go into a huge cave of a dragon then he did so. Maybe he was fried in the process or he met others and they looted the dragons eyeballs.

This is what defines an MMO for me, what we have with Craglorn or at other games with instanced content (WOW, SWTOR, GW2) doesn't.

I agree with your goals but your argument isn't realistic on how to get there.

Effective mechanisms for building groups is essential. If players can't find help to kill the huge cave dragon then the player will get fed up and go play something else.

That's why the first MMOs weren't able to survive long term in their original form. Because seasoned players leveled up and moved on and all the newer players couldn't find enough people to play with.

Khami · February 2015

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

jelliedsoup wrote: »

Is there anything in the pipeline here?

Haven't played for a while and it seems the dailies are another group based thing.

I don't understand zos's preoccupation with groups.

Its a MMORPG its not TES.

Should not the focus be on group content when the games suggests online play only on a mega server?
*I'm not trying to come off as rude (I re-read and see it can be taken that way, sorry)

The entire Fighter guild, mages guild and main story and solo-only which seems odd. Then the silver and gold quests are also solo focused....

what more is needed?

I think there is a huge need for group content...yes?

MMORPG doesn't mean group only content. It must have content for everyone to do. That includes solo content for end game. Other MMOs have it, ESO does not and they need to add it. Or risk losing players in the future and not having older players returning.

The Vet zones where designed to force players into groups and when the players complained and many left is when they nerfed those zones to be done solo without dying on every trash mob of 3 or more. I finished Cadwell's Gold the night before the nerf in June. Before I wasn't able to pull three mobs worth of trash and mow them down. You had to be very careful not to aggro a 2nd mob or die.

This game is off of the single player franchise, which means their biggest group to draw from is forced to group once they get past VR10 zone, finish Cadwell's gold. Majority of these people want to play alone or with a buddy and Craglorn forces you to be in a proper 4-man group or struggle getting the quests done.

I've been around since early access and I still don't have all the quests in Craglorn done. Mostly because I can't find people to do them with, or got a group together and one person got phased out of a dungeon and the group lost someone. It caused me to not complete a quest because the healer got locked out because they had done it already.

This issue is fixed as far as I know, I believe 1.5 fixed this, but I just returned from a 2-month hiatus after 1.5 went live in November. Now, I'm waiting for 1.6 to them so I get champion points.

1.5 was in November, it gave the players 1 vet dungeon. 1.6 is a system reboot adds nothing new, unless you want to call the framework for the justice system new content. I don't. Players into the justice system is going to turn ESO into gankfest.

1.7 hopefully will add something more than writs, dungeon pledges, and one new vet dungeon. It needs to add another zone for players to explore and quest in and if ZoS is smart, this zone will have new 4-man dungeons, new WBs, new delves, new public dungeons, and more quests or even adding Imperial City for the PvPers would be also very welcomed.

They need to add more then 2/3 of a zone(1.1), one dungeon(1.2), fluff(1.3), 1/3 of a zone(1.4), 1 dungeon and dailies(1.5).

eliisra · February 2015

Heruthema wrote: »

Just add some solo content. To date they have added Craglorn which is group and DSA which is group and etc etc. How fair is that after a year of playing the game. It is time they add solo/pve content.

Welcome to the life of a PvP'er. We haven't gotten any new content since launch either. We also have plenty stupid bugs and unintended mechanics, still not fixed after 10+ months.

I do try to see the bigger picture and than it's pretty fair. What's actually new in ESO since launch? The only thing that was missing really, a zone for groups with attached instances. That's why they pushed Craglorn with trials and DSA out first, the game had no endgame group content. While it already had plenty solo content and a gigantic PvP zone.

Other than that, pretty much every major update has been about fixing, re-scaling and balancing the existing game. There's only been new "systems" like dye, scaling or the incoming justice system. Paying to beta-test people say (at least I had fun doing it). But I suspect we wont see any new actual zones or instances, for either solo, groups or PvP, until ZoS spends a few more months establishing and re-designing the current game. They might scale another dungeon or quest-line I guess, but that's about it

Tandor · February 2015

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

You refer to the argument being made that multiplayer games should focus on single-player gameplay , but to be honest I never see that argument nor do I ever make it. I see the argument that multiplayer games should focus on a variety of content and play-styles, including solo, group and raid content, PvE and PvP content, plus other things like crafting and housing.

I see this argument made all the time though.

Right here in this thread I have read posts of people saying they should be able to reach the highest achievements on this game and obtain everything there is by soloing.

I can see just one post in which there is a complaint about the lack of solo content at VR11- VR14 and the lack of best gear for solo players, but if I'm missing any others please let me know. It's certainly valid to ask for a game that provides solo content through 95% of the levelling process to add it for the other 5%, but I don't think you'll find many solo players who expect or demand that they should receive the best gear equivalent to group or raid drops/rewards. For one thing, if they aren't doing the group or raid content they don't need it, and for another thing the option is still there for them to do some group or raid content if they feel the need to get the gear it offers.

There are a lot of solo players who ask for that.

Not in this thread, contrary to what you were claiming earlier - just one here.

Theosis · February 2015

In a game like this we should be able to reach max level in a group or solo. Most people here were fans of the original TES games and those were exclusively solo play.

Many others migrated from other MMOs.

Both should be considered and both should be viable ways to reach max level.

I also think PvP should be a valid way to reach max level.

Heruthema · February 2015

Groups have had their updates with Craglorn, DSA, Trials, etc etc. PvP and PvE need to be the ones up for the next go around. If ZOS wants to balance things, stop nerfing everything around and rebalance the updates you put out with new content/areas/delves/trials, etc for PvP and PvE/solo.
Nothing against grouping, but you got yours early on with the above mentioned areas, the other types of play need some upgrades too.

Jeremy · February 2015

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

You refer to the argument being made that multiplayer games should focus on single-player gameplay , but to be honest I never see that argument nor do I ever make it. I see the argument that multiplayer games should focus on a variety of content and play-styles, including solo, group and raid content, PvE and PvP content, plus other things like crafting and housing.

I see this argument made all the time though.

Right here in this thread I have read posts of people saying they should be able to reach the highest achievements on this game and obtain everything there is by soloing.

I can see just one post in which there is a complaint about the lack of solo content at VR11- VR14 and the lack of best gear for solo players, but if I'm missing any others please let me know. It's certainly valid to ask for a game that provides solo content through 95% of the levelling process to add it for the other 5%, but I don't think you'll find many solo players who expect or demand that they should receive the best gear equivalent to group or raid drops/rewards. For one thing, if they aren't doing the group or raid content they don't need it, and for another thing the option is still there for them to do some group or raid content if they feel the need to get the gear it offers.

There are a lot of solo players who ask for that.

Not in this thread, contrary to what you were claiming earlier - just one here.

Just the fact I can find one here in this small thread in this one instance hints at the fact there are plenty of them out there.

Trust me, there are a lot of solo players out there who don't feel they should have to group up to achieve everything the game as to offer.

WraithAzraiel · February 2015

Dazin93 wrote: »

This game has no future, PvE or otherwise. The smart players realized this and left in the first several months. I wish I had done the same......

What's stopping you?

Jeremy · February 2015

Heruthema wrote: »

Groups have had their updates with Craglorn, DSA, Trials, etc etc. PvP and PvE need to be the ones up for the next go around. If ZOS wants to balance things, stop nerfing everything around and rebalance the updates you put out with new content/areas/delves/trials, etc for PvP and PvE/solo.
Nothing against grouping, but you got yours early on with the above mentioned areas, the other types of play need some upgrades too.

What this game needs to prioritize is it's grouping tools so players can more easily form groups to do the group content that is currently in the game.

Their current group finder sucks. I can sit in it for hours with no result. And that's going to continue to be the noose around this game's neck until they get that fixed.

WraithAzraiel · February 2015

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

You refer to the argument being made that multiplayer games should focus on single-player gameplay , but to be honest I never see that argument nor do I ever make it. I see the argument that multiplayer games should focus on a variety of content and play-styles, including solo, group and raid content, PvE and PvP content, plus other things like crafting and housing.

I see this argument made all the time though.

Right here in this thread I have read posts of people saying they should be able to reach the highest achievements on this game and obtain everything there is by soloing.

I can see just one post in which there is a complaint about the lack of solo content at VR11- VR14 and the lack of best gear for solo players, but if I'm missing any others please let me know. It's certainly valid to ask for a game that provides solo content through 95% of the levelling process to add it for the other 5%, but I don't think you'll find many solo players who expect or demand that they should receive the best gear equivalent to group or raid drops/rewards. For one thing, if they aren't doing the group or raid content they don't need it, and for another thing the option is still there for them to do some group or raid content if they feel the need to get the gear it offers.

There are a lot of solo players who ask for that.

Not in this thread, contrary to what you were claiming earlier - just one here.

Just the fact I can find one here in this small thread in this one instance hints at the fact there are plenty of them out there.

Trust me, there are a lot of solo players out there who don't feel they should have to group up to achieve everything the game as to offer.

Or it hints to the fact that there's a group of them haunting the forums, hoping for any news of more "solo" content and this thread happened to pop up in their search?

There's already 19 zones of solo content. Only 1 zone in which groups are necessary. (2 if you count Cyrodiil)

If anything this game's scales are tipped in favor of solo players. Not the other way around.

The solo community is just peeved off because they've seen all there is to see by themselves. They want more stuff to see by themselves.

They NEED patience, and some friends. There's plenty more of the game they haven't experienced because of their refusal to group.

It's not a ZOS problem, it's a THEM problem. The content's there, whether or not they partake of it is nobody's problem but their own.

Robbmrp · February 2015

ZOS_TristanK wrote: »

Hey, @jelliedsoup. We definitely have plans for more content both for groups and solo-players. At QuakeCon 2014, we showed off Wrothgar for the first time, which will be a solo PvE zone. You can check it out on youtube here.

We showed off some of the other planned DLC in a recent episode of ESO Live, which you can catch here. We'll have more details about each zone later on!

Hello ZOS_TristanK, we will still be able to group with friends to quest with in Wrothgar correct? A four person group will not be required though like a lot of the Craglorn content.

Jeremy · February 2015

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

You refer to the argument being made that multiplayer games should focus on single-player gameplay , but to be honest I never see that argument nor do I ever make it. I see the argument that multiplayer games should focus on a variety of content and play-styles, including solo, group and raid content, PvE and PvP content, plus other things like crafting and housing.

I see this argument made all the time though.

Right here in this thread I have read posts of people saying they should be able to reach the highest achievements on this game and obtain everything there is by soloing.

I can see just one post in which there is a complaint about the lack of solo content at VR11- VR14 and the lack of best gear for solo players, but if I'm missing any others please let me know. It's certainly valid to ask for a game that provides solo content through 95% of the levelling process to add it for the other 5%, but I don't think you'll find many solo players who expect or demand that they should receive the best gear equivalent to group or raid drops/rewards. For one thing, if they aren't doing the group or raid content they don't need it, and for another thing the option is still there for them to do some group or raid content if they feel the need to get the gear it offers.

There are a lot of solo players who ask for that.

Not in this thread, contrary to what you were claiming earlier - just one here.

Just the fact I can find one here in this small thread in this one instance hints at the fact there are plenty of them out there.

Trust me, there are a lot of solo players out there who don't feel they should have to group up to achieve everything the game as to offer.

Or it hints to the fact that there's a group of them haunting the forums, hoping for any news of more "solo" content and this thread happened to pop up in their search?

There's already 19 zones of solo content. Only 1 zone in which groups are necessary. (2 if you count Cyrodiil)

If anything this game's scales are tipped in favor of solo players. Not the other way around.

The solo community is just peeved off because they've seen all there is to see by themselves. They want more stuff to see by themselves.

They NEED patience, and some friends. There's plenty more of the game they haven't experienced because of their refusal to group.

It's not a ZOS problem, it's a THEM problem. The content's there, whether or not they partake of it is nobody's problem but their own.

I agree with you that this game offers plenty of content for solo players. In fact: it has the best solo player experience of any MMORPG I have played. And I've played a lot of them.

But the multiplayer tools on this game are weak and ineffective. I have been trying for days now to get into a dungeon using the in-game group finder and have yet to have any success at it.

So in that context - it's easy to understand why people would prefer them to add more solo content rather group content. Because content you can't really access or experience doesn't really do you much good.

So while I'm all for adding more group content - I think they would be wise to figure out a way to make it more accessible first and improve upon the current tools. I think if they did that: you would see less people hostile to the idea of content aimed specifically at groups.

UrQuan · February 2015

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Response:
But its not a single player game. The game literally requires anyone to log into a mega server with others just to play it. Just because TES was a solo only game doesn't mean that this should follow as its not TES 6

You completely missed my point when I was talking about the whole "but it's not a single player game" argument. I'm not saying that it is a single player game, or that it should be treated as if it is. I'm saying that it's actually a complete non sequitur to say "but it's not a single player game". The fact that it's not a single player game has literally nothing to do with whether there should be solo content.

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Response:
Is this an opinion or a fact? I think its an opinion as a large number of MMO's are targeting an audience who wants to play online in a world full of other players.

Again you managed to completely miss my point. Whether MMOs target an audience who wants to play online in a world full of other players has exactly nothing to do with whether the player base of MMOs spends a lot of their time playing solo. How many MMO players do you know who spend all of their game time playing in a group? The vast majority spend at least some time playing solo (even if it's just farming, or killing time while waiting for people to come online). Some spend their entire time playing solo, others spend most of their time playing solo and some in groups, and still others spend most of their time playing in groups and some time solo. It's only a very small minority of MMO players who doesn't ever play solo.

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Response:
That is fine but as far as content needs...currently its heavily slated to solo play. Also because of this, those who prefer solo play are running out of content. The PvP campaings also provide A LOT of replay value but playing alone can be dangerous in Cyrodil

The leveling content is heavily slated to solo play. There's basically nothing to do for solo play at endgame. Both leveling and end-game should have a decent mix of solo and group content.

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

I just don't think that adding more solo content is the answer.

You're wrong. At least, you're partially wrong. You're also partially right

Adding more solo content alone isn't the answer. Adding a mix of solo and group content is the answer. Ideally it would be nice if content (and by this I mostly mean dungeons, but there could be other ways to do this too) could be added that would scale in difficulty based on the number of players, as well as level. Maybe each encounter has X number of mobs per player, and each boss has hp scaled based on the number of players.

Heck, have different categories of nice end-game loot drop depending on how many people are playing through it. A solo player may get a blue drop, a group player may get the same drop as a purple, and a player in a large group may get it as a gold. Or maybe different items entirely rather than different quality would make more sense. I'm all for making the group end-game rewards somewhat better than solo end-game rewards, but have something for everyone - including the primarily group player who wants to play something end-game but is temporarily having trouble finding a group!

Of course, what I think ESO needs the most right now is not PVE solo content, or PVE group content. I think ESO needs more PVP content. I mean, I don't PVP myself, but there really hasn't been anything substantially new for PVP since launch.

Oh, and a quick note for clarity: in this post when I talk about solo content, I'm not talking about solo-only content like the main quest and guild quests - I'm talking about content that can be done in a group if you like, but which can be fairly easily completed solo.

UrQuan · February 2015

Jeremy wrote: »

Right here in this thread I have read posts of people saying they should be able to reach the highest achievements on this game and obtain everything there is by soloing.

Really? Please quote these posts, because I just read the entire thread, and I didn't see anyone saying that.

The closest I found was one post where someone wanted to be able to have challenging end-game solo content and rewards on par with the rewards for challenging end-game group content. That's a very long way from your claim that people are saying that they should be able to reach the highest achievements on this game and obtain everything there is by soloing.

Tomg999 · February 2015

This really is a stupid thread. ESO wants to be both, as it says on the box, and obviously tries to be both. I understand players advocating for the prioritization of whichever part they like (solo or group), so that with the often limited resources and time constraints the stuff you want comes out first. But it seems really dumb (imho) to advocate for the elimination of the "other side", or argue that they are incorrect about what the game "really" is.
Wouldn't it be cool if ESO was successful, and all of the group-lovin' MMO folks got all of the content they wanted & a bunch of well maintained servers and excellent support, half of which is being paid for by solo PVE Elder Scrolls fans running around in some other instance? And vice versa?
To me, folks doing stuff I'm not interested in are helping to support the stuff I am interested in, both through their payments (whatever the system) and the economies of scale available when more folks are customers.

WraithAzraiel · February 2015

Jeremy wrote: »

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

You refer to the argument being made that multiplayer games should focus on single-player gameplay , but to be honest I never see that argument nor do I ever make it. I see the argument that multiplayer games should focus on a variety of content and play-styles, including solo, group and raid content, PvE and PvP content, plus other things like crafting and housing.

I see this argument made all the time though.

Right here in this thread I have read posts of people saying they should be able to reach the highest achievements on this game and obtain everything there is by soloing.

I can see just one post in which there is a complaint about the lack of solo content at VR11- VR14 and the lack of best gear for solo players, but if I'm missing any others please let me know. It's certainly valid to ask for a game that provides solo content through 95% of the levelling process to add it for the other 5%, but I don't think you'll find many solo players who expect or demand that they should receive the best gear equivalent to group or raid drops/rewards. For one thing, if they aren't doing the group or raid content they don't need it, and for another thing the option is still there for them to do some group or raid content if they feel the need to get the gear it offers.

There are a lot of solo players who ask for that.

Not in this thread, contrary to what you were claiming earlier - just one here.

Just the fact I can find one here in this small thread in this one instance hints at the fact there are plenty of them out there.

Trust me, there are a lot of solo players out there who don't feel they should have to group up to achieve everything the game as to offer.

Or it hints to the fact that there's a group of them haunting the forums, hoping for any news of more "solo" content and this thread happened to pop up in their search?

There's already 19 zones of solo content. Only 1 zone in which groups are necessary. (2 if you count Cyrodiil)

If anything this game's scales are tipped in favor of solo players. Not the other way around.

The solo community is just peeved off because they've seen all there is to see by themselves. They want more stuff to see by themselves.

They NEED patience, and some friends. There's plenty more of the game they haven't experienced because of their refusal to group.

It's not a ZOS problem, it's a THEM problem. The content's there, whether or not they partake of it is nobody's problem but their own.

I agree with you that this game offers plenty of content for solo players. In fact: it has the best solo player experience of any MMORPG I have played. And I've played a lot of them.

But the multiplayer tools on this game are weak and ineffective. I have been trying for days now to get into a dungeon using the in-game group finder and have yet to have any success at it.

So in that context - it's easy to understand why people would prefer them to add more solo content rather group content. Because content you can't really access or experience doesn't really do you much good.

So while I'm all for adding more group content - I think they would be wise to figure out a way to make it more accessible first and improve upon the current tools. I think if they did that: you would see less people hostile to the idea of content aimed specifically at groups.

Oh I wholeheartedly agree with you.

The guild system needs to be more robust. The LFG tool is practically useless, to the point where I've never even attempted to use it.

I just hope they release stuff on a 1:1 ratio for Solo and Group.

Craglorn was an okay start. They already stated Wrothgar was going to be a solo-PvE instance, even rumored that it might be cross-faction. Orsinium and the Clockwork City might be group zones, also hopefully cross-faction.

At this point, it's "hurry up and wait".

CoasterGDO · February 2015

I'm glad that there is more solo-able PVE content coming. It would be nice to broaden the solo-able PVP quests a bit also. Group content is full up right now, so it should be all good for them, but after bumping solo in PVE and PVP, bump group also. Then just keep rotating...

The key here is--can you reach max level in your chosen style of play? Clearly, there is no problem doing that in the group zones. If you're solo though, you've got one long grind ahead after V10-11 and you better include some PVP quests whether you like it or not if you expect to finish within your natural life. So there's some work to do, and it's being done, so we'll see how it goes. I think they know how to get it right, and they will. There are never enough resources to produce all the content we want right now, and never will be.

Now to the "this is an MMO!!!" crowd:

The vast majority of players here I would assume, have come to this game after playing the Elder Scrolls story for almost 20 years. We've been waiting a long time to play this story out with more than just ourselves and NPCs. That does not mean that we want to be forced to group with the population, just interact with them, group if we want, pug if we want, trade if we want, or just watch them all doing their own thing. We know what this game is supposed to be--we've been waiting and asking for it for 20 years. This game is not like any other MMO. You can define any other MMO any way you like but on this one, I think I'll side with the people that have been playing ES longer than a good portion of you all have been alive. Multiplayer is just multiple players, not multiple players in a group.

Grouping should not be mandatory for progression, I don't care what other game does it. It should certainly be available but not offer huge advantages to progression over those who solo or co-op outside of the zones. Cool gear is OK, so long as you remember to sell it to us.

Tomg999 · February 2015

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

I just hope they release stuff on a 1:1 ratio for Solo and Group.

Yes. Or as close as possible.

WhiteTigre · February 2015

@Zos

This is my 2nd MMO I have played so I am very green at this.I also play SWTOR, I do not know if you guys have ever seen it or played it etc. But anyway once you achieved high levels in the game there are so many dailies that it can take up to 4 or 5 hours in night to do. What they do is there is a lot of solo pve areas and each area has one or 2 dungeons which are meant to be grouped. Once the daily is completed one is rewards with cash plus some points which are used to buy gear

So its really a nice mix.
I hope you guys develop similar approach so that everyone can play the dailies and farm mats and get rewards for completing the dailies.

Just asuggestion

Tandor · February 2015

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

You refer to the argument being made that multiplayer games should focus on single-player gameplay , but to be honest I never see that argument nor do I ever make it. I see the argument that multiplayer games should focus on a variety of content and play-styles, including solo, group and raid content, PvE and PvP content, plus other things like crafting and housing.

I see this argument made all the time though.

Right here in this thread I have read posts of people saying they should be able to reach the highest achievements on this game and obtain everything there is by soloing.

I can see just one post in which there is a complaint about the lack of solo content at VR11- VR14 and the lack of best gear for solo players, but if I'm missing any others please let me know. It's certainly valid to ask for a game that provides solo content through 95% of the levelling process to add it for the other 5%, but I don't think you'll find many solo players who expect or demand that they should receive the best gear equivalent to group or raid drops/rewards. For one thing, if they aren't doing the group or raid content they don't need it, and for another thing the option is still there for them to do some group or raid content if they feel the need to get the gear it offers.

There are a lot of solo players who ask for that.

Not in this thread, contrary to what you were claiming earlier - just one here.

Just the fact I can find one here in this small thread in this one instance hints at the fact there are plenty of them out there.

Trust me, there are a lot of solo players out there who don't feel they should have to group up to achieve everything the game as to offer.

No, the fact that you can only find one post to support your reference to multiple posts in this thread shows that I can't trust you at all. You're making an assertion that you simply can't support.

I see this argument that soloers want everything a multiplayer game offers all the time, and it simply isn't true beyond a tiny minority of soloers - just one in the case of this thread.

ahstin2001nub18_ESO · February 2015

Heruthema wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

Heruthema wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

Heruthema wrote: »

Just add some solo content. To date they have added Craglorn which is group and DSA which is group and etc etc. How fair is that after a year of playing the game. It is time they add solo/pve content.

Most MMOs primarily add group content in updates. It's only expansion packs that usually add solo content.

And your point is? Add solo content I do not care if it is called expansion or update.

My point is that this is an MMO on an MMO update schedule. Expansion packs tend to not release as frequently as updates, which is why there tend to be longer dry patches without solo content.

As you've already heard, they have new zones specifically designed for solo play in development. I was simply explaining why you would see more group content released in an MMO setting (hint: it's because of the second "M" in MMO).

Again mmo does not mean group. It just means a lot of people are playing in the same environment. It never did nor never will mean group.

no, you are absolutely wrong about that. EQ was only playable in a group for a LONG time and i think it still largely is based around groups. yeah there were classes that could solo, but not many, and it sure wasn't efficient. don't use wow and the clones to make you think that MMOs weren't about group play. i like being able to solo, but its hogwash to act like an MMO isn't about group play.... then again people think WoW should be the poster child of what MMOs should be: made by fisher-price for ages 3 and up.

Vahrokh · February 2015

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

There's already 19 zones of solo content. Only 1 zone in which groups are necessary. (2 if you count Cyrodiil)

If anything this game's scales are tipped in favor of solo players. Not the other way around.

The solo community is just peeved off because they've seen all there is to see by themselves. They want more stuff to see by themselves.

They NEED patience, and some friends. There's plenty more of the game they haven't experienced because of their refusal to group.

It's not a ZOS problem, it's a THEM problem. The content's there, whether or not they partake of it is nobody's problem but their own.

It's not players / customers fault for ZoS shortcomings.

If Blizzard announced a MMO version of StarCraft, they know VERY well a big portion of the playerbase would play it for the PvP but there's also millions who purchase it because of the storylines. Imagine Blizzard would then release a StarCraft MMO that does not cater neither to PvPers nor to story-line players. That would have been a massive flop, because Blizzard would have had the demographics clearly showing them who would purchase their MMO and still failed to produce a software matching their playerbase.

Now back to ESO: ZoS KNEW very well who their customers were: TES series players. Then ZoS started advertising their "new DAoC" PvP features.

What did they do? They made just 1/3 of the game progression (pre VR) appetible to the most strict TES players while still enforcing closed zones / regions (something TES games don't have).
Then they implemented a zerg-aholic, laggy, buggy, imbalanced PvP.

That would have has been a massive flop, because Blizzard ZoS would have had the demographics clearly showing them who would purchase their MMO and still failed to produce a software matching their playerbase

TES players are ENTIRELY entitled asking "more of the same" because ZoS certainly did not put out massive warning signs telling ESO was just a "TES textures only" MMO.
PvPers are ENTIRELY entitled asking their DAoC game, because ZoS certainly did not put out massive warning signs telling ESO PvP was just a "DAoC vaguely flavoured only" PvP game.