Archived from groups: alt.games.everquest (More info?)
Caster's Realm: On Soloing
Soloing has been a continuing topic of interest since the days
Everquest first began. Newer games like World of Warcraft and Everquest
2 continually advertise new features and content for soloing. Clearly
many players desire rewarding solo content, but what dangers lurk in
such desires? What will happen to the rest of the game if soloing
becomes the fastest and most reliable way of earning experience? Put
your wizard on AFK and sit back for an interesting read.
Soloing offers many obvious and clear advantages. Soloers can often
begin hunting right away. They do not need to wait for other group
members; they do not need to surf the LFG channel looking for that one
last tank; they do not have to show each member how to arrive at a
hunting ground. Soloers can leave the keyboard when they wish without
harming the rest of a group. Soloers earn reliable experience over time
because they only have to trust themselves. They don't have to worry
about getting that one bad bard who always overpulls and wipes out
groups.
The clearest advantage to soloing is time. Soloers can get hunting,
earn experience, and get out quickly - sometimes in as little as ten
or fifteen minutes. Some players need this or they couldn't play. Not
everyone has a lifestyle that lets them play a game non-stop for hours
at a time. There is no pause button in Everquest. For some, soloing is
the only option.
Soloing has some disadvantages as well. Everquest is built around
grouping. The other players are the only clear difference between a
game like Everquest and a game like Morrowind. If one solos all of the
time, one will have a harder time meeting new friends, forming a
network of allies, joining guilds, or get invited to hunts or raids.
One who spends his or her entire Everquest career soloing misses out on
what makes Everquest such a great game.
In Everquest, not all classes solo equally. Some classes such as
wizards, druids, necromancers, and bards; have significant advantages
in soloing. Other classes such as warriors, rogues, monks and most
classes without an ability to heal or kite, have significant
disadvantages in soloing.
Some argue, including SOE, that this is acceptable. On the EQLive
website it clearly states which classes are better able to solo and
which are highly sought after in groups. Some argue that not every
class is as desired for a group and thus should have equal advantage in
soloing.
I argue a different case. Every class should have equal advantage
earning solo experience. Groups should desire every class equally,
though not always for every slot in a group. Every class should have
opportunities to earn similar experience to other classes alone if
grouping is currently impossible.
I won't dig back into group desireability for every class. It is easy
to argue that warriors, clerics, and enchanters are desired more highly
than other classes in a group and this is partly true, but each group
wants only one of those classes and wants three or four of the other
classes. Just as every class should have reasonable chances for earning
similar experience as other classes alone, they should have equal
chances for getting into a group.
The way to fix soloing is to make grouping more desireable and easier
to do.
Should every class quad kite in Fire? No. Not every class has to earn
experience in exactly the same way but every class should have an
opportunity to earn the same general amount of experience in the same
amount of time; whether it is through the use of a instanced solo
dungeon exploration, a task, a quest, or normal hunting.
What should that reward be? This is a more difficult question, one with
no clear answer but one thing is clear:
Players should earn significantly more experience grouping than they
should soloing.
It often takes a lot time to form a group, get to a hunting zone and
begin hunting. One must consider this downtime when determining the
experience reward a group should earn while hunting. Other factors such
as players getting lost, players dying, players going afk, players
leaving and new players joining need to be factored in as well. When we
consider all of these factors it is clear that grouping experience
shouldn't just be better than solo experience; it should be MUCH
better.
What happens if it isn't? Eventually, people will stop grouping. If you
think its hard to find a group these days, imagine how hard it would be
if everyone earned more reliable experience soloing? Why would anyone
group?
People seek the most reliable experience over time. Since soloing
offers a much more reliable experience, the reward for grouping should
be significantly increased to make up for its lack in reliability as
well as the extra time it takes to form a group and get hunting.
What about players playing more than one account at a time? They seem
to gain the clearest advantages of both soloing and grouping. Can or
should anything be done about them? No. They count as a group just as
everyone else does. They pay for those extra accounts. If designed
properly, no one person should be able to efficiently play a game like
Everquest with more than one character nearly as well as a full group
of live players. The efficiency of having a live player behind each
keyboard should result in faster and more reliable hunts in more
dangerous and rewarding areas.
What should SOE do in regards to soloing?
Improve the task system with tasks anyone can accomplish with any class
and any level in an hour.
Add more progressive solo tasks and quests that follow through a story
line and offer good one-time experience and item rewards.
Ensure that grouping offers a significant advantage over soloing.
Players should always desire a group over a soloing activity. Only in
limited play-time or high AFK time situations should a player desire to
solo.
Decide how much experience each player should earn soloing when
compared to grouping and offer that experience reward equally to all
classes. It doesn't have to be perfect but it should be close.
Add improvements for the classes that have a harder time soloing such
as tasks, quests, particular items or skills that help that class solo.
Add tasks that don't require killing lots of mobs. Examples include
exploration tasks, puzzle tasks, mini-game tasks, or spawned encounters
designed for the class that spawns it.
SOE should improve grouping content instead of merely improving solo
content. Many times players use the difficulty in finding a group as a
reason for improving solo content. Instead of bypassing the grouping
process completely, there are clear ways to improve grouping and speed
up the time it takes to form a group and get hunting. Such improvements
might include:
Let players invite other players into their group across zones. Let
/invite player work regardless of where that player is.
Add player characters to the 'find' button. Help players track their
groupmates more easily. Refund the points for the 'Find Group Member'
group leader ability.
Add less demanding yet profitable hunts for non-ideal groups or groups
with a mix of wide level ranges.
Add a mentor system similar to Everquest 2. Let players of mixed levels
hunt together and earn experience.
Add tasks, quests, and missions designed for three or four players
instead of six. Help bridge the gap between soloing and the perfect
six-person group.
Players and game companies alike have embraced soloing nearly
completely. Both Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft offer nearly enough
solo content for a player to go from level one to the highest level
without ever having to group. Continually improving solo content became
the trend. Improve it too much, however, and you may destroy the very
thing that made Everquest such a unique and monumental game: the
dependency on other players.
Loral Ciriclight
12 April 2005
loral@loralciriclight.com
Caster's Realm: On Soloing
Soloing has been a continuing topic of interest since the days
Everquest first began. Newer games like World of Warcraft and Everquest
2 continually advertise new features and content for soloing. Clearly
many players desire rewarding solo content, but what dangers lurk in
such desires? What will happen to the rest of the game if soloing
becomes the fastest and most reliable way of earning experience? Put
your wizard on AFK and sit back for an interesting read.
Soloing offers many obvious and clear advantages. Soloers can often
begin hunting right away. They do not need to wait for other group
members; they do not need to surf the LFG channel looking for that one
last tank; they do not have to show each member how to arrive at a
hunting ground. Soloers can leave the keyboard when they wish without
harming the rest of a group. Soloers earn reliable experience over time
because they only have to trust themselves. They don't have to worry
about getting that one bad bard who always overpulls and wipes out
groups.
The clearest advantage to soloing is time. Soloers can get hunting,
earn experience, and get out quickly - sometimes in as little as ten
or fifteen minutes. Some players need this or they couldn't play. Not
everyone has a lifestyle that lets them play a game non-stop for hours
at a time. There is no pause button in Everquest. For some, soloing is
the only option.
Soloing has some disadvantages as well. Everquest is built around
grouping. The other players are the only clear difference between a
game like Everquest and a game like Morrowind. If one solos all of the
time, one will have a harder time meeting new friends, forming a
network of allies, joining guilds, or get invited to hunts or raids.
One who spends his or her entire Everquest career soloing misses out on
what makes Everquest such a great game.
In Everquest, not all classes solo equally. Some classes such as
wizards, druids, necromancers, and bards; have significant advantages
in soloing. Other classes such as warriors, rogues, monks and most
classes without an ability to heal or kite, have significant
disadvantages in soloing.
Some argue, including SOE, that this is acceptable. On the EQLive
website it clearly states which classes are better able to solo and
which are highly sought after in groups. Some argue that not every
class is as desired for a group and thus should have equal advantage in
soloing.
I argue a different case. Every class should have equal advantage
earning solo experience. Groups should desire every class equally,
though not always for every slot in a group. Every class should have
opportunities to earn similar experience to other classes alone if
grouping is currently impossible.
I won't dig back into group desireability for every class. It is easy
to argue that warriors, clerics, and enchanters are desired more highly
than other classes in a group and this is partly true, but each group
wants only one of those classes and wants three or four of the other
classes. Just as every class should have reasonable chances for earning
similar experience as other classes alone, they should have equal
chances for getting into a group.
The way to fix soloing is to make grouping more desireable and easier
to do.
Should every class quad kite in Fire? No. Not every class has to earn
experience in exactly the same way but every class should have an
opportunity to earn the same general amount of experience in the same
amount of time; whether it is through the use of a instanced solo
dungeon exploration, a task, a quest, or normal hunting.
What should that reward be? This is a more difficult question, one with
no clear answer but one thing is clear:
Players should earn significantly more experience grouping than they
should soloing.
It often takes a lot time to form a group, get to a hunting zone and
begin hunting. One must consider this downtime when determining the
experience reward a group should earn while hunting. Other factors such
as players getting lost, players dying, players going afk, players
leaving and new players joining need to be factored in as well. When we
consider all of these factors it is clear that grouping experience
shouldn't just be better than solo experience; it should be MUCH
better.
What happens if it isn't? Eventually, people will stop grouping. If you
think its hard to find a group these days, imagine how hard it would be
if everyone earned more reliable experience soloing? Why would anyone
group?
People seek the most reliable experience over time. Since soloing
offers a much more reliable experience, the reward for grouping should
be significantly increased to make up for its lack in reliability as
well as the extra time it takes to form a group and get hunting.
What about players playing more than one account at a time? They seem
to gain the clearest advantages of both soloing and grouping. Can or
should anything be done about them? No. They count as a group just as
everyone else does. They pay for those extra accounts. If designed
properly, no one person should be able to efficiently play a game like
Everquest with more than one character nearly as well as a full group
of live players. The efficiency of having a live player behind each
keyboard should result in faster and more reliable hunts in more
dangerous and rewarding areas.
What should SOE do in regards to soloing?
Improve the task system with tasks anyone can accomplish with any class
and any level in an hour.
Add more progressive solo tasks and quests that follow through a story
line and offer good one-time experience and item rewards.
Ensure that grouping offers a significant advantage over soloing.
Players should always desire a group over a soloing activity. Only in
limited play-time or high AFK time situations should a player desire to
solo.
Decide how much experience each player should earn soloing when
compared to grouping and offer that experience reward equally to all
classes. It doesn't have to be perfect but it should be close.
Add improvements for the classes that have a harder time soloing such
as tasks, quests, particular items or skills that help that class solo.
Add tasks that don't require killing lots of mobs. Examples include
exploration tasks, puzzle tasks, mini-game tasks, or spawned encounters
designed for the class that spawns it.
SOE should improve grouping content instead of merely improving solo
content. Many times players use the difficulty in finding a group as a
reason for improving solo content. Instead of bypassing the grouping
process completely, there are clear ways to improve grouping and speed
up the time it takes to form a group and get hunting. Such improvements
might include:
Let players invite other players into their group across zones. Let
/invite player work regardless of where that player is.
Add player characters to the 'find' button. Help players track their
groupmates more easily. Refund the points for the 'Find Group Member'
group leader ability.
Add less demanding yet profitable hunts for non-ideal groups or groups
with a mix of wide level ranges.
Add a mentor system similar to Everquest 2. Let players of mixed levels
hunt together and earn experience.
Add tasks, quests, and missions designed for three or four players
instead of six. Help bridge the gap between soloing and the perfect
six-person group.
Players and game companies alike have embraced soloing nearly
completely. Both Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft offer nearly enough
solo content for a player to go from level one to the highest level
without ever having to group. Continually improving solo content became
the trend. Improve it too much, however, and you may destroy the very
thing that made Everquest such a unique and monumental game: the
dependency on other players.
Loral Ciriclight
12 April 2005
loral@loralciriclight.com
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