team v's solo play

[jason24]

Hi everyone,

Just wondering what everyone thinks about how team friendly STO will be . I know that there will be Borg invasions and other events where we will all have to team together to save the Galaxy but in everyday play how many missions will there be where we will have to team up to complete the mission ?

Personally i think this wil be the most Solo friendly game on the market . It seems that alot of people want to go off and explore the galaxy and discover new worlds so will players be doing this by themselvers or do you plan to discover these things in a team ?

To me Star Trek has always been 1 ship and crew against the galaxy meaning that the majority of T.V. episodes and the films focus on the main crew with little story lines where there is a team up , so will STO reflect this or will it be designed with team play in mind .

Just curiouse to see how you think the missions will be designed ( will they lean towards solo play or lean towards team playt )since the missions will be in episodes.

[dyvimtorm]

From what they've said elsewhere I'd presume a strong emphasis on team play. For me, that's what'll keep me in the game longest, there're plenty of single person games to choose from that incorporate sci-fi themes, but it's the social nature of this game that could really set it apart.

That being said, I'd be interested in how people think Cryptic can best get people to want to work together (without being too heavy handed, and allowing for soloing for those who want it as well)? One thought I had was something in the reputation system that involves PC/PC interactions rather than PC/NPC interactions (I'm not talking PvP, I'm sure there'll be some sort of renown system for that, I mean group or positive interactions. I don't know exactly what it would be, but probably somewhere in the diplomacy structure?

Pavel Bester

[NeoWolf]

As mthere will be no forced teaming, but instead plenty of scope for both solo and team play I don't forsee anyone having any issues with their own preferred style of play.

for myself I look forward to doing my own thing for the most part, with the occasional team up as and when it suits. :)

[knightofhyrule730]

its set towards both. if you want to play solo, your bridge pets come along on away missions. if you want to play with your friends, they replace your pets on away missions. in addition, their extra ships will make any space battles a bit easier.

groups are set to a max of 5 people atm.

[Para199x]

I think the question was or should be more will there be mission where you absolutely HAVE to group up with little to no chance of success solo i very much hope if they do implament this it doesn't take more than 2 or 3 to be able to succeed as waiting to get a group is one of the single most annoying parts of MMO games.

[jbarker82]

I'm sure they will have a few missions where you really need to group up with people to get past them otherwise they will be incredibly difficult on your own. Not impossible but just very difficult.

Most MMO's stick to the same formula with this where in most quests or missions you have a choice whether to do it yourself or bring some friends a long and share the spoils. I don't think STO will be any different in that respect.

[Vorador]

In almost every mmo i've played I've been able to solo or pug stuff just fine. I'm sure STO will be no different, especially since combat is based a lot on skill.

[jason24]

I guess what i am sying is this

At the moment i am playing LOTRO and i have gotten to a point where all my quests seem to have to involve a team . With the nature of STO being at heart an exploration mmo where you go off and explore the galaxy by yourself do think you will solo more than you will team and do you think the missions will be geared more for soloing than team play ?

[EbonyBlade]

I look at it a bit differently in this respect. The difference in the Federation game lay and klingon game play maybe the desire for teamplay as the Feds and solo emphasis as Klingons.

[Vorador]

I guess what i am sying is this

At the moment i am playing LOTRO and i have gotten to a point where all my quests seem to have to involve a team . With the nature of STO being at heart an exploration mmo where you go off and explore the galaxy by yourself do think you will solo more than you will team and do you think the missions will be geared more for soloing than team play ?

I believe episodes are instanced, so maybe based on the number of people in your group, the difficulty will increase. So if you solo it, maybe the last enemy ship you fight will be a K'vort for instance. But if you go in with 5 people, the last enemy fight will be a Negh'var and Vorcha.

[jbarker82]

I guess what i am sying is this

At the moment i am playing LOTRO and i have gotten to a point where all my quests seem to have to involve a team . With the nature of STO being at heart an exploration mmo where you go off and explore the galaxy by yourself do think you will solo more than you will team and do you think the missions will be geared more for soloing than team play ?

I suppose a lot of people will just zoom off into the unknown but I guess it really depends on if you WANT to group with anyone. If you have a few real-life (what is that? :confused:) friends who play the game with you then I would guess that you would play with them most of the time when they are on.

I'm hoping some of my friends will come and play the game with me and I guess I could see myself spending a lot of time doing missions in a group with them or my fleet.

I look at it a bit differently in this respect. The difference in the Federation game lay and klingon game play maybe the desire for teamplay as the Feds and solo emphasis as Klingons.

I don't agree ... it doesn't matter if you play Klingon or Feds I wouldn't have thought the missions would be fundamentally different in respect to having to go solo or in a group. Like I said before, I think it will just be whether or not you actually choose to do the mission solo in the end.

[dyvimtorm]

I look at it a bit differently in this respect. The difference in the Federation game lay and klingon game play maybe the desire for teamplay as the Feds and solo emphasis as Klingons.

Hi,

I'm not so sure about that, especially FactionvFaction battles, you may find the Klingon players being very coordinated. Although in reality you can't speak in generalities, I would hazard Klingon players might be more focused on solo/team PvP and Feds on solo/team PvE. But honestly, both sides will have experienced and inexperienced players for both aspects, and so should have gameplay for both aspects.

Pavel Bester

[Dext]

I think there will be a good mix of both but that is so team play is not forced on every one because not every one likes to play with others all the time.

[Loekii]

I think the 'sweet spot' for solo/Team play is to create a system where players may solo if they wish, but one that promotes teaming over solo play.

Personally, I would like to see a good mixture of both, where there is enough solo-content to play the game, but enough Team content that players do not only want to solo all the time. I think WoW was okay in this, in that you could solo non-dungeon content, but needed groups to do dungeon content. WAR was proactive in their PublicQuest System (repeatable Group content that anyone could join -- rather than having to be invited).

What I don't want to see is a game where players simply solo through the entire game to the point that it negatively impacts social interaction.

[NeoWolf]

I guess what i am sying is this

At the moment i am playing LOTRO and i have gotten to a point where all my quests seem to have to involve a team . With the nature of STO being at heart an exploration mmo where you go off and explore the galaxy by yourself do think you will solo more than you will team and do you think the missions will be geared more for soloing than team play ?

Ive been playing LOTRO since closed beta.. there is no such thing in my experience as a point in that MMO where you cannot actually progress solo.. sure there are Fellowship Quests and Instances related to many of them but they are all optional.. they arent put in the game in such a way that means you cannot proceeed unless you team.

I have a kin in LOTRO that I run and I still solo 99% of the time and have managed to get 7 characters between 40 and max no problem... teaming is great in that game especially on the RP server but it is by no means necessary.

I imagine STO will be much the same most of it will be soloable and/or scaleable with some area that require teams but that arent placed in such a way as that unless you do them you couldnt avance your character or story anymore.

The main thing with MMOs is that contrary to popular belief the fact that they are Mass Multiplayer does not by any means, indicate that any of those players HAVE to play together.. MMO are persistant environments where the emphasis is Freedom of play that you dont get in non MMO games for the most part and not locking you into limitations of you can only does this or that...etc..

[walker555]

I agree, but i would also like to see the ability of other players to join your crew temporarily, like just for one episode or something. That way, it would give the Star Trek feel, and still be multiplayer.

[Vorador]

I agree, but i would also like to see the ability of other players to join your crew temporarily, like just for one episode or something. That way, it would give the Star Trek feel, and still be multiplayer.

I'm sure there will be a looking for group type mechanic so solo players can team up with someone for specific episodes.