I think you need to really focus on what you want the game to be. I realize asking the community is important but if I was making a game "I" would decide what kind of game I wanted. People who were cut from the same vein as you would naturally gravitate towards the game. As creators of your video game you need to love what you are doing. If you feel you are just trying to cater to varying audiences it could dull or tarnish what it is you are striving for.
Again, It's important to listen to the community but I feel you have to stay true to your own ideals.
Having said that.. since you asked the question I will assume you care about both concepts.
So my thoughts would be that since you said community matters and grouping matters the solo gameplay should not be your primary focus. However, I wouldn't disregard, entirely, the base of players (myself probably included) that do enjoy wandering off into the world alone. So giving some options for the solo player I feel is important. However, it should be clear that the solo player can in no way advance through the world and explore the content as quickly as a group of players working together.
~ CaffeineInjected ~
There so many Mmorpgs out there that are easily soloable without any risks involved. EQ at the beginning just had the right balance. You could solo but it was risky if something went wrong you died and lost xps had to recover your corpse with the chance to loose even more xps. Risks means there was a chance for adds patroling in or you had to split a camp, so soloing was best done near zonelines. I like games with risks involved instead of serving soloable boredom. I hope for Pantheon to be like EQ when it started. It kept grouping king. And thats what im in search for if i want a real Mmorpg.
I prefer grouping, but having that ability to solo when you can't get a group for one of many reasons is paramount.
My reasons; odd play times (JST), scattered chunks of playtime (play for 20 minutes, afk for 5-10 to do something, etc). That said, I don't expect soloing to be nearly as fast of progress as grouping. Like, 20% is fine for Roku. Having lots of activities aside from just the grind to do will be a nice cushion for 'can't find a group' syndrome.
In EQ, I rolled a plethora of alts because whenever I couldn't find a group, I'd either farm plat or make a new character, and I got tired of plat farming at some point.
We're talking about an MMORPG so obviously group content should be the main focus, no matter what.
You should still be able to get some things done by yourself, but when it comes to combat it should mostly be content that'd be considered 'beneath your level' and the loot rewards should be somewhat poor in comparison to what you'd get from grouping up in level appropriate content. And XP rewards should be simply lackluster.
Kaeldorn said:We're talking about an MMORPG so obviously group content should be the main focus, no matter what.
You should still be able to get some things done by yourself, but when it comes to combat it should mostly be content that'd be considered 'beneath your level' and the loot rewards should be somewhat poor in comparison to what you'd get from grouping up in level appropriate content. And XP rewards should be simply lackluster.
Agree 100%
((loot rewards should be somewhat poor in comparison to what you'd get from grouping up in level appropriate content. And XP rewards should be simply lackluster.))
I too agree with this part of the comment - not the part that says any soloing should consist of doing group content well after you have outleveled it.
That is basically the same as having 100% group content which some of us advocate and some of us do not want - my thoughts on this were stated above and they will get no stronger with repetition.
I want this game to be mainly group focused, that being said I don't think you can leave out the ability to solo. If you followed the old EQ way and I had to solo lower level mobs, I would be fine with that. Even if some classes wouldn't be able to solo, being able to team up with another should be sufficient. I remember playing EQ as a Necromancer and having a random person come up and ask to join me, I made some good friends that way. As long as I am able to feel like I am progressing even if I cannot find a party would make me happy. Soloing should be secondary though and should not even come close to how efficient grouping is.
There is a simple answer to the solo vs. group content question. That answer, of course, is "it depends".
There should be a sliding scale of solo vs. group depending on your level. Top end content should be close to 100% group content, and the noob content should be close(ish) to 100% solo. Could you imagine if you needed a full group to kill lvl 1 mobs in the noob zones? That would be ridiculous. While there should obviously be group content for lower level classes if they want it, players should be able to solo up to as high as the lower 20's as far as I'm concerned. Solo content should get progressively slower and slower compared to group xp, which will create incentive for players to group (after they have become hopelessly addicted to the genre, lol).
THAT is how you create a game that is group-oriented without alienating more casual players. The bigger the player base, the more successful the game will be.
randomrob82 said:There is a simple answer to the solo vs. group content question. That answer, of course, is "it depends".
There should be a sliding scale of solo vs. group depending on your level. Top end content should be close to 100% group content, and the noob content should be close(ish) to 100% solo. Could you imagine if you needed a full group to kill lvl 1 mobs in the noob zones? That would be ridiculous. While there should obviously be group content for lower level classes if they want it, players should be able to solo up to as high as the lower 20's as far as I'm concerned. Solo content should get progressively slower and slower compared to group xp, which will create incentive for players to group (after they have become hopelessly addicted to the genre, lol).
THAT is how you create a game that is group-oriented without alienating more casual players. The bigger the player base, the more successful the game will be.
This game should not be concerned about casual players at all. There are hundreds of MMOs out there specifically designed to cater to casual players, we don't need another one. This game was not created as just another MMO, but to serve a specific purpose and auduience. Its design should fit that mission specifically or this game becomes pointless and a waste of time for anyone to which it was originally marketed to.
Like some others on this thread, I can't pick one. They're both essential for a well-rounded game.
As I mentioned in another thread, however, I will say that I would prefer the solo-ability in a game to be more emergent, where a smart player could find ways to solo a bit "around the edges" of group content, rather than having separate dedicated areas meant just for soloing.
Kilsin said:If given the choice, what do you rate as being more important in an MMORPG - Social dynamics with deep grouping mechanics or Solo-ability with content to do without the help of anyone else and why? #MMORPG #communitymatters
Oh, definitely deep grouping mechanics to the point that trying to gain XP solo is an exercise in utter futility. Group content is more interesting, more exciting, more diverse. A group draws from their combined skills, abilities and spells to defeat content. A developer can put in more tricks and surprises knowing that a group will face it.
I'd like to see primarily group oriented content, but also think there needs to be some solo content. It wouldn't be hard to mix it in, imo. Some of the horizontal progression we've been hearing about could fill that void fairly easily. It's not hard to imagine quests giving you bits and pieces of your own racial or class history that you could do mostly on your own, or perhaps with an NPC. Something along the lines of 'your class trainer telling you that there are rumors of someone who knows the origins of this skill or that spell and it might be worth your time to seek them out' could easily be an endeavor you could start and advance on your own. For halflings, one of the three (that we know about) internal factions could put you on the path to finding another of their pantheon in the woods, like the lore says they met Kiren. For the humans, there could be someone interested in their past and you get sent to the coast to look for items and such in the water to help them (pardon the pun) put the pieces back together. Perhaps one of the ogres has a lead on where Rothuk might be hiding and wants you to check it out. At some point along the way, you might need a couple friends or a whole group to do various parts of these quests. Another option would be to make the mobs for these quests be more soloable. Not talking about stuff that gives you legendary rewards, just entries in your codex. :)