CoH: a game for Introverts, too

Lisar,

As it has been explained to me over the years, the reason behind the minimum team size requirement is to stop complaints of "this was impossible to solo" before they could ever begin.

Edit: Or the other option often repeated in this very thread: "It's an MMO, you're supposed to team."

Different strokes for different folks.

I have an extremely hectic job running as system admin for 700+ people spread over 18 sites.

My friends all know I never check personal emails, because at work I live and die on my response time to support problems. So some nights when I play - I just want to unwind. I want no drama, I want to be told a story and so I limp along doing a story arc. I say no to teams and just - relax.

Other days I am full of energy and happily lead TFs. I will search for exploits.....err find the limits of what the game allows. In short I am up for anything.

So my personal take on the recent push for large raids and teaming to receive gated rewards is mostly negative. I feel much like BZB in that I like to see what effect I am having on the fight and can I get more control, damage or chaos by changing what I do?

I did a 2nd Respec trial last night and the team was full of crazy people. We opened every single door and aggro'd all the freaks in the Terra Volta lab room at once. We had 25+ freak tanks running around. I was on my sonic/Ice blaster and was just throwing any of them that got near a squishie all over the place. It was glorious chaos. I was laughing so hard I was nearly crying.

So I like teaming - when - I - want it.

I'm an introvert also. Between the Aspergers and moderate to rarely severe anxiety, CoH actually has been great for me. I can solo or team but I don't feel the pressures that society puts on everyone in a setting outside of this game. Of course, there is pressures on teaming but I really don't mind doing Trials like BAF, etc... I stay relatively quiet and do my job. Reap the reward(s) and move on.

Thankfully with enough RL help to control and understand better the certain parts needing worked with me, I'm tolerating RL more. But back on subject, I'm content with how CoH is. That's just me of course but for others, I can see why it's more difficult so I feel for you.

Thanks, A.

I'm an introvert as well. I'm actually terrible with people. There's a medical reason for that, but I don't want to go into it. I'm fine, but I want to keep it to myself as to why. I'll leave it at that.

I don't agree with Software being akin to medicine, a product wholly owned by the creator of it, with specific proscribed uses and any deviation of that resulting in adverse side effects (if not criminal charges or quite simply death.)

I consider licensed software closer to a tool you don't own. You're borrowing a socket set from your older brother to work on your bicycle. The Garage Door to get your bicycle hasn't been opened for a while and it's got sand in the tracks. So you grab the longest, thickest wrench you have in the set, wedge it under the door and carefully use it as a lever to open the door. Luckily, the wheels give and start moving, lifting the door.

As long as you have permission in the first place to use the software, if it's useful for another purpose (and you're careful to avoid certain foreseeable consequences, like bending the bottom panel of the garage door so it doesn't close evenly, or break the wrench itself) then there's nothing wrong with your 'unintended use' of the given tools.

City of Heroes could crack down on Vidiot Maps for making a modification of the client, but they don't. Paragon Studios could grow a wild hair up a lower orifice (pick one) about Titan Network's existence, and decide to change their client to lock out Sentinel completely and make future client fixes to reinforce their exile, but they haven't. Whoever is the General Manager these days (Brian Clayton, unless I'm mistaken) could have an all-hands meeting to discuss Freedom being designed around queues for Trials, Raids and Task Forces only, dropping all missions, newspapers, radios and contacts from the game... then put in a draconian timer for 1 hour which players must find a team to run a TF/Raid/Trial, chat in a channel with no emotes or avatars (just a queue, like on Quake Tournament) or get kicked for 24 hours for not getting on a team (you know, to remove solo players completely from the equation). But they haven't.

I'm an Introvert. I play alone a LOT. Mostly from my own proclivities, secondly because I'm not a min-max kind of guy. Partly from being not interested in the Incarnate system. That limits my teaming to: anyone in the Sewers, friends who hop on for certain needs on teams through Ventrilo (which is mostly done for the year because the Holidays are over, other galactic MMOs, and it's not Summer yet) or in the case of tonight, a Triumph Watch message told me of a Mothership Raid from a ex-City Scoop Chief of Staff who I teamed with a lot in 2008 but doesn't remember me (which is fine, I wouldn't remember me either if I was him.) I do team, but I love the game for the fact that I don't HAVE to. and you don't have to team with people like me. I agree wholly with Generic Past above, there are many shards, many zones, and many mission doors. If you don't want to team with people like me, as soon as figure it out, leave at the end of the current mission/TF and leave a Note on my global name to avoid me in the future. Take the team with you, or get bold and kick me from the team with no explanation. Or Global Ignore me. You have the tools to fix this yourself if you like.

And until a higher up from Paragon Studios says that they're throwing RP'ers, Soloists and non-Incarnate players under the bus on the next issue, it's unfair to insinuate that recent design choices mean their intent. There's a difference between being forgotten (which is fine... that's what "QOL" issues are for, and the "Leets only or GTFO" types will lament it's release until the next issue neglects us edge-cases once more)... and being marginalized. I'll wait until Melissa Bianco, Matt Miller, or whoever's at the Programming "Turntables" this year gets on the mic and says "Alright, Soloists, RPers, and anyone who was in Icon all night, time to go home, the rest of the night's for teams only. Repeat, TEAMS ONLY."

But they haven't said that yet. And I don't remember them saying "we don't want players to run solo" anywhere. I do know they prefer players to TEAM, you know, being an MMO and all. And that's fine if they design parts to make missions easier with teams than on solo players. I'll just do other things as long as they're there.

Or until they actually say "if you solo, get lost" in a press conference or on this site. But if it's all the same to you, I'll wait for them to say it. If it's not, don't talk to me. It's pretty simple.

I'm somewhat introverted but that's not why I prefer the solo path. It's because virtually every time I have tried a taskforce or raid I get to experience almost none of it. I swear, 99% of the people in this game are determined to do everything as fast as they can and ignore even the slightest trace of story line.

I feel like I'm watching a dvd with people who insist on playing the movie in fast forward because normal speed takes too long. And if they have already experienced it even once then they keep pushing the fast forward button until the movie is playing at maximum speed. Then two minutes later when the movie is over they say "Wow that was great. Want to watch it again?"

I can see that for content I'm playing through the first time (I want to read stuff when the rest of the team is bickering that the timer for the Gold Badge is running out), but all the same there are plenty out there that agree with you.

I have no problem with the game catering to introverts. I do have a problem when they demand the same rewards as group content.

Solo trials at a slower (read: easier) pace? No problem, but you'll have to be content with a slower rate of advancement. Leadership, organization, skill and efficiency should be rewarded, and that's only being fair.