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 Thread (7 posts)
Stradden  3/03/06 9:28:33 AM
#1

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Staying with Turbine and Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, they have released a brand new developer diary today. This one comes from Content Designer Allan "Orion" Maki. As usual, we present you with a small sample. Follow the link below to read the whole thing:

To solo or not to solo, that is the question. Is it nobler to suffer the sling stones and arrows of thine enemy whilst standing amongst his troops, without the sturdy shield or trusty arms of friends; or, is it best to form a wall of shields, linked by devotion and gilded by strength, to bolster the focus of my blade?

It's a good question. It's a hard question. It's a question with many answers.

It seems whenever you set out to design a massively multiplayer online game one question – one sticky, important question – finds its way into the discussions of designers and fans. This question draws hard battle lines, across which terrible words are exchanged, mothers' names are dragged through the mud, pets are sacrificed on altars of dark forces and hyperbole becomes the ultimate weapon of choice. It is a question that, at its very core, is somewhat of an oxymoron: 'Will your massively-multiplayer game support solo play?'

Different games have taken different approaches: some games have evoked social play through deep crafting systems, player-versus-player conflict, and group-centric endgame content. Other games have allowed extremely skilled solo players to become self-sufficient gods unto themselves. As with any organic entity – make no mistake, MMOs are organic entities – each MMO and the genre as a whole have evolved over time to incorporate the different personalities of players. Some players desire to detach themselves completely from the real world when playing their games, becoming lost in the actions of their avatars and disassociating themselves from human contact altogether. Others become the social butterfly that they cannot be in the 'real world.' Play styles are as varied as the number of players in the game world, and we as designers must do our best to accommodate them all. However, we are not super-human, nor are we graced with an endless amount of resources or time with which to construct our games. Instead, we have windows of opportunity to glimpse the current mood and mindset of our fans and determine the course of the single question, 'Can I solo in your game?'

To read the whole thing, click here.

Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Minimum  3/03/06 2:10:20 PM
#2

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You're just jealous because the voices only speak to me.
Pretty good write up, where, in my mind anyway, he says alot of the right things.
 
Anofalye  3/04/06 8:04:13 PM
#3

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The enemy is so dumb! They believe that WE are the enemy! - A famous orc commander.

He seems happy to write that soloing suck, ask Boromir after all.  And most importantly, he says: "Maybe at a later point, we will shaft all those of you who doesn't raid!", in other words, but this is what he says in essence.

 

He tries to be funny, but he talks nearly like SoE.  Just a little style difference.  Another designer who think soloers can accept to be second class citizens, after all, Boromis will tell you!  Won't he?

 

And as a grouper, the fact grouping shaft soloers might be something I could deal with.  However, the door is open...maybe they will add raiding, PvP, "God know what" and shaft everyone who doesn't do this more "worthy" activity.  If he can shaft soloers, he can shaft groupers!  Ask Boromir!

 

Eh, ask Boromir if he buy a computer and computer games! 

- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - René Levesque about the denial NO on the poll to his dream, project and goal. (Free translation)
Ibacai  3/05/06 6:00:46 AM
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Woah buddy. You took the diary to a whole new level of paranoia. The whole point of the dev diary was stating that solo play would be in the game and that the story would progress at your speed. The reference to Boromir is "Ask Boromir -- soloing sucks when you are facing an army." That means you won't be able to solo giant groups of mobs or all of the quests. It does not mean soloers are getting the shaft. You need to read through the dev diary again and this time with an open mind.


"At the heart of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar lies our solo quests and content."

And raiding will most definately be added later on. It is just not in at launch. The devs are working hard on the involving quests and story content.

Minimum  3/05/06 9:19:53 AM
#5

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You're just jealous because the voices only speak to me.
Originally posted by Ibacai

Woah buddy. You took the diary to a whole new level of paranoia. The whole point of the dev diary was stating that solo play would be in the game and that the story would progress at your speed. The reference to Boromir is "Ask Boromir -- soloing sucks when you are facing an army." That means you won't be able to solo giant groups of mobs or all of the quests. It does not mean soloers are getting the shaft. You need to read through the dev diary again and this time with an open mind.


"At the heart of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar lies our solo quests and content."

And raiding will most definately be added later on. It is just not in at launch. The devs are working hard on the involving quests and story content.


This is the way I interpreted also.

I usually play with just a partner, we're more than happy to do most of our stuff just the two of us.   If this game were to go the way of the others, I wouldn't even bother.
 
Anofalye  3/05/06 9:44:33 AM
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The enemy is so dumb! They believe that WE are the enemy! - A famous orc commander.
Originally posted by Ibacai

 "Ask Boromir -- soloing sucks when you are facing an army."


"At the heart of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar lies our solo quests and content."

And raiding will most definately be added later on. It is just not in at launch. The devs are working hard on the involving quests and story content.


We will never agree then.  But it is NP.  Orion is over for a long time.  I will head back fighting off those Drengins...armies of them!  SOLO.      I prefer grouping over solo, will always, but if a system can shaft soloers for groupers, they can also shaft groupers for *insert raiding or something silly*.  Like a girl, if she upgrade boyfriends up to you, odds are that she will upgrade again in the future rather than stick with you. 

 

I hope Boromir will subscribe to their game, because I have better things to do with my money, like buying the new expension for GalCiv2 whenever it is out.  I am sick of EQ-worthy build up system, where soloers get the shaft, groupers are shafted, everyone is shafted except the raiders.  Orion is over for soooo long!

- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - René Levesque about the denial NO on the poll to his dream, project and goal. (Free translation)
Ibacai  3/05/06 6:11:18 PM
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Originally posted by Anofalye

We will never agree then. But it is NP. Orion is over for a long time. I will head back fighting off those Drengins...armies of them! SOLO. I prefer grouping over solo, will always, but if a system can shaft soloers for groupers, they can also shaft groupers for *insert raiding or something silly*. Like a girl, if she upgrade boyfriends up to you, odds are that she will upgrade again in the future rather than stick with you.

I hope Boromir will subscribe to their game, because I have better things to do with my money, like buying the new expension for GalCiv2 whenever it is out. I am sick of EQ-worthy build up system, where soloers get the shaft, groupers are shafted, everyone is shafted except the raiders. Orion is over for soooo long!

What? I'm not really even understanding you anymore. You feel that this game is giving the shaft to the solo players? Ok, and then you feel that they will eventually give the shaft to the group players? Which then leads them to give everything to the raid player.

Wow, just wow. You are using flawed logic and a slippery slope defense. Look at my first post and you'll see that the solo player does not get the shaft. Which breaks the chain of your "logic". The devs have stated before that they want a balance between solo and group play. While promises are nice, I'm sure it will lean a little towards one or the other in the end. It's unavoidable.

And the whole "everyone is shafted but the raiders" takes it even farther. Raiding won't even be in at launch. Yes, I'm sure it will be put in but that doesn't mean that all resources will be devoted to raiding and everyone else will get the "shaft".

And you can stop with the Boromir references, you are using it as a shield. One that doesn't work by the way.