Forced teaming makes me sad

It rather reminds me of the "This is a PvP game!" argument on Aion. No, it's a PvPvE game. Take that "E" out of there and you'd be right, but you'd also be left with an unsustainable game because of the small number of subscribers when the PvEers fled in droves. The same applies for the "u haz 2 team" argument. This game would not be sustainable if all the soloists and primarily soloists left.

Lots of different material for lots of different folks is key to a sustainable game. Because someone plays differently than you doesn't make them wrong.

No one is saying that it does mean that. Nor are those who prefer to solo being ignored.

They surely aren't with the info just released. Thankfully the Incarnate system is now going to move beyond just raid raid raid and Praetoria Praetoria Praetoria for a bit.

A) This particular event being group only is not part of a "recent" push. It's the event that was in last year, with a different way to access it.

B) Super Big Group required content is pretty much the Final Frontier for this game. By which I mean, there wasn't much before, and it's long past time to devote some resources to it.

C) if they were skimping on things for soloists and small groups to do, you might have a point. However new zones, new arcs, and announcements for a solo Incarnate Path are all clear indicators that your alleged "trend" is bogus.

The only thing I've been able to think about since I read this is wanting to be there when someone who is 20 yards from completing their last Gold Medal Ski Run gets LFG ported into my mission.

Based on what? Is there some part of the forums asking for this? Is there a belief that the silent majority of players actually want this without saying so?

Most feedback I see in forums and in game about the actual size requirements league-sized stuff ranges from ambivalence to distaste. I don't think I've ever seen anyone say "woo, I love doing this stuff with 23 other people!" Which of course doesn't mean no one does like it, but absent some indicator that a bunch of people do like it, I'm surprised to see it declared that it good it's getting resources now.

Yes. Both the forums and playerbase in general. The lack of large-scale 'raid' content has long been perceived, *BY PLAYERS*, as a shortcoming. And before anyone starts putting words in my mouth, I'm not saying that MOST people want it. I doubt that 'most' people care about farming, the market, soloing, PvP, etc, etc. But SOME people care about *ALL* of these things so it is wise to include as large a variety as possible.

P.S. Speaking for myself, yes, I want the big raid content.

I guess we're all just busy having fun with the trials in game.

I'm enjoying the trials. Unlike some vocal folks who post about the iTrials, I don't dislike them. (There are things about some of them I dislike, but that's not a reason to argue they shouldn't exist.) I do, however, find their high low-end start size constraints to be a real limiter for forming them at anything but prime time.

Adding more of them is going to diffuse players into even more content. When there are limited numbers of people to run what exists now, I think that's a problem worth noting.

For which I'd immediately laugh at their stupidity for starting a ski run when they knew they were queued for a mission via the new improved LFG.

This. I am sure the Multiplayer argument is being made by the same kind of people that hole up in their house/apartment that barely speak to their real world neighbors if ever.

i c whut u did there

I have two neighbours on my floor in my apartment block. One is an old lady. I frequently chat to her about her day etc, sometimes walk her dog for her and whenever I'm taking the rubbish out I ringbher bell to see if she has any that I can take down with me. The other flat is occupied by a woman and her autistic daughter. I often meet her when I pop out for a quick *** on the balcony (I don't smoke in the flat), and have a brief natter. I know them all by name and they know me.

You assume things that are absolutely wrong. Extrapolating RL behaviour from in-game preferences is foolish. I could assume that everyone who loves huge leagues is an ADD 12-yr old who nover bothers with bios, smack-talks over vent and just wants loot like he gets in WoW, but I'm sure that's foolish too. Nobody in the 'solo-friendly please' camp is trying to eradicate large-team raids from the game-we just want the minimums lowered. It's a shame that some players have such hatred for those who don't like to play the same way as them that they object to alterations that would have no effect on their game.

Eco

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow [The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."

Welcome to internet forums! People are a LOT more apt to complain than praise in a gaming forum. Those who want change are vocal for change. Those who are fine with how things are generally are enjoying the game because...well, they're fine with how things are.

Preach it. I've not logged into CoX for nearly a year because I couldn't make any meaningful progress on my Incarnate solo or with a friend or two. The fact that I have friends, activities, and, yes, conjugal relations with a lady (a live, real, human, female one who doesn't make me pay her, unless you count taking out the trash and otherwise not pissing her off at me) mean I don't have time to be a Serious Proper Raiding Player or to grind like a hive drone.

So I play games where I can solo at will, or team with a friend or two. Of course, the City of Farmville adherents will get their knickers in a twist and get to shrieking that "I just want to get everything for easy free, solo," or, my favorite, 'What part of 'MULTI' don't you understand," etc... their usual scat spitting.

I don't want everything free, and I do team with friends, frequently. It's just that I'm usually teaming with one to three other people. I just don't want to rely on PuGs, preferring the company of a few people who I actually know and like, who may or may not be available to play when I am. I team with people I'd be willing to have over to my house for a beer, not people who need the developers to strongarm me into grouping with them.

Thanks for the link, but I already checked that page out.

Remember the "we have a path to solo-incarnate progress! You just have to do task forces to unlock it, then grind until your retarded from it." That announcement promised some love for solo/small team players looking to progress but worked out to "Oh, you don't need to sit in the back of the bus, you can stand in the aisle. In the back of the bus." So I'm a little cynical as to how useful/worthwhile it'll actually turn out to be. There's a limit to how many times I'll pick up the soap for the developers, no matter how much I like the game.

The new zone is a hopeful sign, but before I get my hopes up, I'll need to see

1) Is it a zone where you can actually accomplish anything worthwhile solo or in a duo/trio

2) Will drop rates/incarnate mission rewards be a significant improvement over the Incarnate: City of Farmville?

And if it is, then I fully expect the howls of the "the solo players ruined my game!" to crack the skys. Which is always funny.

Do you mean better than the Trial path or the current solo path?

I'm talking about the choice between PuG....errr.... Trials or quit your job to grind that was pitched as the "solo progress" last summer. (If it's improved since then and I didn't know, then that's just delightful.)

A non-issue since you've already kindly answered my question about Dark Astoria's solo/duo-ability to progress, over in another thread.

Just out of curiosity, did I at any point say anything implying that, or are you just responding to something I didn't even write?

Just to be clear, I never expected or asked for solo progress to be better than team progress.

I just didn't like the absolutely, positively entarded disparity that existed then.

From what I'm hearing about the new Dark Astoria courtesy of Golden Girl and Agent White, Issue 22 sounds like it'll make it worthwhile for solo/duo/trio players to pursue Incarnate progress. Which gives me a big old happy.

Sure, enemies in DA will drop threads and incarnate XP. Also, incarnate components upon story arc completion.

No. The solo option will be slower than the team option. This is by design.

See above. I expect it to still be slower, just without the ridiculous disparity that there was before.

To clarify, it's one thing to make teaming more exciting and rewarding... but the way Incarnate's solo progress was laid out it was "you can solo your way along, but we're going to work hard to make sure it sucks so bad you'll quit or start teaming." I like encouragement, I don't like strongarming. I know they just wanted to get people to try PuGs, but the approach was like trying to get solo/duo/trio players to try kissing sweaty fat man. I don't like sweaty fat man. I don't want to kiss him. And insisting that I might like it if I tried it, or I can only drink non-alcoholic beer all night is going to make me leave the club rather than pucker up for the PuG.

Depending on the drop/reward rates, I'm hopeful i22 will make playing my 50 worth my time once more. What people have told me about it is encouraging, but then again, they would have had to struggle to make the experience more unpleasant. CoX was always one of the better games for being friendly to people like me, who generally either solo or play with one or two friends.

So I'm very, very hopeful that Issue 22 and the new Dark Astoria will see a return to that mindset.

*Fingers crossed, credit card ready and waiting.*