Grouping - Does the game not encourage grouping or are players not interested ???

moxiesauce · July 2014

The game doesnt offer enough grouping opportunities

I think it's just the hassle, ZoS is aware clearly from the interviews and such. Group play will be much better once things are implemented.

zhevon · July 2014

Both

People keep talking about incentives...

Between normal questing and a little mat gathering (nothing extreme here) I am perpetually overleveled period. I try to run through the group dungeon once while I am in a zone. I really tried - but now I will miss my current zone, I am so overleveled I will get no drops. ZoS has to make it worth our time for everybody; even if its just for mats.

Give us incentives by widening the drop levels where drop limits are allowed and where the group finder will work. 5 is not adequate in the normal levels. Also allow stragglers/explorers to explore after everyone else has left has finished the group instance. Last time I was involved in a group dungeon I lingered behind to see if I missed anything - I was booted out of the dungeon.

Ltankb14_ESO · July 2014

Players don't want to group

People in general don't want to group. I don't want to be beholden to someone else during general questing. I want to enjoy listening to voiceovers without worrying about whether they skip it. I don't want to worry about who saw a locked chest first or an ore node. I don't want to trivialize content designed for single players either. I sometimes group for world bosses if I can't solo it, dolmens and dungeons and PvP. That is sufficient.

SirAndy · July 2014

Both

darkmadman187 wrote: »

Does the game not encourage grouping or are players not interested ???

Yes ... ;-)

stefanosbekrwb17_ESO · July 2014

The game doesnt offer enough grouping opportunities

Sorry to insult the majority of people here. But buying an mmo and expecting that you are able to solo it is just stupid.

Tubben · July 2014

Other (Please Explain)

For me TESO is an Singleplayer game 98% of the time. But i am only 38 currently.

ebondeath · July 2014

Players don't want to group

I don't speak for anyone else, but I am rabidly anti-social when it comes to grouping. Oh, I'm friendly enough in guild chat, but I don't like grouping with people unless I absolutely have no other choice (like grinding out VR11-12).

Yeah, I know. "Why do you play mmos then?" Because I like having the rest of you around as white noise and the world feels more alive. My parents aren't super thrilled with my hermit-ism either.

Obscure · July 2014

Both

I've solo'd my way through most all the open world PvE content (quests, world bosses, dolmens, etc.) through VR10. I never grouped because I never needed to, and I use a medium armor bow+DW spec, markedly sub optimal next to dress and sticks. Why bother making an easy game easier by grouping? No thanks. At least when it's just me there's a chance I'll screw up and die... though even then I often over agro or run around naked just for kicks.

For group dungeons I just follow the mechanics, do my job, and get it done. Some are always challenging, others are rendered easy once you've learned the mechanics. In either case a they aren't particularly rewarding to do more than once just to experience having done them.

Grouping in PvP is however much more necessary, at least if you want to achieve anything significant. Though with the dynamic that exists right now, there's not really much point in being competitive as it's mostly just filled with emperor trading and AP farming.

In the end grouping in ESO isn't really that important, and for an MMO is not very social. I have yet to even open the LFG tool and exclusively group with players I know or big raids advertised in PvP for objectives I'm interested in. PuG fail me once shame on you, PuG fail me twice shame on me.

MercyKilling · July 2014

Both

It's probably a little bit of both. It seems to be this: "Sure, it's nice to group, but I can't be bothered and people are such ***hats anyway." or "I don't have much time today, so it wouldn't be fair to others to group for that short a time."

I also think the game doesn't encourage grouping. One of the best MMO's I've ever played used to offer increased XP gains for grouping....on top of increased XP for doing missions and not just "street sweeping".

Ltankb14_ESO · July 2014

Players don't want to group

stefanosbekrwb17_ESO wrote: »

Sorry to insult the majority of people here. But buying an mmo and expecting that you are able to solo it is just stupid.

Not really. I've soloed in MMO's since Ultima Online. I generally only group for dungeons and group PvP. As someone else stated, it's still nice seeing other players going about their business in the world even if I am not interacting with them.

Dubah · July 2014

Other (Please Explain)

I personally wouldn't say people dont want to group, my problem with the system is there is absolutely very little reason to group. Hopefully that will change soon. The problem with the system is there is almost no exp offered in dungeons which is a main reason to group also the loot in the dungeons just sucks something really bad... TBH the only real reason to group is to do dungeons getting the skill point quests done and the veteran dungeon achievements other than that i wouldn't do it

AdamBourke · July 2014

Players don't want to group

I think a lot of people came here because it was an elder scrolls game, not because it was an mmo.

That's the main reason I started playing, although after watching The Guild webseries - I've wanted to start playing an mmo. So personally, I've given grouping a go and found that not only is it fun, it feels more rewarding.

I think the public dungeons in particular DO encourage grouping, as if you're at the level of the zone, or even slightly above, you basically just die in there.

The world group bosses don't really encourage grouping, as you can normally take them out quite easily alone if you're about the same level and have some skill and patience.

Dark Anchors are much more fun with lots of people around. It's not formal grouping - but it's pretty exciting :-).

It would be good to see a whole zone questline best-suited to four person groups. Not in the sense that its best played in the same group the whole way through, but in the sense that it;s the same kind of difficulty as a public dungeon.

I don't know if this happens in craglorn - I'm not there yet - but from what i've heard it doesn't really sound like it?

Cyberdown · July 2014

Look there are plenty of grouping opportunities.

The game however, seems to be more fun 1-50 soloing for a majority of it. You don't want to be tied down to a group, then see some lady smock off in the distance, run to it, then see a metal node...why not..then look a kwama mine...don't mind if I do...ok my inventory is full back to town...wait I was in a group a few hours ago wasn't I?

I know the OP and people like him are wanting content that is group required. In the open world perhaps. I hate that. I hate stumbling across an enemy NPC town or outpost and its going to require me to come back with 4 people or get slaughtered...that's part of the map I cant access now because of some arbitrary requirement.

Then I look at the games public dungeons. Empty aside from skyshard racers and high level players hitting the skyshard or doing an achievement...

People don't really want the group work we have currently it appears.

Also I kind of dislike the instanced dungeons. They are fun don't get me wrong...but its a clusterfck...

theres no precise aiming (I remember the call to hit the left mob, then the right, then the boss..which wasn't possible within seconds of pulling since everyone was everywhere and adds were spawning) and the groups are constrained to a "this really is your first mmorpg isn't it?" group of 4 with 2 DPS per healer/tank...you need to either have a population of several million or you need to thin out the guaranteed massive surplus of DPS to tank/heals by padding more DPS in a group.

So instanced dungeons are pretty damn hard to find groups for (ones that work don't count the times I get a Templar who goes "sorry not sepcced for heals" which is always.

Look this game works best as a semi-solo leveling experience...pvp looks to be fantasic so long as they don't wreck it with aoe caps....why not work with what the game does well vs trying to shoe horn in content that isn't this games strong point.

GnatB · July 2014

Other (Please Explain)

In my opinion, the majority of the game actively discourages grouping. Trying to play the game grouped is practically painful.

Everybody has to do the conversations separately, and it's not obvious when any particular person is done.

Group members can choose different options in quests, ending up needing to accomplish objectives in different order.

No radar or anything, so group leader has to frequently turn to make sure everybody is keeping up. (Minimap addons help, but even so position of group members seems to be buggy, though I think I read they fixed that some. Haven't really tried grouping all that recently though)

Forced solo instances.

Muletide · July 2014

Other (Please Explain)

I feel there is a lack of incentive when it comes to group content. You do something once to get the achievements and there is really no need to return. As much as I love the crafting in ESO, it really kills the need for dropped loot crawls.

Something I think is cool and enjoy are Neverwinter's event mechanics. Every 30 -60 minutes events cycle that relate to Dungeons, PVP, or Skirmishes that give a bonus once completed in the time frame (xp, loot, currency, etc). I feel this opens windows that promote different grouped game play.

As much as I've hated on faction/token grinds on other MMOs, I can see it as a necessary evil that promotes re-play. It would be nice to collect tokens from dungeons and other grouped content that can be used to purchase crafting supplies, motifs, mounts, trophies, BANK/BAG SPACE.

Black_Wolf88 · July 2014

Other (Please Explain)

you have a choice to group up or not. its not like the game do not encourage grouping.

its more like there is no need to group up as you can do group content, except from the group dungeons, solo / several people killing and attacking together without grouping up and all receive the rewards in the end,

I have grouped up plenty of times going trough all kinds of content in a group and its not really a problem, and a lot easier now after they updated group leader icon. even easier if those in the group is friends whom you speak to using teamspeak or another program like it.

so imo its more about the players being lazy or not interested rather than not being encouraged.

Natjur · July 2014

Both

Craglorn quests can be repeated daily, but this means all members have to be on the same stage to allow a player to enter a given instance.

This breaks a lot of things in Craglorn, some of the quest chains are very long and if you have done them once, you do not want to do the whole chain again just so you can zone in with someone and help them on the last stage they are on.

If they change it so if you have completed a quest, you are still allowed to 're-enter' to help someone else out without having to redo all the quests before hand, this will fix most of Craglorn quest lines

Tavore1138 · July 2014

Other (Please Explain)

I would like to group more but as a first time MMO player I find:

1. Grouping tools suck.
2. I often can't group for some content.
3. Now I have reached vet levels most groups seem to be made up from guilds who have known each other across many years & MMOs and do not welcome newcomers.
4. If you have the 'wrong' build people will not group even when you can play it in a useful and viable way.

Don't get me wrong, I have done some fun grouping both from group/public dungeons and informal stuff in PvE and PvP areas.

But overall the people who know grouping are not interested in mixing with new folks and us new folks aren't yet used to ways to form our own groups.

enem · July 2014

Other (Please Explain)

being locked out of quests and areas due to mismatched progression makes Grouping a right p.i.t.a.

I cannot count the amount of times I have grouped to help friends and randoms out, only to be blocked by a phasing or progression misalignment. Even when we're starting a quest chain together we have to be in constant communication about choices or else we effectively have to solo it due to phasing.

for me the Quest mechanism is just not Group friendly enough to want to bother.

Natjur · July 2014

Both

Looking at the LFG tool and seeing who is in the LFG ques (change your flag to all three tank\healer\dps) 90% are dps.

As dps is easy (don't stand in the red stuff, don't get aggro) 90% of new players don't feel up for tanking or healing. (Tanks and healers get the blame)

Healing is easy as the heals auto target, the only hard part is not over healing and getting healer aggro, or running out of mana. If your group is good, this is never an issue. If you have to burn all your mana on the full pull, give up then as you will never be able to heal that group on the bosses.

Now tanking is not really hard, just takes time to learn a fight and most players are happy to wipe once or twice on a new boss to learn the 'waves'.

The reason why most groups go with guild mates, is cause they can 'test' new builds, give healing or tanking ago and know the other members will not blame or hassle them. Also using team speak does make boss battles a lot easier.

But if you do go on random groups, please take some soul stones and potions with you. This is my pet hate when we have almost downed the boss, and the dps have no soul stones to get another player back up or a mana potions so they can keep damaging.

Revanslave · July 2014

Both

ThePageMaster wrote: »

I invite people on the same quest as me to group all the time. They complete the quest with my help, say nothing and then dissipate quietly. It's as if they were never there.

It can work...there are so many that don't bother with it though.

I'm curious. I do this but I don't really think about it. Kind of seems like a mutual agreement to go our own way. Does this bother people when it happens? I always accept groups request because , why not? But i do leave immediately.

Audigy · July 2014

Other (Please Explain)

Players simply put never learn how to group. While its an essential feature of an MMO, if not taught in advance it will not be done.

We saw this very well at WOW, back at Vanilla you had to group in each zone at least once due the Elite Quests. Therefore nobody had any issues finding a guild, raid or dungeon group.

With WOTLK the Elite quests were removed and instantly people had issues finding a guild, raid or dungeon group. Because of this they cried for even more solo content and that's when LFR and co came in.

ESO is sadly in the same situation now. From 1-50 you never have to interact with another player, therefore it was like a shock for many that they had to play with someone in the VR zones to defeat world bosses etc.

Right now ZO is releasing a lot of group based content for max level, but they forget to teach people earlier in the game about grouping mechanics. Therefore the content at max level will hardly be used by anyone, except those already in guilds.

I wish an MMO company would be wise and brave enough to offer grouping mechanics right from level one on. People can pick those opportunities or not - but at least they would have a realistic chance at learning one of the essentials in MMOs.

david271749 · July 2014

Both

I like to group for world bosses and dolmens, but grouping for dungeons can get frustrating. The group finder is not in good shape. I haven't touched Craglorn yet, because I'm not a min max player. I doubt I'll go there for a while.

SFBryan18 · July 2014

Other (Please Explain)

There are a few issues with grouping...
1. There is barely any reward for following another player around and watching him talk to NPC's.
2. Depending on the players level, following a friend is either too hard or too easy.
3. The actual group dungeons require at least three players. Not hard to find in zone chat, but once you find them and complete the dungeons, you part ways and continue to play solo.
4. Using a chat box doesn't feel much like you're talking to a person. For actual friends, we use third party software like Skype for voice chat, but grouping with randoms doesn't give you much of a reason to add them as a friend.
5. Depending on the time of day, some areas can be pretty empty when it's late.

amm7sb14_ESO · July 2014

For me I think it's a bit of both.

The things that offer the real experience are designed for solo players.

The things that encourage grouping don't give the best experience. Once you've done a group dungeon quest, you can't do it again, so replaying the dungeon offers minimal experience and rewards, thus discouraging grouping.

Why waste an hour + doing a group dungeon for minimal XP when you can spend that same time doing solo quests and probably get yourself a level, and multiple skill points?

And parts of the solo questing that would benefit from a group, people don't seem interested in doing. I needed help taking out a quest boss that I was struggling with, and ended up waiting about an hour to finally find someone who was willing to help.

Falmer · July 2014

Both

Going Both.

1) Most TES fans are used to single player games, hence most ESO players want to play it like a single player game. Nothing wrong with that.

2) Actually grouping up isn't a necessity in this game. You can team up with other players to take down a world boss or make your way through a public dungeon without ever 'officially' grouping.

Sethowar · July 2014

The game doesnt offer enough grouping opportunities

Grouping is difficult, especially in later stages of the game when there are less people running around. And if you happen to find somebody who wants to group the chance of you having more areas you are both up to and haven't completed is slim.

Also I did some cyrodiil as soon as I hit vr1, and have been over levelled ever since. Now I'm unable to use the auto-grouping mechanic for the zone I'm in, which makes it even harder to find groups.

I definitely feel its just that grouping is poorly supported and awkward rather than people avoiding groups.

JessieColt · July 2014

Players don't want to group

darkmadman187 wrote: »

BBSooner wrote: »

I wouldn't mind more areas in the general 1-50 that were especially difficult solo and would reward grouping. But that's kind of a pipedream.

There is.... group dungeons, dolmens, world bosses are almost impossible to defeat solo unless you come back when seriously overlevelled. This is what I'm not understanding theres all these challenges that REQUIRE a group but people aren't grouping.

Because while it requires multiple people to quickly defeat the enemies, being in an actual "group" is not required.

Unless you are going into an instanced group dungeon, there is no need to "group" with anyone. You can just show up, wait around, and jump in.

Personally, I like this style of play. I may or may not be doing something else. I may or may not be called away in the middle.

Not being forced to "group" up with others in order to play and participate in an activity that is best done with others is a huge plus for me with this game.

Zhentarion · July 2014

Other (Please Explain)

When you run alone its its not That easy But when you grp you will Train it all verry boring

timidobserver · July 2014

Players don't want to group

A major component of this is the growing use of voice chat clients. Some players, for whatever reason, are just appalled at the idea of even just listening without having to talk at all.

Also, I am finding that ESO has more anti-social players than most other MMO's I've played. Other players just break their immersion.