A friend just pointed me to someone complaining in LOTRO world chat. Okay, so far nothing new. But several people joined in, in a lament of which the irony just hurts.
"Why do we need to do raids and instances for the featured gear box?"
Good question. Why force players to leave the safety of solo play and expose them to something stressful like carrying out strategies, playing skillfully and exercise social interaction? Wouldn't it be awesome if one could just do something relaxing, such as enjoying the beautiful landscape and picking flowers, to get best in slot gear?
Oh, wait...
What I want is a single-player OFFLINE "mmo". In fact, I want offline single-player versions of all the MMOs I enjoy. I want them as security against the "sunsetting" of these games. When it comes right down to it, what draws me to all of the MMOs I have ever played is the worlds in which they are set, the three-dimensional virtual space. I can do without all the other players if I have to if that means I still get to wander the world.
ReplyDeleteThat's particularly the case in Middle-earth.
DeleteGroup play is what I enjoy most in MMOs personally, but if an MMO like LOTRO would be in danger of closing their servers forever... hell yeah, I'd want an offline single-player version, so I can still immerse myself in that world from time to time. It's not just the environment, it's also all those memories it holds. Virtual landscapes are not so different from analogue ones in that regard.
DeleteAnd many (most?) of the FIs can be done solo (on T1) by a reasonably equipped character so it's an odd complaint.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I do like the solo part of the game a lot and I quite enjoy the flower picking (as long as it stays in that area only.) I don't think raids should give the best equipment for 3/6 player instances and skirmishes, though I can see an argument for it being provided by crafting rather than flower-picking.
What I'd really like is an raid-level solo choice. I like playing solo a lot (your evening won't be spoilt by people getting irritable with one another) but unfortunately it's pretty easy at the moment. I do group, and occasionally raid, but part of the multiplayer aspect which I like is moving through a populated world, rather than playing a role in a group.
Exactly. A large part of gearing in LOTRO is currently aimed at solo / light group activity - and you don't even *need* amazing set bonus gear if you're soloing. As you pointed out, the game in solo mode is easy enough as it is.
DeleteCall me old fashioned, but I am of the mindset that rewards that cather to a certain playstyle should be acquired through activities of that playstyle. Making raiders pick flowers for best in slot gear is equivalent to letting raid bosses drop amazing BoA role-play cosmetic gear. Nobody wants to feel forced to participate in activities they don't enjoy.
Hey,
ReplyDeleteYour blog looks fantastic, although we don't play the same games and don't blog the same content. Some topics are valid for all sorts of MMOs, and in this case you partially hit on something I actually posted about today, which is solo content.
I do think group and solo content should be balanced 50/50 in a MMO, because solo grinding seems to be something many of us enjoy doing. There's something I like about logging in to a MMO after a long day either at school or work and just grind the same monsters or the same items over and over again while listening to music or to some podcast. It's relaxing. I can stop the game anytime I want and resume anytime I want, and eventually test the fruit of my training in PvP or something. I also enjoy group activities, but I don't like being forced or encouraged to do them. I'm not sure how the situation in LOTRO is, but in every MMO I've been it's always been like that.
I've started blogging again last month and I've been posting two or three posts a week, in my case it's about GW2. Again, your blog is very complete and is something I'd like to aim for in terms of quality, is there any advice you'd give in how to run a blog and get to know the blogger community? What template do you use to get all these tabs? Mine's at armathyx.blogspot.com, if you'd like to check it out.
Cheers!
Aww, thanks for the kind words! I do try to stick to topics that work for any MMO now and then, although I considered this one to be a bit LOTRO specific. But you're right, it opens up thoughts about this reward systems and gameplay preferences in MMOs as a whole. If you want to know about the situation in LOTRO, read the post that's linked to at the end.
DeleteCool that you're blogging about Guild Wars 2! I don't know any pure GW2 blogs other than yours at the moment, so that's double cool. Even though I don't play the game actively at the moment, I did immensely enjoy it for a while and have written some posts about it. I still follow some blogs (most noteworthy are Inventory Full and Why I Game) and I've added you to my GW2 blogroll to the right so I won't miss any of yours.
There's tons of advice for how to run a blog, Yours seems to be pretty complete, though. It looks great and you've been busy with content. I'm only missing something minor: a way to contact you outside of the blog (not because I would want to right now, but because it's good to have the option). This is handy in case something is wrong with your blog that you don't notice, for instance because you are logged in. Example: in the past, I've had the blog of a befriended blogger block all my comments and because there wasn't a way to contact him on the blog, and he wasn't on social media... well, that was kind of a problem! Eventually he commented on Ravalation and then I could reply that he should check his blog's spam filter.
As for how to get to know the blogger community: find blogs you like (blogrolls are a good start) and add them to a feed (I use Feedly) or blogroll. Commenting on their blogs (as you did on mine) is a good start. Don't worry if they don't reply right away (like me, oops) - you don't know what's going on in their lives and A lot of bloggers are also on Twitter: another good place to connect. I can also very much recommend the Newbie Blogger Initiative in May. It's a yearly event in which veteran gamer bloggers help out newbies. Before I joined that back in 2012 I barely knew anyone. The event opened my eyes and taught me so much about blogging! You can check out my NBI posts here: http://ravalation.blogspot.com/search/label/NBI They should give an impression of sorts.
Okay, sorry for the wall of text. I'll look up how to set up the tabs (you don't need a specific template for it iirc) and post it in a comment. All the best on your blogging adventure!
Rav
Oh no problem at all for the wall of text! I suppose I could get a Twitter account, and I'll check your blog roll and add some of the blogs I like to my own list.
DeleteI will be reading yours regularly, it's added, thanks for all your advice!
I would like to play an honest KOTOR 3. Unfortunately EA won't bankroll new Star Wars titles that are offline. (A KOTOR themed shadow of mordor style would also be great!)
ReplyDeleteSWTOR is the game I've got though. Competition the open areas is a bummer. The ability to group is wasted on me. My only options are to solo mode SWTOR, or just not play.
It seems SWTOR is developing in the right direction for you. Heroics and flashpoints are soloable, the "Knights of the" expansions are more KOTOR than any story in the game before and since 5.0 you can even get the best in slot gear without ever grouping up with someone (if you really want to). Wherever I look, MMOs are abandoning the Multiplayer part of their name in favour of the solo player.
Delete