I just watched the new dev update which included the updated roadmap.
It looks great - Lots of interesting stuff!
But… For a long time solo players have been neglected - And there wasn’t a single word about improving on that aspect.
A huge portion of the playerbase in many MMO’s prefers/likes to play solo now and then for various reasons. Some people are even “forced” to play alone due to the following:
RL work hours means you can only play very early or very late (When most people aren’t online)
Language barrier means you can’t really group up with randoms
Introverts aren’t confident enough to play with others except their RL friends (Who aren’t always online
And there are even other smaller “cases” as well…
The problem with all of this is, that the main way of grinding endgame resources (Orbs and especially umbral shards) happens via expeditions.
It’s simply the only good, and by far the absolute best, way of earning umbral shards - Which is something we need even more of in the near future, as a gear score increase was just announced on the roadmap.
You need to add new ways of earning good amounts of shards asap.
Perhaps the updated PvP rewards track will help PvP players - Which would be great, but solo players still struggle a lot to earn shards.
Potential solutions:
(Reduce the umbral shard gains from expeditions, and increase the gains on the following. This means that EVERYONE can now earn shards, no matter what type of player you are)
Significantly increase the shard gains from gypsum casts (When expertise is 600+)
/Helps EVERYONE/
Add umbral shards to the aptitude system
/Helps crafters/
Increase the umbral shard gains from OPR and 3v3 game modes, along with increased shard gains from the updated PvP rewards track
/Helps PvP players/
Keep a decent amount of shards gains in the various mutated expeditions
/Helps PvE players/
**By doing this you attract a much larger playerbase, as all types of players can progress properly in the end-game **
Everytime someone posts about playing solo in an MMO, inevitably someone will post this is MULTIPLAYER game … politely, with tone, or downright nastily.
The reality check here is there is a HUGE audience of casual/solo players that want to be immersed in an MMO for many reasons that don’t include forced grouping. We solo / casual players (I’ll speak for myself) also have a full time job and family, and some income I’d throw at a game to keep playing as long as there is satisfaction. (rewarding gameplay)
This is an ENORMOUS missed opportunity for most MMO publishers, catering to the typically very vocal minority while we casual barely have time to play let alone expending even more time yelling and screaming in the forums.
the casual / solo player should be EMBRACED in the MMO environment. We’re a massive part of the playerbase. Our opions and feedback often are never heard (some our own fault as noted above)
MMO’s have lively global and other channels, active markets, events, and offer a space to retreat to after potentially dealing with real life nasty people all day. THAT is a big part of the attraction, do you believe this is only appreciated by the extrovert, super social company running player? – yah…
If you knocked out all the solo / casual types of ANY MMO platform, guess what, your game is going to die a very quick death.
Frankly I’m quite tired of this response.
MMO’s must appeal to wide variety of player styles for longevity, that includes the solo’er.
I’m not sure there is a huge solo demand given that since launce all the dups/cheat/RMT/carries for $$$/Bots, etc make a solo players efforts a fools errand. These things are still there.
