Also good news coming out of the QuakeCon panel was the plan for grouping. Anyone reading my perspectives on the game knows that the issues with consistent grouping and the game’s phasing has been one of the strongest negative aspects of what I find to be a good game overall. Lead Content Designer Rich Lambert admitted that grouping was really off the mark and promised that the team is going to fix it. The changes include quest overhauls to make sure players aren’t so easily separated, the ability to sync with the group leader’s instance, quest tracker and journal updates to reflect shared quests and progress within them, and adding shared advancement. All of these are welcome changes as anyone that has been separated out from teammates or forced to wait several minutes for one more mob to spawn since your count wound up one less than your buddy’s. If these moves live up to their potential, it will really strengthen the player experience for those of us who prefer to group up.
Another positive announcement related to both grouping and gameplay experience was dungeon scaling. Players will be able to return to dungeons in groups, with the content scaling to the group leader’s level. Solo players will see the content scale to their level. This way players of different levels can play together, regardless of where they are individually, and all players can repeat the experience even if not yet of Veteran level. This is good news for the main game, since it adds to players’ options for content. As ZeniMax adds more content, including veteran dungeons and some small group PvE challenges like the announced Dragonstar Arena, having the options to shape your experience is never a bad thing.
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There is much more in the panel, including the Imperial City, Spellcrafting (!), new armor, weapons, crafting changes, and new animation polish, and it’s way more than one can cover in just this one column. Yet, just the changes discussed this week should, if they come through as promised, make a significant impact upon the game. The team knows there have been some bumps in the road along the way, and the responsiveness should give players hope for the next several updates and the future of the game. It can be frustrating to wait, but some of these changes seem well worth waiting for.
Christina Gonzalez / Christina is a freelancer and contributor to MMORPG.com, where she writes the community-focused Social Hub column. You will also find her contributions at RTSGuru. Follow her on Twitter: @c_gonzalez
