Should Scenarios Be Solo Dungeons?

[Deleted]

What ho,

Scenarios feel quite awkward when compared to group dungeons and raids. They aren't challenging enough to encourage coordination between party members, and their party limit is too small for any meaningful class synergy to occur. Not to mention how rewards have to be tiny to make up for their low difficulty, which shortens their life-span and takes some of the edge out of them. What's worse for me, however, is the fact that they fail fundamentally at their primary purpose; presenting important lore to the player in a nice and steady way. When you run a casual dungeon with two strangers you hardly even speak to, it is quite difficult to immerse yourself in the lore and feel like you are involved in the events of that particular moment. People trigger dialogue before you have the time to react, set scripted events in motion before you realise what's going on, or kill enemies before you even get to them.

So I strongly feel like Scenarios, in their current form, are useless. Instead, Scenarios should be turned into challenging solo-dungeons.

• 1-player limit; no queuing.
• Could include a small cooldown to make up for the fact that there's no queue-time.
• Should come with Normal and Hardcore difficulties, with the possible addition of Mythic as well.
• Unlock at various points in the expansion, depending on their lore. Some in the middle of a zone-quest, some at the end of a zone, some in a patch, etc. Once you reach max level, however, they all adjust to that in order to remain challenging.
• Should be seen as the most meaningful and challenging solo-PvE endgame; akin to what dungeons are for small groups, and raids for larger groups.
• Rewards at higher difficulties should be high, but would require good gear and skill to obtain. Perfection of the Scenarios as you do them again and again over the course of the expansion.
• Old Scenarios should also scale up to max level once you reach that, so there is a vast pool of solo-dungeons for you to run.

[Raiju]

I'd love to see more challenging (strictly) solo content, a la brawlers guild but extended into dungeons or scenarios - but that doesn't mean scenarios have to go. I think they work fine as a nice way to help out super new friends in an environment they can meet slightly more difficult mobs without the rigid tank/healer/dps of 5mans (and in a place where their performance is more important as 1/3 of the group)

[Deleted]

I think if you look at the enormous amount of interest in soloing old content, something which
isn't encouraged at all by Blizzard, and the general lack of satisfaction with scenarios, the op
has a good point.

If people are doing something in a game they're not supposed too, and don't like something they
are supposed too, the game designers have messed up.

[Deleted]

I'd love to see more challenging (strictly) solo content, a la brawlers guild but extended into dungeons or scenarios - but that doesn't mean scenarios have to go. I think they work fine as a nice way to help out super new friends in an environment they can meet slightly more difficult mobs without the rigid tank/healer/dps of 5mans (and in a place where their performance is more important as 1/3 of the group)

I hear you. I'm wondering if that type of learning-experience wouldn't be better placed in the environment, though. Like the elite monsters of old, where you had to group up to fight. I could see Blizzard integrating some dungeon-tool-like feature to work behind the scenes with quests; when there's a part of a quest that requires more people, the quest-box will pop up at the side of the screen and ask you if you'd like to find people to do this with. Then it forms a group for you.

It feels like a waste to have an entire system of instances just for that.

[Raiju]

Well timeless isle is difficult mobs in the environment and I don't think it really does anything. People just avoid them unless they're absolutely necessary.

Scenarios can be both 1 and 3 man - I dont see how it's a "waste" of a system to be using it for both purposes as it was in MoP.

@advanta they've been actively encouraging soloing for years and protecting it's possibility with WoD changes. Nerfing the gold from it sucked, but back then you could make an absolute killing from soloing old content, whereas now it's a noticeable but not ungodly amount.

[Tydrane]

I think scenarios were best utilised for specific storytelling purposes. For most scenarios, people don't really care why they're there or what it is (story-wise) that they're doing. They just want their daily valor bonus. On the other hand, the solo Isle of Thunder scenarios were very direct and linear in their narrative and purpose.

I think the best use of the technology is to construct 'epic mini-questlines', where you go in and achieve a bunch of sequential objectives to aid storytelling of a critical plot development, and to also make that moment more special and memorable for the player. The IoT solo scenarios gave me something I haven't really felt so much since WotLK questing in Northrend; that my character was THE main character, the hero. I hope it's used more like this in the WoD levelling experience.

[jbombard]

They should give them the flex treatment, let people solo them and scale up difficulty and drops with more people. That way people who want to do them with a buddy still can and have a little fun in the process.

[The Flavour Cat]

Ideally yes, but Blizzard probably aren't planning on removing the group aspect of scenarios any time soon given there's an achievement-Scenario Dominator-in WoD for completing 1,000 scenarios! Maybe in the future I'd like to see it become single-player and all related achievements turned into Feats of Strength, but I really don't see it happening any time soon.

Scenarios play out well when they are used for lore and story-telling purposes. The best scenarios are the ones that follow these examples-the Isle of Thunder progression ones, Pursuing the Black Harvest, Blood in the Snow, Dagger in the Dark and the 5.3 scenarios.

[Arrashi]

There already are solo dungeons. Most (if not all) MoP dungeons can be soloed.

[melodramocracy]

Probably not, no.

[Jessicka]

Why are so many players in this MMO forum so opposed to playing the game with other people?

And why are they drawn to a forum to discuss with other people why they hate playing with eachother?

[sethman75]

Why are so many players in this MMO forum so opposed to playing the game with other people?

And why are they drawn to a forum to discuss with other people why they hate playing with eachother?

Because sometimes you want to chill and do things at your own pace for a while.

You don't need somebody to hold your hand the entire time you play the game.

[StationaryHawk]

There already are solo dungeons. Most (if not all) MoP dungeons can be soloed.

Does not make them solo dungeons. I wouldn't mind seeing more challenging solo content, but I don't know how they'd balance it for all classes.

[Azrile]

I would love it if the devs take a long look at DDO and how they handle things. Solo dungeons ( or whatever you want to call them) are awesome because you can do traps, ambushes, patrols and a ton of other stuff without other players interfering. DDO screwed up a few things with their game, but getting into a dungeon by yourself and being able to go at your own pace is a great experience.

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Does not make them solo dungeons. I wouldn't mind seeing more challenging solo content, but I don't know how they'd balance it for all classes.

There isn´t that huge of a gap between tanks and dps.. I actually quest in bear form all the time. Also, every healer has a dps spec and with gear changing based on your spec, it would work even easier in WoD ( holy pallys can go ret and use mostly the same gear).

[Zoaric]

While I don't think that all scenarios should be, I do think it should be a thing.

[lawow74]

Scenarios should be the model for all random-queue PvE content. DPS-only needed, no tanks or heals required. Dungeons and Raids should both have true Scenario modes. Normal Dungeons should be 5-man Scenario versions. LFR should be a 25-man Scenario version. Same story, same dialogue, same loot as it currently would be. Let the Heroic versions and higher modes be the pre-form types requiring greater coordination(and for Dungeons and Raids, Tanks and Healers).

Using the Scenario format for solo missions, I have no isse with. But that should not be the fate of the Scenario concept.

[mercychan]

I agree with OP. I was interested in the concept coming into MoP. It was cool at first, but quickly became irrelevant once 510 gear was beaten by timeless isle. I thought the thunder isle was cool (too easy, but good for telling the story). Don't have a warlock so never had a chance to do the green fire quest. But would be interested in seeing difficult solo content that isn't Brawler's Guild.