You don't have to punish anyone... You can offer different yet equal rewards to different play styles. It will add diversity to the game.

Reward people based on risk not play style.

As it stands group content is more risky. This can change and they should add solo content with as much risk.

I would totally be fine with for example a 4 person dungeon chest having 4 items as opposed to a wold chest having just one. But, like Ruze said, you can't have the best gear coming only from group content, because that will force people to play that in order to get the gear.

Basically, you can't reward one playstyle, without punishing another.

again reward should not come off play style but based off risk. More risk= more reward. As it stands currently there is more risk in group but equal reward to solo play. What should be done is solo content with as much risk and group content that offers equal gear.

I remember when people did harder stuff because it was a challenge, not because of some loot at the end.

The game seems like an online single player game to me. With the phasing and party questing issues, its more of a hinderance than anything.

I would say single player centered pve with multiplayer pvp

The need to get rid of the phasing issues and give us some hard solo/group quest. I fear them telling us they are looking into phasing issue is more of a lip service at the moment because it is deeply ingrained throughout all of eso and would seem to need a major overhaul to all the quest.

Saying they are looking into it and doing nothing about it would be way more harmful to their reputation at this point than simply ignoring the complaints.

I have faith they're actually trying to fix the phasing issues.

I believe they are looking into it but for them to fix the phasing they would have to revisit every single quest and redo them. This would be a major overhaul that would take alot of time and effort.

This is the state of things, mmos now are trying to cater to the single solo player mentality. Which of course defeats the idea of an mmo, the grouping together to complete tasks as a team. People want to have the same things a large group took the time to coordinate and defeat a boss. People want to be able to not leave town except for a mat run and create the best items....I guess so they can sit in town and create better items so they can create even better items all to never use for any purpose outside of crafting in town...le sigh. Then people don't want to group and people complain that no one groups.

I believe that an mmo should have raid gear as being the best gear available for those that focus on pve. For those that focus on pvp there could be a separate set of gear, not with different stats, but achieved through pvping. Now the only problem I would see with that is you might get pvp people decked out and they know nothing about the pve aspect of their class. But this still allows for either sides to jump into the other and still have the gear to back it up. I might not care for pvp but if I am a pve player and do my raids or high level dungeons and get my gear at least i can go into pvp and have gear on par with people who have been pvping for a long time. I don't want different stats focused on specifically those who pvp because for one pvpers can't use that gear in pve, and those that pve can't really pvp they will be at such a negative advantage.

Crafting should have gear that is equal to maybe up to lets say V7, not the top which would be what V10 or something, but not the best gear. But to keep crafting necessary they also upgrade the best gear earned. So they are still necessary but it wouldn't make sense for them to have gear on par with those that have completed the hardest content in the game and sat their ass in town. I know crafters would like to think that should be the case, and I am a person that loves my crafting, but it doesn't make sense.

Aeno

I'm a BIG fan of this game and have been very vocal about it, to the point of getting a warning because I was a little TOO vocal to some people, it was deserved LOL. However, I get what the OP is saying. From day 1 of Everquest it was awesome to run around with old friends (and new) discovering the world together, and questing together. With the current phasing issues, that's a little problematic.

Risk vs. reward is an issue as well. Part of the draw of going into tougher dungeons is the chance for better loot. It's been a consistent theme in every MMO I know of and even in all of the TES games that I've played. Think of a dungeon that has a dragon priest at the end, it's a tougher fight, and there tends to be better loot to be found (in addition to the dragon mask). I think the OP has valid points.

You, I like you.

It's all subjective tho. One person might think leveling up their crafting skills is easy, while another thinks running around dungeons in a group killing the same NPCs you've done 20x before is easy. Someone might think running around the world and locating chests is easy, while another person thinks PVP in Cyrodiil is easy.

There are multiple ways to go about playing this game. They all require time and effort. They all reap rewards. Why does group content have to get more rewards? Because that's how (another MMO) did it?

Again this the point of harder dungeons, I agree, it is for better loot. Why do the dungeon if I can get the loot solo. Why go with the stress and strain of grouping and coordinating said group for gear when i can throw a HOT skill on my bar, a CC skill on my bar, and go and kick some solo ass and get the same gear that a group of 4+ took the time to get. Plus if you keep crafters to making gear that is high but not the highest then those that prefer single player can still get excellent loot, therefore keeping crafters in business, and keeping dungeon loot still viable and worthwhile.

All I hear now from the new players is

...I don't want to group but i want the gear they get without the hassle

...I don't want to leave town but I should craft the best loot

...I don't want to group so "world" bosses should be soloable. ( I use the term "world boss" loosely if they are soloable)

and the "I don't want to group but I want"....list goes on and on and on and on.

I am not being elitist but I don't understand the draw for those who want to play an entire mmo solo...madness

OK I am fine play solo, but stop asking for the same gear the people who take the time to group for, which is the point of mmos.

Give people the options to play how they please but not everything is on equal footing because some require more work than others. Just like in the real world the more you put into something the more you should get out of it.

Aeno

ESO is following a communisitic economy model. Despite risk,effort or skill everyone gets the same shinny trinket.

Yup because communism worked in the end right lol. Never thought of it that way but good anology and I totally agree.

Aeno

Whatever they do, the game needs to be massive to have success. If they focus in one aspect - solo, group, pvp, rp - the others will go elsewhere.

Except in the real world, it doesn't matter how many co-workers there are next to me, I still get paid the same hourly wage.

I'll disagree with Angry and Aenomoly here.

I love games, especially MMORPG's, where the state of play isn't 'do with', but 'be with'. Where social environments, roleplay opportunities and environment make the game as much as the game mechanics.

As I've said in other posts, I'm not much for the Asian grind-fests and the MMORAIDs where the entire focus of the game is large-scale, easily predicted and very repetitive NPC content. I don't play those games for exactly that reason, as there are tons of them out there.

Again, the focus I feel that makes and MMORPG special is that it sets the stage for characters to interact, or not, as they see fit. They can be that perfect dimension between pure co-op games and single-player games. I don't focus on 'Massively Multiplayer Online' as being the only defining trademark, as many realize that just because a game is multiplayer, doesn't mean that's ALL it is.

As far as the second standing of gear-driven MMORAIDS, again, it's already out and has already been done to death. A game that takes the carrot out of equipment and puts it in the realm of character progression (i.e. skills/passives) is one I'm really looking forward to. Kind of a fantasy version of EvE online, without the hardcoe mode. In EvE, a players gear has a practical soft cap (along with skills) that makes a character who has 10 years in the game almost equal to one with only a year.

In short, I would recommend those wanting an MMORAID to look for one. I'm hoping TESO keeps to it's current design premise and remains a free-for-all for all gametypes, maybe even opening more to others while staying out of being completely grind-heavy (doing dungeons a dozen or more times for one loot drop is grinding) and PVE focused.

They can do this. They are very close. All they have to do is stay away from the 'traditionalist' mentality. If they do, they'll make something interesting and new.

If not ... they'll die to WoW like all the other clones have.

Eso loot rules:

I. Nothing in society will belong to anyone, either as a personal possession or as capital goods, except the things for which the person has immediate use, for either his needs, his pleasures, or his daily work.
II. Every citizen will be a public man, sustained by, supported by, and occupied at the public expense.
III. Every citizen will make his particular contribution to the activities of the community according to his capacity, his talent and his age; it is on this basis that his duties will be determined, in conformity with the distributive laws.

This is exactly what MMORPGs started out as. Basically an online world to be with other people. A return to that would be fantastic.

While it can feel like a single player theme park where everyone just happens to be doing the same stuff as you, I believe Cyrodiil and the PvP is what really defines ESO as an MMO.

Agreed. My entire time in UO was spent solo, except when I hung out with other players. At that stage of gaming, I didn't go out and do content with others. I sat back and partied and socialized with others, then ran out and did content myself.

Not that you COULDN'T group up. I'd simply not gotten into that yet.

Those co-workers so long as they are on the same level are making the same wage, the boss may be a co-worker but he be making more money because he be doing more work. Well sometimes then you get the lazy ass ones but hey it happens, then you just show them lack of respect and add a few drops of visine to their coffee.

I guess that is where me and Ruze disagree. I don't feel a crafting game is the same as an mmo. I see an mmo as something that requires group content and groups take the time to conquer said content.

Me staying in town except for the times I need to go out and kill a few wolves for pelts isn't the mmo that would make sense to me. I don't see why it is fair that someone who took a year to play the game to have the same gear as someone who put in 10 years. To me that makes little sense.

Lets go to the real world again 1 year of schooling isn't the same as 10 years of schooling. I shouldn't get the same pay as a 10 year person if I only put in the single year.

Aeno

i would love the game to encourage grouping more

it is an MMO, in my opinion to level up at a fairly fast pace grouping should be required

unfortunately i dont think that sits well with today's player's