Curse

Squishy ftw · Jan 31, 2008, 11:23 AM // 11:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snow Bunny

but I thought that Solo > Henchmen.

Same here.

What I especially dislike about henchmen(and heros) is the freedom they take away from you.

As a warrior I want to run around freely, switching targets when needed, overextending to kill that wandering monk,... but when you do this with heros/hench they'll follow you through half the mob and ruin pretty much everything.

As a monk I want to kite, I want to gain advantages just by my movement, which is again impossible because when I start kiting, all of the hero/hench will run towards me and start running behind me :/. And if you stop wanding for a minute, hench do the same..they stop doing anything..

So that's the main reason I prefer playing alone, having to think only about my own playstyle, and how to optimise it. That's probably why I'm starting to like PvP so much, the freedom it provides for my character and the ability to improve.

I still do pretty much everything in PvE alone with hero/hench tho, due to me being in an awfully small guild, and PuGs generally being pretty damn bad.

My 2 cents

Isileth · Jan 31, 2008, 11:42 AM // 11:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mordakai

On one hand, some people like to build teams of NPCs...

On the other, what's really the difference between playing solo, or playing solo with a group of NPCs?

The difference is the team build.

For me I have a lot of fun trying out new team builds and fiddling with my heroes bars to see if I cant make it work better.
When its just 1 char you lose a lot of that, suddenly that char has to cover a lot more roles and thats not my sort of gameplay.

Harmless · Jan 31, 2008, 12:40 PM // 12:40

To me taking the heroes and henchies seemed the same as soloing. However, I get the point about them following you and affecting what happens differently than if you were truly solo.

I suppose I've gotten so used to them that I've adjusted my play style to their AI and don't even notice the effect they have.

Personally, I would prefer all heroes. I like the skill bar control that you get with the heroes. Alternatively, the henchies could perhaps have choices when you "hire" them. For example, do you want the "spirit" henchman in factions to be restoration or damage? A simple choice would be nice.

tmr819 · Jan 31, 2008, 01:27 PM // 13:27

Thanks, Numa and Bryant, for the explanations on scaling in Oblivion. I think I can see why there's frustration and I agree that I wouldn't like that kind of a system either.

I think scaling should work like this in GW2:

--Persistent regions remain at a set level. A level 10-20 region would always be a level 10-20 region, regardless of player level or party size.
--Instanced regions would remain at a set level. A level 15-20 dungeon/mission would remain a level 15-20 dungeon/mission, regardless of player level or party size.
--Instanced regions would, however, be scaled to party size BUT NOT LEVEL, e.g., largest mobs for a full party, moderate-sized mobs for a partial party, smaller mobs for a solo player with no AI assistance, amounting to approximately EQUAL difficulty for each party-size option. The idea here is that each instance or mission could essentially have five versions for the 1- to 5-man party sizes.

The net effect of this this is that barreling through a level 20 dungeon with a level 50 character would net you no xp, paltry rewards, and low-level loot. In other words, it would be pretty much a waste of time -- just like in most MMOs.

This is the kind of scaling I'd like to see in GW2, if they have scaling at all.

Frankly, however, I prefer AI to scaling. As others have also mentioned, I favor the idea of assembling a group. Having to play a single tank/dps/healer hybrid all in one character does not really appeal to me, although I did exactly that in playing, say, a priest or druid in WoW.

Pleikki · Jan 31, 2008, 02:03 PM // 14:03

I like Harder the better so i would love Soloing be harder then now + More harder still with heroes/hench

Bryant Again · Jan 31, 2008, 02:22 PM // 14:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmr819

The net effect of this this is that barreling through a level 20 dungeon with a level 50 character would net you no xp, paltry rewards, and low-level loot. In other words, it would be pretty much a waste of time -- just like in most MMOs.

That would, however, render those areas "useless" once you outlevel them. That was probably the biggest plus in Oblivion for what it's accomplished: You'll never find a boring area.

Maybe if GW2 implemented its own Hard Mode, then that would be satisfactory.

DarkWasp · Jan 31, 2008, 02:38 PM // 14:38

I'd have to say, my favorite thing in GW isnt soloing, but 2-manning.

I'm looking forward to that being more available in GW2.

tmr819 · Jan 31, 2008, 04:06 PM // 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryant Again

That would, however, render those areas "useless" once you outlevel them. That was probably the biggest plus in Oblivion for what it's accomplished: You'll never find a boring area.

Maybe if GW2 implemented its own Hard Mode, then that would be satisfactory.

You are correct, which is just as it is in WoW and other MMOs. For example, the level 18-22 instance Deadmines in WoW is useless to a level 60 character -- except perhaps for farming gear for lower-level alts.

I think trying to scale a whole world based on player level (as was evidently done in Oblivion) and/or party size would just be too complicated and rife with problems. Moreover, that kind of scaling would be logically impossible for any persistent area, since you would, presumably, have players at different levels in the same area.

If GW2 had a level cap of say, 50, then all level 50 instances, at least, would never be "useless". The beauty of the level 20 cap has been that 90% of GW1 was at "max level" (i.e., level 20). I would prefer to keep the level 20 cap in GW2 for this reason and will be sad to see it go. Offering a Hard Mode (level 50) option on the low-level dungeons might be a good way to keep them viable, as you suggest, and "one-up" MMOs such as WoW, imo.

What I am hoping for in GW2 is something with WoW-like dungeons (i.e., creative and challenging) wherein, in contrast to WoW, you have the option of (1) taking just AI (you plus four Heroes, for example), (2) playing it through in a player group, or (3) having said dungeon scaled to a party of 1 or 4 players and/or NPCs, if that is your preference. The "NPC Companion" thing will hopefully be restricted to the persistent areas only (oh, please, oh, please ).

Bryant Again · Jan 31, 2008, 04:22 PM // 16:22

In WoW they actually introduced Heroic mode for the instances in the new expansion. It's essentially WoW's hard mode: There was a certain feature the party leader would enable that scaled the level of the dungeon to a point that would challenge level 70s, and the bosses would drop advanced and worthwhile loot. Granted it's only for the BC 5mans, but it's still a good direction.

I'd hope Guild Wars would be something like this: Leveled persistant soloable areas, party-scaled and leveled instances/dungeons/missions, party and level scaled Hard Mode instances/dungeons/missions. That's win-win-win right thur.