Quollean
10-15-2007, 08:50
I have been searching for some good information about group composition in WAR, and have so far come up empty-handed. Can anyone answer the following questions?
1. Does any content in WAR require a group of a fixed, exact size to complete?
For instance, in WoW all instances are balanced for an exact number of people, and allow no more than that number. You can go with fewer, but the instance will be harder than it's supposed to be. And if you have more, then you have to figure out who sits out. City of Villains/Heroes by contrast scales the difficulty of instances to match group size. Which approach will WAR take?
2. Does any content in WAR assume a particular group makeup?
Must you (for instance) have a tank and a healer or you can't play? Or are non-conventional group makeups viable as well? For small-group content this is particularly important...what if your tank is sick that day? Once again this is a contrast from WoW (where specific group makeup is often dictated) and games like the "City of" series, where you can go conventional tank/heal or maybe run an all DPS + debuff group and still do most (if perhaps not all) content.
3. Does WAR provide any system for allowing players of different levels to play together?
WoW suffered from the fact that if you have a group of friends, and some play more than others, then some will outlevel others and they will not be able to play together. This also discourages people from trying "alts" and experiencing all the game has to offer (since alts make you fall behind even more). Several games (I believe DaOC included) have a "sidekick" system that lets lower-level players fight with higher-level players.
All of these questions center around issues that make WoW pretty much unplayable if you just want to play with a group of friends, which may or may not level at the same rate and/or may not all be on during a particular evening. I believe issues like these make a real difference in whether an MMO is truly accessible to casual players or not.
1. Does any content in WAR require a group of a fixed, exact size to complete?
For instance, in WoW all instances are balanced for an exact number of people, and allow no more than that number. You can go with fewer, but the instance will be harder than it's supposed to be. And if you have more, then you have to figure out who sits out. City of Villains/Heroes by contrast scales the difficulty of instances to match group size. Which approach will WAR take?
2. Does any content in WAR assume a particular group makeup?
Must you (for instance) have a tank and a healer or you can't play? Or are non-conventional group makeups viable as well? For small-group content this is particularly important...what if your tank is sick that day? Once again this is a contrast from WoW (where specific group makeup is often dictated) and games like the "City of" series, where you can go conventional tank/heal or maybe run an all DPS + debuff group and still do most (if perhaps not all) content.
3. Does WAR provide any system for allowing players of different levels to play together?
WoW suffered from the fact that if you have a group of friends, and some play more than others, then some will outlevel others and they will not be able to play together. This also discourages people from trying "alts" and experiencing all the game has to offer (since alts make you fall behind even more). Several games (I believe DaOC included) have a "sidekick" system that lets lower-level players fight with higher-level players.
All of these questions center around issues that make WoW pretty much unplayable if you just want to play with a group of friends, which may or may not level at the same rate and/or may not all be on during a particular evening. I believe issues like these make a real difference in whether an MMO is truly accessible to casual players or not.