Nino...One of the upsides of VG.

[Bolero]

Grouping is where the game shines. On both of my characters I grouped all the way to the 30s, even though they were solo classes (druid and bloodmage). I find soloing missives and similar quests to be a boring waste of time. I just couldn't do it. I need the social interaction.

I was on the second least populated server and it was pretty empty. I would quite often be the only person in a chunk with content, even during prime time. The last couple of weeks that I played it became very difficult to form a group. They need to do something about the population of the lower servers.

[Kaxmax]

A suggestion for Nino & Brad: Put something with relative solo/group strength on the class description sheet when creating a character. It sucks to play a class to 20 only to realize they are severely gimped at soloing compared to other classes. It may be an easy way to keep the more casual player who picks a bad solo class->gets frustrated but doesn't want to reroll->quits. Personally, I had a rogue & a psi, the difference in solo strength was absolutely huge.

(and apologies if this is already in place, I haven't played the game since late Feb.)

[tad10]

Originally Posted by kcxiv

Where are them quests at right now? I dont have a damn quest icon on top any npc atm in that area. Hell, until last week's patch i was kos there.

Gnomes offer the starter quest. Area used to be Qa'xa (or however you spell it) faction -- guess they changed it (after I ground it ;p).

Should get a quest from Krazzle to get some untuned energy shards or something which is the starter.

[kcxiv]

Originally Posted by tad10

Gnomes offer the starter quest. Area used to be Qa'xa (or however you spell it) faction -- guess they changed it (after I ground it ;p).

Should get a quest from Krazzle to get some untuned energy shards or something which is the starter.

hmm... i am ging to have to check that out in a few. Right now though, i am going to help my old eq guild with Mayong Mistmoore, that fight owns. go go bane weapon.

[rinthea]

Originally Posted by Kendrick

What class(es) do you play Rinthea? Because my two unguilded characters (non-kiting ranger and non-kiting bear shaman) found plenty of solo content up until oh, 40+, and even after that there's things you can do (and more coming every patch).

You aren't going to get much heroic+ gear trying to do the whole game solo, but it's quite doable, you'll just have to settle for mostly rare items, those you find and those you buy off the broker.

It may be a bit on the painful side after level 20 if you're a warrior, monk, or rogue, a bit on the slow side if you're a cleric, ranger, paladin, disciple or dark knight, and it's pretty painless if you're a bloodmage, shaman, druid, sorcerer, bard or necromancer. (The above breakdown doesn't count the ability for some classes to solo 4 and 5 dots, it's just the ability to gain experience and complete quests solo).

It's not as solo-friendly as WoW is for all classes, but it's a helluva lot more solo-friendly than EQ ever was.

From my point of view the only ball that was dropped was the raid content, and that's surely coming down the pipe soon.

One of the major complaints over on SV by the "true believers" is that there is TOO MUCH solo content and not enough people want to group because of that, which is aggravated by the travel time.

FWIW I play a rogue thats now 48, crafting at 25, diplo skill about 70, for those who want to know and a few who dont think I play the game. Its not the point that some classes solo better than others. Thats irrelevant. What matters is that your progress (xp) & fun (grinding) solo, related to a group is pathetic(I'm talking post 20 adventuring).

Even the classes that can solo. People dont want to solo 2 dots infront of a dungeon for no reason while waiting for a group. I have seen many, many people of all classes, fade away because they cant get groups, because the game does not encourage people to stick around while they're waiting for a group. And where there is solo content, its too far (timewise) away to go, then return when or if a group ever become available.

PS cut harvesting time in half

[kcxiv]

Thats why they need better traveling in Thestra. Qalia is fine, your 5 minutes from everywhere if you bind in the right area's. Whenever i get asked to head to Thestra i kind of cringe. lol

[tad10]

Originally Posted by kcxiv

Thats why they need better traveling in Thestra. Qalia is fine, your 5 minutes from everywhere if you bind in the right area's. Whenever i get asked to head to Thestra i kind of cringe. lol

I pretty much agree that the Thestra travel situation is a big part of the problem for finding groups in Thestra. A better LFG tool is not gonna help someone make the 45 minute trip to Dargun's Tomb. That being said if you follow the curve in Thestra you can find a group (right now people are moving to Anguish it seems and Greystone is still popular).

But of course even teleporters aren't going to fix the problem if the problem is low pop. Maybe in addition to teleportation Sigil should close the lowest pop server or servers and permit char transfers to the rest of the servers.

Rinthea's experience isn't my experience -- but I know others have had a huge problem getting groups (waiting 3 hours in DT etc) that of course would make almost anyone (except the diehard soloest) leave the game. Far and away the best VG content is group content -- if you can't group you can't experience the best reason to play VG.

[kcxiv]

Originally Posted by tad10

I pretty much agree that the Thestra travel situation is a big part of the problem for finding groups in Thestra. A better LFG tool is not gonna help someone make the 45 minute trip to Dargun's Tomb. That being said if you follow the curve in Thestra you can find a group (right now people are moving to Anguish it seems and Greystone is still popular).

But of course even teleporters aren't going to fix the problem if the problem is low pop. Maybe in addition to teleportation Sigil should close the lowest pop server or servers and permit char transfers to the rest of the servers.

Rinthea's experience isn't my experience -- but I know others have had a huge problem getting groups (waiting 3 hours in DT etc) that of course would make almost anyone (except the diehard soloest) leave the game. Far and away the best VG content is group content -- if you can't group you can't experience the best reason to play VG.

They just need to add port spells just like Everquest. Put one in 3 rivers at least. Running from NT is a pain in the ass. I think most people just do the /stuck yes command when they enter NT.

[EmiliaEQ]

Originally Posted by kcxiv

Thats why they need better traveling in Thestra. Qalia is fine, your 5 minutes from everywhere if you bind in the right area's. Whenever i get asked to head to Thestra i kind of cringe. lol

Thestra is actually very very nice if
1) You are a high elf
2) Stay around Leth Nurae / Veksal Exchange
3) Just the two above.

The continent is a fucking nightmare to use, and completely useless.
Qualia is without any doubt the best continent.

As a Sorcerer i can solo since day 1, and at 43 keep doing so.
But i prefer grouping its a lot better, and you can see the best VG has to offer.
(Which was not the case in WoW, in VG grouping is better, and will always be, even for a Sorcerer)
Unless you AE kite (of course).


What they should have done is set a base line in soloability to 60%.
The worse soloer (warrior) should be 60% as good compared to the best.

This was doable with stances & spells.
Seeing a full yellow 35 warrior have a hard time vs 34 2D is sad. really sad.
They should have created "Iron Skin" stance :
- 66% incoming dmg, -99% aggro mod, -99% heal effect.
Completely useless exept for "pure" solo (cant aggro, cant get healed).



But as much as i wanted & hoped for VG to succeed.
I am now convinced it will be a complete failure.
Billion Bugs + 1000$ PC + Bad Soloability + No Ports + No LFG Tool.


Sigil got a lot of things "right" but these wont save the game.

[kcxiv]

I am a Dreadknight and i can solo just fine. I havent really talked to many Warriors about it. I hope this patch they have incomming soon does alot to fix whats wrong. I really like the game, but Brad released half complete game.

If it does fail, i am done with MMO's its just not worth it anymore. This is the only MMO that has kept my attention. I just couldnt get into the rest. I will give it til about August when APF2k8 comes out for the 360, i will be living on that game. i was hooked bad on 2k5 lol

[Arbuste]

Originally Posted by Kendrick

It may be a bit on the painful side after level 20 if you're a warrior, monk, or rogue, a bit on the slow side if you're a cleric, ranger, paladin, disciple or dark knight, and it's pretty painless if you're a bloodmage, shaman, druid, sorcerer, bard or necromancer. (The above breakdown doesn't count the ability for some classes to solo 4 and 5 dots, it's just the ability to gain experience and complete quests solo).

It's a total derail, but could someone explain to me how a Bard can solo better / easier / faster than a Ranger? Just curious. I must be missing something.

As for the rest, I still play VG a little, but only because I can play with RL friends and have a small group going anytime I want. And yet, it's still a huge PITA to build a full group (Where the hell are all the tanks? Where?)

About solo, you can't be serious. I really think VG has a great group gameplay going for it. But the solo gameplay is extremely boring and repetitive. It's hard to tell why solo in WoW was fun and it's not in VG, but that's a fact (and, for the record, both game have good group mechanics, in my opinion.)
Then, the XP is too slow anyway. Saying it's not as bad as EQ was must be a joke, right? Let me try: It's not as bad as getting kicked in the balls repeatedly. I don't think it's a valid argument anymore.
And the content is not there. Kill 45 Beetles only works for so long.
Not that I care, I don't solo. But I feel the pain for the guys who have to.

[EmiliaEQ]

And yet, it's still a huge PITA to build a full group (Where the hell are all the tanks? Where?)

Impossibility to solo for Warriors War35 <<<< 33 2Dots
+ Insane repair costs
+ Huge world
= Lack of Tanks

Kill 45 Beetles only works for so long

99.99% of MMO quests are kill/gather/talk quests.
What changes is the "package" :

Trengal Keep = Very Interesting, but the "Step" system is fucked up.
Southwatch old Sparrow Lady = Quite Nice + surprising plot
Southwatch griffon widow = Great quest + you ride a griffon
Wardship Ice Drakes = Incredible rewards + lots of travel
CiS / Infineum = Absolutely hated it
Strandam Minotaurs = Too short nothing really coherent
Beranid / Plains of Anguish = Isolated Undead Quests (for the moment).

The best example would be in Khyx / Haven (Thestra).

There is a big undead plague, and you are asked to kill stuff.
Just the generic MMO Shit.

At some point you have to kill 20 corrupted druids...
And the druid part ends there Why cant there be a "cleansing line" ?

Later you discover a BIG GY with a line of undead coming out of it.
At some point you are asked to gather info.
Once that is done, you are told to take a corpse and try getting it re-animated.
You get it again and reanimate it, goes berzerk and you kill it. (I liked that part).

A bit later you have to kill a captain's ghost. But he's in small parts.
So you kill stuff to get head+torso+arms+legs.
Once you have all parts you go to his tomb under a tree, click it, he pops.
Now this part i absolutely hated it.
Come on, why not take him to the BIG GY and have him reanimated ?
Instead of clicking on a tomb under a tree...

Changing the quest takes 30 secs, and it adds a "oooh leet" feeling.


There are an incredible amount of quests/lore just on the tip of your fingers.
Corrupted Druids -) Kill them KEEP IT GOING !
-) Loot a quest item -) Get quest to Free them -) Free the druid
-) They ask for revenge -) Revenge upon an innocent
-) You have to make amends -) Find the real guilty -) Kill him -) Go to Druids
Druids give reward that has to be blessed -) Start quest to cleanse reward
Etc etc etc

This adds depth to the world, and makes quest "fun + interesting".
(Make sure its possible for duo or trio to finish the quest).

I'm 43, i dont mind killing shit.
But the generic "Kill 30 Gnoll, for 10 silver" gets VERY old quickly.

[Zehn - Vhex]

Wonder what the feasibility of just shutting down all extaneous servers and just having one pvp and one pve server. Now that the population is a bit more spread out, it sounds like a win-win situation.

[Ravensign]

I think EQ2 was spot on when they did their server mergers. More Scott 4tw. MMO companies need to not be as afraid of merging or fooling around with server pops.

DAoC desparately needs to go down to 4 servers (10k people online at at peak / 2500 in a healthy pop)
WoW needs some of the ridiculously low pop servers to merge.
From what I am reading VG needs to get people clustered together ASAP.

Server merge doesn't have to = OMG teh game is dying weakness, in fact, like pruning a tree, could actually stimulate health.

[kohl]

Originally Posted by Ravensign

Server merge doesn't have to = OMG teh game is dying weakness, in fact, like pruning a tree, could actually stimulate health.

I don't know what Sigil is so afraid of; my guess is like you said, bad press although it's not like it would be hard to put a positive spin on it.

Bigger than that, the technical aspects of it are probably a huge issue especially since the bulk of dev work is going to bug fixing and content additions.