General Discussion

I play for the exploration of worlds and the adventure that comes with it.

You simply cannot find many single player RPG games with the content of an MMO. I solo most of my time or group with real life close friends. I do not enjoy catering to other peoples agendas or habits and refuse to be told by someone how to play, which is common in groups.

I love the size and freedom an MMO world provides and enjoy the many hours I can spend exploring and encountering new things. I get distracted in games very easy and fly off on tangents to do many things at once. I never follow set routes or even quest lines and I enjoy finding things out for myself. A high percentage of players on any game are playing for gain, be that loot, gold, new powers or progression. They want to find the shortest route to level 1000 and don't often care about what's around them or how superb the sun rise is over the Wetlands. these are the common people you find and end up grouping with, and these are the people I don't want to group with, not just cos I don't like them but because that is not my play style. I play these games for the journey through the worlds not for the last level.

I'm glad developers are catering for solo play and I encourage that and hope it continues.

V

i try to only group with friends or if i have to with someone to do something mainly due to my friends being offline. most u cant trust they will ninja your crap or just leave besides playing with your friends is better. if i had to run kara i rather wait for friends then pug it. and solo sometimes is fun (sometimes) when u need to level really quick or just want a break from groups or the people in your guild u need both for mmos

in a way I think there should be more merely multiplayer games, other than fps' that give players cooperative tasks. That would bring a few more ideas to the scene before taking them to a massively multiplayer game.

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Originally posted by UsualSuspect
Just because MMO's offer these side things, don't be fooled into thinking thats what the game is there for. MMO's have been and should be focused primarily on multiplayer action, not soloing and tending to those who want to stay at level 1, chat to friends and make pretty objects while roleplaying marriage.

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Who are you to tell people what they can and cannot enjoy? People who want to roleplay marriage are free to do so, even if it's a bit odd. Personally I think all this fanaticism with dungeons and grouping is insane. People are assholes, and I don't want my progress to be dependent on the whim of some prick who has no interest in my well being. Even after finding a good guild, there will always be somebody who is willing to be a jerk if it's easier for him.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think people should solo all the time (and I certainly wouldn't want to) but I think we should have our content split in such a way that you don't *HAVE* to do either. You can solo all the way to the end, or you can group all the way to the end, or you can mix it up and do both. This way people feel free to do whatever they want and aren't pigeon-holed into whatever the developers decide is the flavor of the month.

That means people who like crafting should be rewarded for doing so, and people who like exploring should feel rewarded as well. Every time an MMO leaves out a group of players, the industry is again cheated out of a number of people who might have picked up an MMO and gotten hooked, but didn't see the point. There are still millions and millions of people out there who don't play, and might be willing to if they were only shown that they CAN do what they want to do and be successful at it.

In summary, don't pretend you are the ultimate source of "what MMOs are for." MMOs are for people to play a game and have fun, and to do it in a place where they can communicate and interact with other people. By pretending that crafting or roleplaying are "lesser" forms of gameplay, you are just as bad as the person who suggests everything should be soloable, and the person who suggests the best gear in the game should only be made by crafters.

First off I have to agree that games are becoming in general much more solo friendly, which really began especailly with the success of WoW and than ran into other MMO's.  For example look at Everquest 2 at launch, not nearly as solo friendly as it is now after countless changes.  And for an MMO to come out that is much less solo friendly and focuses again on groups its going to take a brave developer and one that pushes out a polished game that will probably have to find a niche audience, as it appears people are partial to solo play.

In my personal opinion I feel that having solo play is not that big of a deal, but as people have mentioned the major problem is linear (rushed) questing that puts peoples mind in a one track path and people not stopping to try new areas, take a look around - always going for the best gear and the fastest xp.

Of all the games out there now I have played or play I feel like Vanguard is one of the better or best (imo) for grouping.  For some reason (maybe because of the size of the world... how it's laid out .. or the fact that there isnt a ton of end game content waiting for me) I have taken my time in leveling up in Vanguard.  I have been playing since launch and my highest lv character is a 38 warrior - It should be mentioned also that I have taken many long breaks from the game (well breaks from mmos in general - a month or more).

But either way I have truly been enjoying Vanguard and especially once I got into the 20's and even more as I got further I used soloing as a means of xping when I had limited time or when it was difficult to find a group.  But I still spend a majority of my time grouping and have found the closest social experience to eq in quite some time.  The fighting is much more frantic than eq (alot more buttons to push) which sadly seems to take away from social intereact ion in groups - not to mention some camping but not as much.  But b oth of tehse things make the game funner in alot of ways as well.

I guess what i'm saying is solo play is likely here to stay in atleast most mainstream mmo's, but they have the ability to make grouping an intregal part of the game as well and I feel Vanguard has done a rather solid job with that - Now I just hope updates get going a bit faster and maybe populations rise a bit, because I would absolutely love to see even fuller servers and experience an expansion sometime down the road.

Kalade

Originally posted by Aethios

You can solo all the way to the end, or you can group all the way to the end, or you can mix it up and do both. This way people feel free to do whatever they want and aren't pigeon-holed into whatever the developers decide is the flavor of the month.

I think people prefer the idea of being 'uber' and not needing the help, that their toon is so strong that they can defeat everything in their path. But how does that fit into the idea of a multiplayer game? Like I've said before, if something is advertised as a multiplayer game, I fully expect to be joining up with other players to tackle the content. That isn't happening anymore.

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Originally posted by UsualSuspect

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Originally posted by Aethios

You can solo all the way to the end, or you can group all the way to the end, or you can mix it up and do both. This way people feel free to do whatever they want and aren't pigeon-holed into whatever the developers decide is the flavor of the month.

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A good idea in principle, but we all know that people will go the solo route every time. Take a look at EQ2, people are soloing all the way to maximum level since Kunark. I've been playing there for the last month and even though I ask for groups, I've never got into one.
I think people prefer the idea of being 'uber' and not needing the help, that their toon is so strong that they can defeat everything in their path. But how does that fit into the idea of a multiplayer game? Like I've said before, if something is advertised as a multiplayer game, I fully expect to be joining up with other players to tackle the content. That isn't happening anymore.

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Perhaps, then, the problem lies with the multiplayer content rather than the single-player content. You are quick to jump all over soloing, but isn't it true that more people would group if the grouping rewards are better? What if they are the same rewards, but the grouping players get them much faster? Of course, the preferred system would be that both soloing and grouping can contribute collectively, so that neither ends up being time wasted, but that's a discussion for another day.

My point is, people are choosing to solo not because they don't like to group, but because it's much more difficult to group than to solo. It's hard to get a half dozen people together in one place, at the right level, and of the right classes. If they were given more tools and options to group, perhaps the grouping environment would be more conducive and people more willing to actually participate in the content.

There is nothing wrong if I can solo in the game, there is nothing wrong if I can group in the game.  There is nothing wrong if there are quests, there is nothing wrong if mobs are around for me to grind.  There is nothing wrong if there is crafting, if there is ... 

There is something wrong if I must solo, or if I must group to get anything done.  There is something wrong if there are must do quests, or that I must grind to get to certain effects (say a skill or a level).  There is something wrong if I must this or that ...

Having options are good, especially if there are equally viable and desirable alternative.