I have gone thru 27 levels and am beginning to wonder if my conclusions are close or not.

1. Nobody has ever played a MMORPG that actually requires grouping.  Either for companionship and/or experiece.  Yeah yeah... soloing as a wizard is just as simple as the next, but I don't get the mentality of the community out there.

   [LI]Between the scammers, botters, and farmers everyone else seems to be on edge most of the time.

   [LI]Where the bulk of this community came from?  Daoc/swg/eq or counterstike/quake ;)  A lot of "fragger" mentality is apparent most places I roam.

   [LI]When will NC put a drop on the names out there.  DumbBoy1-500, ArrowKiller (no duh I say!  I would have figured that out with the bow you are carrying.)  Or SuperKilla/er/ah/boy/man/giant.  OMG, it's so great!  Maybe I should petition my name to be Vv^^QueenElfWizard_KillaChick_With-SeeThruKnowledgeTop^^vV

Later,

-ette-

If there are any nice people out there that truely enjoy what these types of games bring to the table and understand classes and how they benefit each other message me.  Most nights I sit in the execution ground, or other grind factory location pondering these thoughts.

1. The only other MMORPG I've ever played is Lineage1. Grouping wasn't required, but it was much more fun having friends hunt monsters with you, and you could tackle much harder monsters much more easily.

2. There are some people who are always on edge. I wouldn't know, I'm pretty easy-going ;).

3. I'd say quite a few Lineage1, not sure about other games because I didn't play them.

4. Not much you can do about some names :).

I would have to agree that either the game or the people aren't as group friendly, probably both.  I am not sure if the people are more up-tight, or the botters and KSers made them that way.  But I can tell you, I've had it where I am casting and literally hit a mob 1/10 of a second after someone and they start screaming. lol.

Also, most of the people I know that are high level say this to me: SOLO.  So, if you want the levels, unfortunately, solo seems to be the way to go.  I don't see many groups.  I don't chat with many people.  I have a couple of good friends, but in past games, by now I would expect 10 good friends, instead of 2. 

We'll see how it goes.  I think a large part of the problem is soloing is faster.  In other games, if you got a good group going, it was much faster than soloing.  If they were to bump the group bonus from 7% to something like 30% per person it might be worth it.  Even daoc, was (correct me if I misremember) 200% for an 8 man group.

I played daoc for the better part of 2 years.  Lvl 50 Bard, RR7, and I honestly don't remember the exact % of group bonus, but I know it was signifigant.  Especially when You get get the 3 tank, bard with end, druid to heal, nuker or 2 for big boom, warden with bub and go non-stop for litterally hours on end.

As a bard, I never had the option of soloing much past weak even conned mobs so that was never an option ;(

-ette-

I played EQ 5 years SWG, DAOC, AC2, horizens, anyway made 30 today and decided I don't need to play with the jerks in this game, its too easy to grief, and they never miss an opportunity, so I cancelled. No I'm not saying you're all jerks lol, actually most may be good people, but in this envirement, its not really worth finding out, I figure eventually most of the good people will leave and the fringe people can keep playing and griefing each other, a game is nothing without good people to share it with.

Thecker said almost everything.

I've played DAoC, Lin1, and a handful of other games over the past 4 yrs.

I personally don't group with anyone I don't know extremely well, because there is always some kid who keeps the drop(s). I guess this kid thinks we all grouped just to get him/her the drop. Only way to prevent this is to not group with anyone, unless I know you personally in real life. Don't get me wrong I've met some very nice people who were trusting with me and thusly I was trusting of them.

There is a reason the all these games want the "teen" rating and ,well, have to have the "teen" rating. (I don't think I need to explain it.) This leads to some general problems for those of us who are actually adults. Adults deal with issues differently than kids. Personally, if I wanted to play with kids I would go the playground after work.

There's alot to be said on this subject. I don't think this thread is the place for it. But i will say this. It's the gaming company's fault just as much as it is the parents.

I think most of the classes in this game (with the exception of healers) are designed to solo. Grouping doesn't seem heavily encouraged, or even really supported. Sure, you get a slight exp bonus by having more people present, but with the massive exp curve, grouping never seemed to give enough exp to give up soloing, unless it was 1-2 healers and 1-2 massively twinked out tanks with polearms who can kill numerous mobs at once.

I prefered the grouping system in daoc, where by being in a group you got larger pulls, and therefore a "group bonus" when you got multiple mobs, therefore more exp per pull. Grouping was actually as much exp per kill as soloing, a lot of times, and faster. Plus, loot distribution was automatically random, and since drops were far more frequent, people were nicer as far as handing over drops. Generally it was a "need before greed" mentality.

I missed grouping a lot.

-Aliantha

another point would be the money drops. Say you're in a group of 5, each mob drops 200-300a (at 70% max, mind you :TONGUE: ), then each kill you get, behold, 40-60a! W00t! Even if you kill the white/yellow/red mobs faster than farming light blues solo, you'll get less money and LOTS less drops...

with gear so important, equipment prices so high and money drops so damn low you'd think they would increase drops for groups... if not for XP or quests (damn quest abstinence past 20), why join a party?

I personally group only for fun, with friends or ppl I know at least, too often have I seen ppl ninja loot every drop in a party (well not that often, but quite a few times) and does that random distribution thing even work? I always activate it first after I log in, but I have yet to see a 'random' distribution

Generally it was a "need before greed" mentality.
I missed grouping a lot.

I have to say Aliantha, I really miss that too.  The only times we rolled in daoc, was if there was more than one person in the group that could use it.  Otherwise, everyone was happy that person got it. He was in the group and deserved it.  I mean, in that game, even if you didn't get the drop, you were happy for them.  Was great fun all around.

Making no judgement on this game, but I can say at earlier levels, not as social, and MUCH more griefing and bitching.  I haven't joined a clan yet, so may get better, but I don't remember it this bad even on the pvp servers in other games.  Since I am prob on the way out, going to check out a clan first in case it keeps me going.  Let you know.

I agree that the players in this game aren't as friendly as I've met in others.  I believe this is due to the newness of the game and the fact that there wasn't a player wipe as well as the points you all made above.

A lot of the l33t d00ds were playing for free in an unmoderated environment for the most part.  If there had been a wipe, a lot of them would have moved on.  However, you get these folk in any game.

I think some tweaking is in order.  Here are my sugggestions:

1. Create incentives to group.  Level out the xp and adena drops so that it promotes grouping or at least makes it as attractive as soloing.

2. Create incentives to hunt level-appropriate mobs.  Right now, all the newbie areas are crammed full of farmers, either adena farmers or those who are trying to level as fast as possible.  Fix the xp/drop tables so that hunting whites is as fruitful as mowing down greens.

3. Expand skills and make the game less dependent on gear.  Right now, players who want to remain competitive (with an eye towards PvP and sieges) must focus on money and level.  For many players, this creates the "grind" that we love to hate.  I suspect this is one reason people are on edge in the game.

I too know how many of you feel, and yes you all put up the exact reasons why most don't group.  Its sad too, for this game later will be fairly dependent on groups for sieges and such.  I know they should fix quite a few problems with this game, things that I think are honestly stupid for the amount of time required to put into it.  It puts a wrench in people's moods and takes a lot of fun out of the game.  I, myself am a lvl 20 cleric... and seem to be stuck at lvl 20.  So hey, if any of you wish to group you are welcome to contact me anytime I'm on, usually late in the evenings EST.  I love to have fun, thats what gaming is all about anyway, right? :)

Increase grouping benefits.  This way people will want to group and be more social.  If they work it like AC or DAoC would be great.

Make it so all loot dropped is randomly given.  Why do you have to set it to random?  I don't understand that.  All loot should be randomly distributed amongst the players, just as the adena is evenly split.  Then the group can work out who needs it and what not.

Remove deleveling.  I'm sorry but I think this is the worst aspect of this game.  Every time my little mage dies I lose close or up to 10% exp.  There went an hour of hunting for me, and I'm a leisure player, so my time in game is short.  I have constantly been placed back a level several times, and there goes an hour or mores work, a complete waste of time.  I agree exp should be lost, but if you level, you should be able to keep the level you earned.

Droping equipment you have when you are white is unfair.  My sister lost her 150k mail pants the other day, the ones she had equiped, because a critter killed her.  She was not red nor pink.  So there went part of her armor suit which she had been saving up for, just to have some nub come and pick up the piece.  She asked nicely if they could give it back, and got a response she couldn't understand.  A bot no doubt.  Isn't the exp loss for us... as the PK's refer to, carebears, loss enough?  Even dropping small things in our inventory wouldn't be as bad as dropping our equiped items. 

There are many more reasons as to why people don't group, these being a few of them.  With these people are uptight and fear grouping, for they get less adena and a not so great exp bonus.  Not to mention all the kids who act like kids running around and making it unfun for others.  I could get into guild requirements, but I'd ramble on forever, so I'll end here.  This game is definetly not geared towards grouping, which I hope they do fix, otherwise they may lose more than me as a paying customer.

My two cents on a good topic. :)

I have only played this and Lin1.

From my exp in this game so far, if you are not finding grouping beneficial, you either have a horrible group or a horrible location.  I grouped with 8 other 25-30 lvl characters.  We were able to hunt deep in the ant nest for a long time without problems.

But to sum extent I agree on the drops.  It is supposed to be one of the things fixed in Chron1.  They are supposedly correcting the lvl vs drop imbalance.

As far as the l33t d00ds are concerned, I think that a lot of them will either stop playing when the free month is over, when they get caught/stopped from buying adena for rl $, or when they get bored with the game which usually happens pretty quicky.

i'v played a TINY bit of lineage1.. but i'd say lineage2 is really my frist mmorph..

I haven't played a lot of MMORPGs but I agree that partying is not encouraged much in this game.  There is very little benefit at any level that I've reached so far as a DE Wizard that makes it very beneficial to party with more then 1 or 2 players and soloing seems to be the best for EXP/SP and adena. 

However, I believe NC Soft does this intentionally to encourage the Clan/Blood Pledge participation.  I know from my experience that since joining a clan my enjoyment of the game has increased ten-fold.  If you haven't joined a quality clan I recommend it highly.  I am a member of priory of aden (http://www.prioryofaden.com)  and we know have reached Clan Lvl 2 status and are working toward's Clan 3.  Trying to get the Proof of Blood legitimately not through Personal Stores. 

We are a group of mostly 20-35 year olds with mostly a non-Pk mentality.  We protect and support each other.  We are not total purists or RPGers.  There is almost always someone from the clan on so that when I log on and wish to party I can find 3-4 willing participants. 

Ette -

Not sure what server you're on, but look me up if you ever hop on Erica.  I have a super clan that love to group and chat up, just basically have fun:)  We're serious about leveling our avies, but also about having major fun doing it:D  I've never played any MM's before, only social games like TSO and There, so I think I'm a bit more social about my gaming.  The offer stands for anyone looking for adult fun, as we all seem to have mouths like sailors. 

Keltria, Erica server, level 25 Shillen Oracle

I played almost all of the big mmorpgs and I group whenever I can. I think it's better than soloing (that also explains why it took me a month to get to level 17, LOL).

heh, I played FFXI before this and anyone who's played it knows that unless you are a Beastmaster, soloing is literally impossible, I think the solo thing in L2 is a welcome change to waiting an hour going LFG and then gettnig a shiznickles beat out of you buy an add and having to wait forever for a raise and then wait for the weakness to wear off. T_T Just be grateful they don't make mobs above lvl 20 WAY too hard for lvl 20s to handle alone.

yea.. i think the main thing about L2 is clans, alliances and castles..