MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood has updated the official Staff Blog with a new entry discussing grouping in MMOs.

I just can’t get over how some people complain that MMOs, both current and in-development, are including a great deal of soloable content in their games. I keep reading post after post of people complaining that, “if people want to play solo, they should just play a single player game.” The problem is, there’s a point being missed here. People who play an MMO and prefer to play solo aren’t looking to play a single player game. In fact, a populated virtual world is exactly where they want to be.

Players who choose not to group aren’t necessarily anti-social. In fact, they probably enjoy playing in the same world as hundreds or thousands of other people. These same people, given a group of friends playing, would probably be open and eager to group play, they just don’t want to open themselves up to pick up groups with strangers who might not share their idea of what the game should be. There’s nothing worse for a role player or character / story driven player than to get into a group with a power gamer, and vice-versa. It’s often like oil and water, mixing the two just leaves you slippery and wet.

Read Blog: Grouping Not For Everyone

Originally posted by Stradden

MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood has updated the official Staff Blog with a new entry discussing grouping in MMOs.

 

Players who choose not to group aren’t necessarily anti-social. In fact, they probably enjoy playing in the same world as hundreds or thousands of other people. These same people, given a group of friends playing, would probably be open and eager to group play, they just don’t want to open themselves up to pick up groups with strangers who might not share their idea of what the game should be. There’s nothing worse for a role player or character / story driven player than to get into a group with a power gamer, and vice-versa. It’s often like oil and water, mixing the two just leaves you slippery and wet.

 

Exactly the reason I prefer not to group- I don't like to roll the dice and feel pressured. I prefer to go at my own pace. I do realize that I may miss out on some good groups, but I also don't mind taking  the extra time to level.  It does sometimes happen that a quest is too difficult to solo,  I will group , skip or delay..but I don't want to ruin the immersive experience  by being in a poorly fitting group.

Read Blog: Grouping Not For Everyone

I think  many soloers are reluctant soloers.  One of the big problems is finding people to do the group content you want to finish. Sub optimal server populations at certain level ranges and poor tools to find groups don't help. I always find it sad to delete a whole dungeons worth of quests from my journal because they have been outgrown (or worse the journal is full so you delete the stuff for the dungeon that no one wants to go too).

I am a person who primarily likes soloing unless it is with my immediate friends and family. The main reason is time....I work nights and that speaks for it all but even when I was on day shift the amount of time you have to spend dealing with a chain quest that can only be done by a group is boring and tiresome. I guess I am not a hardcore player. I can power level like a lot of people but I find that questing and even instancing at lower levels is more exciting then spending hours tryiong to get the uber gear. There are other factors as well but too much to mention. I love playing MMOs though and will never stop unless I am too poor to pay. :) God bless you all in your adventures.

I play a game to experience the game not to rush through it as fast as possible. In almost every group I've joined there is someone who has done the quest/instance and wants to rush to the end points. The result is I never get to explore that dungeon or instance. That is why I avoid groups.

At least someone other than myself and a few others agree.

Originally posted by grunty

I play a game to experience the game not to rush through it as fast as possible. In almost every group I've joined there is someone who has done the quest/instance and wants to rush to the end points. The result is I never get to explore that dungeon or instance. That is why I avoid groups.

 I agree completely. Only people I group with are friends and family. I actually want to take my time and enjoy the content.

Variety is the key to any good MMO, and any good MMO company understands this. Being able to solo when you want while grouping when you want is the key, and good MMOs will have balanced content (or probably something like 75% solo, 25% grouping if they want soloing to be the dominant playstyle... you still have a choice).

I solo but I can still group when I want to. Can I do that in a single-player game? No.

This is a great topic sir and the first of its kind i have seen i dont understand why some peoples just dont get on their heads that grouping isn-t for everybody simply as that it just doesn-t make any sense many of us would rather to play solo might be enjoying the mmorpg itself or because we like the storyline that is on them mmorpgs are just virtual worlds and grouping is one of many other options out there, what about a warrior that just like to travel the world? why cant he travel to places that are only designed to partys?  or maybe a player as you said that is story driven is just that peoples like theses don-t have any rights on the world of mmorpgs? either way lets hope new games consider improving that aspect and whoever that doesn-t like the solo style can go group on the thousand of mmorpgs out there no need to complain.