I just want to thank Karen for stepping in for me. She's probably much better at this than I am anyway.

P.S. Faeran planned the podcast on the day I had tickets, not the other way around. =p

yeah... blame it on the tickets. wait, wha?

The problem with balancing solo vs group is solo is unaffected by how many people want to group, but people who want to group are adversely affected by more people soloing. So grouping is very much dependent on how many people want to group. Too much/too easy of a solo game really makes it hard to have enough people to easily get groups going.

You've got a good point nethervoid, make it too easy to solo and for sure people will take that route. Jaye said it best, "path of least resistance." I think that's why you need a good grouping system that rewards you for the time spent in the group.

You have a very interesting concept and I've enjoyed listening to your show. I played Wow forever and am now with Vanguard so I can relate to most aspects.

Regarding grouping, my first MMO was FFXI (some muds before that), well in FFXI there was no advancements without groups and with the wait to just get into the groups and the jerks you had to play with in them, it left a very sour taste in my mouth about groups. So after a detour in DAOC where I didn't group a great deal, WOW came out and it was heaven, I didn't have to depend on anyone for anything else and if I did get in a group with jerks, I didn't have to wait forever for another group if I wanted to leave. With the soloing option always out there it actually motivated to try grouping more and I started to enjoy it. In a nutshell, I'm saying I'm about even on enjoying soloing and grouping.

With Vanguard, I enjoy doing both but I also enjoy that if I don't want to fight anyone, I can run around doing diplomacy and come away with as much satisfaction as if I just got done beating the hell out of a mob. Vanguard is such a great game, I'm having just as much fun almost three months later as I did day one.

Anyway, I'll quit rambling, I just wanted to tell you how great your show is and I look forward to next weeks episode.

Thanks Lancert. It is always great to hear people's mmo history and opinions.

I also like the diversity of Vanguard as well. There are many different options out there that can give me satisfaction, while still offering me a solid adventuring experience, which seems to be one of the first things I look at when playing a new MMO. If the combat system doesn't feel right, it's very hard for me to enjoy what I'm doing.

I want to know something, Gathilas, did the team you went to watch win?

The show was very awesome, and Karen did a great job stepping in for Gath. Another to notch production.

I myself like grouping, but due to RL, I have to go the route of scheduled events. I also love with VG that I can get on and still feel that since of accomplishment just going in solo. I love playing tank classes. Maybe it is because I am a man with that inherent cave mentality, but also because it is easy to get group invites.

Anyway, good show and can't wait for the next one.

Yes, the team I went to watch did win. It was looking bad the first 4 and a half innings being down 6-1 but we came back to win the game. It was pretty exciting.