Something cropped up in the thread on pets that made me wonder about a wider issue - are we concentrating by default on the 'specialist' damage dealer templates we can play individually with the effect that the idea of small groups and teams is becoming neglected?
Much of what we've talked about in that thread related to the effects of a pet revamp on the person using the pet, whether it be as a tamer and focussing on damage dealt, or with the idea of a pet that boosts a specific 'playstyle' such as a mount helping a 'knight' style of character - but it strikes me we're mostly looking at what works to boost an individual, and not what might help groups function better. I know, it's ironic since I almost entirely solo, but my playstyle is weird anyway and I don't do the champ level stuff at all, so never worked out optimums or played a particular 'top notch' template, too lazy to do all the maths
But I am wondering now...
Bar the bard abilities to boost a party (which I very rarely see being put to use), are there many skills, abilities or 'accessories (like pets or items) that encourage or benefit a small party of players - and should there be any, none, or more? For the ever-popular item hunts, can there be a way to add a reason for a team to work together, rather than it always being the few individual characters making the scores needed to get the item - a slightly different item for the 'party that did overall best', perhaps? Again, I'm in the group that doesn't much care about the items dropped if the experience of the hunting is fun, and for me the items could go away ... but I do see that for many, they are much of the fun in themselves. It still a missed opportunity though if that means a few specialised templates become 'the way to play', and a supposedly group activity is mutated into a competition between those there.
Much of what we've talked about in that thread related to the effects of a pet revamp on the person using the pet, whether it be as a tamer and focussing on damage dealt, or with the idea of a pet that boosts a specific 'playstyle' such as a mount helping a 'knight' style of character - but it strikes me we're mostly looking at what works to boost an individual, and not what might help groups function better. I know, it's ironic since I almost entirely solo, but my playstyle is weird anyway and I don't do the champ level stuff at all, so never worked out optimums or played a particular 'top notch' template, too lazy to do all the maths
But I am wondering now...Bar the bard abilities to boost a party (which I very rarely see being put to use), are there many skills, abilities or 'accessories (like pets or items) that encourage or benefit a small party of players - and should there be any, none, or more? For the ever-popular item hunts, can there be a way to add a reason for a team to work together, rather than it always being the few individual characters making the scores needed to get the item - a slightly different item for the 'party that did overall best', perhaps? Again, I'm in the group that doesn't much care about the items dropped if the experience of the hunting is fun, and for me the items could go away ... but I do see that for many, they are much of the fun in themselves. It still a missed opportunity though if that means a few specialised templates become 'the way to play', and a supposedly group activity is mutated into a competition between those there.
