A question re: grouping and community

[Shadewe]

Hello all,

I've been playing this game for a while now, and I took / am taking a small-ish break. The reason for my post though is that, when I do come on, I have been finding that groups are becoming a lot harder to come by / no one is grouping.

Is this just bad timing and/or not seeing groups forming in the background? I ask here as, like I said I'm not really here a lot lately so take this with a huge grain of salt, I've not found a group since mid January. That's crazy long for a game that's supposed to need groups to get anywhere. I've played maybe 10 times since mid Jan (more so in mid-late jan and early feb than currently and I was on for the first time in a while yesterday), usually for around 2 hrs +/-, killing things solo and/or gathering crafting mats while I look for a group that's never there or try to start a group that never forms.

Also, I know I might be the outlier, and there will probably be a lot of "I grouped just yesterday" messages, but I admit this game is really giving off "no one groups" or worse, "no one wants to group" vibes to me, rightly or wrongly. If I was going to solo I'd play a solo game like WoW, but I would like to group if possible.

Am I the only one noticing this? I'm not posting this to whine and complain (I promise!), I'm posting as I like the game and want to continue, but are people out there preferring to solo as opposed to group? If yes, then this game's perception becomes something different.

Thoughts?

 

[zabatiz]

Have you tried joining a guild or building up your friends list? Are you using the looking for group tool or shouting in world chat for a group. Have you seen solo players and asked if they wanted help? These step can start to build your community and connections. On a whim I made a new character and have been easily grouping with a lot of the trial players as there is an influx of lower levels with the free to play model now. Hope these suggestions help!

 

[Shadewe]

Have you tried joining a guild or building up your friends list? Are you using the looking for group tool or shouting in world chat for a group. Have you seen solo players and asked if they wanted help? These step can start to build your community and connections. On a whim I made a new character and have been easily grouping with a lot of the trial players as there is an influx of lower levels with the free to play model now. Hope these suggestions help!

I am in a guild (that doesn't really talk too much lately) and have a friends list (that hasn't been online in months, but then again I haven't really too much either). The problem with friends lists are, if you level faster or slower, then they will fall out of lvl range with you, which happens.

Using the world and guild chat, and list on the LFG tool (social). I don't bother solo's as they may be solo for a reason but I am never against them grouping. I don't just sit there, I'm more pro-active than many I see including trying to form groups.

Grouping from lvls 5-10 seemed to be the easiest of course when I was there, which makes sense as they're the most plentiful, followed by the 45+ crowd (based off hearing talk) of those who've played way too much. Unfortunately I am in the middle. so not as many groups that I can see.

 

[csthao]

I've seen Shadewe online in the guild a couple of times. But haven't noticed him lfg. Although, not many players group up anymore for sure. There's usually 1 or 2 mini groups going (2-4 players) around level 20s in the guild.

And I could understand what he's trying to say. You really REALLY won't find groups unless you ask to join or start one. Even then that still takes time.

With that being said, I find that soloing is extremely faster to level up now, and only prefer to group up when I need a quest done or want to farm loot.

When I say fast, I mean aoe 2 groups (3-4 mobs at a time or 6-8 when i have enough essence for alchemy) will amount to 1% exp every 5-10 minutes or so. That's the beauty of playing a zerker . While other classes do struggle to only kill 1 at a time at a much slower pace.

Even with free to play now, I still don't see people trying to form groups. Maybe because everyone has their own lil mini group going and don't want to fill it. Yesterday was the first time I've seen someone shout to do wolves/spiders again in Meadowlands. There was another person trying to form a Karst group as well. But besides that, you'll not see much else calling to form groups.

The whole group focused mentality for the game really do need to ease up because of limited players. There should be more 2^ density vs mostly 3^ in the open world because no one groups for them. Why bother when you have a group you rather dungeon run for loot and have a higher chance to upgrade.

 

[Shadewe]

When I say fast, I mean aoe 2 groups (3-4 mobs at a time or 6-8 when i have enough essence for alchemy) will amount to 1% exp every 5-10 minutes or so. That's the beauty of playing a zerker . While other classes do struggle to only kill 1 at a time at a much slower pace.

This is what I am afraid of. Why play anything other than a berserker? It kinda feels like if I'm not playing a berserker, I go sit in the corner. Side note: this would also explain why I saw a bunch of berserkers last I was on.

Even with free to play now, I still don't see people trying to form groups. Maybe because everyone has their own lil mini group going and don't want to fill it. Yesterday was the first time I've seen someone shout to do wolves/spiders again in Meadowlands. There was another person trying to form a Karst group as well. But besides that, you'll not see much else calling to form groups.

I saw 1 Karst and 1 I think RR group LFM recently, and that's about it. No ML groups since I think the end of Dec here, maybe early Jan.

The whole group focused mentality for the game really do need to ease up because of limited players. There should be more 2^ density vs mostly 3^ in the open world because no one groups for them. Why bother when you have a group you rather dungeon run for loot and have a higher chance to upgrade.

I understand this, but it's also a huge problem. 1) gear, or not getting any because it's gated behind the 3^ mobs, 2) class, e.g. if groups don't need healers anymore then why play a defender when you can just have a group of 6 berserkers?, and 3) as you say, if there's only 20 ppl on then "forcing" people into a 6-person group is probably problematic.

I don't know if there is an answer, I really don't.

 

[csthao]

I understand this, but it's also a huge problem. 1) gear, or not getting any because it's gated behind the 3^ mobs, 2) class, e.g. if groups don't need healers anymore then why play a defender when you can just have a group of 6 berserkers?, and 3) as you say, if there's only 20 ppl on then "forcing" people into a 6-person group is probably problematic.

I don't know if there is an answer, I really don't.

They've done well with adding solo loops in dungeons although the gear is lesser in stats, they're more than capable of getting you to get the job done. There are also some overland "minor" mobs that still drops good gear, its a matter of farming for them.

Hopefully you haven't stopped playing. Post up your play times in FoH lfg channel and I'll load up my healer and we can get a duo group going. My duelist is level 25 and I haven't played it for a long time. I could possibly give you some stuff my Jugg doesn't need anymore as well.

 

[Sintax]

If you level faster or slower, then they will fall out of lvl range with you, which happens.

Yep. And this is inescapable because everybody has their own schedule and passion for the game, so leveling will vary greatly even among friends leading to the dreaded level gaps.

I genuinely believe Embers Adrift would get vastly more mileage out of systems that encourage players of all levels to group with one another (like an inverse GEL system) than solo player systems like fishing that further drive people apart. There's a lot to like about the most recent road map, but I don't see any solutions to this problem on the horizon when it probably ought to be a priority given how fundamental it is to the core group play mission. If that's still the mission.

 

[zabatiz]

Ive played all classes except a tank, and there are plenty of good solo'rs other than Zerks like Warlords, Dualists, Wardens... There are also many areas with 2c camps as well as 3c camps, you just have to know where to look.