Player Retention - Focus on Group Play

SilverBride

WrathOfInnos wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

WrathOfInnos wrote: »

I'm surprised by all the anti-group comments. We all start out as solo players, typically playing through the main quests as well as overland and guild quests, but I would have thought most have some friends or guilds they play with if they've been around a while. What do long-term solo players do? A few hours of new quests every 6 months does not seem like enough, and you can only do solo arenas so many times before they become dull. Some do housing, but I don't imagine that being much fun without friends or guildies to show. Writs and other daily quests seem like a mind-numbing activity to be repeating thousands of times.

I guess I figured that most multi-year players had some community engagement, and that a majority of them would be doing some form of end game group content: Cyrodiil, IC, BG's, dungeons, arenas or trials (normal or vet). I'm sure I'd be long gone if ESO had only solo content, or best case would play for about a week after a new expansion launch.

I find it very presumptuous to assume that people who play solo don't have any friends. I have a lot of friends in game and am active in my guild.

I am currently working on finishing every quest in every zone on my 4th character which has taken over a year so far and I'm still not finished. And when there are new Chapters and DLCs I complete them on all my characters.

I have also decorated 21 houses and am sure there will be more, and me and my friends are always checking out each other's homes offering advice and stealing each other's good ideas. And all my homes are listed as open houses with the EHT community so others can visit them any time they wish.

A few times I've done Dragonstar Arena with a friend to level our Companions, or run back to back Fungal Grotto for endeavors because it goes faster when we pair up. I've also recently run around Cyrodiil with a friend and had a lot of fun. But in general I just don't care for activities that require groups.

Enjoying playing my game my own way in my own time does not make me antisocial and friendless.

@SilverBride I think we have a misunderstanding here. If you are active in guilds and playing with friends, doing Dragonstar, Fungal Grotto or housing, that is not solo play by my definition. That is the type of repeatable group content we need more of. It is these activities that make the game strong.

I'm happy with the recent statement that the devs will focus less on solo quests and more on repeatable content. Hopefully this means fun group activities and not more daily grinds like writs and guild quests.

I rarely do Dragonstar Arena and have only done it a few times to level my Companions. Sometimes I ran it with a friend, sometimes I solo'd it, but I find it tedious at best. And running Fungal Grotto to get the "Do this many dungeons" endeavor is also something I dread, but it's the quickest so that's why I choose it.

LanteanPegasus

@topic:
Well, I don't know what the majority is. But no, not all people log into ESO for the "multiplayer experience". There are people like me (and my husband) who were just tired of waiting for a new single player TES (and liked Skyrim the least of all the series, so wouldn't play that one ad nauseam). It took quite a bit of convincing by friends that this MMO was indeed not dependent on playing with others, and really had to offer lots of story quests, not tons of repeatable group stuff to bring us here. And no, we don't even play it together the majority of the time.

WrathOfInnos wrote: »

I'm surprised by all the anti-group comments. We all start out as solo players, typically playing through the main quests as well as overland and guild quests, but I would have thought most have some friends or guilds they play with if they've been around a while. What do long-term solo players do? [snip]
I guess I figured that most multi-year players had some community engagement, and that a majority of them would be doing some form of end game group content: Cyrodiil, IC, BG's, dungeons, arenas or trials (normal or vet). I'm sure I'd be long gone if ESO had only solo content, or best case would play for about a week after a new expansion launch.

I'm here since 2016, and I joined two guilds. One that explicitly offered a relaxed, casual "no strings attached" membership and a guild trader. And later one with a better trader spot, strictly for trading.
I only group if people from my relaxed guild or in zone chat look for help/event cooperation, or spontaneously in IC/Cyrodiil during events (usually don't do any PvP), seldom with some real life friends to do the story of the dungeons (those are the only times I use Discord).
So, now and then I spontaneously group with people. We do whatever we headed out to do, text chat a bit while doing it, have a nice time, then go our separate ways.
I have no time,. no inclination, and no nerve to make any social commitments in a computer game. I want to play the game when I want, in the way I want, for as long as I want (somewhere between 10 mins and 6+ hours a day). And I'm there to play, not to chat with people. I'm not averse to a casual conversation in zone chat, or explaining things to newbies who ask, and helping them out. But I don't need and want people to "hang out with", instead of using my limited play time to actually do game things.
And as to the things I do... No BGs, no trials, no vet dungeons, seldom dungeons, IC/Cyrodiil only during events, almost never arenas. I play all the story content. Explore the zones. Read books I encounter (if I like them). Finishing a zone really thoroughly, all things included but high-end group stuff (like trials), takes a lot more time than just "a few hours" of questing. And I actually listen to most quest dialogue, not skip-skip-skip my way through it.
Aside from finishing the stuff represented by the "zone guides" I chase the leads for antiquities I like (mostly furnishings and cosmetics). Work on catching fish. Repeat dailies on and off for zone motifs (only those that actually drop, though, and usually buy the last one or two missing pages) and furnishing plans. Decorate my house(s). Go on collecting sprees now and then (surveys and treasure chest maps). Run a public dungeon for fragments of some thing if I'm in the mood once in a blue moon (at the moment for the mummified alfiq). Do event quests to get the tickets and/or event rewards.
So far I found enough to do without repeating things over and over again.
To be clear: This is not an "anti-group" statement. People who like grouping, or hanging out in the game with friends, or whatever - I wish them the best of fun. Go for it! They just shouldn't assume that all multi-year players want to play that way, or that it's the only way to "kill time" in ESO.

FeedbackOnly

A group binder for world events would help this cause without limiting against others