Playing WoW with AI companions

I wouldn’t mind AI companions for general PvE stuff and maybe some added content that involves them but I wouldn’t want them as a replacement for other players.

My first instinct when I read this was to answer ‘absolutely not’.

When I started thinking about it, and trying to frame a reply, I realised I don’t actually have any good reasons for saying that. My only reason is ‘because that isn’t how MMOs are supposed to be’, and that isn’t a good one.

Actually, I think it could be fun. I’d like to see AIs have to be selected from the player’s own pool of alts (which would mean you’d have to have a tank, healer and 3 dps to run dungeons). AIs perform their base rotation, but the player has to command them to use big CDs. AIs respond to the player’s behaviour, so the player has to do mechanics or the AIs will ignore them as well. AIs use their interrupts, but if an important cast is going off and the player’s interrupt is on CD, AIs will let it go through. It would likely be more difficult than playing with a competent group of humans, but easier than playing with a bad group.

I imagine it would take a lot of work and investment. Only Blizz knows if the money earned from retained subscriptions would compensate for it, but if they think it would, you can bet it’s something they’re looking at.

1 Like

They have the core of it already with the Proving Grounds. When you did a Healing proving ground there was a tank there that you had to heal. If you did a tank Proving Ground an AI healed you.

If they hadn’t borked scaling so badly I wouldn’t be quite so invested in this idea. I still haven’t seen half the BFA dungeons and when I tried to do Freehold upon dinging 60 I got destroyed. I used to be fine with waiting til next expansion to see dungeon but Bliz decided this was no longer to be an option.

1 Like

I hadn’t considered the faction diffrence with queues. It’s never that fast as a dps but I don’t think I’ve ever waited over an hour for LFR on Horde.

They didn’t do anything :rofl: I think, I just don’t like them in particular. Although they do look pleasant for the eye :blush:

1 Like

On the contrary though, what reasoning is there to add it?

At current, group content is accessible if you…find/make a group.

The reasoning here is what? I want to do that content but I don’t want to do the find/make a group part?

Why not? What’s the reason for that? Because it takes time? Because i’m antisocial?. Are these really good reasons to add it?

They’re certainly no more convincing than a reason like “i’d rather it wasn’t added” being in opposition as they stem from the same place: personal feelings.

At the end of the day however i’d argue WoW is ultimatley built on a premise of “challengeing content” in the main being something you accomplish with a group. That lends itself to part of the meaning. Not just tradition; but it means something because and several other fellow humans managed to coordinate yourself and work together, sharing in the victory.

You reduce that point and that takeaway from group content if you make it an entirely solo enterprise potentially, and literally reduce it to a loot pinata.

As Deja said, a game that is built on a premise of social interactions needs to encourage grouping not discourage it.

1 Like

I play one not to socialise, but to be able to socialise if I want to.

I remember giving the game Dragon Age 2009 a try, while still being WoW subbed, all was okish, until it made me go into a dungeon with 4 more NPCs (1 tank, 1 heal, 2 more dps). Man, I still remember how disgusted I was and give the game instant uninstall.

I mean, why would you fake something that is out there, and was made good.

Before WoW, in 2005, I’ve wanted to play WoW, but didn’t want to play a subbased game since it was the first year I got a job, so I’ve played Guild Wars for 2 months, and GW has the same fake party, yeeesh, that made me buy WoW and sub so fast …

On the topic tho: it wouldn’t be good with AI. I’m not social at all, I have severe anxiety, I can’t talk to people, I’m an introvert and by the end of the day I just want to be alone. And even tho some groups are just dead silent, there are people like you who are enjoying the lore and maybe up to a little rp that could make it even a bit more realistic.

On the other hand: as a healer I can say that people are stupid enough to make AI even worse. AI is like automatic gear in cars: takes away the flavour of the slight personalisation of a being. AI is a program, it has boundaries and thinks only in a bracket. It might be better on paper, but in reality it’s not that good.

What I usually do is if I’m fed up with humanity cause of work, or just idiotic players, I do old dungeons, scenarios and pretend I’m actually part of it. (Silly I know) and I do enjoy all the content despite other people trashing it to the ground

2 Likes

Yes, many times.

They could do that - or they could more easily add a tuned mode to dungeons so that they scale according to your ilevel. Or if you bring a friend, they could scale to 2 people. After almost 2 expansions, I’ll give them that they have the practice to nail scaling.

I think an AI team would be nicer, though, because it would more accurately reproduce the experience and because there could be a minigame of recruiting and training your followers - and they could stay with you between expansions, as long as you train them up for the new expansion. Maybe you could take one of them into the world with you like a WoD/Legion bodyguard.

But OK, say they did that. Either one. Scaling or AI team. Slap on a daily/weekly lockout to prevent whatever possible abuse.

Maybe there could be some kind of progression, through Normal and Heroic to M0. Not higher. It would get people through dungeon quests for campaigns or professions or rep or whatever, but you would get better gear from WQ.

It doesn’t affect people who are gearing competitively. You are still far below them in ilevel and effectiveness. It doesn’t remove you from their groups, because you would never have been in their groups.

It does remove one little piece of leverage the devs have to try to make you group, but that leverage is already so ineffecive that 4 or 5 out of 10 players are like you.

Done!

Now what?

How long would it last? How replayable is it? Are you just randomly going to run the same HoA today that you’ve run 40 times already, for no reward? Would that be entertaining? I suppose, if one of those Callings that allow for a dungeon completion is up, it might be an option.

I have thought of this, and advocated it at one point in Legion, when I was boosting people through dungeon quests for professions.

The problem I kept coming up against is that it is self-limiting. It doesn’t go anywhere. I can find no way to make it into sustainable, repeatable gameplay.

Im queueing in LFR

1 Like

No idea why the OP’s idea is met with a mixture of snide hostility by so many.

There are plenty of adults with careers who don’t feel the need or are unable to spend more then a few hours a week in game.

Maybe they have social anxiety, maybe they have jobs that require them to be “on” all day (police, security guards, teachers, nurses, doctors etc.) and don’t feel like being “on” when they get home. Maybe they understand and accept that it’s not cool to join a group with other players and then go afk for multiple 10 minute sessions or w/e.

If any of them want to run through stuff with AI followers/ henchmen who cares? Power to them, how does it hurt the players who run their own groups?

3 Likes

Why on earth is your post hidden?

I think that is something you over-exaggerate. Most people would not play with people then because AI is always available, does not talk BS about you, does not quit and especially does not grief in any form. AI also does not go afk, has needs like a human being (example eating food, etc.) and is not time limited.

People would pick AI because of that reason, not specifically because of not liking the people. And over time, even the social players like me would try it out and probably stick to it instead of waiting for players that fit our expectations in either skill, gear, class or efficiency.

Great, go play the RTS then or every solo content WoW has to offer. I am not preventing you from that. I am just telling you that by principle you are playing the wrong game genre for such content.

I think Blizzard should do stuff like TESO does for solo players like you. Solo Arenas that have different skill levels and getting a highscore there you can show others.

probably people disliked it and reported it because there is no longer a dislike button

Just asking out of curiosity, was it always like that for you or first since a specific part of your life? I never get how people can have/get a social anxiety aside from either Depression or many bad experiences in their childhood.

Does it even need rewards? Its to see the story and finish a quest. I’d be fine with it not having a reward.

3 Likes

I didn’t have any trauma at least any that I can remember. I was always good by myself, barely made any friends and tried to think about stories and scenarios. I also take many things personally which doesn’t help with my shyness or anything in general. I had a bad relationship probably that’s why as i went deeper since then

2 Likes

Hmm, I am not saying that you need a therapy or something (since I am not a psychologist) but I would recommend maybe trying out some fun activities that involve only a few people to get step by step away from the anxiety. For example a chess-group. Chess is a logical game that has not much talking involved and you can ask your play partner to not talk that much :wink:

Otherwise maybe you should do something like a list where you write down what makes you afraid of social encounters (what parts exactly I mean) and how you can try to avoid such situation. Perhaps this helps if you want to change the depth of your anxiety.

To quote on Sun Tzu:

The only enemy, the true enemy, is fear itself

2 Likes

i used to think i had social anxiety, but it was was just chronic depression…

i realised this one day when i was put in a position where i had to face those anxieties…

and i dealt with them better than i could ever imagine, i think my depression was giving me false feeling of anxiety to trick my mind into not doing anything to beat it.

once i realised my own mind was fooling me , i recovered extremely quickly… i now live in my own place by myself, i work full time and in line for a promotion to become one of the bosses… (training starts next week)…

a lot of people think they have social anxiety just like i did and in reality it is something they themselves creates as a barrier in order to avoid things they dont like.

im also introverted… apparently the rare INFJ-T personality type.

It would need rewards of course. Make them cosmetics if ppl really are against any “real” rewards, but otherwise there would be a lot of potential:

  • gear your own char
  • gear your alts
  • gear the NPCs!
  • farm cosmetics for the NPCs

Ok, funny that sounds a little like path of ascension which I don’t like, but thats mainly because the NPCs there don’t mean anything to me. Let me gear Jaina and Anduin and I would totally do it.

1 Like