I wish there was an option to "truly" solo delves, dungeons and such

brandon · September 2021

This has been an annoyance of mine since release tbh, but man, do I wish I wasn't forced to interact with people, mostly referring to delve and dungeon (group and public) content. Yeah, yeah, I know it's an MMO but it's also a TES game; for the most part, I think they handle both aspects fairly okay just not with this. Here I am trying to immerse myself in the lore and feeling like I accomplished something clearing out a delve/dungeon... except all too often all the enemies in the place have been cleared out by the time I get to them so I either have to wait for them to respawn or blast through the dungeon going from point a to b without doing anything. Well, at least there's the boss at the end. Nope, because you're lucky if you get one hit in before another player... or 6 instantly take 'em down too.

Literally spent probably 10-15+ minutes waiting around until no one was there hoping to take on a delve boss (in the alik'r Desert) by myself because I like trying to solo things, even if delve bosses aren't the toughest thing ever. But people... just. Kept. Coming. Every time I think I have a chance, the boss takes forever to respawn and by then players are back.

Furthermore, the group dungeons have some neat lore to them, and I love being able to take my time going through them but 90% of players just wanna rush as fast as possible through them. I don't wanna slow them down, but I don't wanna be rushed either. Not to mention, having to setup my character in ways that work best with a group isn't super fun for me.

Please, just add an option for us solo-preferred players. It doesn't take anything away from those that enjoy group content, and it increases QoL for those that don't.

I know it's probably an unpopular opinion here, but I just needed to vent a little.

Minyassa · September 2021

Not an opinion I disagree with, but it would mean having to instance everything for each player that was playing it at the same time, and it doesn't look like this game is set up to handle instancing well. They don't even have a button to switch instances if you and someone in your group are placed into different instances so you are invisible to each other, so I think they just didn't really think about instancing. I sure would enjoy delving without what you mention, though.

I am with you in being one of the rare few who does not think that just because a game is Massively Multiplayer means that everyone must do the activities together. They're not called Massively Grouped RPGs, after all, and I remember back in the day when malls were popular I could go to the mall with a few hundred other people and not feel obligated to hang out with any of them, yet I could still go into stores. It's a little weird to expect that "putting lots of people into the same space at the same time" is automatically assumed to mean "obligatory cooperative play" to so many folks. It's been pretty clear for decades now that there are people who love group activities and people who hate them, but when a game-builder puts activities in a game that are enjoyable to both types of people it's odd of players to assume that everyone is going to be social butterflies and yell when they aren't.

SeaGtGruff · September 2021

For non-instanced content, one possible way to run it solo might be to run it on the PTS, where the odds of running into other players doing the same content will probably be much lower. That isn't a great solution, obviously, since you'll still need to do the same content on the live servers to truly get credit for it as far as collecting skyshards, checking the quest and boss kills off on your list of Achievements, etc.-- but at least you might be able to experience the storyline and environment in the way that you're hoping to.

thorwyn · September 2021

Please, just add an option for us solo-preferred players. It doesn't take anything away from those that enjoy group content, and it increases QoL for those that don't.

It does, in fact, take something away from those people who are not interested in a solo version of ESO: developer and server resources.

Furthermore, the group dungeons have some neat lore to them, and I love being able to take my time going through them but 90% of players just wanna rush as fast as possible through them. I don't wanna slow them down, but I don't wanna be rushed either. Not to mention, having to setup my character in ways that work best with a group isn't super fun for me.

Then go and solo them. Group dungeons give you exactly what you are asking for, an instanced game experience. WIth the exception of a few dungeons that require a second person due to mechanics, you can solo them all on normal and enjoy the story.

Amottica · September 2021

thorwyn wrote: »

Please, just add an option for us solo-preferred players. It doesn't take anything away from those that enjoy group content, and it increases QoL for those that don't.

It does, in fact, take something away from those people who are not interested in a solo version of ESO: developer and server resources.

Furthermore, the group dungeons have some neat lore to them, and I love being able to take my time going through them but 90% of players just wanna rush as fast as possible through them. I don't wanna slow them down, but I don't wanna be rushed either. Not to mention, having to setup my character in ways that work best with a group isn't super fun for me.

Then go and solo them. Group dungeons give you exactly what you are asking for, an instanced game experience. WIth the exception of a few dungeons that require a second person due to mechanics, you can solo them all on normal and enjoy the story.

I missed an important word in the title. I read dungeon instead of delve. It is clear Zenimax has had the intent that this content is to be part of the open world. There are some things that I believe developers should stick to their vision.

robwolf666 · September 2021

brandon wrote: »

This has been an annoyance of mine since release tbh, but man, do I wish I wasn't forced to interact with people, mostly referring to delve and dungeon (group and public) content.

Completely agree, there's a lot of things in the game I'd like a guarantee of playing solo. Delves and the main story quests mainly come to mind. But with delves, it's very annoying to go to them and finding people farming for XP killing everything, so when you go there there's nothing to fight - you can't even fight the boss by yourself without them jumping in.

AcadianPaladin · September 2021

I agree with OP and would love to see more solo instances. I can solo a fair number of non-dlc group dungeons on normal and love doing so. Group delves in craglorn are also solo. As are Thieves Guild heist dungeons. I do enjoy all of these and wish there was a solo option for normal delves and public dungeons as well. It is not fun waiting for bosses to respawn then hoping to get a couple light attacks in. It is a pain in the butt to have foes killed by others literally respawn on top of your head. It is a pain in the neck to be progressing through a delve and encounter another player racing the opposite direction dragging a dozen foes behind them. . . .

Ippokrates · September 2021

Waiting for delve boss to respawn rarely work (had my lesson in Cyro during Mayhem -_- ).

Try kill some mobs or reenter dung. Sometimes it triggers respawn.

Amottica · September 2021

Ippokrates wrote: »

Waiting for delve boss to respawn rarely work (had my lesson in Cyro during Mayhem -_- ).

Try kill some mobs or reenter dung. Sometimes it triggers respawn.

Cyrodiil delves have a different mechanic for spawning bosses iirc and some of the bosses seem to be rare spawns.

zaria · September 2021

Minyassa wrote: »

Not an opinion I disagree with, but it would mean having to instance everything for each player that was playing it at the same time, and it doesn't look like this game is set up to handle instancing well. They don't even have a button to switch instances if you and someone in your group are placed into different instances so you are invisible to each other, so I think they just didn't really think about instancing. I sure would enjoy delving without what you mention, though.

I am with you in being one of the rare few who does not think that just because a game is Massively Multiplayer means that everyone must do the activities together. They're not called Massively Grouped RPGs, after all, and I remember back in the day when malls were popular I could go to the mall with a few hundred other people and not feel obligated to hang out with any of them, yet I could still go into stores. It's a little weird to expect that "putting lots of people into the same space at the same time" is automatically assumed to mean "obligatory cooperative play" to so many folks. It's been pretty clear for decades now that there are people who love group activities and people who hate them, but when a game-builder puts activities in a game that are enjoyable to both types of people it's odd of players to assume that everyone is going to be social butterflies and yell when they aren't.

Its plenty of instancing in the game, housing, group dungeons and trials, arenas and solo quests.
It tend to work well but yes its annoying if you don't use travel to and end in wrong instance and travel to player take you back to next wayshrine.

Fun fact is that heist and db missions is not solo instances you can do them as an group, this just make them harder as its easier for multiple to be detected but you can use this to do multiple missions on an character.

As for delves and public dungeons as instances, could be nice but I guess they don't want it. In part might be to avoid boting for gear unless enemies did not respawn.

AlnilamE · September 2021

Ippokrates wrote: »

Waiting for delve boss to respawn rarely work (had my lesson in Cyro during Mayhem -_- ).

Try kill some mobs or reenter dung. Sometimes it triggers respawn.

Cyrodiil is different.

In the base game zones, if a player enters the delve that doesn't have the achievement for completing it yet, the boss respawns in under a minute.

OP, there are some delves in Craglorn that behave the way you want.

And you are free to enter any group dungeon by yourself, you don't need a group if you want the challenge.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour · September 2021

Botters would love this. They could just set up shop in an instanced area and no one would be able to report them.

Folkb · September 2021

Story mode dungeon would be nice as there is some continuity among some dungeons with npcs that are found outside dungeons.

You can even lower or remove the rewards. Maybe just award the skill point at the end and a piece set for quest completion.

Ken_Koerperich · September 2021

You can solo Delves/Dolmens...

You just have to be online like I am, so early in the AM that for 2 hours everything is completely VOID of other players...

I generally can go 3 hours before I see anyone, and usually have to /Zone at least 5 times before I get a response on WB's that I CAN'T solo....

Love it, and hate it, as this also makes doing Dungeons extremely hard, and using DF takes forever, and most don't speak, they just speed run...

So it does have it's downfalls...

Oh, and you will find out MAJORITY of the Guild on the "list" are non starters....I've tried over 30 of them, and nearly every day, see big fat ZERO/490-500 online...

theyancey · September 2021

ESO has provided fully formed NPC partners for both small and large groups for many quests, some from the main story are legendary. Now we have a couple of companions. With the addition of a couple more my hope is that ESO will allow us to choose as many of those as we need to complete a group. If more are needed a random NPC could be assigned by the game. At long last I could enjoy group dungeons! I just hope that I will live long enough to play it

SilverBride · September 2021

brandon wrote: »

Please, just add an option for us solo-preferred players.

What I consider solo play is content that a single player can succeed at without needing a group. It does not mean other players won't also be exploring the world and enjoying the same content at the same time. That is only possible in a single player game.

hands0medevil · September 2021

dungeons and such... you mean trials? What is the point of making group content then?

Iccotak · September 2021

It’s an mmo, the game is designed to encourage you to socialize with other people.

Companions were introduced to make it easier for two people to get into group dungeons.

ESO is not “Skyrim with Friends” - its not Fallout 76 - it’s an mmo that takes place in TES (but to be fair also uses some gameplay mechanics from the single player games)
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On the other hand “Skyrim with Friends” is what the player base has wanted since day 1.

Personally I would be fine with a solo instance of dungeons as long as the main quest and delves got optional harder difficulty settings.

At a certain point when I’m far past level 50, or just have a good grasp of the game, not all of my adventures should be scaled around inexperienced level 11 players with mismatched gear.
Sharing open world is fine, but I should be able to have delves and a main quest that is designed for players of higher level and skill.

Heck even Destiny is doing that, delve equivalents have a challenging hard mode that players can opt into AND in response to all the feedback they are giving the main campaign of the next expansion a “legendary” difficulty setting.

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EDIT:
in response to comment below which corrected an error of mine.

A difficulty setting for public dungeons would lessen amount of players showing up 🤣

But I have to agree with what other people have said in the thread.
That level of change is just asking for a completely different game at that point.

(But we could be wrong on that)

SeaGtGruff · September 2021

No, he specifically meant public dungeons, which aren't instanced. Trials and group dungeons are already instanced, so there isn't a problem with running into unwanted players.

Folkb · September 2021

I do wish delves were instanced since everything in there melts. I don't know about public dungeons. I know some players probably can't solo them. So prob keep them as is.

phaneub17_ESO · September 2021

I'm just waiting on the day we can use 3 companions at the same time while solo, I posted an idea on how to do it on the PTS forum.

Kusto · September 2021

If you don't like other players getting in your way then try the other server. The other server is almost dead during your server primetime.

DinoZavr · September 2021

Solo 4-man dungeons and arenas - this guarantee you are instanced. You can solo FG1 on levels 25-30 with no problems.
Play at PTS.
Play at 4am .. 5am server time.
Avoid delves/public dungeons where leads are dropped (you have mentioned Alik'r delve - it took me 34 boss kills to get a lead and there always was a crowd killing the boss as it takes 1 .. 2 hours of farming the boss till lead eventually drops)
Do dolmens in a midst of Cyrodiil (as PVE overland ones are always crowded because of levelling Companions with Fighters Guild dailies) in off-peak times.
Quite a lot of options in my opinion. The very nature of MMO is "multiplayer", so if this is what you dislike, then try single player games, maybe? There are lots of these. You cannot get rid of other players in an MMO.

hafgood · September 2021

I'm sorry but this is not a single player game. If you want one of those go and play one. This is an MMO and that means there are other players playing on the same server as you and other than dungeons / trials and a couple of quests in the same instance as you.

You want delves / public dungeons instanced. What's next? World.bosses? Dolmens? Harrowstorms?

Other players being about is part and parcel of the game, I'm afraid you either have to learn to adjust your play style and accept they are there doing their own thing and are not going to hang around waiting for you to do your thing before they do theirs.

Adremal · September 2021

An easy solution would be implementing a mechanic that makes the boss respawn whenever a player comes by it, on a cooldown instead of on a "first delve visit" basis. It's not like it could be abused for loot anyway given the "hidden boss loot cooldown".

Iccotak · September 2021

Folkb wrote: »

I do wish delves were instanced since everything in there melts. I don't know about public dungeons. I know some players probably can't solo them. So prob keep them as is.

I think that harder delve instances is actually a good idea. It would actually make some of the delve storylines more engaging if the gameplay was more of a threat

nightstrike · September 2021

AlnilamE wrote: »

Ippokrates wrote: »

Waiting for delve boss to respawn rarely work (had my lesson in Cyro during Mayhem -_- ).

Try kill some mobs or reenter dung. Sometimes it triggers respawn.

Cyrodiil is different.

In the base game zones, if a player enters the delve that doesn't have the achievement for completing it yet, the boss respawns in under a minute.

And the people waiting for the respawn instantly kill the boss, so that when the new player for whom the boss spawned arrives, he's dead and the cycle repeats.

Broken by design.

nightstrike · September 2021

hafgood wrote: »

I'm sorry but this is not a single player game. If you want one of those go and play one.

Ergo decedo

Slyclone · September 2021

Even at 5am, there is almost always just one other player doing the most far off delve in the game while I am there.

SeaGtGruff · September 2021

Slyclone wrote: »

Even at 5am, there is almost always just one other player doing the most far off delve in the game while I am there.

Yeah, I often find myself surprised when I'm doing some base-game quest in the middle of the night and I see other players playing through the same content. I mean, it shouldn't surprise me, because there are new players joining the game all the time, not to mention veteran players making new characters, or (in my case) veteran characters finally getting around to doing Cadwell's Silver and Cadwell's Gold. But it's interesting how, no matter what content you're doing in what zone and at what hour of the night, there's almost always going to be at least 1 other player doing the same content.

Sengra · September 2021

brandon wrote: »

This has been an annoyance of mine since release tbh, but man, do I wish I wasn't forced to interact with people, mostly referring to delve and dungeon (group and public) content. Yeah, yeah, I know it's an MMO but it's also a TES game; for the most part, I think they handle both aspects fairly okay just not with this.

Elder Scrolls is just the setting. What you mean is make it more like a single player game because the other ES games were single player games (which doesn't make sense in an MMO unless we're talking about story content maybe). I get what you're trying to convey, I still think it isn't wise to ask for even more solo instances, especially in the open world areas. Instances make the world feel disconnected and 'less real' in an MMO. And for every player who wants to do a delve boss solo there is others standing and waiting for others so they can finish a world boss daily.