Party of One

Darastix · April 2014

I'm noticing a severe lack in incentive for players to group since the games content for the most part is easily soloed, and a lack of guild loyalty due to guilds being viewed as nothing more than store fronts.. Guilds fall into two category's in ESO and that's Raiding Guilds and Trading Guilds.

Guilds
Raiders and Traders:
Guilds Should define themselves and what their role is to their members by choosing to be either a Raiding guild or a Trading guild somewhere in the guild menus.

*Trading Guild Should get a noticeable discount on listing and sale fees in the guild stores
*Raiding Guilds i suggest increasing guild community and loyalty. below is an example of how i think it could be achieved.

The Guild Loyalty system.

Guild Points:
The Guilds Currency.
Gained by completing tasks/quests/kills while grouped with guild members.(range sensitive)
Gained by selling Guild Gear in Guild Store(crafters)
Used to buy Guild Gear, Tiered Crafting Resource Boxes for crafters

Crafters:
Option to convert crafted items to Guild Gear.

Guild Gear:
Bound to the Guild.
Can only be sold/traded in the Guild store and bought with Guild points.
Cannot be repaired once player has left the Guild.

Groups

Grouping in general lacks any real reason to do so since quests seem geared towards solo play,and the XP gains are less than noticeable. There's needs to be more encouraging bonuses for grouping.

Increased XP gains over the current boost.
Increased Gold drops,
Higher tier loot chance when grouped.

There's also no effective grouping tools, the current system just throwing your into a random group despite your preferred choices. Party leader need to have control over what over what roles they want to fill. Having some player list himself as a healer when its not his primary focus hinders the group. Party leaders need to be able to request only specific classes for specific roles they want for their group.

Conversely, Players need to have options to find the groups that meets their needs, if i'm a Templar healer and i want a group that uses definitive roles when grouping i should be able to search for not just groups that want a healer, but for groups that want a Templar healer.

A Local Listing of adventures in my area, that is a standard of MMO's, is also missing. The ability to search for player in my area and see their level, Current quest is very helpful for finding players to quest with, and making lasting friendships. Its more effective to use a local listing with that information and send one guy a whisper requesting to group than to shout LFG in chat.

Crafting:

Wheres the market for crafters? With crafting being so accessible to everyone, and having a limited exposure to buyers due to guild stores, most player seems to just craft for themselves leaving no market for crafters. Restrictions on crafting is needed in order to allow for a thriving economy. For starters crafting skill lines needs an adventure level requirement along with a crafter level requirement. This will help curb the many alts that players make just to craft.

Right now there's just to much self sufficiency.

Darastix · May 2014

updated

Asawasa · May 2014

guilds are much more than what you see them as. for instance in my 5 guilds i have 2 trade guilds, 1 cross faction pve, 1 faction pvp, and 1 casual just for fun guild.

I use all 5 for sharing information, maximizing trading, helping myself and others complete all game content, forming groups to run around cyrodiil, and level all my crafting skills.

agree on group finder tools that is why i use my guild mates instead. i disagree on getting higher tier loot as incentive. i want nothing to be better than my crafted gear.

there is a huge market for crafters. you just have not seen it yet. oh and for all the greedy people selling crafting materials way overpriced you better have your own pocket crafter because i'm gonna get pay back for when you need gear made. 100k+ for one piece of v10 legendary gear is what you are looking at

Eorea · May 2014

You forgot about RP guilds. Some of us don't give a damn about crafting and trading and making money. We just want to roleplay the day away.

Asawasa · May 2014

true and also you have Werewolf guilds and Vampire guilds.

Darastix · May 2014

Asawasa wrote: »

guilds are much more than what you see them as. for instance in my 5 guilds i have 2 trade guilds, 1 cross faction pve, 1 faction pvp, and 1 casual just for fun guild.

I use all 5 for sharing information, maximizing trading, helping myself and others complete all game content, forming groups to run around cyrodiil, and level all my crafting skills.

agree on group finder tools that is why i use my guild mates instead. i disagree on getting higher tier loot as incentive. i want nothing to be better than my crafted gear.

there is a huge market for crafters. you just have not seen it yet. oh and for all the greedy people selling crafting materials way overpriced you better have your own pocket crafter because i'm gonna get pay back for when you need gear made. 100k+ for one piece of v10 legendary gear is what you are looking at

Asawasa wrote: »

true and also you have Werewolf guilds and Vampire guilds.

PVE Guilds, PVP Guilds, Werewolf/Vampire Guilds are all forms of Raiding Guilds, They are Guilds that go out and group, hunt and kill things together. The theme of the guild is irrelevant, they're still a guild that the members are forming bonds, and interacting with each other for more that a store front.

I've spoken to a lot of players when recruiting for my guild, and a common theme among players who want a trading guild is the lack of interest in socializing within that guild, so when i explain to them my guild isn't just a trading guild they move on.

You may have decided to have multiple guilds that you get involved in the community with, but a more common setup is 1 Raiding guild and 4 trading guilds. My suggestion was about rewarding guild members who take the time to group with their fellow guild mates, thus encouraging it.

When i suggested higher tier loot for group VS solo i wasn't asking for gear better than crafted, there's already a chance for whites/greens/blue ect to drop for you. I'm suggesting that where you would normally get a white, maybe you get a green when grouped ect.. this has nothing to do with crafting, but encourages players to seek out a group.

Additionally, the market for crafters is heavily dependent on the guild(s) your in, maybe your fortunate to have a guild(s) where few craft. However, I'm in 4 trading guilds that each have over 450 members, and the consensus among them is pretty much the same. Crafters aren't selling a lot of wares because to many players can and do craft everything. The items that are selling well are Mats, Motifs and other items crafters need to make stuff for themselves or close friends.

Asawasa · May 2014

I don't know what MMO exp you actually have but all of the different PVE/PVP guild are not just different flavors of raiding guilds imo. Raiding guilds I would define as those primarily looking to make groups to do raids. currently that would be grouping for some PvP action or getting the group dungeons done.

i can group up with my guildies and do other things beside raid such as anchors, mini bosses, public dungeons,solo dungeons, the dungeons in cyrodiil. where as traditonal raiding is about getting loot these i do for fun, skill points, and completion.

Darastix · May 2014

Asawasa wrote: »

I don't know what MMO exp you actually have but all of the different PVE/PVP guild are not just different flavors of raiding guilds imo. Raiding guilds I would define as those primarily looking to make groups to do raids. currently that would be grouping for some PvP action or getting the group dungeons done.

i can group up with my guildies and do other things beside raid such as anchors, mini bosses, public dungeons,solo dungeons, the dungeons in cyrodiil. where as traditonal raiding is about getting loot these i do for fun, skill points, and completion.

Raiding isn't just those 40+ man events found in epic dungeons, that is of course what the average player may think of, but if you group with a friend and attack a village of enemies and steal their loot, your raiding that village. However whatever we call it doesn't matter, what matters is encouraging guild members to participate in events with other members, and that is why i suggested having a guild loyalty system of some kind, doesn't need to be my version.

nudel · May 2014

I don't understand this viewpoint and you are not the first to express it. Artificial incentives only go so far. Real loyalty comes from satisfaction with the community, relationships formed, and time spent within the guild. If you want loyal guild members, work at creating a better community.

The system you outlined sounds very efficient. It also sounds very impersonal and potentially competitive and divisive. It does not take into account the many ways in which people can contribute to a positive community. You allow for guild sales and crafters and "raiders". How about just helpful people who answer questions? How about those who help a person work out the kinks in their build without ever meeting up with that person? What about roleplay? What about people who give away items to guildmates for free in chat? You would have no record of this transaction, so does this charity mean less than the person who sold a kuta for 1k to a guildmate? I have never partied with some of my favorite guildmates. However, we have shared many laughs and conversations in chat. I am loyal to them and to the community, but not for any of the reasons you think I should be.

Darastix · May 2014

nudel wrote: »

I don't understand this viewpoint and you are not the first to express it. Artificial incentives only go so far. Real loyalty comes from satisfaction with the community, relationships formed, and time spent within the guild. If you want loyal guild members, work at creating a better community.

The system you outlined sounds very efficient. It also sounds very impersonal and potentially competitive and divisive. It does not take into account the many ways in which people can contribute to a positive community. You allow for guild sales and crafters and "raiders". How about just helpful people who answer questions? How about those who help a person work out the kinks in their build without ever meeting up with that person? What about roleplay? What about people who give away items to guildmates for free in chat? You would have no record of this transaction, so does this charity mean less than the person who sold a kuta for 1k to a guildmate? I have never partied with some of my favorite guildmates. However, we have shared many laughs and conversations in chat. I am loyal to them and to the community, but not for any of the reasons you think I should be.

This isn't about my guild having disloyal members, our members converse, laugh, and all the above that you mentioned. its about a fundamental problem that in my opinion, plagues ESO as a whole. It effects all aspects of the game, and that's the lack of player dependency upon each other, most quest can be soloed, most players craft their own gear, it is essentially a single player experience.

You are correct in that a system like this only goes so far, but it does encourage those first steps. You yourself admit to having not once, grouping with any of your guild mates, and that's likely because there isn't any reason to do so. For an MMO to have no incentive to group, well that just sad.

nudel · May 2014

I did not admit to not once grouping with any guildmates. I admitted to not grouping with "some of my favorite guildmates". Don't put words in my mouth.

I group all the time and I enjoy doing so. I do not need incentives to do so.

Asawasa · May 2014

Darastix wrote: »

Raiding isn't just those 40+ man events found in epic dungeons, that is of course what the average player may think of, but if you group with a friend and attack a village of enemies and steal their loot, your raiding that village. However whatever we call it doesn't matter, what matters is encouraging guild members to participate in events with other members, and that is why i suggested having a guild loyalty system of some kind, doesn't need to be my version.

Raiding is those big events. i guarantee anyone who has played these games will always tell you what raiding is. if i group with a friend, attack a village and take their loot its called farming. if there is a quest to be completed while doing this i'd call that questing. if i group with 40 of my friends and attack something and take their loot that is called Raiding. if i group with any number of friends/guildies/random people i just met in cyrodiil then its called zerging in large groups or ganking in small groups.

now back to your topic if you are not happy with your five guilds then the answer is quit some or all of them and find better ones. even in my trade guilds its more than just an auction house.