I thought this was a "massively multiplayer game"

I have to agree I would love to be able to group for story quests & leveling with my friends outside of dungeons there is not real need to group which is a shame.

It doesn't matter how the game is set up, people aren't going to be satisfied one way or another. I actually like that I can take my time with the story of this game so I can see WHAT the story of this game is. In FFXI for years it was rush around and jump from mule to mule to get whichever gear I needed for whichever mission I was redoing for whichever friend. Yes, it is a bit of a pain to drop group and regroup, but if you're in the same room with the person, it's not that big of a deal. I spent 5 years in FFXI stuck in a group for hours at a time grinding from level 10-75 for each job, I don't see how not being forced into that is a bad thing. The only thing that makes that harder is that you have to be patient enough to sit there and stare at the same mob for four hours and spam ctrl-1.
The fact is, not everyone has that kind of time to dedicate to a game. Developers are trying to give options to allow people to play if they have 10 hours to play or 2.

Anybody who read the story/class quest content should see that it focuses on you as an individual, hence it makes more sense to be solo. While I do think it would be fun to do these quests with someone else, I would find it rather odd since it wouldn't make sense in the overall story. I think that it's like this to provide you with a more immersive experience and I'm rather enjoying it like that.

This is the problem with the genre for a long time now. OG's are a minority in terms of cash flow, so it probably won't change. What you want is considered niche, which blows my mind, because I think most MMOG playrs actually want a single player game where they can show off their achievements to other people.

I for one miss party mechanics, meeting people is what makes MMORPG's great. The first time you played an MMORPG you weren't excited because it was an RPG, you were excited to be playing with a bunch of other people.

I think there's a good balance of solo and party. You're able to solo all of the minor things while when you need to go stomp a big baddie is when you call up your posse.

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Originally Posted by Moochan

The first time you played an MMORPG you weren't excited because it was an RPG, you were excited to be playing with a bunch of other people.

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Was the complete opposite for me. My first MMORPG was FFXI. I played it because it was a FF title. The MMO genre kind of grew on me from there, but my experience with MMOs is still rather limited. I've only played FFXI, WoW, Aion for a month, Rift for a weekend, and FFXIV.

I'm not really a MMO gamer, but I'm probably in the vast minority in this respect.

ive been saying this for MONTHS, since alpha... the game needs to stop knee jerking the content with over abundant solo gameplay. There needs to be more party gameplay that provides a long term investment of challenge or community. People have scorned me for always saying this, and now look, everyone is starting to realise i am right. Even the people that are defending the game know that im right, they just aren't humble enough to admit it.

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Originally Posted by Flotten

MMO does not mean forced grouping. Some people like to only group for dungeons, others interact with crafting/selling, and some roleplaying. The only thing MM means is (Massive=Large, Multiplayer=Many people). Just thought I would clear that up.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

There's tons of things for Light Parties to do. If you don't have any solo activities though, people are left with little to do while waiting for groups other than wait. This is why solo content exists. Also, just because you're playing solo doesn't mean you're not benefiting from the existence of other players. Other players make the world feel more alive, even if you're not playing with them directly.

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Originally Posted by Amelia_Pond_Behemoth

Because of my schedule, I was often behind everyone else in story missions. This made it extremely difficult to find groups to do Windurst/Zilart/CoP/etc. missions. Especially CoP because not even friends were willing to help me fight Diabolos when it was still a capped fight. I think I Like this approach much more.

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None of these posts have anything to do with what the OP is saying.



Can people on these forums not read? This happens in every single thread. People replying with things that have NOTHING to do with what the thread is about.
The sad part is I could quote even more people in this post that reply saying things nothing to do with the thread, but I don't have the motivation to.

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Originally Posted by Nemmar

What a gross exageration.

The story content wich you do solo must take about 1% of the total play time.

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You are 100% right, the OP is crying about a problem that doesn't exist

To the reply above me: Can you read?

I agree with the OP.

Reduce the amount of Solo Content, and capitalize on Group Required Content. If i wanted to play a single rpg then I WOULDVE JUST PLAYED FINAL FANTASY 7 OR ONE OF THE MANY OTHER 11 FINAL FANTASYS THAT ARE SINGLE PLAYER!

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Originally Posted by Aalwein

For being in the category of MMOG, this game has so many mechanisms that force people into solo play its ridiculous. During the betas I didn't have the chance to play with my wife, as she was never in the beta, and now that I have had time to play with her after launch I spend more time out of a group with her than I do in one. Most of the main story is solo, grand company leves are also forced solo. A huge chunk of the game is forced solo tasks, taking the multiplayer right out of MMOG. Class quests also end up being mostly solo, although I can understand these being solo.

It's just really saddening to have to play half the game solo when my gaming partner is sitting right next to me doing the same content... alone.

It just doesn't make any sense. Please allow at least light parties to enjoy all of the awesome content this game has as a group - don't force us to play ALONE when we are all paying to play a game TOGETHER.

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...said the archer 35.

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Originally Posted by Majidah

...said the archer 35.

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im sorry but what does level have to do with proper game structure? FF11 did perfectly fine when it came to party gameplay at early levels, and all we did was kill small creatures. Sure at face value it isnt eye pleasing for whiners, but It was cohesive, well thoughtout and strategic gameplay that required mental capacity unlike the large sea of brain dead mmo games that only allow you to play them solo, for some contradicting reason >.>

I agree with the group aspect, I am sorry to those who love to solo, but thats what console games are for. non online adventure. FFXIV should be group based. Story wise i remember going WTF when i had 3 dungeons back to back. I also found that you can group / duo most of the story, and its much smoother. also you definitely cant solo the dungeons they want you to go through. in regards to FATES i believe your seeing them during a high population, I think they will become more of 5 man group events when people spread accross the level ranges and get involved in other things beside leveling.

A good portion of game mechanics are hard to judge right now due to the sheer number of players being thrown at them. I think SE did a good job, that is not to say a perfect job. I am an EQ fan who would prefer the term "Solo" to mean im crafting because EQ was 80% group 20% solo. I wouldn't mind being put in spots where solo is not an option

These post always make me scratch my head. There is plenty of group activities you can do; Guildhest, Dungeons, FATE, and Leve. There is plenty solo activities too; Leve, FATE, Quest, and Hunting Log. Don't blame the SE because you don't want to be social.

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Originally Posted by Dyvid

These post always make me scratch my head. There is plenty of group activities you can do; Guildhest, Dungeons, FATE, and Leve. There is plenty solo activities too; Leve, FATE, Quest, and Hunting Log. Don't blame the SE because you don't want to be social.

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These get you together with random people for like 5 seconds. This is not community building.

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Originally Posted by Jess_Spark

Well some people like to solo. I feel the same way about the forced Duty questing. There is a lot of stress involved with a PUG Group. They are not always patient/friendly. I do not know any of these dungeon quests we are thrown into and when you are not perfect they put you down and treat you like garbage. I sit next to my mom and she plays a healer class and gets yelled at when she does those duty quests too.

Why not just make everything a choice. Solo or group depending on your playstyle? Why should we be forced into anything that isn't fun. Afterall, that's what playing is about. We are not playing to get in some fool group who wants to yell at us. I can go to work if I want that.

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First, when you have to rely on other people you tend to be nicer. FFXI proved this. Second, I agree with offering both options, as long as grouping is the faster leveling option. Because grouping will always be more difficult, as dealing with other people is always more difficult than doing it yourself (from your own perspective). It doesn't have to be massively faster, something like 5% more exp or something. Nothing substantial. That way a bad group will result in slower leveling than soloing, but a good group will be faster. Encouraging people to at least try group play.

Well some people like to solo. I feel the same way about the forced Duty questing. There is a lot of stress involved with a PUG Group. They are not always patient/friendly. I do not know any of these dungeon quests we are thrown into and when you are not perfect they put you down and treat you like garbage. I sit next to my mom and she plays a healer class and gets yelled at when she does those duty quests too.

Why not just make everything a choice. Solo or group depending on your playstyle? Why should we be forced into anything that isn't fun. Afterall, that's what playing is about. We are not playing to get in some fool group who wants to yell at us. I can go to work if I want that.

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Originally Posted by Peprika

im sorry but what does level have to do with proper game structure? FF11 did perfectly fine when it came to party gameplay at early levels, and all we did was kill small creatures, but at least it was cohesive, well thoughtout and strategic gameplay that required mental capacity unlike the large sea of brain dead mmo games that only allow you to play them solo, for some contradicting reason >.>

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I played FFXI for years, and you have to admit after the third job going from 10-75 stuck in a group going from zone to zone for hours on end killing the same thing over and over and over got a little old. It's nice having a balance of things you can do. In this game you can do several things, you can solo and quest, you can do dungeons, you can do fates, leves, etc. I don't see it as one sided either way.

This game has more required group content than most recent MMO's. I'm actually surprised we haven't seen more "WHY FORCED GROUPING SE?" complaints actually.

This is 2013 OP, not 2003. 90% of a MMO being group only is a relic of the past that needs to stay buried there.

All im saying is neither Solo or party structure should be outruled, but if one of the two were to have more, for the love of god please be party structure so i can have more of an incentive to play with people. I cant comprehend on how they expect people to want to play a single player game that requires you to pay a monthly fee, while requiring to be connected to the internet. it makes no sense.

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Originally Posted by Moochan

First, when you have to rely on other people you tend to be nicer.

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This doesn't speak towards some of the people you're lumped together with in the Duty Finder. It's BECAUSE you're being grouped together with random people that some people feel there's no consequences for their actions and they'll do whatever they want. FFXI was a bit different in that you had to cooperate with the people only on your local server, and your actions DID have consequences.

And I'm just going to throw it out there even though it's pretty obvious - this isn't FFXI. This game wasn't designed for the minority of people that want group content forced on them most or all of the time. As I mentioned earlier, I feel the game has just the right amount of solo and group content to get through the main story. Endgame has always been group oriented and that won't change.

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Originally Posted by Peprika

im sorry but what does level have to do with proper game structure? FF11 did perfectly fine when it came to party gameplay at early levels, and all we did was kill small creatures. Sure at face value it isnt eye pleasing for whiners, but It was cohesive, well thoughtout and strategic gameplay that required mental capacity unlike the large sea of brain dead mmo games that only allow you to play them solo, for some contradicting reason >.>

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Le sigh.

It's because the structure of this game streamlines the learning process vertically... The game slowly introduces its mechanics, then slowly introduces you to group play. By the end of the game there is nothing *but* group play. Complaining about lack of team work at 35 makes no sense, specially when you haven't even been introduced to all the mechanics or to the most basic skills of your job. Not to mention its wrong as there is more than enough to be found...

Examples: sastasha, the tam-tara deepcroft, copperbell mines, halatali, the thousand maws of toto-rak, haukke manor, brayflox's longstop, the sunken temple of qarn, fates, leves, 12 different guildhests, 2 primal fights.


And after the main storyline? It's basically 100% group play.

nah i disagree, players had more then enough time to learn how to play the game before level 10. it never effected them on how to play in a group in ff11. and that game did perfectly fine. sorry, hiding all the multiplayer features untill after the game is done is frankly bad game design. it should be found throughout the game.

I'm a bit mixed on the frequent solo content. Coming from FFXI where it could often take 2 or more hours to get a group for some things, the main story being mostly solo able is nice. However I would also have loved a more group based progression prior to endgame as well. The ideal MMO for me would have both solo and group progression being viable for all of the pre-end game, even if the solo way was slower and less efficient. Very little grouping along the way to the end game tends to result in a bad community in the end.

I played the whole main story quest with my bf and every single side quest together. We each had to do our own class quest instances but it was very easy to play together. Granted we did slow down to make sure we weren't rushing past one another. Now at end-game we're always grouped for dungeons. The only solo things we do are crafting/gathering.

Currently doable in groups:
Quests
Story Quests unless there is an instance
FATES
Dungeons
Guildhests
Primal Fights

Currently not doable as a party:
Instanced story quests
Leves

OP, looks like reality is against you.

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Originally Posted by Aalwein

For being in the category of MMOG, this game has so many mechanisms that force people into solo play its ridiculous.**snip**

It's just really saddening to have to play half the game solo when my gaming partner is sitting right next to me doing the same content... alone.

It just doesn't make any sense. Please allow at least light parties to enjoy all of the awesome content this game has as a group - don't force us to play ALONE when we are all paying to play a game TOGETHER.

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Party up, every FATE you work you will help each other, and you can also run linked leve quests as long as you are both of a level required to run the leve, and have accepted them from the levemete. Other than solo story quests and GC quests, I think everything else is either multi-player capable or multi-player required..

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Originally Posted by Alavastre

Currently not doable as a party:
Instanced story quests
Leves

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You can take the Leves off that list, you can run leves as linked leves in a party as long as everyone meets the requirements of the leve. The only ones you can't run that way are Grand Company leves.

Massively multiplayer does not mean that every single piece of content should require a group.

IMHO, an MMOG should be flexible about group sizes so that people can play with who they want to play with.

That said, the forced solo on story missions and GC leves can be annoying when you want to play with others.

To Op . I and my wife do thing together like she craftand I do the shard farming. We play dungeons together all the time. Sometime mix around with other ppl and chatting. We did not play together until lvl 50 btw.

This game also has by far the smallest MMO world to have come out in a long time. I think Wizard 101's world might be bigger.

Before I get picked apart by fanboys, that was a JOKE.

But the world is super tiny.

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Originally Posted by Lunar

I see what you guys are saying but partying takes up time. SE is heading into the right direction. Noone has enough time now to play for hours and hours. Making a party requires time!

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I fail to see how this is the "right direction". Every ultra-casual P2P MMO released in recent memory has fallen on its face shortly after release.

MMO's take time. If you don't have time, then I'm sorry to say that you need to be looking into another genre to participate in. Period.

let's be real here.

Duty Finder is solo play.

You can literally Q for an AK or something, run the entire dungeon for your tomes, without anyone saying a single word.

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Originally Posted by Dorfentyme

This game also has by far the smallest MMO world to have come out in a long time.
But the world is super tiny.

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AGREED!

The game definitely could use more zones, but that isn't necessarily what makes a world feel tiny. I would say with the amount of areas and unique environments it has, that the world WOULD be big enough.... but...

teleporting and duty finder. This ABSOLUTELY KILLS world-size. I can sit in a chain in an inn room and run dungeons all day, don't even have to go outside. Also, teleporting to everywhere makes the world feel like tiny separate zones.

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Originally Posted by Aalwein

For being in the category of MMOG, this game has so many mechanisms that force people into solo play its ridiculous... the multiplayer right out of MMOG.

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I hate to break it to you but the multi-player aspect, at least in the sense it once was in these games (as in far more "massive" in a meaningful sense), has already been taken out, by things like instanced dungeons, LFG tools that teleport you to the dungeon, faceroll easy open world content, the separation of PvP & PvE servers, etc... Basically most of the things that encouraged any meaningful interaction between people who did not know each other and encouraged community, MMOs now are played more like solo or co-op game, with a sort of weak level of larger interaction on top of that, with the odd rare exception like EVE Online.

Most MMOs these days simply fail to live up to the name, which is why the genre is such a stagnant mess and the community has degraded to an all-time-low.

P.S - Playing with your wife is merely one rung up the ladder from playing solo, in terms of an MMO it is also ridiculous.