This is a very simple thread, and at the same time one that will no doubt baffle me. The question is simple, do you like to group up, or do you prefer to stick to yourself in an MMO? 

Sub question - Do you get involved with guilds beyond guild benefits, when I say benefits I mean EXP increasees, drop rate bonuses etc, not the bonuses of having a group of raiders/people you know and can play with well.

To put it bluntly, it depends.

It depends on a lot of things, like my mood, what I am trying to accomplish, how many people I need, and how easy it is to find said people.

Most of the time, I find that I get more done faster by just going solo, and I dont have to share loot.

I like grouping up only if it's entirely optional.   By that I mean not just content.   If there are tangible benefits to my character's power for being in a guild, then I consider that mandatory.

"You can't attempt this task unless you have at least X friends with you..." is my most hated statement in MMOs.

If I group up because the game demands it, them I'm resentful the entire time I'm in that group.   That's bound to make me more irritable and less welcoming of others.

I can determine my willingness to even attempt a new game with two questions:

1.  Is PvP optional?   If not, I'm gone.

2.  Is there forced grouping?   If yes, I'm gone.

For the most part I play games to escape from other people, even within MMO's. I don't mind grouping with others as needed and have even joined guilds and got quite social in them. My default is solo though as I can go at my own pace (I find general questing a pain with others because they are just so slow and seem to have to go afk when I am there and get impatient when I am afk).

But most of the time I find other people annoying in RPG's because they do not RP. If people were to RP then I would be more inclined to be more social. Games I have played where I joined a guild were the ones where most of the server was into RP and so I could see the benefits of having an 'identity'.

But even if I do join a guild I do so to have others to goup with for group quests or raids or for some PvP. I do not get into the whole guild politics thing, don't aspire to any leadership position and do not really use it to know people out of game but rather as a tool for in game.

Sure, just don't "force" me to.

oh- and theres a stickied post on the top of this board for this question  

Depends.

Hate DDOs as it is just a zerg fest, people always rushing through the quest or if you have a CC sorc or wiz (infinate CC on all mobs cept the mosses and mini bosses)the quest is completely trivilized and is a faceroll.

AoC I LOVED grouping.  2 tanks or a real tank n an off tank (there is no single tank since the mechanics were that heals were not heal bot mechanics), 2 different kinds of healers, 2 DPS.  Early dungeons was challenging at level and was great experiance.

I like grouping as I play an MMO for the multiplayer experiance and not for a single player experiance *cough*SWTOR*cough*.

When a game doesn't require grouping, in general, no. It's quicker to solo, you can take breaks whenever you want, all the loot is your, and since I like reading quest text I have all the time in the world.

Obiovusly for MMOs that required grouping, it depends on a few things. In EQ, and to a lesser extent FFXI(didn't like FFXI's interface), I enjoyed grouping. I would chat with the other group members while someone pulled some random creature for us to murder. Sure it took awhile to get groups and now that I'm working I might not like my free time being spent sitting around for groups, but it got me to know more people on the server. I also prefered grouping in MMOs whose dungeons were public and not instanced. Sure instanced are faster paced since you keep moving forward and camping can be pretty darn boring at times, but it did make me excited whenever we moved to a new camp in a part of the dungeon I hadn't seen before.

Sorry was going off topic, but what I'm trying to say is I like grouping when each mob is actually at least a mild challange. Not like your one click from dying from A_Burly_Gnoll_023 but if everyone was screwing around there being a chance of things getting nasty real quick. The reason for that being people will be more focused on the task at hand, interacting and working with your group, while at the same time not having to focus on constantly moving through the same dungeon's boss for the 1000th time.

So what I'm trying to say is.....I like groups when grouping lends itself to meeting and getting to know more of your servers community. Several faster paced mmos don't seem to do that. I know I could get to know group members or at least try even on mmos like WoW, it just seems easier on slower paced games.

Oh and as for guilds. I join them to have people to chat with more or less.

With friends, family and my guildmates - Yes

Random groups - No

On the sub question, it all depends on what I can do to contribute to the guild In EQ2, I really liked the fact that everything i did passively contributed to the guild. In UO, SB, EVE and Puzzle Pirates I took a more active role in the guild because our guild always had some kind of goal or objective we were working toward.

I've enjoyed it a lot, when the game supports people getting to know eachother gradually, and grouping up, if they get along well.  I think more MMOs need a freeform co-op element, like public grouping, or open raids, where people benefit from communicating enough that they'd actually do it.   

I hate grouping with random strangers.  I used to do a lot of that, but it's just gone way too wrong, way too often, and frankly, I'm sick of it.

Grouping is dying in MMOs, because devs are not even trying to get creative about the issue.  They're just sticking to the same old barebones social frameworks, that've been around since EQ.

I only enjoy grouping with nice, laid back people.

Otherwise "no", I would prefer to be on my own.

I believe in the guild as family so I believe that I can and should be a part of making that guild a great place to be. Whether that's helping new players or running a dungeon upteen times so that  everyone has a chance at it.

I enjoy grouping.  I don't like PUGs or automated groups.  I want to group with people I have contact with on a regular basis, like guildies.  Anonymous grouping just breeds toxic behavior because of lack of accountability.

Originally posted by Loktofeit

With friends, family and my guildmates - Yes

Random groups - No

On the sub question, it all depends on what I can do to contribute to the guild In EQ2, I really liked the fact that everything i did passively contributed to the guild. In UO, SB, EVE and Puzzle Pirates I took a more active role in the guild because our guild always had some kind of goal or objective we were working toward.

Originally posted by Vhaln

I've enjoyed it a lot, when the game supports people getting to know eachother gradually, and grouping up, if they get along well.  I think more MMOs need a freeform co-op element, like public grouping, or open raids, where people benefit from communicating enough that they'd actually do it.   

I hate grouping with random strangers.  I used to do a lot of that, but it's just gone way too wrong, way too often, and frankly, I'm sick of it.

Grouping is dying in MMOs, because devs are not even trying to get creative about the issue.  They're just sticking to the same old barebones social frameworks, that've been around since EQ.

Originally posted by Sovrath

I only enjoy grouping with nice, laid back people.

Otherwise "no", I would prefer to be on my own.

I believe in the guild as family so I believe that I can and should be a part of making that guild a great place to be. Whether that's helping new players or running a dungeon upteen times so that  everyone has a chance at it.

Originally posted by XAPGames

I enjoy grouping.  I don't like PUGs or automated groups.  I want to group with people I have contact with on a regular basis, like guildies.  Anonymous grouping just breeds toxic behavior because of lack of accountability.

Those posts sum up my feelings as well.

I enjoy having a virtual society formed by many human controled characters that delivers political, social, diplomatic, psychological, moral and tactical challenges to me (like in a virtual world). To group is only a tiny portion of it.

I've found I play for the community first, not game mechanics... so it depends entirely on the people.

I *love* grouping. And I won't just group up for achievement, I'll group for the enjoyment of it all... So I vastly prefer inadequate but courteous players to skilled jerks who suck the enjoyment out of everyone but the strictly reward-minded.

Similarly, I'm OK with wiping on a boss for hours on end with a fun guild while an efficient run with a much-too-uptight guild bores me to tears after a while.