well speaking as someone who only plays 1 or 2 hours a night and then digs into the game on weekends.. I can honestly say this latest patch didn't "break" gameplay for the casual gamer.. just tonight I hopped in for about an hour.. got a good bit of XP.. progressed a few quest.. then logged out cause company had arrived.... all with my level 21 conjuror, and very much solo.
firstly.. why are you playing the game? what do you want to do? Is it all about the XP? because it seems to me that for the majority of players XP is all there is to the game.
Honestly from what I've heard from the majority of forums on EQ2 and other games I've played in the past, people complain when they have to form a group to do anything. They complain when they get to a point that they can solo a quest but all the mobs are gray.. so a game is made where there's no reason to group and you always get XP for nearly anything you kill, money is plentiful, and with buffs you're a god, *cough*SWG*cough* and people complain that it's too easy or that it's nothing but a grind.
Simply put if every single quest in the game were solo'able.. easily a VAST majority of the game's population would never group.. why put up with the hassle if you don't have to?
Indeed when I simply want to go out and kill stuff for kicks and drops.. I *NEVER* group for that.. why should I? my main is a Conjuror for goodness sakes, I can easily deal with solo mobs as high as orange and group mobs double arrow green and yes this is AFTER the patch and over 20th level. What few quest I have that are acutally too tough for me to do right now I'm perfectly content to let them sit there until I can storm all over them.. afterall I have lots of other quest I can do just fine right now.
why can I do this? Because I enjoy the fun of the fight.. and the reward of the item.. it's not always just about XP.
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build a satisfying, fullfilling solo game then give ADVANTAGES for grouping.
this allready exists.. I've played FFXI where solo play is truly 100% IMPOSSIBLE for ALL classes except Beastmaster. I've played SWG which is 100% solo play.. there is absolutely no reason to group in that game what-so-ever. What possible advantage is there to grouping when it's something you can just go out and do alone and not wait for person X to run 1/2 way across the zone? People are impatient and I'm no exception.. if I can solo it now.. I'm going to solo it now and I'm not going to wait on a group for it unless it's people I actually know IRL.
what more advantages do you want for grouping???
provide more XP for groups? uhh this allready exists in the form of "group" mobs... My conjuror as tough as she is cannot solo a double ^ blue or higher and live to tell the tale.. and a "solo" orange can be a TOUGH fight if it's high enough level (just shy being red con). Grouping Advantage number 1.
better drops for groups? again this is allready in the game tougher group mobs drop better stuff.. grouping advantage number 2.
group only instances?.. once more this allready exists in the game so much so that soloers were complaining and they're developing solo versions of some of them...... grouping advantage number 3.
it's not SOE's fault that you cannot utilize the advantages allready there for joining groups.. they've done everything just short of give you free XP just for clicking "Accept" when an invite pops up.
The only thing wrong with EQ2's solo game is that it's not going to shine like a beacon in the night and guide you by the hand to where you want to go. Personally I have no problems with this since I'm the type to dig in and figure stuff out.. and most of the "tougher" solo quest only require 2 or 3 people tops.
and as far as groups go.. what few times I actually HAVE joined a group.. You know what they were?.. mob grinding. The only quest I've heard LFG for are the Armor Quest.. anytime you're in a group and mention questing you get effectively ignored... which is why I don't group much. I can mob-grind solo
very well without the hassle of dealing with the personalities of 5 other people. The basic mentality appears to be "6 people woo hoo let's camp a spot for the next 6 hours".. This is the fault of people who only care about the XP.
EQ2 is VERY casual gamer friendly... however it's not
easy gamer friendly in the slightest.
think of it like this.. Ever play DOOM? Did you play it without the cheatcodes? If you used codes and never played it "for real" and claimed to have beaten it.. if that's how you like your games.. steer clear of EQ2.