Hello and welcome to my post. Like the title itself, I want the dev team to make a solo operation which involves difficult bosses. My idea is to let you choose 7 or 15 of your companions and let them join you. They may follow you and will fight in battle or heal you.

 

It will be great if there is a menu before the operation to choose the roles of your companions (and get them into squads )

 

What do you guys think about this idea XD

Shadow of Revan bossfight.

 

(imagine the voice of Don LaFontaine)

In a 15 minute epic boss fight. Where the most powerfull of the galaxy from both factions joins you to defeat..... An even more powerfull enemy. Revan has returned and hes preparing to wipe out an entire planet. Take on Revan head to head with the likes of.... Darth Marr! Satele Shan! Lana Beniko! Jakarro and many more. Spend 10 minutes of this masterfully designed epic fight on the ground stunned. Or in the air force choked. Or knocked back. And watch a couple of NPCs defeat one of the mightiest force user of ALL TIMES, where you have to do absolutely nothing to defeat him.

(Don LaFontaine voice over)

 

Thanks, but not again.

This has been mentioned on the forums before about Solo Ops. I understand that many people do not like to group however I do not believe all content should be able to be done solo in any MMO for a few reasons.

 

1) the gear in Operations is meant to be better due to the fact it does take 8 or 16 people to do them in SM, or even better gear in HM. If you can bring in your companions everyone would just farm the Ops for the better gear. This would completely Negate group content (not good)

 

2) with mechanics in the Operations, unless BW completely took many of them out, it wouldn't be possible. Certain mechanics (UL cross for example need more then 1 person to be able to do the mechanic properly. Not to mention you didn't specifically say SM Ops they'd basically have to make 2 Operations for every 1 they put out, so 2 SM and 2 HM (and the HM wouldn't even be able to have most of the mechanics at all).

 

 

Personally I just see this as being the complete dumbing down of Ops to make the able to be done solo period. Leave Operations as they are. They are the only semi challenging part of the game, and really the only decent group content in it at all.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Toraak

Hello and welcome to my post. Like the title itself, I want the dev team to make a solo operation which involves difficult bosses. My idea is to let you choose 7 or 15 of your companions and let them join you. They may follow you and will fight in battle or heal you.

 

It will be great if there is a menu before the operation to choose the roles of your companions (and get them into squads )

 

What do you guys think about this idea XD

 

Better make 4-man mode for operations, because flashpoints are easy and faceroll.

I cant believe my eyes...

no... just... no

Hello and welcome to my post. Like the title itself, I want the dev team to make a solo operation which involves difficult bosses. My idea is to let you choose 7 or 15 of your companions and let them join you. They may follow you and will fight in battle or heal you.

 

It will be great if there is a menu before the operation to choose the roles of your companions (and get them into squads )

 

What do you guys think about this idea XD

 

This is a ridiculous idea.

Go SW: The Force Unleashed please

i like the idea somehow but the problem is - i dont trust bioware.

they will never get this done properly like the above mentioned revan fight.

 

but for those that cannot group up because they are not allowed to use teamspeak or they are at least people with lousy social skills - or - in my friends case - when his shift ends up at 3 at night he will never ever team up because nobodys online. for those an instance "like" a flashpoint that take 50 mins or so would be nice. a cool endboss that drops 1peace of random hardmode gear.... why not ?

The thing is, if you use 1 companion than it's a class quest. With 2 companions it's just meh(or solo FP if we count the god droid). More than 2 comps, they do the job INSTEAD of you. And what is the point in that? And seriously a HM loot at the end? Come on...

Let me expand on this idea:

 

"Solo Mode" Operations. These would be just like Solo Mode Flashpoints. The current operation, with companions or random NPCs or whatever (maybe the mystery guys who appear behind you in cutscenes in ops, who clearly are not your current group members?)

 

These operations would drop minimal loot. Level appropriate unmoddable blues or purples like in flashpoints - decent gear for someone who only plays solo, but not worth running if you're just looking for gear/loot pinatas. None of the rare drops/decos from the regular operations, either.

 

The reason: This allows solo players to see the stories of these operations, so solo modes would count for operation one-time missions. I've seen lots of complaints about how you get through this entire Dread Master story arc only to run into a operations block, a big hurdle for a lot of solo players in this game. BW recently opened up all the other stories to them, why not ops?

Let me expand on this idea:

 

"Solo Mode" Operations. These would be just like Solo Mode Flashpoints. The current operation, with companions or random NPCs or whatever (maybe the mystery guys who appear behind you in cutscenes in ops, who clearly are not your current group members?)

 

These operations would drop minimal loot. Level appropriate unmoddable blues or purples like in flashpoints - decent gear for someone who only plays solo, but not worth running if you're just looking for gear/loot pinatas. None of the rare drops/decos from the regular operations, either.

 

The reason: This allows solo players to see the stories of these operations, so solo modes would count for operation one-time missions. I've seen lots of complaints about how you get through this entire Dread Master story arc only to run into a operations block, a big hurdle for a lot of solo players in this game. BW recently opened up all the other stories to them, why not ops?

 

there is absolutely nothing stopping you from seeing this content in its current state. nothing.

 

seriously, stop.

Oh my god, not again --'

 

Shadow of Revan bossfight.

 

(imagine the voice of Don LaFontaine)

In a 15 minute epic boss fight. Where the most powerfull of the galaxy from both factions joins you to defeat..... An even more powerfull enemy. Revan has returned and hes preparing to wipe out an entire planet. Take on Revan head to head with the likes of.... Darth Marr! Satele Shan! Lana Beniko! Jakarro and many more. Spend 10 minutes of this masterfully designed epic fight on the ground stunned. Or in the air force choked. Or knocked back. And watch a couple of NPCs defeat one of the mightiest force user of ALL TIMES, where you have to do absolutely nothing to defeat him.

(Don LaFontaine voice over)

 

Thanks, but not again.

 

I'm pretty sure they intended for it to be and operation boss but all the solo players complaining they were not able to see the end of story made them change their mind

 

Let me expand on this idea:

 

"Solo Mode" Operations. These would be just like Solo Mode Flashpoints. The current operation, with companions or random NPCs or whatever (maybe the mystery guys who appear behind you in cutscenes in ops, who clearly are not your current group members?)

 

These operations would drop minimal loot. Level appropriate unmoddable blues or purples like in flashpoints - decent gear for someone who only plays solo, but not worth running if you're just looking for gear/loot pinatas. None of the rare drops/decos from the regular operations, either.

 

The reason: This allows solo players to see the stories of these operations, so solo modes would count for operation one-time missions. I've seen lots of complaints about how you get through this entire Dread Master story arc only to run into a operations block, a big hurdle for a lot of solo players in this game. BW recently opened up all the other stories to them, why not ops?

 

But nobody stops you from grouping up and do an op. You may chose to not group up, but that's your own fault. If you want to see the story, just find some nice people willing to carry you through an SM op and there you go.

I'm pretty sure they intended for it to be and operation boss but all the solo players complaining they were not able to see the end of story made them change their mind.

 

Funny thing is that the solo Revan fight gives you a more proper ending than the TOS one. Revan gets to be one with the force. But in TOS he just disappears at 9% HP. Yeah you stop the machine and all that stuff but still...

 

Let me expand on this idea:

 

"Solo Mode" Operations. These would be just like Solo Mode Flashpoints. The current operation, with companions or random NPCs or whatever (maybe the mystery guys who appear behind you in cutscenes in ops, who clearly are not your current group members?)

 

These operations would drop minimal loot. Level appropriate unmoddable blues or purples like in flashpoints - decent gear for someone who only plays solo, but not worth running if you're just looking for gear/loot pinatas. None of the rare drops/decos from the regular operations, either.

 

The reason: This allows solo players to see the stories of these operations, so solo modes would count for operation one-time missions. I've seen lots of complaints about how you get through this entire Dread Master story arc only to run into a operations block, a big hurdle for a lot of solo players in this game. BW recently opened up all the other stories to them, why not ops?

 

I see no difference between this and solo mode FP so why bother? Story vise yeah the DF-DP is an end of a story arch. However consider that after you set free the Dread Masters on Belsavis it's full scale OPS till they die. From EC where you kill Kephess their warlord to TFB where he is brought back to unleash a creature from another galaxy to SNV where you face Styrack to finally take on Brontes in DF and the rest of the crew in DP. The daily areas in between are just a bonus to contain them.

 

Cutscenes? Yeah you get to see a few. I guess 1 per OP and there is no interaction at all. So not much to miss out. Oh and another thing how will it feel to single handedly defeat the freaking Dread Masters? I'm sorry but I couldn't relate to that. And maybe I'm right when I say this would just kill the mood for those who are so focused on the story and lore.

 

And again with companions it's no different and also they would do the work instead of you. It's just not right. So please accept that there is no reason to make an OPS soloable. And in the current state of the game there nothing that stops anyone from doing an OPS only the person who refuse to group up.

Funny thing is that the solo Revan fight gives you a more proper ending than the TOS one. Revan gets to be one with the force. But in TOS he just disappears at 9% HP. Yeah you stop the machine and all that stuff but still...

That's because the solo Revan fight takes place AFTER you stopped the machine. You even have to do it for the story arc when you choose to do the operation instead of the daily quests. So the Revan solo fight doesn't replace the ops, the dayils replace it. The solo fight has to be done for the story mission either way.

there is absolutely nothing stopping you from seeing this content in its current state. nothing.

 

<xxxLéét'Pläyäxxx> voted to kick you from the ops group. Reason: Doesn't use Spacebar.

Edited November 26, 2015 by Mubrak

i knew this would come. Seriously, why play an MMO at all, everything is slowly converted to single player anyway.

<xxxLéét'Pläyäxxx> voted to kick you from the ops group. Reason: Doesn't use Spacebar.

 

That has never happened, try again...

 

solo ops...give me a break...random daily "STORY MODE" group finder is more than a face roll for people that want to do ops. You do not need a voice com to do daily story mode group finder. You do not even really need to know the fights for most ops. Bioware has made Story mode STUPID EASY mode...

 

It doesn't matter the time of day someone is always forming for the daily group finder. If not you start a group, it will take a little patience but will eventually fill up.

The story in an Operation is told through the different means than in the solo portion in the game, or even the Flashpoints.

 

The story is told through the fights that are performed by real players. A fight in an Operation lasts over a few minutes, goes through various phases, and include commentaries and special abilities of the opponents and the adds that are countered by the players. In addition, the huge portion of that story is the people you run with. That guy who will always get disconnected, the competition, the teamwork, the jokes and jabs, the ever-changing human factor, the incredible oddities.

 

Take these out, and the story is simply lost. You replicate this experience with any number of companions procuring the pre-scripted lines. It will ALWAYS be as lackluster as the solo Revan’s fight.

 

You are no longer locked out by the difficulty, only by the willingness to participate and a far harder task of finding a group which you will fit in. But that, in turn, is a part of your story.

 

If you look around the servers, you can always find a guild that matches the most awkward timing requirements. SWTOR is 24/7.

 

BioWARE went out of its way to give a solo player a huge amount of content. Anymore, and the group content will start to suffer.

 

but for those that cannot group up because they are not allowed to use teamspeak or they are at least people with lousy social skills - or - in my friends case - when his shift ends up at 3 at night he will never ever team up because nobodys online. for those an instance "like" a flashpoint that take 50 mins or so would be nice. a cool endboss that drops 1peace of random hardmode gear.... why not ?

 

Your friend honestly has a completely easily fixed issue, roll toons on a server outside his time zone or join a guild/group in a similar situation. I play on a eastern us server and our guild has 2 people from the UK that play with us because our server time works better for them. As far as finding a different group I know of multiple groups on our server forum that spam about late night start times for ops.

<<And in the current state of the game there nothing that stops anyone from doing an OPS only the person who refuse to group up. >>

 

1. except for those that are unwilling to help someone who is new to "grouping" or have patience with same.

plus kicking people for either being

a. too slow

b. not using spacebar

c. learning group combat mechanics

 

Emphasis on c. You can get thru the entire game solo, and then you are forced to learn group mechanics in order to do operations. Its possible, but it's a definite learning curve.

 

plus : in operations, its luck of the draw if you get the loot or not. If you want special drops for crafting purposes, for decorations .... it could be hundreds of times you have to do the same operation until you win a random roll.

plus : in operations, its luck of the draw if you get the loot or not. If you want special drops for crafting purposes, for decorations .... it could be hundreds of times you have to do the same operation until you win a random roll.

 

Yeah...that's called a retention mechanic. You actually need it if you want people to stick in your MMO. If the goal you want to achieve, either getting full stuff or finishing the story (or something else), was really fast or guaranteed after one op/pvp match, people would not play very long. A few month and the boredom kicks since you don't have anything you want to do anymore then you leave and guess what, people leaving don't pay subscription. If those retention mechanics are something annoying for you, you may consider changing game.

 

About the whole spacebar issue, since most have us have ran this content a lot of time, we don't want to get stuck watching pnj doing nothing while you do nothing. But I've never encountered some that was not happy to let someone see a cutscene for the 1st time. Just tell your group in the begining that it's your 1st time and you want to enjoy the cutscenes.

1. except for those that are unwilling to help someone who is new to "grouping" or have patience with same.

plus kicking people for either being

a. too slow

b. not using spacebar

c. learning group combat mechanics

 

Emphasis on c. You can get thru the entire game solo, and then you are forced to learn group mechanics in order to do operations. Its possible, but it's a definite learning curve.

 

plus : in operations, its luck of the draw if you get the loot or not. If you want special drops for crafting purposes, for decorations .... it could be hundreds of times you have to do the same operation until you win a random roll.

 

I'm really sorry to say this but you're just complaining instead of acting. Switch groups, find a suitable guild for you, start a group yourself. There are solutions. With this reasons you mentioned you've just proved my point. With the complaints you are stopping yourself to be involved with group play.

 

Switch groups, find a suitable guild for you, start a group yourself. There are solutions.

 

We can only help you by giving you advice, we can't do this instead of you. You have to do it. If you wan't do do OPS.

Yesterday I came across the old post somewhere describing why raiding content should not be developed ever.

Even given there were some invalid points like every boss is difficult only because of gear and not because of the mechanics, there were a couple of good points as well.

Long story short - it costs too much for develop, and it's not good to force players to play specific type of content if they're barred by it while playing another type of content. DM arc is not the worst one, look at Pierce recruitment from the solo player POV. Seriously, first I make myself comfortable in the game universe and feel like I'm pretty good at waving my lightsaber, killing enemies and so on, and then I get a splash of cold water in my face like "to recruit Pierce and embolden your alliance, go **** some ***** in PvP", which is simply NOT COOL. It takes me from the comfortable virtual reality I play the game for to uncomfortable one, where I'm constantly stressed and blamed. No thanks, I'd better stick to real life then, at least it's better for my mood.

 

I guess the same goes for ops, except now you get a bit less blame for failing.

 

However, it's a general question about development goals. PvP players are the easiest to sate as they largely create their content on their own. Yes, balance and such thing require a lot of precision and attention, but make no mistake here, SWTOR is a PvE-centered MMO, like it or not. PvP-centered MMOs have guild PvP, their endgame content include some open-world PvP with best rewards obtainable coming from, say, world bosses etc etc.

But then you have solo PvE players and raiders, and solo/small group PvE players make the vast majority of player base. Extreme separation is possible, you have some analog to PvP gear in ops, so to do harder ops you need to run ops and to feel more cool in solo PvE you have to do solo PvE. But without it, it has to be acknowledged by each and every PvE-er that the cake is a lie, and they don't actually need gear with better rating just for the sake of gear. It works like a carrot luring people in group content but it really isn't.

Story-wise - well, Jesus droid would do. It takes out part of the engagement but after all if you can replace 7 out of 8 members of a raid group you can replace the 8th as well Except he has to click some shiny buttons at times etc (solo Revan fight, huh?), but... Does it really feel like the fate of the galaxy depends on you?

 

Cosmetics can't be helped though. There's not so much point in Wings of the Architect if 90% of the people you meet would be using it. It was designed to be unique, cool and attractive and that it is. It's not I feel bad in a way "kekeke every noob now has it qq", but rather to point out every piece of loot made largely accessible would lose it attractiveness and value anyway. Give Dathomir Rancor to everyone at level 1 - and hundreds of hours development team spent designing some more basic speeders would go to nowhere for no one would ride them.

 

tl;dr: The situation is a bit unhealthy indeed, but making stuff easily accessible renders it less valuable and, ultimately, development of the other stuff cost-inefficient. If you aim at the situation where person can in solo obtain everything in 200 hours, those who spend 1000s of hours in game each expansion are screwed. If you aim at 1000s of hours to "complete" the game those who spend 10s would feel real bad. To keep you engaged, there is always a carrot in the end of a tunnel. Now the carrot is a story and the tunnel is group content. Don't get wrecked by trains

For those responding to me and telling me there's no reason for me not to group up - I'm a raider. i don't have an issue with groups and running the content as it is. Neither did I have an issue with FPs. But obviously some people do, and how does it hurt us raiders to have other people run these things on their own for the story if they aren't getting raid gear out of it? If the devs are willing to make it happen I don't see why it's raiders are throwing a fit about it. Someone even said "I don't see a difference between this and solo mode flashpoints." Okay, then why do you object? Solo flashpoints are already here and they're clearly here to stay. So why not expand on it?

 

And aside from not wanting to group up, some people can't run ops well/at all because of their computers. I used to tank progression raids at ~1 FPS; some people can't deal with that (get frustrated), have worse FPS in a an ops fight, or aren't very good raiders to begin with so the FPS drop makes them worse and they can't complete ops. It may or may not be their fault that they can't get through them, but I don't see why it's such a big deal to raiders that other people might want to see the stories. Besides, it would help new raiders too, to have some idea before the first time they go in to TFB what the hell people are talking about when they start saying things about these magical platforms we can't see yet because we need to "go up," whatever that means.

 

I'm not saying I even want this in game. I might run one out of curiosity if such a thing launched, but I already run ops, I don't need solo modes of them. But I wouldn't be surprised if they were added, and, provided they were implemented well (ie, no set bonus or raid level gear), I don't see why it's a such a problem.

Edited December 2, 2015 by FrozenGoalie