Square you have GOT to change how the Duty system works for questing

[AvalonBright]

Square, this is an MMO. One of those key words being "multiplayer." The only times I ever play an MMO alone are if I'm randomly doing crafting or something similar while waiting for my partner to be available. I don't enjoy playing MMOs alone very much on the long term, and they've always been a way to share gaming with a significant other.

But this duty system.. Good lord, Square. It's a nightmare. Look, I get that you want people to be able to play alone, and have their own stories. But that didn't stop TOR or Guild Wars from letting your party members into your personal story instances, and those games are wrecks.

Heck, even if you're THAT dead set on making people do their own content alone, you have got to be able to figure out a way to keep people from having to break party. Sure it's only 5-10 minutes every few quest hubs, but good god is it irritating. "Hey hon, I'll see you in a bit! Let's break party again and re-invite in ten minutes!"

I don't understand how this system even got through testing. It makes grouping a mess. God forbid you're partying with more than one other person, too. Look. I know it's not a huge deal, but it's annoying enough to make some people really irritated when trying to party, and it's just one of many QoL changes (like talking to NPCs while mounted...) that really, really need looked at. Please.

[AvalonBright]

Bump. I can't be the only one irritated by this. :\

[Kitfox]

It's not a big deal.

[Alhanelem]

Square, this is an MMO. One of those key words being "multiplayer." The only times I ever play an MMO alone are if I'm randomly doing crafting or something similar while waiting for my partner to be available.

Being an MMO doesn't mean every second of every time you're logged on you're specifically and directly doing something with another player. The MMO team simply means you're in a persistent world that is populated by other people like you. It doesn't mean you are, or should be forced to be, playing with others at all times.

There are some things in an MMO that should not depend on other players. If there is no solo content, then you literally spend every minute of every time you log on either being in a party doing party stuff, or idling in a town or city waiting for the oppertunity to do so. Being able to solo things means you don't have to sit still and wait while a group forms for what you want to do.

I mean just imagine if you were forced to form a party just to mine or gather resources... that would be just silly. Plus, within the main story, it totally makes sense from a game story perspective that sometimes you're going to have help and sometimes you won't.. I don't understand the complaints about not being in a party for solo duties. Unless you're on something that does need a party, why are you in one? If you just want to chat with your friends / share the experience, you can use linkshell or company chat for that.

(edit)

but rather people want a game that they can play with other people, and even do their own thing without having to break the party.

Again, why are you in a party when you're doing things that aren't made for a party? Again, if you're just using a party to chat with your friends, why can't you use a linkshell or company for that? I not once ever ran into this issue. When I was doing the story quests, which I knew were largely a solo endeavor, I didn't make a party for anything. If I wanted to talk to friends i sent tells or used linkshell. When it did come time that a party was needed, then I formed one. You don't need to be in a party 24/7.

I understand the minor inconvenience where you might not necessarily know something is a solo fight ahead of time, but still, it's exactly that- a minor inconvenience that isn't worth raging over and making a misleading post about.

[Teleniel]

While not a huge problem it is frustrating... and twice over when you enter one and have to stop sending/receiving tells because it's a 2 minute long duty.

[BalthierLove]

I've found those situations to be annoying but not annoying enough to give me emotional distress and make a thread.

[Billie21]

Bump. I can't be the only one irritated by this. :\

You're not.
It's one of many little things (like the impossibility to /tell in dungeons, to stay in the same theme) that are not well thought in this game.

It's just not a big issue for me. Annoying, yes, nothing more.

[frostmagemari]

For me, it's not a huge issue on it's own.. However, there are so many "Little" problems with the game that even the small problems that you could normally overlook just become part of this mosaic of annoyance for me.

Being an MMO doesn't mean every second of every time you're logged on you're specifically and directly doing something with another player. The MMO team simply means you're in a persistent world that is populated by other people like you. It doesn't mean you are, or should be forced to be, playing with others at all times.

You're right, you're not going to be in a party for everything in an MMO, however.. this is the -only- MMO that essentially slaps the player in the face with a big "Drop your party" sign for everything. I cannot even do mining leves while in a party with my SO. I don't want her help on the leve, but i shouldn't be forced to drop the party to do it.

There are some things in an MMO that should not depend on other players. If there is no solo content, then you literally spend every minute of every time you log on either being in a party doing party stuff, or idling in a town or city waiting for the oppertunity to do so. Being able to solo things means you don't have to sit still and wait while a group forms for what you want to do.

I mean just imagine if you were forced to form a party just to mine or gather resources... that would be just silly. Plus, within the main story, it totally makes sense from a game story perspective that sometimes you're going to have help and sometimes you won't.. I don't understand the complaints about not being in a party for solo duties. Unless you're on something that does need a party, why are you in one? If you just want to chat with your friends / share the experience, you can use linkshell or company chat for that.

People are not wanting a game where you -need- a party for everything, but rather people want a game that they can play with other people, and even do their own thing without having to break the party.

There is no other MMO that i've seen that forces you to drop party to do quests, even if the other players cannot attend the story event or quest. Defend the game all you want, but a broken party-control system is still a broken party control system.

[Tupsi]

Being an MMO doesn't mean every second of every time you're logged on you're specifically and directly doing something with another player. The MMO team simply means you're in a persistent world that is populated by other people like you. It doesn't mean you are, or should be forced to be, playing with others at all times.

I think what you mean is new MMOs are like this - It was never a problem in older MMOs. People love bringing up FFXI when this subject comes up, but in all reality, the one common factor is:

"I lfp for hours, days on end!"

But never:

"I tried to start my own party and could never do it."

But that's a different story - It's common for people to want MMOs to be solo ventures today rather than MMO, I doubt you've ever wanted to actually do things with your friends that wasn't purely end-game, you know kinda like what we could in XI and 1.23? ^^

[Felis]

But this duty system.. Good lord, Square. It's a nightmare. Look, I get that you want people to be able to play alone, and have their own stories. But that didn't stop TOR or Guild Wars from letting your party members into your personal story instances, and those games are wrecks.

What have this to do with duty finders?

Duty finders is for instanced party content. If you want to enter it with friends, make the party first and then use the duty finder.