Want a Notice of the Well solo? That'll be...

Though it's been proven that EG didn't say this, I do think plenty of people think "I ran it in 30 minutes last night, that means you have no reason not to run TFs despite your time limitations". So I'd like to share this anecdote and resulting thought:

The other night I had an hour. I hopped on a Barracuda, knowing that the last two I'd done took less than an hour.

This one got started 15 minutes after I joined (waiting on people to switch characters and stuff), and took 1.5 hours. At 50 minutes, I realized that I was at a point where I could quit the team, and possibly make the end encounter unwinnable for the team due to lost buffs, debuffs, and DPS (I was a Corruptor), or continue, and be late for my RL obligation. I opted for being late, and got "in trouble". Next time I will not do it at all under those circumstances.

This is the problem with the "I ran it in X time, so can you" thought process: you cannot guarantee that the team activity you are doing will take a specific length of time unless the activity gets started immediately, and has an actual time limit on it of that time. Soloing is the usually only option for people who have lots of RL obligations because they can get started immediately, and if they underestimate how much time a task will take, they don't screw anyone over if they have to leave early.

Now that you're done with that, how about answering my question about people who cannot team due to computers, illness, etc? Why should they be stunted or locked out? They aren't not doing TF's to be jerks. So why be jerks to them?

It isn't going to drive off anyone, or at least not any more players than any new system they've added lately has. Whatever they do is bound to send a few screwloose types around the bend. People quit over PvP, people quit over the market, people quit over MERGING the markets, etc etc.

A system like this gives progress lovers something to do without bothering too many other folks, who're free to continue playing as they always have. I'd have been upset if it were gated behind teaming, but it looks like there will be an alternate route for soloists so no complaints here.

If it creates the perception that CoH now has 'end game raid content' and excites a little curiosity outside our small community, that's for the good. If it does so without disrupting our casual, solo friendly environment in any meaningful way, so much the better.

to be honest, I wasn't expecting a shard tradeoff. Which is fine, I have no issue with that, nor do I have an issue with the inf cost.

When they said a method for the soloist I was thinking something of a chain of missions via contact...

Not at all the shortcut that is being presented.

I thought this was going to be -content related- not "Here buy this instead GAWDUH"

I can get behind this, but I would rather get behind a very well done and challenging story arc that can be done either solo or with a small to large group.

It just makes this seem... I dunno if I'm being to hypercritical but... cheaply done? Not enough effort into developing content? What am I looking for here?

When Black Scorpion said they were investigating an alternate path, I guess they were looking at the cheapest easiest way around making an actual soloable chain of missions.

Its like terminator logic, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. No heart at all.

I mean I can't really be upset over this, I can meet the requirements, and I can't really blame the devs for not having enough resources to make a few arcs for the soloists...

I guess I'm just a bit disappointed, no new solo story arcs to unlock incarnates...

This is mostly what I was trying to say but I do trip over my words at times. I have a problem when people in any situation say "I did X. YOU CAN TOO!". People, teams, games, life, is not a straight unchanging road. Variables happen that change this. As such one mans claim that he did the Kahn in 30 mins and thus I can to is as viable to me as saying "I soloed LRSF! You can too!". Getting on a Kahn that is so good it can do it an a half hour is a rarity. It is not a common occurance.

Because it is. I'm sure the Dev defense squad will tell me it isn't but please don't kid yourselves. The fact BS said investigating as well as his choice of words highly implies no method existed when he made his original post a couple weeks back. Which means this was most likely hobbled together quickly due to the backlash and 90 page threads that followed. No awesome chain was going to come out in a week of development. This is all they really could do on such short notice.

I find it interesting how one 'side' of this debate seems to rely on pre-emptively defending their position while at the same time trying to cast aspersions on the 'other side'. It makes it seem like your (general your) reaching for ways to hamstring discussion.

Oh this applies outside of this discussion. There are a few members on this board who will never admit the devs made a mistake EVER in the games history and will defend the devs as if they were their parents.

Both sides have, at times, been fairly liberal with throwing around the accusations and belittlements. No one can really claim a high-ground here.

That really depends how many of those people there are playing the game. If they are an insignificant percentage of the playerbase, then they may not be catered to because it might not make sense financially.

If those people make up a decent amount of the palyerbase, they will get what they want.

It just comes down to who pays more of Paragon Studio's bills.

I'm having a hard time coming up with any examples from the 'pro-conversion' (for lack of a better term) camp. In this specific thread, anyway. I'm not worried about any long-term grudges or agendas or whatever.

Unless you're thinking of me using 'anti-teamers' but that was more intended to specifically exclude the term 'soloer' - because we weren't talking about people who solo (heck, I solo) we were talking about people who always solo, who never team. Calling them 'soloers' muddies the waters.

Well then those people are silly. I'm quite certain the fact that there was no damage resistance cap until Issue 1 was quite an... interesting mistake. But that's neither here nor there.

Incarnate content is supposed to be high-end, difficult challenges. Solo content has to be pretty easy, so any Archetype/power combination can complete it without needing a team. The two concepts don't really mix.

Now this I agree with completely.

There are a few members on this board who will never attempt to understand the reasoning of the devs EVER in the games history and will attack the devs as if they were their parents.

This is why I don't like taking snippets.

I also said "challenging" please don't overlook that.

thanks.

This implies it would cost a large sum of money to lower the current requirement solo to something achievable.

A way to craft tier 3 and 4 of the Alpha is already a compromise

It's a buisness. No player owes the devs anything and the devs should expect complaints and criticism. If they cannot, they should not be in this buisness.

That was not meant in anyway to be a personal attack.
Nor is it a veiled attempt to as someone else posted, call you a red headed step child for not choosing to team.

It is a statement of fact, verifiable by the very posts you've made in this thread. It doesn't matter what the reason you choose to solo in a multiple player game (this being posted by someone whose soloed the majority of the time that he's played here) but by refraining from teaming makes things more difficult for you to obtain.

Basically, stating that it isn't fair that teams earn things easier then people who solo, that content is available for teams while not available for people who don't team. So should develeopers of an MMO develop containt that can ONLY be acheived by 1 person, and not be done by a team? Seems a contradiction in terms.

Meanwhile, the simple fact that even though you may not go through the same content, and that while yes, its more difficult, can earn the same rewards is something that other MMOs provide. Its one of the refreshing, great things I like about this game.

I am in no way being elitist when I say that anyone should be able to form a team at sometime and even do a task force at least once a week, even if the tf is all they do that week. I've subbed since June of 04, never cancelled. I've been in a total of two SGs in that time, the first with RL friends, the second with great people I've met in game (to which I'm still a part). Yet, I've mostly soloed, still haven't done most of the Blue side TFs, none of the redside SF. I've managed to IO out two 50's (I have several 50s altogether), and the only reason I've done so is thanks to Hero Merits. Otherwise, my builds would still be largely incomplete.

I may only get to play a half hour this next week. If so, I'll probably not get to do a tf. But like this past week, I was able to play several hours, to which I've done a mothership raid, and 3 TFs (ITF, and 2 Khans). Outside of logging in to run an odd mission or two which took probably no more than 15 minutes a shot, those 4 main activities were at seperate times and totalled just several hours of time, none of which were prime time hours.

My point is, "challenging" and "solo" don't really mix.

If it's a tough challenge, most players are going to need a team, which brings us back to the same "forced teaming" discussion. And the Incarnate content should be a tough challenge.

Incarnate-worthy solo content is easier said than done.

Again, I agree.