Request: I don't want to solo the main scenario

[Alhanelem]

I don't give a rats behind if the quests are solo or not, as long as they aren't all sickeningly easy.

[Malakhim]

I'm just gonna paste a response I left in a similar thread.

I want to play with anyone, but I don't want to play with everyone. Once you create content that requires groups, you've essentially forced my back against the wall. This is doubly true when said content is one of the major pillars of your game.

Story content should be soloable or accessible with a partner NPC, but should be fairly challenging. The biggest reason that this wasn't the case originally is because DoH and DoL classes were allowed access to the main storyline, which watered down the difficulty curve immensely. Crafters and Gatherers should have their own "story tree" that plays to their strengths.

Naturally there should be some clear benefits to grouping for storyline quests(battle time rankings/leaderboards, access to better bonuses, better loot, etc.), but content where grouping should be required(or at least encouraged) should be peripheral things like mass PvE, PvP, player-run events like partying, NM hunting, etc.

[Majidah]

I'm just gonna paste a response I left in a similar thread.

I want to play with anyone, but I don't want to play with everyone. Once you create content that requires groups, you've essentially forced my back against the wall. This is doubly true when said content is one of the major pillars of your game.

Story content should be soloable or accessible with a partner NPC, but should be fairly challenging. The biggest reason that this wasn't the case originally is because DoH and DoL classes were allowed access to the main storyline, which watered down the difficulty curve immensely. Crafters and Gatherers should have their own "story tree" that plays to their strengths.

Naturally there should be some clear benefits to grouping for storyline quests(battle time rankings/leaderboards, access to better bonuses, better loot, etc.), but content where grouping should be required(or at least encouraged) should be peripheral things like mass PvE, PvP, player-run events like partying, NM hunting, etc.

Says who?
I say it should be the other way around. Benefits for soloing it, since it should be harder than doing it in a group.
Clearing CoP in a group was one of the most rewarding things I've done in a video game.

We had the party's girl actually cry after the last mission.

[ShinChuck]

I don't give a rats behind if the quests are solo or not, as long as they aren't all sickeningly easy.

This is it entirely. As a guy who's raided in WoW, Rift, XI, and some others, for all practical purposes, what I do in a raid I could do solo (varies depending on tank/support/dps/healer, but especially related to DPS). DPS in particular is roughly the same: figure out the boss/mob patterns, figure out my best rotation, and go from there. Proper strategy can be a hallmark of both solo and group play, if properly balanced.

Some of the hardest games in history have been - gasp - single player! There's no reason we can't have challenging raid content alongside equally challenging single-player content.

I want to suffer through promyvions. Through airship battles. I want the challenge.

This is going to sound snarkier than I mean it, but it's a genuine bit of advice: if you really "want to suffer" you should pick up a Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden or Civilization and crank up the difficulty to full, because those are real, desirable challenges. When "challenge" is simply reliant on "hoping others don't screw up the strategy", it becomes a bit less so. When triumphing over a challenge is not reliant on your skill, it becomes, to a degree, "fake difficulty", partly defined as "The outcome is not reasonably determined by the player's actions."

Your compatriots are, essentially, fulfilling the roles of intelligent AI, and the outcome is not reasonably determined by your actions.

There is no reason your skills should not be able to be put to the test solo, if it different fashions. Yes, proper strategy can a test of skill, but so is handling yourself when the odds are significantly against you.

Besides all this, your premise is flawed: the idea of "more people = more challenge" isn't quite accurate, because it's all based on the inherent programming and balance of a game. Many games, more people = far less challenge. If you do simply desire challenge, and not an artificial means of forcing people to play together because you prefer to play together, then "more people" doesn't necessarily even come into play.

If your cry for "challenge" is indeed more along the lines of "I want more reasons for people to play together because I prefer to play together and not so much the challenge because I can get challenge solo properly tweaked", then that's fine too! Multiplayer content should be a rewarding experience in itself, and it can be without nerfing or limiting the experiences of those who wish to solo.

[Platinumstorm]

The story and associated quests need major reforms, but there's a major problem involved with this.

As people pass the content it becomes more and more difficult to get a group for the content. This is why you see games like World of Warcraft go back and revamp their previous group style combat to make it solo friendly.

Secondly, I also want more detailed combat at all level ranges, whether I'm fighting solo or in a group, but that would be a lot of development time for a one time experience. It might be worth it because it is core story content; a main focus for many FF players that don't solely exist in FFXI. They definitely need something in place better than what they have now, which are completely underwhelming scenario quests.

The answer isn't necessarily doing it in a large group, though; but introducing mechanics that make the story content engaging could be the solution.

[Estellios]

I think I would prefer if the story content was soloable, too. It's the major draw for many FF players and being unable to even progress in that is frustrating and I can feel for anyone that gets hung up on AF quests or those that suffered through trying to do story missions in FF11. As was brought up, the issue with the current story quests is that they are designed to be do-able by crafters and gatherers so everything is incredibly weak and you rarely fight at all.

It would be nice of them to balance story battles around a single player completing them, they can be used to "test" players on if they have learned their class or not. You can even add battles with NPC allies that change depending on your class to test how you work in a group. Another thing they could do is that each battle could have an alternate Party-oriented version of it with some nice-for-that-level gear, an achievement, or some kind of furniture or doodad for your private home as incentive to do that version if you have the means.

[Cendres]

I'm throwing a fit? You don't see me making a thread asking for everything in the game to be soloable do you? No I want a breathing virtual world with content for everyone and different time tables. I enjoy group content, I enjoy an economy and being part of a greater whole, and I also enjoy doing things on my own time.

Balance people.

[Biggs]

I don't mind playing with people at all. It's just that finding a group in this game is just as painful as it was in XI. You know i keep hearing people say how XI was so good because it forced you to group and thus enabled you to build relationships and that is why some think is so superior. But having played both XI and WOW for years, WOW which a lot of people here claim it is too solo centric, it was always MUCH MUCH easier to find people to play with in WOW then it ever was in XI.

and i'm not even talking about the Dungeon finder tool here. In WOW if you are doing a quest and require some help, it never took me more then 5 -10 min to find someone. There is always people around your area, people who may also be on the same quests and i found people to be a lot friendlier when asked to group then in XI. I find that in XI, people are way too much into their own LS and only care about that. Even before the dungeon finder tool i had less problems making a group then i did in XI.

So unless they make grouping easier in 2.0, please don't try to force any group content down my throat unless its Dungeons and Raids.

Not to take away from your problems, because they sound legit, I think some of your problem might be your server then. Having been on Masamune now coming from Kashaun (which was a freakin ghost town) I have been pleasantly suprised by how easy it has been to make a group via shouting in Ul'dah. As of yet, of the 15 or 16 times I have shouted for a group for xp or artifact missions, I haven't had to wait longer than 15 mins for a full party. No one ever wants to reroll, and I totally get that but, if you ever find yourself on Masamune, look up Behemoth King, we will get you what you need

[bobbygunz]

I agree with both sides of this argument, and each side has a point. Perhaps some kind of compromise is in order (for example, some group content for the main scenario, but not to the point where it would become a barrier to progression as per FFXI).

[Zaaku]

I don't give a rats behind if the quests are solo or not, as long as they aren't all sickeningly easy.

Soloable = Easy as piss

There is no way around this. Unless the instance is tailor made for the job you're going in then they just have to default to kill X number of mobs. There is no wiggle room for strats, tanking, healing priorities, or anything you'd expect for a group instance. How can they do all that when ANYONE has to be able to beat it with a level appropriate Battle Class?

The story line should be primarily group content. Solo has no place in a Final Fantasy STORY! I can't think of a single title in the franchise that nixes your party and tells you to go it alone for a majority of the content. Why should that be striped away for the sake of making it easy for people who can't find a group to do it with? It is just a simple shout for God's sake.