So the consequence of making a single player game

[Morteistno]

I get what you're saying, and you certainly have a point. But I also get why people may not want to say they're new.

I guess it's difficult when you expect the worst reactions due to negative experiences, but people not speaking up could lead to another negative experience.

 

It is not that you can hide it. -> inspect achievements when in doubt,

[Eshvara]

It is not that you can hide it. -> inspect achievements when in doubt,

 

I guess you can! For me personally, unless doing hard modes and beyond, I don't see what the big deal is for having new players in ops or FP's, they're not exactly hard and if you have a few decent players, you can carry the rest effortlessly. I've had people in my group who may as well not have been there when we're talking about contribution, but if we manage to kill the boss anyway, I honestly don't care.

 

But that's me.

[aerockyul]

This is part of the problem, you guys are all apologetic, I spent several minutes ahead of each boss explaining tactics to a person who didn't say a word when I asked in the start of the flashpoint if I needed to explain anything (he died at the first boss so I noticed he had no idea what to do). And yes, it is ****** to ask for someone to not do loot, but it does speed things up a bit and I did offer to pay him 5k at the end of the flashpoint instead, I highlight doubt I was the problem here.

 

It has no issues with people who either admit that they are new or say that they want tactical explanations, however people who don't say a word, and then showcase they have no idea about tactics or strategy and then actively ignore my explanations of the boss mechanics... those people are the key issue.

 

We understand that part. It's frustrating when people don't respond. But you still kicked him purposefully before turning it in. Why drag him along? Why not kick him when he started getting on your nerves and pulled out your companion? You wasted his and your own time by purposefully stringing him along and then booting him after all that time (and I'm sure his repair bills. Not only was he hard up for the "measly" credits from the mobs, he now has to lose all those and more for the repair bills you forced on him).

 

I don't mind if someone finds something wrong with the way I'm playing and I'm not conforming to the one of dozens of strategies and methods that you think is best and I get kicked immediately, but I'd be pretty apoplectic if I was dragged through to the end only to have the rug pulled out from under me. I could have spent that time finding a more tolerant, patient, less douchey group to play with. And on top of that, ******* reporting HIM...***** ******... Keep justifying that, please.

[Costello]

It seems there are a number of reasons why grouping isn't for everyone.

 

People are the problem either:

 

• People are mean and they don't give me a chance to learn how to do stuff so I die and they they call me a noob and kick me or
  
• People are stupid, they die all the time and want me to explain everything and take 3 times as long to get through 5 year old content.
  

 

Or the content is the problem:

• I don't want to play this content I just want to skip through as much as possible to get the reward or
  
• Its pointless as we have totally out geared it so we ignore the mechanics and pick up loot we don't want or need.
  

 

Now if you don't like other people or you just want to skip all the content, it does seem the only appealing aspect of the group content is the reward. Only I'm finding very hard to see what the appeal of the reward in tor is. I have a main with all 248 BIS. Nothing amazing happened as I put on the last piece of gear. If anything it may hamper my enjoyment as the story difficulty is set at such a low level and I primarily play for the story I may find it face roll easy that it is totally dull. While the vet and master modes are so over tuned I'm not exactly likely to enjoy it when you can take 60k damage in one second from trash.

 

So while it seems all well and good, rush through group content, mostly ignore those that you are with to get the best gear. But if you don't enjoy doing the content its not going to change when you get the top tier gear. And if you are coming to it first time and looking to enjoy the content, then a pug is unlikely to magically find 3 like minded people this long into repeating old content.

[LordArtemis]

I can understand the frustration that some folks have that group play is not as popular as it used to be, so folks are generally less experienced in this respect IMO industry wide.

 

I would, however, point out that MOBAs and FPS games are swelling at the moment, and plenty of those folks seem to be group play experts. This may be a sign that the standard industry MMO setup is changing.

 

Now, grant it, there are not that many avenues that are Star Wars themed other than this game, though there are a few notable popular titles out there, so that poses a problem. And I am not one to tell folks to try other games...I would rather they make group play more enticing to solo players.

 

Part of the problem is the group design, rewards and expectations IMO. There is no group summon that I am aware of unless folks are in a guild. Rewards rarely seem to be something that would interest solo players. Also, despite the fact that most group content no longer requires the "trinity", many players still seem to expect and demand this system remain in play and players perform properly under that paradigm.

 

Other than granting a summon to group leaders game wide, I really can't think of how the other problems could be solved (at least from my perspective)