Add solo(story mode) to ALL operations.

[casirabit]

TheLexinator;9522117]Of course, just like with solo Flashpoints. The rewards should/will be different.

 

Wow so much hate and vitriol in this thread.

 

I really don't have a problem, except I have been here long enough to see these types of threads before and when it is suggested that solo operations don't get the same amount of cxp and rewards that group operations, the ones that want the solo operations start throwing a temper fit when it is suggested.

 

Why are people against giving others the option to enjoy this content for a much lesser reward? Wow, just wow. Jerks like these are the reason I rarely group (or post).

 

Part of the problem is things have been made solo for too many things and the ones that like to do group activities are finding less people to do groups. I have only grouped with my guild and my boyfriend as I have 0 tolerance for people that want to act like a jerk. I have to deal with that on a daily basis in my job, not doing it in a game.

 

Even being part of a guild, I was shamed for running a Sith Inquisitor instead of a better DPS class.

This is a game, I should be able to enjoy it the way I want to.

Quit that guild BTW

 

Guilds like that I would never be a part of. I was lucky when I started playing here to find some good friends. While we have lost some members due to personal reasons it is still a guild that values the person.

[ruffolofi]

I support this. I would be happy if all story content in this game was soloable (as it should be).

[PetFish]

-1

/notsigned™

 

I support this. I would be happy if all story content in this game was soloable (as it should be).

 

No it should not be. Did you buy a single-player game? Does it say anywhere at all that this is a single-player game? Right, it doesn’t, this is a multiplayer game with parts you can solo and that’s where it ends.

 

If you want to enjoy the entire game then *play* the entire game.

[IoNonSoEVero]

Easier said than done for people like myself with social anxiety. Posts like yours do nothing to help this anxiety either.

 

Co-signed. Completely.

 

I really don't understand the absolute vitriol some players who enjoy grouping insist on leveling on players who prefer solo play. Responding to someone who desires solo play options or express anxiety over other players' behavior with insults, anger and nastiness does nothing to inspire them to get to know other players or group with them. Just saying. All that happens with that sort of response is that you're illustrating exactly why many solo-leaning players prefer to stay that way.

Edited January 22, 2018 by IoNonSoEVero

[IoNonSoEVero]

And as to the OP's suggestion, I'd love it if there were solo versions of more of the flashpoints and solo versions of at least some of the Operations, especially, as someone mentioned, the Oricon ones.

 

As to the rewards/CXP that would be offered for solo versions, I honestly don't care what they do with it. Make it less. Take away the Oricon tauntaun, reward less CXP, whatever. My interest is just in playing through and seeing whatever cut scenes are there in the FPs.

[ArdeliaAgain]

Co-signed. Completely.

 

I really don't understand the absolute vitriol some players who enjoy grouping insist on leveling on players who prefer solo play. Responding to someone who desires solo play options or express anxiety over other players' behavior with insults, anger and nastiness does nothing to inspire them to get to know other players or group with them. Just saying. All that happens with that sort of response is that you're illustrating exactly why many solo-leaning players prefer to stay that way.

 

It's almost like they don't actually enjoy the grouping themselves.

 

If they found the grouping enjoyable, you'd think they'd focus on that experience...after all, somebody else seeing the content solo doesn't take that group social experience away from them. Likewise the challenge....if the increased challenge (however real that is) of group content is the part they enjoy, then somebody else experiencing a lesser challenge doesn't really take anything away from that.

 

When it's expressed with so much anger and venom, what I'm actually hearing is "look, we all know grouping is largely painful...but since I had to endure it, I'm opposed to anybody else getting out of it."

Edited January 22, 2018 by ArdeliaAgain

[Sundown]

but you have to remember it stops being exclusively for the 1% elite and we can't have that...that 1% will make the game die etc etc and what not type of bullcrap you hear LOL

Some OPS are solo mode moron

Wait, you are complaining about attitude and toxic people? How ironic.

 

If you could name an operation that is available "solo" I'd be interested to check it out. And don't give me Revan - lol.

 

There is solo-content, there is group content. The effort required to make an operation available for solo play is quite large, because you'd need to either remove all mechanics that require a group effort, or you need to add "smart" companions that can execute the mechanics regardless of what the solo player does.

 

The "1%" are not against solo-operations, they are just against spending the little effort that is still being put into the game (besides the cartel market) to be wasted on that, after 2 years of catering mostly to the solo crowd anyway.

 

I can accept if people a reluctant to PUG, but if you check back on the stories that are given it is for the most part exaggerations or hearsay. Yes, there can be toxic people, stupid reactions etc. going on. But it is far from being "always". Now if you shy away from even trying it is on you if you miss out on stuff. The game and its community still offers plenty of opportunities for you to take part in operations.

[IoNonSoEVero]

It's almost like they don't actually enjoy the grouping themselves.

 

If they found the grouping enjoyable, you'd think they'd focus on that experience...after all, somebody else seeing the content solo doesn't take that group social experience away from them. Likewise the challenge....if the increased challenge (however real that is) of group content is the part they enjoy, then somebody else experiencing a lesser challenge doesn't really take anything away from that.

 

When it's expressed with so much anger and venom, what I'm actually hearing is "look, we all know grouping is largely painful...but since I had to endure it, I'm opposed to anybody else getting out of it."

 

Astute observation, IMHO. If someone enjoys grouping, being in a guild, whatever, one would think they'd just do that, and have fun, and not worry about someone else enjoying a different play style or wanting a solo option. It's not as though it affects their game in any way.

 

Getting people more engaged, more involved in the game in ways that suit their personal play style helps all players. Give solo players access to an Ops version, and you've just given them reasons to continue subscribing. Giving solo players access to more flashpoints, and the same holds true.

[PennyAnn]

This game nearly crashed and burned because of two straight years of putting nothing but solo/single player content in and neglecting group content entirely. Very nearly killed it all. You got your laser focus, solo players, and guess what? You didn't like it either (at least, not enough to keep the game going in that direction). I'm sure that if it had been even moderately successful, we'd be getting story chapters every month that you could only play by yourself and that's it.

 

Put the shoe on the other foot here. What about the people that play this game in order to group with others? What about the people that don't WANT to play the game all by themselves? They already can't do any story questing because that's enforced as solo. But you get offended that there is content that is enforced as group content?

 

Dear Pot and Kettle: You're both black. Please quit bickering like you aren't.

 

Until they can get an operation completed for groups in the span of a year (still waiting on the first "complete" operation in 3 years), I would rather they not spend their development time re-engineering the operations so that you guys can see the story. There are other ways to do that, and they don't take away from the precious few developers we have left.

 

If you truly have an anxiety disorder that won't allow you to join a group and do group content, it's strange that you play an MMO, but lucky for you, lots of people record their play-throughs of operations and you can see that story without ever having to join a group via YouTube.

 

I'm not trying to be mean or elitist here, any more than you are trying to be self centered or completely selfish to demand the developers rework something just for you to play by yourself... in an MMO. I'm sorry, but I just don't agree that this is a wise use of development time, given that single player focused activities over the last two years put a hurt on this game that forced them to go back to developing group content as their primary focus.

 

There are lots of friendly guilds. We have a "training wheels" team in my guild that takes everyone with zero experience and walks them through every raid step by step. We help with gear, we help with whatever someone wishes to learn in order to be comfortable in operations, and if they only want to do it once, we will carry them through on the backs of stronger raid players so they can experience it, get their achievement, and never go in the door again if they wish. Don't tell me those guilds don't exist - they do.

 

I realize that a lot of the community in the game is toxic - but the answer is not to turn this into a single player game. The answer is to build better communities and recognize that different parts of the game are meant for different types of player activity - some solo, some group. This is an MMO. There would be no reason for it to be an MMO without group activities. People should learn to respect that some things are for solo players, and some are for groups. The only one stopping you from getting to play 100% of this content is you.

 

Bash on me if you want to - call me elitist or whatever else. Those who truly know me in this game know better. I've taught plenty of people how to raid, and have always been glad to do so. Doing away with group content via offering everything as a solo player event negates the purpose of this being an MMO, and it shouldn't be done that way. When they focused on just solo stuff, the game nearly folded. That says it all for me, honestly.

[hof_th]

SNIP

 

Even as someone who plays mostly Solo I find myself agreeing with you.

 

Personally I've always thought that concentrating development on only one aspect of the game was a mistake. Add content for as many types of players as possible and you maximize your potential income.

 

People should simply learn to accept that not everything is available to them.

[Lunafox]

 

If you truly have an anxiety disorder that won't allow you to join a group and do group content, it's strange that you play an MMO, but lucky for you, lots of people record their play-throughs of operations and you can see that story without ever having to join a group via YouTube.

 

 

It's not strange that a person with social anxiety play an MMO. I don't go out much in real life, I interact very little with other people. My job is a solitary job as well. I am an independent person and rely on my family for companionship. I don't have real life friends. I don't even have that many on line friends.

 

I play the game much like I live my life. I decorate my houses, that's where I spend 95% of my time. I craft, run dailies and chapters to earn money to buy decorations. I play the story when they release it. I don't interact with others, except to make purchases off the GTN. The story is the big draw for me. I'm a Star Wars fan like many others. And your point about play throughs recorded by others isn't the same experience. I'd like to see things for myself, and see my character experience a thing and choose the dialogue/choice option for myself. Watching someone else do a thing isn't the same. The way you talk, I doubt you'd understand what it's like for people like me.

 

Even the way you say 'if you truly have an anxiety disorder', it's like you doubt that people like me exist. I shouldn't have to produce medical records to prove my issues to anyone. It is what it is, and I don't see what the big deal is to ask for something, odds are we won't get it anyway.

 

And please don't blame solo content for nearly killing the game. It was soloers like me that stuck it out when all the pvpers and ops people got bored and bailed. What nearly killed it was that there were too many vacant servers and queues weren't popping fast enough for group people. They left. It was solo schlubs like me that stuck it out through the hard times and kept the lights on and stayed loyal. Heaven forbid we ask for something.

Edited January 22, 2018 by Lunafox

[ruffolofi]

-1

/notsigned™

 

 

 

No it should not be. Did you buy a single-player game? Does it say anywhere at all that this is a single-player game? Right, it doesn’t, this is a multiplayer game with parts you can solo and that’s where it ends.

 

If you want to enjoy the entire game then *play* the entire game.

 

"parts you can solo" like 90% of the game? What does it matter to you anyway? It's not to remove group content, simply to add more options. Don't see what the downside is supposed to be here.

[PennyAnn]

Even as someone who plays mostly Solo I find myself agreeing with you.

 

Personally I've always thought that concentrating development on only one aspect of the game was a mistake. Add content for as many types of players as possible and you maximize your potential income.

 

People should simply learn to accept that not everything is available to them.

 

Really, that's all I'm trying to say. I don't want to see this game cater in one direction over the other or deny ANYONE content, but there are only so many hours of development in a day.

[PorsaLindahl]

This game nearly crashed and burned because of two straight years of putting nothing but solo/single player content in and neglecting group content entirely. Very nearly killed it all. You got your laser focus, solo players, and guess what? You didn't like it either (at least, not enough to keep the game going in that direction). I'm sure that if it had been even moderately successful, we'd be getting story chapters every month that you could only play by yourself and that's it.

/snip

 

+1

 

And you're absolutely right. It's pretty ironic. Just goes to show how fickle the player base can be. Players demanded a more solo friendly activities, they got it (level sync and nerf of all heroics and 80% of all flashpoints solo-able). Then they demanded more group content for years. We finally get a little smattering of that, and now people are asking for the last bastion of group activity (aside from that solo pvp nonsense) to be chiseled away into a solo experience? Oh please.

 

And this isn't even the OP's idea. It's just a tangent off that "Nerf Ops" thread. And judging by his other posts, he's rather out there - in left field somewhere.

[PennyAnn]

It's not strange that a person with social anxiety play an MMO. I don't go out much in real life, I interact very little with other people. My job is a solitary job as well. I am an independent person and rely on my family for companionship. I don't have real life friends. I don't even have that many on line friends.

 

I play the game much like I live my life. I decorate my houses, that's where I spend 95% of my time. I craft, run dailies and chapters to earn money to buy decorations. I play the story when they release it. I don't interact with others, except to make purchases off the GTN. The story is the big draw for me. I'm a Star Wars fan like many others. And your point about play throughs recorded by others isn't the same experience. I'd like to see things for myself, and see my character experience a thing and choose the dialogue/choice option for myself. Watching someone else do a thing isn't the same. The way you talk, I doubt you'd understand what it's like for people like me.

 

Even the way you say 'if you truly have an anxiety disorder', it's like you doubt that people like me exist. I shouldn't have to produce medical records to prove my issues to anyone. It is what it is, and I don't see what the big deal is to ask for something, odds are we won't get it anyway.

 

And please don't blame solo content for nearly killing the game. It was soloers like me that stuck it out when all the pvpers and ops people got bored and bailed. What nearly killed it was that there were too many vacant servers and queues weren't popping fast enough for group people. They left. It was solo schlubs like me that stuck it out through the hard times and kept the lights on and stayed loyal. Heaven forbid we ask for something.

 

I am not judging, so I'm sorry if I offended. I didn't mean to phrase anything to doubt you, so I apologize that I expressed it in a way that made you feel like I did mean that. And of course I can't understand what it's like because I am not a sufferer of that type of anxiety myself. That doesn't mean that I don't empathize with you by trying to put myself in those shoes even though I'll never truly know 100%, or sympathize and have compassion for people who suffer it. You don't have to defend yourself to me, and I'm sorry I made you feel like you did. I'm a live and let live person, so none of my opinions about solo content or group content is a reflection on how I feel about the people who play either type of that content. Heck, I play both.

 

So when I say the story chapter only content nearly killed the game, I don't blame the solo players for this. But it does mean that I think development that focuses on providing more of that is a bad idea in my opinion. And hey, it's just my opinion.

 

I didn't bail even though I was extremely bored with it. Choices didn't matter. The story was really bad over all, though it improved some in KotET... there weren't enough companion returns (like, all of them) and so many plot issues it made me want to scream as I was playing through. None of that is any player's fault. Quite the contrary, we put up with it.

 

I've been here since Beta, too. And it's fine for you to ask for something if you're not getting it: like more story line chapters as the story has been super light. The rightful return of important companions. Something meaningful to immerse yourself in. But chopping the group out of group content is not the way forward, and spending what little development time we have on doing something ELSE to old content isn't the way. Go forward, produce new content for both solo players AND group players, the way expansions used to be.

 

Quit remaking the wheel.

[Rheshalea]

This game nearly crashed and burned because of two straight years of putting nothing but solo/single player content in and neglecting group content entirely. Very nearly killed it all. You got your laser focus, solo players, and guess what? You didn't like it either (at least, not enough to keep the game going in that direction). I'm sure that if it had been even moderately successful, we'd be getting story chapters every month that you could only play by yourself and that's it.

 

Err... personally, I didn't like all that solo content because IT WAS BAD. It wasn't because it was solo content (although it really should have been doable in group, too, come on, Bioware!)

I'll say it again. People like me left because THE STORY SUCKED. Not because it was solo content. I know some people didn't like the monthly chapters, but I didn't mind. What I did mind was how KotFEET didn't make sense, and how it failed in treating my characters as the Main Character.

Obviously, I came back, but my husband didn't.

 

That doesn't mean I want only solo activities. I may well only do solo content, but I know there's people who enjoy group content, and I want the game to be healthy. So I want more Ops, I want more PvP, I want more GSF, even if I will probably not do any of that content. But first and foremost, I want better solo content.

 

Regardless, some kind of solo mode for Ops would make me happy. Not long ago in another thread I suggested a "Tourist" mode which would let solo players walk through Ops just to see what they look like on the inside. No, Youtube videos are not the same, as you can't stop and study various elements that catch your eye. The player would be invisible to the mobs, unattackable and unable to attack/interact, and not get any loot, not even get quest rewards other than the quest completion. Also, a "Ghost" mode where a solo player could "sit on the shoulder" of a real player - anonymous, and not able to interact, but could see the "host" player's actions. This could be used as a learning tool for those trying to get into raiding but being nervous about it. Like in Tourist mode, the Ghost would naturally not get any loot.

 

But while we're at it...

If Bioware did add solo mode to all Ops, they should also add Ops mode to all FPs. And a general Mayhem mode to both Ops and FPs - that is, PvP in those maps.

[PennyAnn]

"parts you can solo" like 90% of the game? What does it matter to you anyway? It's not to remove group content, simply to add more options. Don't see what the downside is supposed to be here.

 

Down side #1: Developing one direction only neglects the other.

We quite obviously have a very limited amount of time and effort that we can expect development to happen in this game. The more time they spend doing things to old content, the less time they necessarily spend creating new content.

 

Down side #2: Solo play is not popular enough to sustain the game alone.

As you said, 90% of the game can be played solo. Isn't that good enough? Do you need it to be 100% of the game? Because 2015 and 2016 did that, and it meant they had to swing hard in the other direction because the game almost crashed and burned.

 

Down side #3: You won't be happy with story-only operations.

Just like the snippets of story in the most recent flashpoints and how unsatisfying they are, most of the "story" parts of the operations are not the focus. The boss fights, the mechanics, the team work, and the progression through harder and harder fights is the focus. You would play through a "story only" operation once and think... "Why did I want that again?".

 

Down side #4: "Story only operations" would not be interesting enough to replay for anyone.

So you would have the developers neglecting any new development to rework the operations so that they were essentially a flashpoint, you'd get one size fits all story snippets from them, and you'd play through it once to "see the story" of it and be done. It isn't a "waste of development time" in my opinion because I hate story stuff, or people who play the game solo. It's a waste of development time because operations were not developed to be single player content, and there is almost no "story" to them. Spending the time it would take to develop these for a once or twice play through would be an utter waste of precious development time. I'd bet you would think so too if it ever got done.

 

Be happy that there is solo content to run, and lots of it. Be happy that there is group content available. Spending development time making the last few areas of group play another haven for solo-only and we've learned nothing from the mistakes of the past.

 

Focus on NEW content for BOTH types of players.

 

If you want a raid envirnoment for solo players - try the Eternal Championship. Nobody does it. I'd argue it was a waste of development time too, but we can't get that time back now.

[IoNonSoEVero]

Put the shoe on the other foot here. What about the people that play this game in order to group with others? What about the people that don't WANT to play the game all by themselves? They already can't do any story questing because that's enforced as solo. But you get offended that there is content that is enforced as group content?

 

The people who appear to be getting offended, and have leveled a lot of insults in this thread, are group players who seem angry at the idea of anyone suggesting more ways to play alone.

 

Solo players aren't getting offended that group content exists. Just saying they don't want to play it and wish there was a way to experience that content without grouping. As someone (I think you, perhaps) said in a later comment here, we all have the right to express an interest in the content we'd like to see, right?

 

IMHO adding a solo mode to the remaining flashpoints and Ops is no different than the solo modes that already exist, or the option to toggle difficulty levels, or to go into the PvE or PvP instance. You're not excluding anyone or taking content away. Those who want to do PvP, group up, etc. will still take those options. It's just adding more so that more players can partake.

 

The Ghost mode someone mentioned for Ops seems like a good idea to me, for those who just want to see the cut scenes. For flashpoints, since they already made most of them solo-able, it seems like that would be doable too. Solo players do run the flashpoints again and again, especially since they now drop decos.

 

If you truly have an anxiety disorder that won't allow you to join a group and do group content, it's strange that you play an MMO,

 

Not really. SWTOR has never been the sort of MMORPG that has required grouping at any level to complete content, unlike other MMOs. Considering you can play the entire class story and every expac without speaking to another player if you wish, why would it be unusual at all that those who don't wish to interact are here?

 

There are a lot of reasons, and anxiety is only one of them, that a person may not wish to participate in groups with other players. I personally have anxiety and issues with focusing on too many things happening on screen at once. Numerous players jumping around on screen distracts me to no end. That doesn't mean I'm incapable of playing content by myself.

 

And it's always brought up but never addressed: considering some of the truly ugly attitudes one sees on the forums, in the gen chat and in the way many players interact in the game, is it any wonder that some of us want nothing to do with it? When I see other players I walk the other way, and that is based half on anxiety and distraction risk, and half on personal experience of players I don't know acting like complete tools, and expecting others to accept their behavior as "the way MMOs are." The game is supposed to be fun, and dealing with players who haven't progressed past kindergarten social skills is not fun.

Edited January 22, 2018 by IoNonSoEVero

[PennyAnn]

Err... personally, I didn't like all that solo content because IT WAS BAD. It wasn't because it was solo content (although it really should have been doable in group, too, come on, Bioware!)

I'll say it again. People like me left because THE STORY SUCKED. Not because it was solo content. I know some people didn't like the monthly chapters, but I didn't mind. What I did mind was how KotFEET didn't make sense, and how it failed in treating my characters as the Main Character.

Obviously, I came back, but my husband didn't.

 

That doesn't mean I want only solo activities. I may well only do solo content, but I know there's people who enjoy group content, and I want the game to be healthy. So I want more Ops, I want more PvP, I want more GSF, even if I will probably not do any of that content. But first and foremost, I want better solo content.

 

Regardless, some kind of solo mode for Ops would make me happy. Not long ago in another thread I suggested a "Tourist" mode which would let solo players walk through Ops just to see what they look like on the inside. No, Youtube videos are not the same, as you can't stop and study various elements that catch your eye. The player would be invisible to the mobs, unattackable and unable to attack/interact, and not get any loot, not even get quest rewards other than the quest completion. Also, a "Ghost" mode where a solo player could "sit on the shoulder" of a real player - anonymous, and not able to interact, but could see the "host" player's actions. This could be used as a learning tool for those trying to get into raiding but being nervous about it. Like in Tourist mode, the Ghost would naturally not get any loot.

 

But while we're at it...

If Bioware did add solo mode to all Ops, they should also add Ops mode to all FPs. And a general Mayhem mode to both Ops and FPs - that is, PvP in those maps.

 

We agree about why the story only development failed for even people who love story. Being someone who has raided in this game since the beginning, there were also TONS of people that I knew and played the game with that left because there was no development of operations or meaningful group activity. Both things were devastating to the population of the game.

 

But I don't agree that they should rework old operations. Those of us that did operations have done these so many thousands of times that there isn't any other way to dress them up and make them attractive. What would be interesting is NEW content. This has been a problem with SWTOR development for 4.0 and 5.0. We don't want more ways to play OLD content. We want NEW content. And yes, that type of reworking of operations would be new to those that never did them, but it would not bring back the people that have done them to death just to be able to PvP in Dread Fortress.

 

You currently have to do so little in a SM operation if the rest of your team is any good at all, it practically already IS "Ghost Mode". I run people through that barely contribute pretty frequently. Most story mode operations can be completed with 4 competent raiders. The rest can lay dead on the floor and look at the scenery, or not even be in the room with us as we're killing the boss.

 

I think it comes down to people that aren't interested in operations won't likely ever be interested in them. And as mentioned before, you'd use that "mode" once and be done with it, and I don't think that's a great use of development time in a game as content starved as this one currently is.

[PennyAnn]

You're not excluding anyone or taking content away.

 

Except that by focusing development time on reworking operations that were not designed to be done as a single player, you WOULD be taking content away. From all of us. New content, specifically.

 

Perhaps they could develop another mode of operation going forward that IS designed for someone to go through alone, but to rework old content is to waste precious development time that frankly, we don't really have to spare.

 

They can't even finish SM/HM of the brand new raid in the promised amount of time.

 

I don't know who you think has the time/ability to rework the more than half a dozen raids in the game and have it not mean that new development suffers, but that is the one and only condition that would have me even considering it.

 

Forward, not backwards. Reworking old content is moving backwards.

[IoNonSoEVero]

Except that by focusing development time on reworking operations that were not designed to be done as a single player, you WOULD be taking content away. From all of us. New content, specifically.

 

Perhaps they could develop another mode of operation going forward that IS designed for someone to go through alone, but to rework old content is to waste precious development time that frankly, we don't really have to spare.

 

They can't even finish SM/HM of the brand new raid in the promised amount of time.

 

I don't know who you think has the time/ability to rework the more than half a dozen raids in the game and have it not mean that new development suffers, but that is the one and only condition that would have me even considering it.

 

Forward, not backwards. Reworking old content is moving backwards.

 

The question becomes, how many players would be served by working on each type of content? I would wager that somehow adding a God Droid to the remaining FPs to make them solo-able would serve more people than the raid. There was a stat on here once that less than 25% of people raid. It seems like with the raids that the devs have tried to spring on people, like Tyth and the Dread Masters, there are endless complaints about how nobody wants to do it and they want to abandon the missions. How many would do a solo FP, in contrast?

 

If you'd like to argue that every FP going forward should have a solo mode, as they've done with Umbara or Copero, I'd be with you on that. And I'm not always in favor of returning to old content, save to remove bugs. But since they've already tweaked the FPs recently, adding the God Droid to the rest of them seems like a good investment to me. It gives EVERYONE more repeatable content AND an incentive (decos and new stuff to see) to remain engaged, which leads to more subscriptions and more $$ for development overall.

[PennyAnn]

Not really. SWTOR has never been the sort of MMORPG that has required grouping at any level to complete content, unlike other MMOs. Considering you can play the entire class story and every expac without speaking to another player if you wish, why would it be unusual at all that those who don't wish to interact are here?

 

I'm sorry, but you cannot complete certain parts of the content of this game without grouping up. In the vanilla launch of the game in fact, people often had to group up to complete the final boss fights of chapters of their own story line. Companions were not better than players at that stage of the game, and the difficulty level was real. There were no "solo mode" flashpoints. You had to group up to complete them, and in fact it was how you got the majority of the gear you NEEDED to even consider progressing on to raid content.

 

Just because you can do that now does not mean it has "never been" the kind of MMO that required grouping.

 

Operations still require grouping. PvP still requires grouping. The clamor for more solo content has made the game a thousand times easier than it ever was in it's first year or two. To the detriment of the population, some would say... but that's another issue entirely.

 

And I am not sure how hard it is to see why an MMO (which stands for "Massively Multiplayer" online) kinda conflicts with "don't talk to me, I'm avoiding everyone". Yes, fair parts of the community are toxic. But I've met lots of lovely people here that will be my friends long after this game ends. I have gone on to play other games with them, as well even though I'm one of the only ones to still be playing SWTOR. It's Massively Multiplayer. That's pretty contrary to someone who doesn't just want to play solo - but rather avoid the rest of the community entirely. Kinda night and day, really.

[Eshvara]

I guess it would require some work scaling the bosses down to make them appropriate for single player, tactics may have to removed too, for those that split damage between players for example. It would just one shot you.

While I'm not necessarily for or against this idea, I think it should be something for on the "crazy ideas board" that they'll eventually get to if anything. An mmo should always have incentive for people to want to group, having some things locked off for solo players isn't weird imo.

 

If it happens, it should not be a priority, there are more important things to focus on that this game actually needs.

[PorsaLindahl]

Reworking old content is moving backwards.

 

DvL Event ftw. They certainly hooked everyone with that garbage.

 

I find this all rather funny actually. These few people wanting solo ops so they can "see" the story first hand. I think they'll be rather disappointed. I doubt they'd all, combined, come up to more than 15-20 minutes worth of cinematics and no conversational parts other than when you pick up/drop off the missions (which are a one time deal).

 

What will they scream for after they get their 15-20 minutes of side story? Back to posts about rewards? Someone's got their panties in a bunch over a cooldown that's been in game since... forever? What other nonsense can people come up with to fill the forums with? It's almost as bad as being on fleet, aside from the fact that the forums are semi-moderated.

[Eshvara]

DvL Event ftw. They certainly hooked everyone with that garbage.

 

Yes they did! I hope it comes back again.