New Content: Solo Raiding(long read)

[cesmode]

Morning all.

 

Not sure if I saw a suggestion forum, but I figured this would be the next best place to post this.

 

I am going to give a small intro to my suggestion and reasoning behind it. Im sure a lot of people do not have time for raiding. Id venture a guess that a large majority of the population in SWTOR are people that grew up with the star wars saga(not the new movies), and are in their late 20s, 30s, or 40s. We have lives, families, kids, careers. This is not to say that there isnt a large size of people that have the time to raid. I commend you for having that time, I wish I did

 

However, typical MMOs cater to two people, for the most part. PVP endgame, and PVE end game. Warzones/Arenas, and raiding. While that is great, and you'll capture a lot of your users and players that way, theres a large population of people that dont have the time to grind out X amount of warzones for Y amount of champion bags, or dont have the time to dedicate 3 to 6(or more) hours per week of raiding. Maybe to some people, PVP isnt appealing, or raiding isnt appealing.

 

What I suggest is some sort of end game solo raiding-type of content. Rift is/was mildly successful with it, with Chronicles being either solo or two-person. I think WoW is introducing Scenarios with MoP, which will be a success. I would LOVE something similar here, and I think it would be wildly successful. Why? The companion system!

 

At level 50, we have 5 companions(I think, not including the ship droid). We gear them out, just as we do ourselves. Why not have a solo-raid, where there are packs of two strong-3 regular(just as an example), or tune it to how Bioware sees fit. Bring your entire companion group in, or select 4 out of the 5. Break them out into teams, etc. Maybe give us more control over their abilities in these instances so that Quinn, for example, knows to heal me up rather than heal up Broonmark. Or so that I can taunt a mob off of my main character with Broonmark, etc. Games like ME1,ME2 did this well.

 

Create an entire currency system for these solo-raids just as there is a currency for everything else, or just have it drop based, or mission based with rewards at the end. The key would be tuning the raid for a solo person, that is playing with companions(so its maybe twice as hard as any other solo quest in the game), and giving us the ability to control more of the companion abilities. Another key element would be to allow us to bring in more than one companion, making it feel like the work I put into each companion pays off. Make it difficult so that I do not just breeze through it in 20 minutes, but rather I can work on it bit by bit throughout the week, re-zoning in when I have a free hour to down a boss. Make it as difficult and as long as a normal raid. The difference would be that I can progress at my own pace, when I have the time, so I dont need to conform to a guild's raid schedule. Make the loot slightly better than hardmode flashpoint gear, and slightly less than raid gear. It would be fantastic if the solo-raids were different than the 8/16 man raids.

 

Make no mistake, this will not make end game 8/16 man raiding obsolete. People still want that MMO feel, playing with their friends and guildmates. For people that enjoy hardmode raiding, server firsts, achievements, etc this solo raid stuff would not be for them. It would just be an alternative for those of us that no longer have the time to dedicate to real end game raiding.

 

In summary, I think this game is perfect for a system like this. The companion system makes it possible, and would make it a very dynamic experience. If Bioware pulled this off, I think, in my opinion, they would dethrone Blizzard as the MMO Gods

[Genkin]

Close to the suggestion forum. But sadly close only counts in horseshoes and thermal detonators.

 

The suggestion foums it right about this forum thread listings.

[Siorac]

/signed.

 

Very good idea. Even good for those who have like one or two friends whom they level with; they can experience this together without having to get into a larger group for raiding.

[Xabana]

Frankly, I love this idea. It would really allow us to continue to use our companions as well (and gear them up).

[Agobi]

There is a suggestion forum,and this has been suggested before....

[Boreus]

Sounds like a fun idea. I imagine it as something like Guild Wars where you could make a team to take down stuff. It was fun too.

[cesmode]

Indeed. Maybe tune so that if you want to really solo it yourself, you have to gear out a companion or two in, at least full oranges, with some epics. Make it that difficult so that you can solo it, but if you choose to run it with a friend, it is still challanging.

 

I would prefer these instances be seperate from the raids so that

1. the people that raid 8/16 man do not get bent out of shape that bioware tunes their content to solo players(like LFR in wow..that tuned content was a breeze).

2. It would be neat to see something different, something new and stand alone.

[cesmode]

Apologies if this was brought up in the suggestion forums. Honestly, Im still zombie-awake only on one cup of coffee, and I didnt see the Suggestion Forum link If a forum mod would move this over, that would be great!

[originalpodster]

I like this... muchly.

[mangarrage]

They did this in Rift

 

Personally I thik its a stupid idea, but I imagine if the reward justifies the soloability then I dont think people will have an issue

 

I mean you shouldn't get Rakata or anything even close. In fact it shouldnt upgrade your character at all unless you are in greens or a new 50

[TheSwamper]

Anyone who views my history of posts can see that I've been asking for a method of soloable endgame progression for a long time.

 

I'm eager for the days when one MMO developer has the cajones to provide a PVE method to acquire BIS gear without requiring players to raid to do so.

 

Early in the development cycle, I had hopes that BW would allow us to take multiple companions with us (like most other BW games) and that we would finally get an endgame like I'd hope for. Nope, more raid treadmill. Sigh.

[SnapWolf]

Wouldn't cut it, I'm afraid. Even with your full decked companion team, you're short of 2 persons.

 

And a companion isn't a class character. He will lack the fundamental passive abilities of a real player giving him much needed buffs.

[Luewen]

Morning all.

 

Not sure if I saw a suggestion forum, but I figured this would be the next best place to post this.

 

I am going to give a small intro to my suggestion and reasoning behind it. Im sure a lot of people do not have time for raiding. Id venture a guess that a large majority of the population in SWTOR are people that grew up with the star wars saga(not the new movies), and are in their late 20s, 30s, or 40s. We have lives, families, kids, careers. This is not to say that there isnt a large size of people that have the time to raid. I commend you for having that time, I wish I did

 

However, typical MMOs cater to two people, for the most part. PVP endgame, and PVE end game. Warzones/Arenas, and raiding. While that is great, and you'll capture a lot of your users and players that way, theres a large population of people that dont have the time to grind out X amount of warzones for Y amount of champion bags, or dont have the time to dedicate 3 to 6(or more) hours per week of raiding. Maybe to some people, PVP isnt appealing, or raiding isnt appealing.

 

What I suggest is some sort of end game solo raiding-type of content. Rift is/was mildly successful with it, with Chronicles being either solo or two-person. I think WoW is introducing Scenarios with MoP, which will be a success. I would LOVE something similar here, and I think it would be wildly successful. Why? The companion system!

 

At level 50, we have 5 companions(I think, not including the ship droid). We gear them out, just as we do ourselves. Why not have a solo-raid, where there are packs of two strong-3 regular(just as an example), or tune it to how Bioware sees fit. Bring your entire companion group in, or select 4 out of the 5. Break them out into teams, etc. Maybe give us more control over their abilities in these instances so that Quinn, for example, knows to heal me up rather than heal up Broonmark. Or so that I can taunt a mob off of my main character with Broonmark, etc. Games like ME1,ME2 did this well.

 

Create an entire currency system for these solo-raids just as there is a currency for everything else, or just have it drop based, or mission based with rewards at the end. The key would be tuning the raid for a solo person, that is playing with companions(so its maybe twice as hard as any other solo quest in the game), and giving us the ability to control more of the companion abilities. Another key element would be to allow us to bring in more than one companion, making it feel like the work I put into each companion pays off. Make it difficult so that I do not just breeze through it in 20 minutes, but rather I can work on it bit by bit throughout the week, re-zoning in when I have a free hour to down a boss. Make it as difficult and as long as a normal raid. The difference would be that I can progress at my own pace, when I have the time, so I dont need to conform to a guild's raid schedule. Make the loot slightly better than hardmode flashpoint gear, and slightly less than raid gear. It would be fantastic if the solo-raids were different than the 8/16 man raids.

 

Make no mistake, this will not make end game 8/16 man raiding obsolete. People still want that MMO feel, playing with their friends and guildmates. For people that enjoy hardmode raiding, server firsts, achievements, etc this solo raid stuff would not be for them. It would just be an alternative for those of us that no longer have the time to dedicate to real end game raiding.

 

In summary, I think this game is perfect for a system like this. The companion system makes it possible, and would make it a very dynamic experience. If Bioware pulled this off, I think, in my opinion, they would dethrone Blizzard as the MMO Gods

 

Have to agree on this. It would finally bring some usefulness for companions at endgame. As how many does use companions at lvl 50 for more than your solo lvl 50 daily grind? Some peeps i see doing it without companions. Its sad to see that companions are usefull for only leveling up content.

[cesmode]

Wouldn't cut it, I'm afraid. Even with your full decked companion team, you're short of 2 persons.

 

And a companion isn't a class character. He will lack the fundamental passive abilities of a real player giving him much needed buffs.

 

The raids wouldnt necessarily need to be tuned for a team of 4. I was just using that as an example.

 

Regards to gear: No, I dont think it should be anywhere near Rakata. Maybe Columi level, maybe SLIGHTLY less than columi(If columi had 93 strength on one piece, the same piece from solo raid would be 90).

 

Again, it would allow people to make use of the companion system rather than leveling and daily grinding...give us a use for gearing them. Give a new play style. ANd cater to an audience that do not have the time to raid, or an audience that is gearing up to raid 8/16 man.

[cesmode]

Maybe tune the difficulty so that it is as difficult as the heroic 2+ group quests (for instance, Poisonous Strategy on Ilum...where you either need a tank, or a CC to complete).

 

That type of diffuclty , for one player and 2 or 3 companions should be very challanging, but not impossible, and very rewarding. If you brought in a friend, difficulty would obviously go down, but it is still challanging if you dont execute properly.

[Kabjat]

I think it's an awesome idea...but I keep waiting to see the replies from all those people who hate soloers in their MMOs and insist that we (the soloers) with be the death of MMOs as we know them.

 

But yeah...great idea and I REALLY hope something like this is AT LEAST being discussed by those creative types over at Bioware.

[Dayfax]

First, Warcraft's scenarios, afaik, are group content. They're similar in design to SWTOR's "Heroic+2" mini-instances.

 

Second, on a gameplay level your idea is untenable. There's no real way to control 5 NPC companions in real time. Which means any encounter design would have to be dumbed down to stupefyingly easy levels.

 

Third, if you truly don't have time to raid -- or do much else endgame content -- why are you paying an MMO subscription? Go play Angry Birds or Plants vs Zombies. Those games are designed for quick gaming fixes. MMOs are not.

 

The primary appeal of these games is grouping with other players. Pretty much everything else they offer, from gameplay to graphics, is done much better by single player games. Two of the biggest RPG franchises -- Elder Scrolls and Mass Effect -- have sequels out this year.

 

I find calls for solo endgame content in an MMO mystifying. Its like you want to play a monthly fee for a shallow RPG with bad online chat. It makes no sense.

 

Part of being an adult with responsibilities is recognizing that life comes with a lot of limitations. For you, this might mean not having time for hobbies that require hours of commitment. Stop expecting, or even asking, that the world be made to fit your limitations.

[cesmode]

But what the hardcore raiding/casual raiding/100% mmo'ers dont realize is that this will not kill the MMO experience nor take away from the amount of people that want to run 8/16 mans. You will sitll have those people, because the gear from those runs would probably be better, you run with friends and guildmates, server firsts, etc.

 

 

Rift, I think is the only game that has done this to some moderate success. If Bioware pulled this off, utilizing the full array of companions that we have(or at least more than one, thats the whole point!!!), it would definately revolutionize solo/mmo play. But give people something to do when their guild isnt raiding.

[cesmode]

First, Warcraft's scenarios, afaik, are group content. They're similar in design to SWTOR's "Heroic+2" mini-instances.

 

Second, on a gameplay level your idea is untenable. There's no real way to control 5 NPC companions in real time. Which means any encounter design would have to be dumbed down to stupefyingly easy levels.

 

Third, if you truly don't have time to raid -- or do much else endgame content -- why are you paying an MMO subscription? Go play Angry Birds or Plants vs Zombies. Those games are designed for quick gaming fixes. MMOs are not.

 

The primary appeal of these games is grouping with other players. Pretty much everything else they offer, from gameplay to graphics, is done much better by single player games. Two of the biggest RPG franchises -- Elder Scrolls and Mass Effect -- have sequels out this year.

 

I find calls for solo endgame content in an MMO mystifying. Its like you want to play a monthly fee for a shallow RPG with bad online chat. It makes no sense.

 

Part of being an adult with responsibilities is recognizing that life comes with a lot of limitations. For you, this might mean not having time for hobbies that require hours of commitment. Stop expecting, or even asking, that the world be made to fit your limitations.

 

First, I will not stop asking for something that I, and obviously many others, would love to see in this game. Everyone has the right to voice their opinion, and this is mine.

 

Second, I have enough time to play the game for 1 hour, or 2 hours at a clip. Not dedicate to 3 hours straight a night, 3 nights a week. So I have the time to play, not just a quick 20 minute fix while wifey is cooking dinner.

 

Third, I also choose not to raid also to avoid the drama BS that guilds go through. You always have one person that is a loot wh_re, "Oh can I have this for my offset, or for my companion", the drunkard, the kid trying to sound tough, the grouchy old man, the elitist clique, etc. I dont want to deal with that.

 

I like doing FPs with people, and grouping for heroic quests and dallies. I experience the MMO portion of it. But in my offtime, Id like solo play as well.

 

Lastly, I am not looking to control all 5 companions. Two or three is possible. Think Mass Effect 1 or 2..and if I am not mistaken, Bioware had a hand in developing that game, which EA published(both involved in SWTOR). So they have the expertise in this. It is definately doable.

[Jett-Rinn]

Operations? I'm not so sure about...but end game flashpoints could work; the way to get around the Hardcore QQ is to offer commendations instead of Gear and to create a set of gear specifically for that mode to purchase with said commendations. Edited February 21, 2012 by Jett-Rinn

[livnthedream]

Anyone who views my history of posts can see that I've been asking for a method of soloable endgame progression for a long time.

 

I'm eager for the days when one MMO developer has the cajones to provide a PVE method to acquire BIS gear without requiring players to raid to do so.

 

Early in the development cycle, I had hopes that BW would allow us to take multiple companions with us (like most other BW games) and that we would finally get an endgame like I'd hope for. Nope, more raid treadmill. Sigh.

 

you cant without making the content require bis to achieve. if you can solo your way to bis level gear than that gear will be used to beat it. unless you do something with a stat that neither raiders nor pvpers want (such as presence). the problem with this is unless you are rocking a full presence set then the content becomes much more difficult than if you dont have one, making multiple players have to have multiple specialized sets based on what content they want play, which seems like a bad way of spending current dev dollars.

[ArtMonster]

/signed

 

very cool idea.

 

be really similar to LOTRO which has 'skirmishes' which are a blast. they work both solo or grouped.

 

I'd love to see that type of content here more. I'm all into going at my own pace in mmo's.

Edited February 21, 2012 by ArtMonster

[Prvtdonut]

Second, I have enough time to play the game for 1 hour, or 2 hours at a clip. Not dedicate to 3 hours straight a night, 3 nights a week.

 

Eternity Vault takes all of 1 hour for normal, and also automatically distributes loot.

[cesmode]

Eternity Vault takes all of 1 hour for normal, and also automatically distributes loot.

 

Automatically distributes loot..which is broken. Why did an inquisitor get warrior gear the last time I was in there.

 

EV takes 1 hour if your guild already has cleared it multiple times, is geared, and do not take 5-10 minute breaks in between pulls.

[Vincire]

A system like this would keep me playing and paying for a very long time. If you added some random or configurable elements ala Anarchy Online, I would never buy another game again. As endgame is now however, I see myself canceling once my 3 month sub expires.