Roadbeer, on 08 February 2014 - 01:26 PM, said:
Noesis, since MHW refuses to answer this.
What do you envision the role of LW (solo) players in Community Warfare, OTHER, than filling holes where premades and faction loyalists playing solo don't make 12?
Explain to me how (outside the creation of Solaris) they'll serve any purpose to the game.
Not going to fall into the trap of speculating what. But as mentioned in the launch video and materials at that time it was mentioned that even PUG games could have the potential involvement in the movement of battle lines associated the initial house conflict when that stage was utilised.
As such it does not really state how much of a filler with the merging of queues hows these will align with complete 12 mans or groupings or how this might relate to factional control of planets when this further stage is then achieved.
With the 12 man groups being separeted as now then you could consider that factional control would have been more simplified with how the orientation of players providing support to that objective.
Loyalty points will be of significance to players however as will the influnce of these things even if ideally politics, diplomacy and trust will all have a bearing of involvement with players dropping to achieve either battle line shifts or planetary conquest.
I cannot see a solo player not having some influence in at least deciding which side of the battle line he wants to participate then as a result. And I would see it as more determinable than purely random.
This is less of a concern I guess for the house factions or Mercs under contract even if neutral, as they are either loyal by association or have a specific objective with a contract.
As such I would hope that with the CW game play, the randomness will still be influenced by player choice of affiliations, including Solo players, so it has more meaning than just a random experience.
Interestingly it will beg the question of how loyalty is measured, controlled and inspected to see a LWs associations, even if they could choose to be as neutral as Merc corps. This may raise eyebrows now, but I'm also hoping that incentives to at least become involved in the houses even if not joining a Merc corp will offer incentive to remain loyal to certain concerns. The ideal transition effect being that it is more attractive for players to be affiliated to groups as a result even if not ultimately necessary. But this won't be so apparent I feel to players until we see CW details and there is perhaps more of a reason or purpose to associate yourself with a faction.
E.g. I'm currently on the fence deciding where to invest my MWO experience in the absence of details, but am aware of the stated potential benefits in associating with a more definite faction for CW. This is before considering the intrinsic value of being in a group working towards certain aims even prior to this.
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