Whats a solo Player to do?(Craglorn)

Mcskinner · October 2014

I spend about 90% of my playtime either solo or by chance with other players who happen to be doing the exact same thing I am doing at the exact same time. Which for most of the game...worked very well. I was able to build my character in a way that i could handle any situation I came across, even in Veteran Rank Zones.

The only time I would ever group up was in AvAvA or the occasional dungeon to get skill points.

Enter Craglorn...

Now what do I do, I can easily make it in and out of the Delves getting the Skyshards, but the quest line REQUIRES me to be in a group. I figured this out shortly after I started and realized i need 3 other people to open a door. But people aren't doing them, at least not publicly, all the zone chat ever says is, "LFG X Grind". And the LFG tool offers no help for running a specific delve.

So, I ask. Whats a solo player to do?

Make friends?
Break down and search for a guild? (current guild is mainly PvP)
Forget about it completely?
Is there a resource out there something that might help?
Play a different game?

Soloeus · October 2014

Any of the above, really. You need Teamspeak 3, and most guilds won't take someone who doesn't have voice chat. You also have to find people to start the quests with and you can only do them with people on the same stage of the same quest.

The overworld you can solo some of, any dungeon or "location" forget it. You can harvest enchanting/cloth/metal/wood there.

david271749 · October 2014

I'd go with the third or fifth solution you suggested. Craglorn is garbage content. Opinions vary. I'm sure you'll see someone blaming you for not being able to group in craglorn like this kid.

Marthenil wrote: »

david271749 wrote: »

Little did they know how much of a grindfest disaster Craglorn would turn out to be.

It's a grindfest because you make it a grindfest. No one's stopping you from just doing the main quests and getting done with it

From this thread. You'll even see people delusional enough to say Craglorn is the best zone in the game. Poor souls.

LonePirate · October 2014

Craglorn is by far the worst zone in the game. If you are a solo player, you have three options: gather mats, fight the 5+ pack of mobs or join a grind group. You won't be able to quest or clear the delves. You can try to gather skyshards but you will die many times along the way. You better do that naked.

I am not sure if anyone likes the Craglorn content apart from the Arena and Trials.

Karnus · October 2014

LonePirate wrote: »

Craglorn is by far the worst zone in the game. If you are a solo player, you have three options: gather mats, fight the 5+ pack of mobs or join a grind group. You won't be able to quest or clear the delves. You can try to gather skyshards but you will die many times along the way. You better do that naked.

I am not sure if anyone likes the Craglorn content apart from the Arena and Trials.

Basically what I was going to say.

Erock25 · October 2014

I really wish they would remove the parts of the quests that require multiple people to complete. I enjoy the challenge of craglorn solo. It is very tough and takes an extremely specialized build.

Mcskinner · October 2014

Yea i've got no problems with over world stuff. I just hate the fact that the quest line is locked behind the need for a group...so not fun.

Thanks for the input though!

Edit: I also found myself into a new guild I found from a post here on the forums. Who knows, maybe someday I can befriend some people and come back and go through the quest line.

Stx · October 2014

Encouraging players to group is always a good thing in a multiplayer game. However making it absolutely mandatory is not okay in my opinion.

I am the same type of player as you, and I am disgusted that the quests require a group. It wouldn't be as bad if it weren't for this games terrible grouping phasing nonsense, which I can't believe is still in the game.

Hey Zos,

PHASE THE WHOLE GROUP WITH THE LEADER. I have never played any Multiplayer game where grouping was such a friggin hassle. If the whole party was phased with the party leader, then it would make actually helping guildies with quests so much easier.

PBpsy · October 2014

They never advertized Craglorn as being in any way solo friendly. The answer is simply nothing. A solo player shouldn't go to Craglorn. Practically one can do many things in Craglorn solo but it is neither promised ,intended or supported.

Mcskinner · October 2014

PBpsy wrote: »

They never advertized Craglorn as being in any way solo friendly. The answer is simply nothing. A solo player shouldn't go to Craglorn. Practically one can do many things in Craglorn solo but it is neither promised ,intended or supported.

I understand that. I know that the whole zone is centered around group content, and it was advertised at such. But that is a large chunk of content that is therefore undo able to the solo player.

And it is fine that they have that, but they should have released solo content along with it, to get those last few ranks.(yes i know they are doing away with them.)

And its not that I mind doing group content, I love it, and when i do it, I heal, my preferred role! It's just not as easy without having in game friends or a spot in a guild team or the like( that's more for raids..erm...trials).

I guess I will have to wait until they release some more solo things. But before they DO release the solo content, my sub will be up and chances are I wont be renewing it.

KenjiJU · October 2014

I made friends today in Crag. I did a 'LFM for Mztharnalthingie + Kardala achievement clear'. Brought in a friend who already did all Craglorn and he brought another friend along. Worked out well. Ended up clearing 5 delves and getting a relatively involved side mission done.

If you're lucky you'll find the people like you who are dying to progress and annoyed at the grind groups, but are too quiet to start their own venture.

Time of day is a big factor though. I didn't have much luck asking at night, but I'm also too timid to keep trying.

sagitter · October 2014

I started solo this game and now have friend all over the world.I give you an advice,and this is valid for almost all mmo, If you play an mmo you should expect for lot of group contents.

hammer_fella · October 2014

An MMO that has content intended for groups? Shocking.

Mcskinner · October 2014

hammer_fella wrote: »

An MMO that has content intended for groups? Shocking.

That's not the point nor the problem. Thanks for your input though!

bertenburnyb16_ESO · October 2014

wait till VR cap is increase to 20 or something (knowing Zeni, that zill happen before Champ system comes) and solo it (except then the door thingie)

Guppet · October 2014

hammer_fella wrote: »

An MMO that has content intended for groups? Shocking.

Its also an MMO with no solo content for the final 4 levels. But you may have missed that, all the way up there on your high horse.

Tandor · October 2014

If there's a playstyle that is supported for 95% of the levelling process, then it should also be supported for the other 5%. There's nothing worse than games (or quests) that let you advance most of the way and then place a brick wall in your path for absolutely no good reason.

In this case the problem of all high-end content being group-only is compounded by the poor LFG tools, and the fact that most people simply don't want to group up for the quest-based content once they've been through it once, they prefer to group for grinding xp instead. So it isn't simply about the old chestnut of soloing a MMO, it's about forced grouping not being viable for questing purposes at that stage of the game.

My own solution thus far has been to take the game very slowly with the intention of levelling all 4 classes (between them covering all 3 alliances) to 50. I have no interest in switching alliance areas at that point, nor I am interested in forced grouping or PvP, so at that stage I'll switch if necessary to my many other MMOs until such time as further solo content becomes available in this one, although I'm hoping that will already be the case by then as the whole veteran system will have been changed and other updates will have introduced more content some of which which will hopefully address this issue.

hammer_fella · October 2014

Guppet wrote: »

hammer_fella wrote: »

An MMO that has content intended for groups? Shocking.

Its also an MMO with no solo content for the final 4 levels. But you may have missed that, all the way up there on your high horse.

From up here I can also see how that is another issue entirely (one which I would hope to see addressed in Wrothgar, which should be the next major update following the Imperial City). But this thread was about issues finding a group in Craglorn, so.... yeah.

I really don't understand the criticism whatsoever. I am pretty anti-social and have few friends in game. I don't belong to any guilds. I personally prefer to play alone most of the time. Yet I had no difficulty finding groups to finish the Crag quests and found the zone quite enjoyable. Occasionally you have a tough time finding a certain group member at the same quest stage as you, but this speaks more to the nature of players than the design of Craglorn, IMO. People are simply not as enamoured with questing as they are with grinding to reach the final level, and I don't think that has anything to do with the content. People grind in Craglorn to skip the solo quests from VR1-10 just the same as the group ones from VR11-14. Veteran levels in general are ignored/avoided by a large part of the game population. If the OP is simply requesting better Group Finder tools then I can't argue with that concept, but ultimately I don't think that will change much if the real problem is a dearth of like-minded questers.

Sav72 · October 2014

Farm mats

Rosveen · October 2014

hammer_fella wrote: »

Guppet wrote: »

hammer_fella wrote: »

An MMO that has content intended for groups? Shocking.

Its also an MMO with no solo content for the final 4 levels. But you may have missed that, all the way up there on your high horse.

From up here I can also see how that is another issue entirely (one which I would hope to see addressed in Wrothgar, which should be the next major update following the Imperial City). But this thread was about issues finding a group in Craglorn, so.... yeah.

I'm interested to see how Wrothgar (I assume designed for whatever the level cap will be at the time) deals with the fact that many solo players are at least four levels behind.

AshySamurai · October 2014

Find a group only a half of a problem. Mostly you all need to have the same quest in the same stage. For now a few my quests just freezed because I need to find "right" party to complete it.

hammer_fella wrote:

Occasionally you have a tough time finding a certain group member at the same quest stage as you, but this speaks more to the nature of players than the design of Craglorn, IMO.

@hammer_fella‌ Nope, it's not only about peolple. I found a few mates which agree to help me and they just couldn't because they didn't have this quest. So, it's not only about people, but also about quest design and the game itself.

MornaBaine · October 2014

What's a solo player to do? Go to this thread and support the ideas there and ADD to them, that's what.
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/134450/idea-for-vet-level-quests-wall-o-text-warning#latest
OK I'm being a little snarky but I totally agree that end game NEEDS content that is BOTH solo and group. It CAN be done! Not sure why ZoS isn't doing it.

Moudeed · October 2014

Really disappointing in how the Devs are focusing on Guilds / group play and not the solo players. They must feel the Guilds and those that need an mmo to have friends are the true test of TESO financial success but this will prove to be their game failing.
I will continue to play and see but if this is the path of ESO I will be looking or going back to other mmos.

Tyr · October 2014

bertenburnyb16_ESO wrote: »

wait till VR cap is increase to 20 or something (knowing Zeni, that zill happen before Champ system comes) and solo it (except then the door thingie)

Come on man, this is hyperbolic BS. We know for sure there is no more VR increases because Champion system phase 2 is coming in 1.5(no VR cap increase) and champion system phase 3 is coming in 1.6 with Imperial city.

Tyr · October 2014

Guppet wrote: »

hammer_fella wrote: »

An MMO that has content intended for groups? Shocking.

Its also an MMO with no solo content for the final 4 levels. But you may have missed that, all the way up there on your high horse.

Yes, you are right...VR10-14 is the real problem behind craglorn, but they are doing away with that, so you can consider it just a massive group dungeon and hope that they resolve the phasing and grouping issues so you can still do the content as a casual group player.

AshySamurai · October 2014

Tyr wrote: »

bertenburnyb16_ESO wrote: »

wait till VR cap is increase to 20 or something (knowing Zeni, that zill happen before Champ system comes) and solo it (except then the door thingie)

Come on man, this is hyperbolic BS. We know for sure there is no more VR increases because Champion system phase 2 is coming in 1.5(no VR cap increase) and champion system phase 3 is coming in 1.6 with Imperial city.

Come on man, that was sarcasm. Of course all know about champion system.

Tyr · October 2014

hammer_fella wrote: »

Guppet wrote: »

hammer_fella wrote: »

An MMO that has content intended for groups? Shocking.

Its also an MMO with no solo content for the final 4 levels. But you may have missed that, all the way up there on your high horse.

From up here I can also see how that is another issue entirely (one which I would hope to see addressed in Wrothgar, which should be the next major update following the Imperial City). But this thread was about issues finding a group in Craglorn, so.... yeah.

I really don't understand the criticism whatsoever. I am pretty anti-social and have few friends in game. I don't belong to any guilds. I personally prefer to play alone most of the time. Yet I had no difficulty finding groups to finish the Crag quests and found the zone quite enjoyable. Occasionally you have a tough time finding a certain group member at the same quest stage as you, but this speaks more to the nature of players than the design of Craglorn, IMO. People are simply not as enamoured with questing as they are with grinding to reach the final level, and I don't think that has anything to do with the content. People grind in Craglorn to skip the solo quests from VR1-10 just the same as the group ones from VR11-14. Veteran levels in general are ignored/avoided by a large part of the game population. If the OP is simply requesting better Group Finder tools then I can't argue with that concept, but ultimately I don't think that will change much if the real problem is a dearth of like-minded questers.

I agree with what you're saying except...Worthgar's not coming for a while after Imp City.

Imp city will be 1.6 and after that they still have to do the justice system/spellcrafting.
Beyond that we have no exact timetable for which will come first between Thieves Guild/Dark Brotherhood, Murkmire, and Wrothgar.
So best case scenario we get Wrothgar in 1.8(March) and worst case 1.10(may)

MikeBob · October 2014

Mcskinner wrote: »

I spend about 90% of my playtime either solo or by chance with other players who happen to be doing the exact same thing I am doing at the exact same time.

(...)

Play a different game?

The above portion of your post describes precisely how I've progressed through the game thus far (for the most part) - and the last part indicates how I intend to deal with the problem of 'what to do' when my toon is ready for Craglorn. (My first character just began Cadwell's Gold @ VR6.)

I spend lots of time exploring, gathering/harvesting mats, and farming drops for gold to upgrade inventory and bank space, etc - and in the last three zones of Cad's Silver, I've rarely seen more than 3 or 4 others in several hours of gameplay. These zones really seemed to me like ghost towns compared to the pre-veteran content I played through.

I've skipped all the group dungeons along the way (although I've died a lot in most of them - they're nothing more than zerg-fests, really), and I only managed to get anything accomplished in those public dungeons (more 'zerg' content) where I was able to progress with others who ran them while I happened to be there (and who also agreed to allow me to tag along).

Also, if I had a nickel for all the VR10-14 toons I've seen trying to solo bosses and anchors in the VR1-5 zones I've played through (most of whom gladly accepted my help), I'm sure I'd have enough for a lunchtime sit-down at the local Cheap Chinese Buffet.

I won't pvp and what I've learned about the nature of grouping in Craglorn (in threads like this one) is more than a little discouraging.

I'll likely play around with an alt or two, for a little while, once I get this first toon to the end of Cad's Gold - but after that gets boring I intend to exercise the "Play a different game" option.

oldRagespell · October 2014

As a solo player (myself included) when i'm going to Craglorn, i queue for Cyrodiil and after like 5 - 10 minutes, i just cba with them frames so i quit. Fun times

deepseamk20b14_ESO · October 2014

I do understand you frustrations. The majority of the game I just did solo. Enter Craglorn. Like you said, there is plenty you can solo in Craglorn but also a lot (including main story quests) that cannot be soloed. So far I have no found any problem finding a group for any of it. Could it be a bit smoother? Yes. Should the grouping tool let you search for others that are searching to do the same quest? Hell yeah, that would be great. But you have to remember, it's an MMO......MMO's are meant to be played with other people. That's just how it is. If you do not like it, go play Skyrim. There are plenty of add ons to make Skyrim seem fresh and new. I do not say this to be a jerk, it's just the reality of it. Nothing wrong with you if you choose to not play an MMO.

MikeBob · October 2014

Tandor wrote: »

If there's a playstyle that is supported for 95% of the levelling process, then it should also be supported for the other 5%. There's nothing worse than games (or quests) that let you advance most of the way and then place a brick wall in your path for absolutely no good reason.

Well stated. Ultimately - if nothing is done to significantly alter this aspect of gameplay in ESO - I believe it's going to lead to the game's failure. Period.

I'm willing to accept seeing the same quest NPC in three different locations and stages of a given quest's completion, long after I've completed the questline involving said NPC (who says to me the exact same thing s/he said to me the last time we spoke, during the quest).

I'm willing to accept that it costs my character coin to get /unstuck from terrain defects that should have been identified and corrected prior to the game's initial release.

I'm willing to accept that my provisioners find recipes calling for ingredients they will never see without spending 3 skillpoints on a hireling (and/or the coin sink Imperial ingredients).

What I will not accept is playing 95% the game my way, only to be told I have to begin playing according to someone else's preferred style of play in order to get the final 5% done.