Stories that focus on the individual should never require parties.

[giolli]

Just to give a wonderful, live, working example of what most casuals are getting at:

Last night, I went to acquire an Inferno Lamp for Ifrit access. Now, if you remember, you have two methods of acquiring this.

Option one: get the item from the NM, Flamefist Ahlygg Roh
Option two: get 5 inferno tapers from lesser Amalj'aa

Now, being that I was solo, I ran out to the stronghold west of Broken Water. For about 30 min, I soloed lesser Amalj'aa and got 6 tapers. Another set of players ran up and they offered me a pt. Before I logged, I pted with them for about 30min. In that time, I got another 12 tapers. By pting, I doubled my rate of gain. Unfortunately, I had to log before we attempted the NM.

So what is my point? I was able to progress as a solo player. However, grouping up sped up the rate of progress. And the best part? It did not require a full group or a specific party setup.

Another great example is the acquisition of company seals. There are solo methods, small party methods, and full group methods. The best and most efficient way to farm these is in a group - but you can in fact make slow, steady progress as as solo player.

Casuals aren't crying to make the entire game solo (far from, it in fact). I think most other players confuse this and get extremely hostile/antagonistic. Casuals just want more engaging content to do. Hamlet could have served this purpose... but SE missed the boat on that one. SE didn't have to make Relic Weapons dependent on full-party content. They could've went with other designs that placed just as much emphasis on time investment, yet still be accessible (like my inferno taper experience).

1.0 isn't very friendly to casuals or players who are late to the game - this much is true. 2.0 doesn't have to be and shouldn't be (Yoshi seems to understand this based on recent information).

[Loggos]

Just to give a wonderful, live, working example of what most casuals are getting at:

Last night, I went to acquire an Inferno Lamp for Ifrit access. Now, if you remember, you have two methods of acquiring this.

Option one: get the item from the NM, Flamefist Ahlygg Roh
Option two: get 5 inferno tapers from lesser Amalj'aa

Now, being that I was solo, I ran out to the stronghold west of Broken Water. For about 30 min, I soloed lesser Amalj'aa and got 6 tapers. Another set of players ran up and they offered me a pt. Before I logged, I pted with them for about 30min. In that time, I got another 12 tapers. By pting, I doubled my rate of gain. Unfortunately, I had to log before we attempted the NM.

So what is my point? I was able to progress as a solo player. However, grouping up sped up the rate of progress. And the best part? It did not require a full group or a specific party setup.

Another great example is the acquisition of company seals. There are solo methods, small party methods, and full group methods. The best and most efficient way to farm these is in a group - but you can in fact make slow, steady progress as as solo player.

Casuals aren't crying to make the entire game solo (far from, it in fact). I think most other players confuse this and get extremely hostile/antagonistic. Casuals just want more engaging content to do. Hamlet could have served this purpose... but SE missed the boat on that one. SE didn't have to make Relic Weapons dependent on full-party content. They could've went with other designs that placed just as much emphasis on time investment, yet still be accessible (like my inferno taper experience).

1.0 isn't very friendly to casuals or players who are late to the game - this much is true. 2.0 doesn't have to be and shouldn't be (Yoshi seems to understand this based on recent information).

This!!!!

This is exactly how I feel about solo and group content.
As a casual I sometimes feel as if other players see me as a pestilence to kill the game but guess what, "we" don't intend to kill a game, nor to get the ultimate items, achievements etc. served on a silver plate, at least as far as I can speak for myself.
And no, I don't want to play an offline game because there is something that online titles have that offline ones don't: They are an open ongoing world and I do enjoy the company of others. I love chatting, I love seeing others around, in the towns, on the fields. It makes the game alive and not as if I'm caught in a virtual box with no connections to the "outer world" that is doomed to "end" in a couple of hours.
However for a casual it is just not always possible to depend on a party. I see it from myself: I only did 5 primal fights against ifrit ever because I do have a lot to do in real life and have short time at hand (and this is something many many encounter: So only because we have to work a lot or have to manage many things irl we are not allowed to have fun here?
Can we not be caught by the story, the graphics and the magic of a game only because we have not this much time? It's a bit like looking through a shop window but being forbidden to enter. Like I said, I don't want everything on a silver plate but I want to be at least a legitimate part of this virtual world).
I am NOT saying that Primals should be soloable however this is an example of how little I can actually do as a casual.
Except for doing guild leves (that are not really the core of the game) I can't do much that is challenging. I love group play but it is not possible for me all the time if it takes 1h to gather a group and my daily play time only contains 1h...
I want at least to be able to do the core, the main story solo if I have to. Why not mixing both options like Giolli said (also for the main story):
Solos can do it but have slower progress or simpler modes with less rewards (totally fine with that!!!) while groups have (much) faster/ more efficient progress.

It can't be that the options to play a game are "not at all" or "sell all your days to it". There must be an in-between somewhere and the way giolli described it is something that I really wish for and that will hopefully be enhanced so that hardcore gamers can make the maximum out of the game but casuals can have a great time, too.

[Chardrizard]

As for the GC missions at least, don't design the fights to be so party heavy.

This game isn't exactly booming with people on the same quest as you yet, or those willing to repeat them again for nothing. Too late to change that now, I know. But if I had a plot that wasn't going to be around for long, I'd want everyone currently playing to have a fair chance at experincing it.

So the people that enjoys challenging fight will not get it just because you want to read the story which is accessible from other sources? You can read story elsewhere, but you cant experience a challenging fight only by watching.

I suppose i agree they need to add more incentives so people would help, but no to dumbing down.

[Goufunaki]

So the people that enjoys challenging fight will not get it just because you want to read the story which is accessible from other sources? You can read story elsewhere, but you cant experience a challenging fight only by watching.

I suppose i agree they need to add more incentives so people would help, but no to dumbing down.

Either challenging for a full party, or stupidly easy for one person, we're all going lose those GC fights come 2.0 anyway. No sense wanting to keep that at full 8 man lv50+ difficulty if you're only going to do it once or twice, however, when the real reward is seeing what happens next. I could watch youtube vids, but I'd rather progress myself.

Besides, you have other means of challenges as well with primals, hamlets, special level 50 leves, cutters cry, aurum vale. And these are things that are repeatable after you finish those with a chance of earning better/multiple rewards. Can only repeat story fights if you're with somebody that still needs it.

[UmJammerSully]

I'll never understand why there are so many people that want significant content to be single-player in a massively-multiplayer online RPG. :I

[Goufunaki]

Keep in mind, the "O" stands for "online", not "only".

[giolli]

Another note:

While 1.0 has its design flaws... the community is equally at fault. Note, what I'm about to say tends to happen with most MMOs - so its vital that players find the best LS "fit".

A couple months ago, I was fortunate to find a very welcoming LS. Everyone was nice and helpful for the most part. However, a bulk of its members were playing at least 6-8 maybe even up to 10-12 hours a day. Because of this, a bulk of the players tended to gravitate towards each other - no different than a clique really.

In one instance, the whole LS was off helping some members complete some quests. Another member who recently logged in asked for assistance. I had nothing better to do and offered to help only to have him dismiss my offer completely. "Oh, I'll just wait for so-and-so and so-and-so to finish up. Thanks anyways!"

I felt kind of shafted because he would rather wait for one of the other players to help him. I understood he'd rather play with someone he knew better - but I was trying to be helpful, trying to be social and going out of my way to be a part of this new LS. I had even organized a few raid groups that helped members complete all sorts of quests - so I was "trying".

Eventually, I had to take a break due to some demanding work projects. I let the LS know I would be MIA for a few weeks. To my surprise, I had been kicked from the LS when I came back. Not so much as an email or a message saying why I was kicked. Talk about a kick in the face!

So yes, the community is just as responsible for making or breaking the game.

[Astorlok]

If anything, you have three pillars of content...

Top Tier - These are your full party raids and instances. These off the most lucrative rewards. Currently this includes, Ifrit, Moogle, Garuda, AV, CC, Hamlet, Darkhold, Company, AF and Relic Weapons.

Middle Tier - This is content that will at least require light party to complete. The rewards will won't be a awesome as Top Tier, but they'll still be worth completing for many players. Currently this includes most NMs, Dzemael, strongholds.

Bottom Tier - This is solo content or content that may require an additional player. It is the most accessible and rewards are "sufficient". Currently this includes seal farming, gil farming, levequests.

Yoshi talks about his 3 pillars that make it an MMO and that you need it balanced in order for it to stand. The content that makes up a MMO is no different... you need a balance of Bottom, Middle and Top Tier content. Too much on the bottom, and the game won't be of interest to anyone (not even casuals!). Too much on Top, and you really alienate casuals (your biggest audience!).

Currently the game is very top heavy. Even middle tier content is relegated to seal farming (Darkhold) and completionists (NM achievements and items). Even Hamlet requires a full group - which is unacceptable imo. Something like that should be scalable.

Progress through your company should open up Top Tier content as it currently does. However, to continue through the rest of the soloable quests, you should not have to complete any of the raids or instances. I am actually okay with AF having a dependency on Top Tier content. I am actually okay with Relic Weapons having a dependency on Top Tier content but right now its just too painful in its current implementation.

Some people just want to play the game (could care less about the shiny rewards). In its current state, its just to painful to experience a bulk of the game. Hopefully this will all change with 2.0.

Couldn't agree more. I've only been playing for about 2 months and my progress for my GC has halted entirely because I cannot find a group for "It Kills With Fire (Limsa Lominsa)". My LS is pretty small and we rarely have more than 3 people on at the same time. Sitting around ANYWHERE waiting for a group just so I can make progress is incredibly frustrating. I wouldn't mind it if I had to go level up to finish it alone, but it requires 4 people just to finish it. The game absolutely needs some balance when it comes to low level content vs high level content, especially in a game they are trying to attract new players to.

[Loggos]

I'll never understand why there are so many people that want significant content to be single-player in a massively-multiplayer online RPG. :I

And no, I don't want to play an offline game because there is something that online titles have that offline ones don't: They are an open ongoing world and I do enjoy the company of others. I love chatting, I love seeing others around, in the towns, on the fields. It makes the game alive and not as if I'm caught in a virtual box with no connections to the "outer world" that is doomed to "end" in a couple of hours.
However for a casual it is just not always possible to depend on a party. I see it from myself: I only did 5 primal fights against ifrit ever because I do have a lot to do in real life and have short time at hand (and this is something many many encounter: So only because we have to work a lot or have to manage many things irl we are not allowed to have fun here?
Can we not be caught by the story, the graphics and the magic of a game only because we have not this much time? It's a bit like looking through a shop window but being forbidden to enter. Like I said, I don't want everything on a silver plate but I want to be at least a legitimate part of this virtual world).

Like I said, casuals don't want to break a game or turn it into an antisocial mess.
We just like those games, too, but don't have as much time at hand as others.
We are neither pleeing for making no content for groups anymore but for giving the options for both parties: Players with a lot of time that can explore the game to its fullest and casuals that can still taste the magic of a game, not as efficient and with the same "glory" as full time players but for the sake of plain fun and enjoyment.

[Astorlok]

side quests and job specific quests should be solo.

MULTI-PLAYER ONLINE STORY should be MULTI-PLAYER

NOT SOLO!

I don't care if you're a casual player and have limited time to play. Schedule your limited time to get the story done if you want to progress in that manner.

Don't dumb down the game for the people who won't or can't devote the time, provide alternative content but don't make XIV: SWtOR.

if you do you lost my sub.

This is the kind of attitude that alienates new players. "Game too hard? Go cry to Blizzard, SE doesn't care." This isn't a viable business model. I'm pretty sure SE doesn't want to only pander to grognards.