Is this pretty much a single player game now?

[SlipperyPete]

As mentioned in another thread HERE I'm back from a long absence. The game is much different in the LFM and guild. Nobody seems to use voice. When you enter a LFM it's always in progress if not almost or over. I did manage to get an old alt into a VON 5 & 6 raid which was fun.

When you get into quests its a race to the end zerg. Is this the new norm?

Now, get off my lawn!!!

 

[torkz]

If you're running leveling content (under cap at R1), then I can see how you might feel that way. If you're in an active guild then the game is pretty social, especially when doing end game stuff (raids or R10 quests).

I still use in-game voice if someone initiates it, but usually I just zerg leveling stuff while listening to music or chatting with guild mates in Discord.

 

[FaceDancer]

It depends on the group I guess? I'm less of a flower-sniffer these days, but that also depends on what potions peeps have going as well.

There are quite a few more LFM's on the new servers overall so that's a good thing (depends on the server to some degree...)

I don't use in-game voice much but I keep it active. Mostly use Discord for voice.

P.S. Welcome back to the game!

 

[SlipperyPete]

It depends on the group I guess? I'm less of a flower-sniffer these days, but that also depends on what potions peeps have going as well.

There are quite a few more LFM's on the new servers overall so that's a good thing (depends on the server to some degree...)

I don't use in-game voice much but I keep it active. Mostly use Discord for voice.

P.S. Welcome back to the game!

Thanks!

 

[KirThalos Ravencrest]

I miss tumble... The good days of endlessly rolling around. Made farming the 100+ past lives you need bearable.

 

[Primus]

Since the transfers/mergers, there are more LFMs than there has been in a very long time.
And the great thing is, people mostly are grouping because they want to, not because they need to.
You'll find new players around, but the vast majority of players have been here a long time.
Skill, experience, and gear has gotten to the point they can solo damn near everything, but they still want company.
EXP bonuses do a decent amount to encourage grouping as well.

 

[Christhemiss]

I miss tumble... The good days of endlessly rolling around. Made farming the 100+ past lives you need bearable.

@Grok is this true?

 

[Fhrek]

@Grok is this true?

Yes, yes, yes!
Tumble speed moving was so good and fast that made mount irrelevant. But, it caused so much grief that nothing in DDO can be that good and bug free, QoL isn't allowed.

 

[Smokewolf]

As mentioned in another thread HERE I'm back from a long absence. The game is much different in the LFM and guild. Nobody seems to use voice. When you enter a LFM it's always in progress if not almost or over. I did manage to get an old alt into a VON 5 & 6 raid which was fun.

When you get into quests its a race to the end zerg. Is this the new norm?

Now, get off my lawn!!!

Many of the long term groups are fragmented after the server transfers. While sure many of them did stay together, this isn't the case for everyone, especially those (like myself) in the EU.

But to answer your question... The game has sorta devolved from a group game, to speed grinding (Zerg leveling for TR's). Only to get back to "grouping" at cap, when players are focused on raiding and farming specific items. Though this isn't true for everyone as it really depends on when and where your playing, as this will largely dictate the groups you'll find. Beyond this, it really helps if your playing something that a group "needs" as this tends to open more doors than anything else.

SSG for its part has pretty much let the social aspect of the game die off by not maintaining the in-game chat, in favor of app's like Discord. Which are not directly supported by DDO, thus making it very inconvenient to join a pug groups chat. Which is assuming that they'll even bother to set one up. Currently most "lazy" players are abusing the auto group join, rather than setting up specific LFM's. Which IMHO makes finding a good group increasingly difficult.

 

[Wahatep]

On Heroic/Epic content? Yes

Players on TR train have no reason to waste an additional 5-10 minutes per quest on multiple quests and multiple past lives. .

 

[DBZ]

Maximum SLogs status quo

 

[Rage]

I found the more I group the less I learned how to do the quests as I just followed people around killing stuff (very enjoyable i might add!)

The only way to truly master quests so you can do the whole TR grind is by soloing or leading quests.

 

[adamkatt]

@Grok is this true?

it looked silly when half the grp just tumbled away.. im glad it was fixed..

 

[Bjond]

When you get into quests its a race to the end zerg. Is this the new norm?

It's rather always been that way for the time I've been playing (~8y?).

Some folks bump up difficulty. I solo on R4 when leveling in epic to get a little friction. Heroics is R1 or R4 depending on mood.

Some of our static guild groups will level on R7+ from L1. I haven't specifically asked why, but I assume it's because lower difficulties are so easy there's no feeling of teamwork/synergy being necessary.

 

[Vox]

As mentioned in another thread HERE I'm back from a long absence. The game is much different in the LFM and guild. Nobody seems to use voice. When you enter a LFM it's always in progress if not almost or over. I did manage to get an old alt into a VON 5 & 6 raid which was fun.

When you get into quests its a race to the end zerg. Is this the new norm?

Now, get off my lawn!!!

That's mainly because of all the power SSG gave to very low levels, and players don't generally wait for a group to start quests outside of raids & high reaper at cap.

Player time is precious. Most are many years in to running the same quests so we don't need to wait around.

For VC, people still use it, just many don't or they're using discord.

 

[Teh_Troll]

I can't pike if I solo.

 

[Jummby]

As mentioned in another thread HERE I'm back from a long absence. The game is much different in the LFM and guild. Nobody seems to use voice. When you enter a LFM it's always in progress if not almost or over. I did manage to get an old alt into a VON 5 & 6 raid which was fun.

When you get into quests its a race to the end zerg. Is this the new norm?

Now, get off my lawn!!!

Alot of people are in voice, just not in DDO voice, they are on discord.

There are lfms up, and people join them. If you don't see any lfms and want a group, put one up.

With regards to guilds, they are many different types. Some guilds like to play together and are active. Some guilds are mass recruit and are just about being big and having the airship.

It's not that hard to meet people in game to play with on a regular basis.

 

[Konsumer]

As mentioned in another thread HERE I'm back from a long absence. The game is much different in the LFM and guild. Nobody seems to use voice. When you enter a LFM it's always in progress if not almost or over. I did manage to get an old alt into a VON 5 & 6 raid which was fun.

When you get into quests its a race to the end zerg. Is this the new norm?

Now, get off my lawn!!!

1- Most people are on discord channels as ddo has never done anything to improve their in game chat system.
2- Yes. it's generally a zergitty zerg world now. At least in pugs. Best bet is to find one or two people with similar play-styles and schedules to run with regularly.

 

[Kyrr]

As mentioned in another thread HERE I'm back from a long absence. The game is much different in the LFM and guild. Nobody seems to use voice. When you enter a LFM it's always in progress if not almost or over. I did manage to get an old alt into a VON 5 & 6 raid which was fun.

When you get into quests its a race to the end zerg. Is this the new norm?

Now, get off my lawn!!!

This game has changed and developed over the years. The content that was previously difficult and required teammates is no longer difficult, nor does it require teammates. A lot of leveling is done solo or with a friend you can take time out of your day to hang out with.

The only thing most players do nowadays is group for raiding or end game content. Even then, most of the time the discord channels are used because of terrible audio experience through voice chat.

 

[Icebeast]

The only thing I can add different, is that our group has a set time in the evenings where we run leveling toons. We aim for 2 hours 4-5 nights a week and if someone can't make it we wait. Just run our main toons through something. Usually there are 3 of us on, but some laps it might be 2, and sometimes up to 6.
I call it my "bowling night." Out with the guys without leaving the house. No stress on leveling it's just a social time.
If you find people that can play at the same time, you can set your own group goals to leveling, end game, raids, farming..