108463-dissection-there-is-no-content

== Content ==
			
Today I feel the need to be positive.  Might be forced a bit, but that's how we get into a good mood... smile until the mood changes!  I also apologize for all the "he" in this, I'm not a very PC individual and too lazy to go he/she.  I apologize, fellow ladies.
 
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So today's topic is this thing I keep seeing and hearing "There is no content".
 
People are careless with words.  Of course "there is no content" without a context is a lie.  Of course there is content!  If there was no content, there'd be no game!  There'd be nowhere for your character to run around, there'd be no mobs to kill, no quests to do, etc.  It is pointless, on both sides, to debate with a context-less "there is no content".  It's obviously false and more than likely not what the person meant.
 
So let us be intelligent people.
 
Most often meaning is "There is no content that I enjoy".
While this can be very useful for Carbine, it is a very poor starting point for a conversation with the community.  Why?  Because taste is subjective.  Someone coming around and telling you "but X is fun, how can you not enjoy X" is really not a conversation starter but a slug-fest starter.  That's not an intelligent conversation.  
 
First thing first.  If we comment that there is no content that we enjoy, it'd be useful to state what kind of content we would enjoy, no?  Else where is Carbine to take this statement?!  Okay, he doesn't enjoy what we provided, but what WOULD he enjoy?  
Second thing.  Once we do give examples of what would be enjoyable, perhaps we can discuss what we did not find enjoyable in the content provided.  Again, useful information for Carbine.
 
Can we have meaningful conversation even with a statement that is so personal, entrenched in personal preferences and taste?
Yes.  The more information one provides about dislikes and likes, the more it is possible that someone in the community can have suggestions for some activity the poster had not heard of.  Or ways to work with the existing content to provide enjoyment in ways the person can enjoy.  Of course, if we start debating personal taste, we are not going to get anywhere.  And I've noticed that a lot of people attack people's personal taste.  
 
It does not create a good community nor encourage people when you attack their taste.  You may like X, or think the pain of doing X is part of the core identity of the game, but others may not like X.  You are not endearing anyone to the game by acting as if someone has personally attacked you because they do not like X.
 
More useful statements, less subjective, can and have been made.
 
 
To be continued later with...
 
There is no solo content (at 50)
There is no casual content (at 50)
There is no 5man content (detached from the raiding scene)	
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			Good post, but the people it's aimed at won't read it. This needs to be a response, not a thread starter. 
			
				
	Edited August 14, 2014 by BusterCasey
	
		Content	
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The forums really messed with your line spacing. Go edit your post and put returns and blank lines where you really want them. I have to edit nearly every one of my posts because the forums will arbitrarly decide to remove some blank lines I put in.
 
Unless, of course, that's how you intended it to look :)	
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Part II:
There is no solo content (at 50)
 
60% of MMO people are solo-ists or mostly solo-ists?  I don't even know how to interpret that, but there was some statement to that extent.  And also there was a promise that there would be content to keep those people satisfied.
 
Now here is the rub.
 
 
If someone is a solo-ist and altaholist, in some ways WildStar has plenty to offer.  While many might think there's no diversity in the various paths, there is enough variety otherwise:
 
1. Classes feel very different
 
2. Support roles for each class also feel very different than the DPS role
 
3. PATHs do provide a lot of variety in content, to me soldier versus scientist versus settler versus explorer... huge differences if I am looking at just task variety.  
 
4. Progression feels very nice, there are abilities that can even change your entire gameplay past a certain level plus t4 and t8 or amps can change the playing field a lot.  Obviously one can choose to be cookie cutter and not experiment, that's a bit besides the point.
 
5. Beautiful and interesting races.
 
 
That's as far as variety goes, but also 1-49 provides us with a lot of content for the solo-ist:
 
1. Many areas.  While each might hate a particular area, you eventually move on to something you enjoy better.  
 
2. Many many many quests.  Cornucopia of quests!  Never a drought of quests!
 
3. PATH quests.  Cornucopia of those.
 
4. Drusera instances.  I think there's one that you get at 50?  The rest are before.
 
5. Shiphands!  Need I say more?
 
 
Now notice what happens at 50.  
 
1. Same 3 areas every day... and you're here at 50 for all of time if you're not going back to the 1-49 game
 
2. Same daily quests every single day.  Like, not even appearing to be the same, they are the exact same.
 
3. One PATH quest per area and it's a bit of a joke.
 
4. One Drusera instance, maybe, I forget... eep.
 
5. No shiphands. :(
 
 
So what do we have at 50 that is good:
 
1. Housing game - have more potential to make more money or be able to craft higher level architect items, so in some ways better than during 1-49.
 
2. ....
 
Help me out... RP if you're into that?  dueling?  We are talking solo only stuff... I've got nothing.
 
 
So here is where a good chunk of conversation can happen.  
 
 
 
A. Does Carbine want the solo-ists?  I think they do, they’ve been talking like they do. Have they been acting like they do, though?  The facts above can be used to disprove or prove that.  But what is clear is that despite some in the community wishing these scourges gone from their MMO (multiplayer, they scream!), obviously the company wants that money.  Do we think this is the next FFXI?  Can a new IP survive in today's MMO world being "group-only"?  
 
 
B. Is housing and dailies decent enough to keep someone interested? Without the pull of 5mans, adventures or dungeons, the pull of PVP, the pull of raiding... (all of whom are group activities) Does WildStar offer enough to stick around for a soloist at 50?  Not re-rolling 1-49 alts, but sticking at 50.
 
To me, that's where the useful and interesting conversation is.
What does Carbine want, do they want that solo-ist core audience and if they do... are they providing enough at 50?  Are they even providing enough for the altaholics to desire to go 1-49 or work on houses and crafting forever?
 
Is there content that's at 50 that's not group related that I haven't thought of, I wonder.  
 	
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When you say 60% of players are solo-ists, I presume you mean - play mostly solo, but will PUG for stuff too. Otherwise, it would probably be less that 10% who play absolutely Solo.
 
So, at 50, they have what you say, but they can also PUG Adventures and Dungeons (they're probably not into Raiding).
 
If you're talking about completely Solo, then I don't believe there's enough at 50 to do without rolling alts. Once you're beloved with Crimson Badlands and Norhtern Wastes, there's almost nothing to do.	
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When you say 60% of players are solo-ists, I presume you mean - play mostly solo, but will PUG for stuff too. Otherwise, it would probably be less that 10% who play absolutely Solo.
 
So, at 50, they have what you say, but they can also PUG Adventures and Dungeons (they're probably not into Raiding).
 
If you're talking about completely Solo, then I don't believe there's enough at 50 to do without rolling alts. Once you're beloved with Crimson Badlands and Norhtern Wastes, there's almost nothing to do.
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			If dungeons were going to be more successful and popular, the raids should have launched LOCKED, without a clear way of how to unlock them, and no documentation from the devs. "You could be raiding, if you knew how to find the key..." but don't actually put the key in. Don't say the key's not in, and don't announce when it gets patched in/unlocked later. That way, raiders would have had to run more dungeons to gear more, wondering how to get into the raids.	
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As a soloist I can say I despise going PUG. The most I will do in that area is a world boss. That was what killed it for me in FFXIV:ARR. Being forced to group to continue progression isn't my thing. 
 
I require trusting people before I'll group for anything that takes time.	
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Most "soloists" don't play completely solo, or they'd be snuggling up with their consoles and solo PC games.  Most soloists like being in a world where there are other people around, but they really don't like being FORCED into group content (particularly with a highly toxic player base.) They want to have the option to have group content. They want to feel like the game is "alive" the way a console game isn't. But they certainly don't want to have to log on and immediately start hunting for a team in order to have any fun.  
 
There's an intriguing little black and white documentary from 1979 called "Social Life of Small Urban Spaces" that shows that human beings like to just be near other people, but for the vast majority of the time they don't actually want direct interaction because it's too stressful.  It's companionship without striving that people like in their communities; it's the essence of "hanging around with friends" without actually doing much of anything, or sitting at your desk playing a game while your spouse is watching TV in the other room.  It's warm and friendly but not effortful.  A good MMO for the casual is like that. There are people there moving around, the world feels "alive", but you can mostly do your own thing without a hassle.  Sometimes you join up with friends or strangers to PuG a dungeon or run a PVP battleground, sometimes you engage in random chat in a public channel about the latest CGI-heavy movie that's just been released. If you feel like RPing you can wander around and RP. (Not my thing generally but I have no problem with people who do enjoy it.)  It's friendly and comfortable without being annoying.  
 
Soloists want options. They don't want to be coerced. They're just there to have fun, not to get a world first.  They make few demands, are friendly and usually willing to help another player out for ten or fifteen minutes, then emote /wave  or /bow or type "Thanks!" and just move on.  They are low key, pleasant, laid-back, and not at all SRS BZNs about how important it is to have a high level of skill at a pointless video game.  They're cool people. They have their priorities straight. They are not Hardcore, will never be Hardcore, and have no desire to become Hardcore.
 
And oh yeah, they generally have real lives, real jobs, and enough free cash that a $15 sub is hardly worth mentioning.  They won't burn through content quickly and demand more on an unrealistic schedule. They won't spit on other players in your official forums. They're good customers, in short. The kind that any MMO should be happy to have on board.	
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As a soloist I can say I despise going PUG. The most I will do in that area is a world boss. That was what killed it for me in FFXIV:ARR. Being forced to group to continue progression isn't my thing.
 
I require trusting people before I'll group for anything that takes time.
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As a soloist I can say I despise going PUG. The most I will do in that area is a world boss. That was what killed it for me in FFXIV:ARR. Being forced to group to continue progression isn't my thing.
 
I require trusting people before I'll group for anything that takes time.
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a good post
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the 2.5 global cooldown didn't kill it for you first? /gag
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So, you group with your Guildmates, right? Then you are not a soloist.
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the 2.5 global cooldown didn't kill it for you first? /gag
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			Putting aside the semantics of "soloist", I consider myself mostly a solo player. I do not mind doing world bosses or pugging adventures but once the difficult goes up a notch (dungeons and raids) I stick to guildies and even then, I don't think I've ever been in a guild run for anything. This has to do with my personal experience so it might not apply to anyone else. The harder the content (dungeons, raids), the harsher people become and will throw a tantrum for no good reasons. I play a game to have fun, not to feel like I am surrounded by 12-year-olds (or people with the maturity of a 12-year-old) that I have to babysit or keep in line. My job is already off-the-charts stressful (In a nutshell, I work in the emergency room) so I do not need any of that nonsense.Anyway, from my perspective, solo content at 50 in WildStar involves:-Housing-Challenges-Crafting (does that even count?)-Searching datacubes/journals/TFBTF (one-time thing IF I did not clear those while leveling)-Doing achievements (the soloable ones, of course)What would I like? More challenge-related things since I am a big fan of those but nothing specific comes to mind. More shiphands since those can also be solo'ed ; they feel like my own personal dungeon. A veteran-but-soloable version would be nice too ; something to put your character to the test without having to deal with the toxicity of the group finder.	
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Oh forgot those little adventures that you can place on your housing plot!
 
Those scale as well, I think.	
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			Veteran level Shiphand missions that you could solo would be awesome. Just because I like playing on my own doesn't mean I don't want a challenge.	
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Today I feel the need to be positive.  
 
*SNIP*
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*CRASH-BANG-SLAM*
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Well, safe to say, I just dove head-first into an empty pool... since there was no TL;DR safety-net to break my fall. :D
 
*rubs head and tuchus and hobbles away like Bigfoot fleeing from the killer station-wagon in Harry and the Hendersons*
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This game needs two things. 1) Fishing and 2) a hair salon/plastic-surgeon.
 
Other than that, it is fine. 	
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While that was some epic rp, cheers, it felt utterly pointless.
 
You said nothing but that there was no tl:dr.
I don't do those.
The topic doesn't lend itself to such.
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Veteran level Shiphand missions that you could solo would be awesome. Just because I like playing on my own doesn't mean I don't want a challenge.
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