things that should grant you social points but don't

[thewatcheruatu]

So I've done a fair number of things in this game that to my mind were social endeavors, and yet, I got no social points for them. So here are a few things that I think should give you some amount of social points. Maybe not a lot. Maybe one point. But something.

 

• completing PvE mission objectives while in proximity to somebody else who is grouped with you
  
• completing PvP warzone objectives
  
• killing a non-gray Champion level mob with another player
  
• receiving MVP votes in warzones
  

 

Feel free to contribute your own.

Edited April 20, 2012 by thewatcheruatu

[livnthedream]

i disagree that we need any more ways to earn them in pve.

i do agree that there needs to be some kind of social earning for pvp. however what form that should take is up for much debate. if you do it through mvp votes then its a simple matter of "buying" social points from those who vote.

[thewatcheruatu]

I think we do need more ways of earning social points in PvE, because there have been a number of times (actually, almost every time) that I've grouped, maybe knocked out a couple of heroics, and gotten no social points for it. That doesn't make sense to me.

 

As to PvP, people always worry about how others are going to game the system, but I think this is a really lame excuse for inaction. Especially if we're talking about a paltry number of social points for an MVP vote--nobody is going to go out of his way to try to grind social that way when anybody with one friend could simply run Esseles or Black Talon for the billionth time and knock it out in 15 minutes and get however many social points he can get that way.

 

My point is, warzones are in my opinion a very social thing to be doing. The people who play for themselves and are just trying to rack up kills probably aren't capturing objectives or receiving MVP votes, anyway. The people who are team players and communicate well would be earning the social points.

[Boogety]

So I've done a fair number of things in this game that to my mind were social endeavors, and yet, I got no social points for them. So here are a few things that I think should give you some amount of social points. Maybe not a lot. Maybe one point. But something.

 

• completing PvE mission objectives while in proximity to somebody else who is grouped with you
  
• completing PvP warzone objectives
  
• killing a non-gray Champion level mob with another player
  
• receiving MVP votes in warzones
  

 

Feel free to contribute your own.

 

I'm a little confused. When you do your group mission objective turn-in, you get social points (usually) at the turn-in through the turn-in dialogue. Are you saying some flat-rate number of X social points should be given just for completing a mission while grouped up?

 

The warzone idea is a good one, but it could be tricky to implement. MVP based is an idea, but a lot of people do work on the team who may never get a vote (especially if pugging into a almost full pre-made of guildies, etc).

[KyaniteD]

I'm a little confused. When you do your group mission objective turn-in, you get social points (usually) at the turn-in through the turn-in dialogue.

 

Some don't have a "dialogue". The group leader gets to say "Here it is." And then there's a "Thanks, here's your reward." No rolling, no points. Example: "Trouble In Deed" on Coruscant. (A Heroics 4, which could give at least 4 points for just one sentence.) Or "Republics Most Wanted" on Coruscant, which is a heroics given by a box and turned in at a box, no social points whatsoever. The first few times I was wondering why people disbanded the group before turning it in, but then I noticed there's nothing to gain from turning them in as a group.

 

With a more consequent and reliable rewarding of group activities the social points would actually mean something. Right now it's basically a representation of farming activity rather than social activity.

[thewatcheruatu]

I'm a little confused. When you do your group mission objective turn-in, you get social points (usually) at the turn-in through the turn-in dialogue. Are you saying some flat-rate number of X social points should be given just for completing a mission while grouped up?

 

Not if you didn't do a group conversation and the closing conversation has no dialogue decisions. Every heroic quest I've ever done has been like this:

 

Player A and Player B have already acquired the quest individually. They work together to accomplish something pretty difficult, come back to the quest NPC who says, basically, "thanks", and neither player earns social points. That never made any sense to me. You mean I can group with somebody for quests that may take us a half an hour to pull off and maybe rack us up a death or two, but because we weren't willing to travel five minutes back to the quest giver together just for a one minute dialogue we get bubkes?

 

I mean, I'm fine with social points deriving from conversations, as well, but quest objectives should count for something, too. That's the meat of the social activity in which you're engaged.

Edited April 20, 2012 by thewatcheruatu

[thewatcheruatu]

Also, what about quests that don't even have dialogue (i.e., the ones you pick up through mission terminals)?

[KyaniteD]

I'm a little confused. When you do your group mission objective turn-in, you get social points (usually) at the turn-in through the turn-in dialogue. Are you saying some flat-rate number of X social points should be given just for completing a mission while grouped up?

 

Why "just"? The real group activity is working together toward an objective, not hitting a conversation option. That involves and requires actually the least interaction with your group members, but it's what is rewarded with social points. And it's the *only* thing that's rewarded with social points.

 

Not sure what your groups are like, but mine usually involve communication about skills, specs, strategy, approach, experience, observation, analysis of the situation, ideas... that's more than "just completing a mission while grouped". That wording sounds like your group members are just tagging along and basically doing their own thing.

[Listerman]

I'd settle for them giving us SP for completing quests in group as part of the mission reward.

[Lycanthrop]

I agree with the OP. Another idea for something that should reward social points is defeating a world boss.

[Boogety]

Okay, I agree with the additional points made. I just wasn't quite understanding the original post as clearly. Now that people have reminded me, yes there are a lot of "group" activities that end up yielding no social points(SP) due to the generic turn-in.

 

Not sure if it is something that BW can track though, because right now the group dialogue is mainly based on distance (you're either close enough for the conversation while still in group, or grouped and can holocall for some responses).

 

How would BW implement social point rewards for a "group" quest if people disband before turn-in? Make it automatic SP no matter what? What would they do if your group disbanded without waiting for everyone to turn-in (random pug on a planet)? How would they know you truly completed the mission in a group setting? For that matter, there is nothing stopping people from grouping up with someone sitting on fleet just so they can chat in party chat. What could BW do about people going back at higher level and completing these alone? See how complicated this could get and how easily abused?

 

As far as my group activities, I have a leveling partner and guildies for FP (as much as possible). So, social points are much easier to obtain - even with some quests/missions not granting SP. Yes, we discuss many things while leveling and playing together. I just don't see the gain efficiency of SP that much of a problem. My original level 50 I leveled almost solely alone, and her SP level is horrendous. But, if you group up along the way... they seem to practically fly in. End game grants a lot of SP as well, just doing FP to get gear... (as long as you do the dialogue at the end)

 

I do think WZ should grant SP in some manner, just not sure how it could be implemented fairly for PvPers of all types (Casual vs Heavy, All day vs Daily only, etc).

[Kissakias]

do dailies with a friend every day, 78 points are granted only from belsavis solo+H2 with group of 2

do eseles as many times as you want, every run is 160-180 points

you gain socials by doing a quest, just need to take the quest while grouped, and not just finish it

Edited April 21, 2012 by Kissakias

[KyaniteD]

I don't think the disbanding would be a problem if it were reliably known that turning in as a group yields social points. My groups on Coruscant disbanded because they had already done the quests before and knew that there wouldn't be any social points.

 

Regarding the possible abuse... the abuse you're describing is possible now, as well, if the holocall is available to off-world group members.

 

But the game is already tracking each individual's mission progress, and only those who really did the mission can turn it in and get the normal mission rewards. And the game also checks who is a member of the group and whether or not they are present, so combining data from this already tracked information shouldn't be a problem, either. If the mechanics/conditions are communicated, I really don't see a problem.

 

I really don't have a ready solution, I just noticed early on that the loading screen tip about earning social points through grouping up didn't really apply as generally as it sounded. And None of the FPs give as much social points as Esseles does, and Esseles is farmed for it. The rest doesn't even come close to that amount, so I'd probably rather spend 30-45 Minutes running guildies through Esseles for 150+ SP than sit on the fleet and chat while my buddy grinds through a heroics for 4 or 8 social points.

[Evgen]

I think there a couple things they should do to give more social points, appropriately.

1. As mentioned, social for all mission completions, dialog options present or not.
   
2. Social when teamed for missions, whether all players have the mission or not (allow all to participate in conversations)
   
3. More social for flashpoint conversations (other than the first 2) at least until they add more conversations!
   
4. social for tagging along on others class missions
   

All of these things are just a social as completing the same mission together, if not more so. If you don't have the mission, you are helping someone else, why not reward that?

Edited May 8, 2012 by Evgen

[thewatcheruatu]

I actually noticed this morning that I got 2 social points for completing a bonus objective in a group with another player. Is this new or did it always work that way?

[ReyVagabond]

I'm all up for more ways to get social points!

 

and there are some good ideas here i hope some could be implemented.

[Evgen]

I actually noticed this morning that I got 2 social points for completing a bonus objective in a group with another player. Is this new or did it always work that way?

Myself and others have also noticed this recently . . . make your assumptions