The latest Monday in MMORPGs has been published on the Saga of Lucimia site. The lengthy post takes a look at grouping in games overall, and specifically in MMORPGs. It rhetorically wonders if players have "forgotten how to play in group-based game(s)" and "what strategy is" and "how to ask for help" and about proper group balance.
Have they forgotten how to socialize? How to ask for help? How to rely on others? Have they forgotten about group balance and needing to bring together a complimenting combination of skills across the various group members to successfully overcome challenges? Or are we dealing with a new generation of players who have grown up on single-player content in games like SWTOR, ESO, FFXIV, WoW, and beyond, where every player is a carbon copy of the player next to them with a fully array of DPS, crowd control, self-heals & more, and every individual can lay waste to whole squadrons of enemies on their own without breaking a sweat?
The topic provides context after Creative Director Tim "Renfail" Anderson watched an ill-prepared group via Twitch as they attempted to reclaim their bodies and gear. The group of five had attempted to take on content for 6-8 players with full gear and "higher level Masteries" and had failed. It is from here that the discussion took off.
Read the full post on the Saga of Lucimia site or check out the narrated video below.
