I want to solo what’s it to you? I’m paying the box price. I’m paying the monthly subscription. I’m playing by the rules so you really shouldn’t care how I to choose to level my character. Leveling opportunity for solo and group should be equal. I don’t mind that there is content I won’t see. If I cared, I’d group. Yet since I don’t, it should be pretty damn clear that I, like many other players, enjoy soloing in MMORPGs. If you're curious why, you can read this old post of mine or this more recent one. I know that the gear in most games is better in group content. I realize that most, if not all, of the highly scripted events are in group content. It’s not like I’m stupid. You don’t think I know this? The fact that I still opt to solo should illustrate it's an important enough play-style for me, that I CHOOSE to forego some of the rewards of grouping.
Does this mean I play alone? Sometimes yes and other times no. Being in an MMO doesn’t mean I want to level with others. It means I want to interact with them and there are numerous ways to do that outside of leveling. I enjoy crafting and taking part in the player driven economy. This is something that only exists in MMOs. For long stretches of time, all I’ll do is craft and work on gaining my personal wealth. Other times, I’m not doing much at all. I’m just in the game enjoying the fantasy atmosphere as an escape from the stress and demands of real life. Why do people think they need to have a voice in how I play a game when they are free to play however they choose, within the rules of the game?
I don’t think leveling solo should be any faster or slower than
grouping. It’s just a play style. Leveling as a tank, caster or
healer shouldn’t be any faster or slower, just harder because each
class plays differently. Leveling as melee shouldn’t be any faster or
slower than caster just different pacing depending on the mobs. It’s
all the same thing. Please stop trying to tell other paying customers
how to play their games. Any game developer is free to make a game
that doesn’t support solo play. I simply wouldn’t buy it. You can make a game that discourages soloing by making it very difficult to achieve. I might try it and if it’s not enjoyable
guess what? I’d unsubscribe. It’s really very simple. People who
prefer to level solo can’t be coerced into grouping when it’s not
how they elect to play. I group on occasion - when I want.
Over the years, I find myself grouping less. It has nothing to do with WOW making it easier or Blizzard coming down from the burning bush saying that soloing is acceptable, by virtue of how easy it is to do in WOW. I soloed the first MMO I ever played simply because that’s me. All the while however, I actively recruited for the guild, was very responsive to players asking for help and provided my crafting goods to guildies for free. I helped people asking questions in general chat. I stopped what I was doing to help someone losing a fight. I gave away items to strangers that I couldn’t sell but needed to make to progress my crafting. AND ALL OF THIS ACTIVITY IS SOCIAL AND GROUP PLAY. I just don’t need to f’n level with other players if I'm not in the mood. I really wish people would stop fixating on this one aspect of the game as if it’s the holy grail of what shouldn’t be done alone. I don’t notice these same players complaining that you can harvest alone. You can progress crafting alone. You can explore alone. What’s the big deal that there are some of us who extend that to leveling? Sometimes I suspect that people worrying about solo players are really more concerned about themselves and their own personal perception of how a game should be played. Are they finding it harder to get groups because in their minds too many people are off soloing? Are they worried that too much development time is being spent on making solo content? If they are, I’d like to see them have developers back off from creating the high end content that a pittance of the game population ever sees, before they worry about what I’m doing with my game time.
As someone who strives to respect other player’s preferences and
styles, this is a topic that really sets me off. You do your thing
and I’ll do mine. You can’t make this go away with a game mechanic. I
would solo regardless. You’re assuming to know why I play MMOs or why
I choose to solo. I’m sure some of the reasons for soloing are the
same while many are not. I just don’t know why other people feel the
need to care about how others are playing. I sense a fear that the
face of leveling in MMORPGs might change as a result. That’s certainly
not my aim. However, if a majority of people who are playing MMOs today prefer to solo, it makes sense for developrs to accept it and give the
public what they want. It's called evolution, baby. Games are evolving as more people play them. I get enough of the group dynamic during the day. It's called my job.
EQ2 has gotten more solo friendly over the years and I can tell. When
I realized I couldn’t solo the first time I purchased it, I left. I
kept coming back because there were other things that I enjoyed but the
lack of solo options kept me from staying subscribed. This time around
it’s even better. It’s still not the most efficient method. I won’t
see any of the lower level dungeons. I dislike quests even more than
groups, so there goes quest/group gear and rewards. I know the score
and make other arrangements to reach those ends. Why should anyone
else care that I’ve embarked on a journey that will be a harder for me
and much more costly, if I’m content with the path I’ve chosen? It's acceptable to me that it's harder to solo in EQ2 because there are other things I enjoy which are worth the trade off. If there weren't and it was just harder to level solo, I would have unsubscribed the first time and never looked back.
Games need revenue to survive. My money is as green as someone who prefers to group. Few game developers can afford to build mechanics into a game that limit options, as it limits potential customers. Let’s face. It’s a game to us but a business to them. I would think the churn in game development companies in recent months would make that clear enough. MMOs of the future should offer more choices not less. By all means, fix whatever is broken about grouping in general and dealing with PUGs. But me solo leveling in an MMO – that’s something that just ain’t broken.
I wish Developpers would add more duo content as well. I love soloing as I do not want to always relate on others. Same in real-life. I do understand that some aspects of the game should be orientated towards grouping, but since it seems that the average age of MMO players tends to be in the mid-thirties (and this implies players that do have a job and duties at home, therefore less time to play), this aspect should be taken into consideration more and more in the future.
Many couples do play together as well. I play with my partner since 3 years now, and from our own experience it has been very difficult to find groups (pickup or in guild) for small instances (I'm talking about WoW mainly) since we both had DPS classes and it's always the healer or the tank that is missing. We wasted too much time waiting to create a group or to be invited in a group so we just stopped grouping and concentrated on battlegrounds, crafting etc.
In EQ2 it was easier since most of the instances with the exception of the highest levels can be completed with 2 players (depending on your class of course but with an illusionist and a dps it's a piece of cake) and a few levels higher than the instance requirements. Same for Lotro.
Hence, I won't waste any money anymore on a game that would be mainly focused on grouping (i.e. more than 2 players).
Posted by: Syah | August 06, 2008 at 07:49 AM
Mmmm...
Another post that personifies my reasoning for going back to Guild Wars.
Myself, my wife, no need to bother with others...yet we can easily chat with them, trade with them. And yes, even gather in Pre-Ascalon and have a Dance Party!
The new Heroes system is awesome, and the fact Guild Wars 2 will be "persistent" zones, but still allow a "single" Hero type to go with you...removes the need to two box even.
I so wish Guild Wars 2 was out NOW, as WAR is still sounding very pushy in respects to groups, and the fact people are desperate to form guilds before launch shows this.
You solo away, live free like the Butterfly you are, yet watch out for that Elite called the Windshield, as it always causes "Res sickness"
Posted by: Openedge1 | August 06, 2008 at 12:59 PM
I think many of those who complain about people soloing are those with a very achiever mindset - gettting the optimal xp, best loot drops or whatever it may be. Not teaming in combat goes in the opposite direction of what they think is the way to play the game.
Personally I love teaming as defined by the limited scope that includes direct support from the game itself. But only during certain circumstances. Friendly and nice people in the group and the setting. If there is a story told, then that should be possible to follow.
Teaming in many MMOs does not do much to encourage that, it is more achiever oriented and preferably also that all are in sync and play generally in a certain way.
The game were I have been teaming by far more than any other MMO is City of Heroes/Villains, because there are not many hassles around it and indirectly encourages a friendly atmosphese more than other games and many different team constellations, which is part of the charm. And also simply because soloing can get tedious there.
Posted by: Sente | August 06, 2008 at 02:33 PM
I think duo content would be very nice. Unless my memory is faulty, it seemed more naturally available in AC2. Back then I ran in a little quartet but we were usually playing as a duo or trio depending on who was on at the time. When I wasn't soloing I was mostly in a duo and I don't recall it ever being a problem. In fact, other than the master vaults which had what 60+ people in them I don't ever recall needing a set number of people to do anything. We ran the same content when it was two, three or five of us. The only quest I really recall outside of vaults needing a minimum number of players and certain classes was Boots. Gawd, I hated that quest chain. I eventually sore off of it entirely. Talk about group drama, Boots took the cake. Okay, I guess IceFire needed minimum peeps too but you just showed up and the location and joined whoever was around.
GW2 - I'm all over it. I enjoyed many things about GW except for the ultra static feel to the completely instanced world. That was a turn off to me. Everything else can stay the same and just the fact that they are moving away from that aspect will be enough for me to buy it. It's free to play so I have nothing to lose by giving it a whirl when it comes out. I hope the AC1 still lives while AC2 goes under doesn't strike GW.
Posted by: Saylah | August 06, 2008 at 05:52 PM
I have no problem at all with soloing being a viable option, even though I personally do not enjoy it. What I hate is what I noticed in WoW -- with the exception of instances you are *better off* soloing then duoing or grouping, by far, in terms of both exp per hour and quest completion time. It shouldn't be a disadvantage to group, just as it shouldn't be unviable to solo.
Posted by: Loredena | August 07, 2008 at 10:18 AM
Loredena, isn't that "time efficiency" thing offset by the greater loot rewards of grouping? That's certainly the case in the WoW endgame raiding scheme.
Also, efficiency isn't what is being talked about here; it's about various playstyles, specifically solo play. Some people just play to play. That said, min/maxing the game is a playstyle, and yes, it would be nice if soloing and grouping were balanced. No argument there.
Posted by: Tesh | August 07, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Tesh -- in instances yes, but not just for general grouping to level and quest together as friends. That's my frustration. You can't really level up entirely in instances, and attempting to level with even just my husband, never mind a group, was much slower then if we just went off and solo'd. I think you *should* be able to solo without much difficulty, but I would like to duo or group without feeling like we're wasting our time.
Posted by: Loredena | August 07, 2008 at 08:03 PM
When I'm playing MMOs I don't even consider what's the fastest way to level. I choose a class I like and I try to be as effective with that class as possible. If I know the game doesn't go out of its way to support soloing then I take that into consideration when planning my journey. Like in EQ2 I go in prepared to spend a LOT of gold on upgrading my gear, a LOT of gold keeping my primary skills upgraded and always use food with buffs.
Ideally, I'd like to see that playing solo is as effective as group. Not sure that's possible outside of instances. If I kill a mob by myself I get all the XP. If three people kill that same mob they split the XP. It's the trade of grouping to do quests and world kills versus doing that solo. Whereas people who solo don't get the gear sets or loot from the group content.
My son who level 3 characters to max level in WOW did so primarily through instances. He hates running around doing quests and despises grinding. Of course he had to do a bit of all three to make it but primarily he did instances. As a result, he also had more gold than I did because he got to auction the items that were BOE and disenchanted the BOPs. Pros and cons to both approaches.
Posted by: Saylah | August 07, 2008 at 10:23 PM
My ultimate purpose is to have fun. And when it becomes tedious to wait for a group and you spent your entire evening waiting, that's no fun anymore.
Also I never focus on XP,although it is true that in most MMOs it's more XP-effective to solo than group since when you group you share some XP).
I just would like to have access to group content by either solo or duo. They start to understand this as for the next WoW-expansion there will be 2 instance modes: one 10+ people and the other 25+ people. Loots will be better in the 25 people option which is understandable. But at least there is the choice.
Well, I absolutely would love to see instances with a solo mode (just to have fun and exercise your playstyle, why not), a duo mode, and a group mode (whether it's 5+, 10+ or 25+), with different types of loot and difficulty settings depending on the mode. (and this is different from the normal or heroic mode in WoW, since both require 5+ group).
Posted by: Syah | August 08, 2008 at 06:18 AM
@Syah - I think the answer to why not is, there is no reason not to do it. Age of Conan has solo instances and scripted events called Destiny Quests. Besides the combat mechanic and great graphics, this was the best part of the game. It's exciting to do a well scripted event knowing that you have to complete it all on your own. If you get in there and find that you can't, you leave and prepare more. At least that's what I did.
I understand the potential content development time sync of doing solo instances in something like AOC because you only do them once. However, for repeatable content there is no real reason other than, no one has done it yet - and because, it's an MMO. *grumble* If not solo then at least do some duo content. I'd be 2-boxing all over the place. *snicker*
Posted by: Saylah | August 08, 2008 at 08:00 AM