With the Frostvault, Zenimax introduces a new dungeon of the DLC Wrathstone for the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online. However, since this dungeon is part of the story and requires a group of players, solo players, in particular, criticize the approach taken by the developers.
A Story Content for Group Players
What happened? With Wrathstone, the “Season of the Dragon” begins, a new storyline that continues in the Elsweyr addon and other DLCs released this year. Players will experience the beginning of this story soon in the two dungeons of Wrathstone. The story leads into the two dungeons “Depths of Malatar” and the “Frostvault,” where two pieces of an artifact must be found. However, this has now led to a heated discussion within the community.
What is the problem? Dungeons in The Elder Scrolls Online are group content that has a corresponding level of difficulty and should therefore only be tackled in a party. The Frostvault in Wrathstone offers an extremely tough opponent. You will face a Dwemer construct that is formidable and, according to testers of the DLC, is extremely difficult to defeat even in groups. Even the other enemies in the Frostvault present severe challenges.
This means it is virtually impossible for solo players to complete the dungeon alone, and that has now caused some frustration.
What is being discussed? Solo players are used to completing the story solo in ESO. This has generally not been a problem. However, with Wrathstone, the story leads through two dungeons that are designed for groups. This is frustrating for those who want to go it alone. Hence the suggestion to introduce a special solo mode for dungeons. This mode is supposed to allow players to experience the story without receiving EXP or rewards. Those who want those must play in a group.
A Major Controversy in the Community
How was the suggestion received? A heated discussion has erupted in the forum.
Krayl writes: “This is a multiplayer game. If you want the team to spend time and resources making group content achievable for solo players, you are pulling resources away from other aspects of the game!”
LiraTaurwen agrees: “Why do casuals always want everything? I have seen how such things have already destroyed other games.”
However, the suggestion is well received by quite a few. rei91 states: “That is a wonderful idea. If a solo mode existed, I would buy all the dungeon DLCs.”
Why is there a dispute? The Elder Scrolls Online is an MMORPG meant for player groups to experience adventures together. Yet ESO wants – as shown by Morrowind – to also reach solo players who grew up with the single-player titles of The Elder Scrolls series. Accordingly, all story content has been playable solo thus far. However, Wrathstone “forces” even single-player fans into groups.
There is simply a huge discrepancy between solo players and group players, and the discussion in the ESO forum highlights this very clearly. Many simply want to enjoy the story alone and in peace without involving others. Multiplayer fans, on the other hand, see it completely differently. They believe that an MMORPG is meant for large numbers of players who play together. Therefore, they do not want their online game diluted by too many solo contents.
How this dispute in the ESO community will continue remains to be seen. However, it demonstrates that the community is indeed divided, and Wrathstone now shows how deep this divide is.
