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

Anastasia · August 2014

The game doesnt offer enough grouping opportunities

Soloeus wrote: »

Anastasia wrote: »

Soloeus wrote: »

To add some context to my posts, I started this game with 5 RL's and we all Solo'd about our ways. We were happy. Then, as we reached the level 40 range, people began to quit (mostly due to disdain with game design choices). Overall, we grouped for the group dungeons, dolmens and world bosses. We didn't grind together.

By the time I completed Coldharbour, we were down to 3 and I was lead. I am still lead and now we are down to 2.

The other hasn't logged in (even for hirelings) in 11 days.

I had no reason to deal with others that much, and frankly I don't like to. I don't like the frantic pace of Craglorn. I don't find it a "challenge" I find it to be work. Grouping in PVP is different, I don't mind that at all. I enjoy it.

But >>>>>when I PVE, I just like to be alone. Working with others means having to put in more work energy for pretty much the same reward I can get soloing. I don't like sharing harvesting nodes,<<<<<<
... waiting on people to potty, make others wait on me while I get my coffee refilled. I don't like to go into voice chat and hear stupid people's Chuck Norris jokes polluting the ambiance of my living space just so that I can get a skyshard and complete a quest.

Soloeus, I respect that you have a different opinion of what is fun to you in gaming. I think more options are better.

I resent however those who want to literally primarily solo and instead of that being an OPTION, are doing everything possible to change the very definition and content provision from what it is I and my friends enjoy doing: that is being a part of a PC-MMO which has a balanced mix of options to enjoy, INCLUDING grouping which has motivation. I do not want PC-MMO's to just become a complete solo-centric game with chat capabilities. I can get that with a headset, an internet connection and a plugged-in little black box of (*insert your favorite brand/platform*) on my shelf alongside my 57 single player disc games.

Can't you get that in those console games? Online co-op with voice comm and the like ... why come into MMO's and take away/delete what it is that made another percentage of players come here in the first place? And what "that" is, is lower level PvE soloing, awesome PvP, and mid-to-upper level grouping to have fun. Grouping in the mid-to-upper levels is also, importantly,preparation for how players who do so are able to be effective and ready to learn more once they arrive at this MMO's endgame. Which is EXACTLY what TESO was advertised and heavily promoted to be, an MMO with challenge, a fresh edge and a little uniqueness, with basic familiar MMO features in a future ES setting for the cool atmosphere. (*)

1. There is a counter argument to your first point, that MMO Games give the opportunity to experience other people as much as I like, not "must be in a group to play." Definitions can get tricky and both "sides" are doing it.

2. I don't play Console Games, or have a Console or Television. I have a PC, and I have quite a few single player games. I don't really prefer to play with other people when I am in game, but I want the option of it. I want the ability to be part of a guild that rocks, pvp in big numbers and occasionally work with my friends to help them with something.

3. ESO also advertised "play as you want." Playing as you want only has Value if the choice is a Genuine Option. It isn't Genuine if there are punishments, or consequences for "No." Playing how I want means I have V11-V12 monsters to kill alone without being Elite. It is a punishment for "No" that I have no areas to solo past V10 for loot.

4. I will return to again that the difference between the definitions of a "Group" and a "Team" are important to the discussion. I don't mind being part of a "Group" but I don't really enjoy being in a "Team." I am more than capable of loading up TS3 and being on a "Team" and I do so often. But it drains me of energy and leaves me feeling unfulfilled.

It leaves me feeling like I just played Halo and not Elder Scrolls Online. When looking for groups, everyone is vicious and aggressive with a bad attitude, and I don't like dealing with rude, cocky people which seems to be 90% of the population. I also never really have energy to spend on a massive 2 hour dungeon complex. I have to take breaks to recharge and I like moving slower through content.

5. I will conclude that we all want a different experience. ESO changed how I play MMO's. The toxic community drove me into being anti-social, I came in doing "Group Content" with RL friends who since quit. Most of the people I enjoy I can't do content with because of Phasing. In the other MMO's I played, I used to do a lot of commerce. In ESO, I spend no time trying to trade with other players because of how toxic most of the people are. And of course the troll pm's when you are buying/selling.

Sorry about length but I really wanted to give you a good response.

Soloeus, I am sorry you have encountered swine players here...honestly for me its been magnitudes better than any recent MMO community I've played in about three years. Believe me when I tell you, this may well be some of the better 'types' of players to interact with $:\$

C'est la vie I know. Just one of the many who have been looking for an MMO that has a range of play-style options, plus meaningful crafting and inclusion of the important mid to upper level PvE grouping mechanic leading into endgame. As I've said in many posts, more options is better, less forced anything. Of course there is the caveat that every single players' preference can't be met by any MMO; but there is a reasonable accommodation and there could be an adherence to what was marketed as core elements of the MMO before its launch.

I too began with 13 irl friends. Some I've known since EQ, into other mmo's -- gotten to know and spent time with in real life scenario's, been to weddings and birthdays, traveled abroad. Enjoyed oldschool MMO's as well as more recent offerings, always looking for the fun to be had, not only be critical of what wasn't there. It feels though like what was advertised to be here, and what this awesome, experienced dev staff created, is being devalued and 180'd.

For me, its a balance of knowing this is month 4 of the first year, but that nagging voice in the back of my head isn't gonna listen to justification of things which should have been taken care of a long time back, things that really are not being addressed right now aside from schmoozing us -- much longer.

All the pink dyes, corgi-sized or giraffe-high virtual dog pets etc is optional fun, but the core has to be there, it can't be a reed blowin' in the wind ^-^. Whatever identity TESO said they were trying for, drew us in with and now is having fits trying to change - whatever that is, needs to steady a bit. There has to be clear communication for a loyal subscriber base. This IS a subscription PC MMO, the only kind I have ever played, with good reason up to this point.

cracker81 · August 2014

Other (Please Explain)

I am tired ppl complaining about nothing. Explore....,
Pvp - cyrodiil
end game pve solo - cyrodiil solo dungeons and vet locations
End game group pve- craglorn the whole area and vet dungeons.

shanewintchub17_ESO · August 2014

Other (Please Explain)

Most people don't want to play the PVE content with the masses of the world, they want a personal Skyrim world that they can play with their friends where:
a. They can go at their own pace
b. Everywhere feels epic and not a swinging door of zerg fest masses trying to level as fast as possible.
c. You're not bumping into gold farmers, boss squatters, and dead cleared out dungeons everywhere you go.

Problems are as follows:
a. You can't group with your friends because the phasing and leveling separation prohibits it. You have to achieve end game to experience this. Most people don't last past veteran ranks.
b. The loot and motivation for dungeons is not enough to motivate people to run them with strangers.
c. People are tired of guild politics.

Open world coop is the future. Most people just want an epic rpg like skyrim that you can play with your friends and go at your own pace. The epic feeling that when you find a cave, you're the only one in there. I played all the way to veteran 4 and never could play with my friends because of the items above. I'm now spending more time doing other things and I have a brother who has soloed 2 characters to veteran 12 and is now currently waiting for me to get there so we can run Craglorn, but I don't know if I'll make it.

Rune_Relic · August 2014

I wrote this in the hope it would offer everything people wanted.
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/123745/suggestion-for-game-content

I am trying to offer a solution rather than a problem.