I'm not talking about having companions (npc or player)...but one character being able to solo 100% of everything. Now...hear me out...

Many MMOs, especially themeparks...they in a way...very much mislead you. You can spen levels 1 to 85 (as an example) being able to do EVERYTHING solo. Suddenly you hit max level...and the game had the bait...then it switched...suddenly there is very little content you can solo. You can only do raids if you are in a group, or if the raids become out of date (and that takes a while)...only very few (if any) classes are able to solo (when, while leveling, every class can solo everything). 

MMOs are already on the path of becoming quick to play, cheap and more solo oriented. Log on, do raid/dungeon finder...play for 15-30 min and accomplish a lot. Not relying on spamming chat "lfg" "lfg"...15 minutes later... "lfg". And many MMOs are very quickly relying on the player WANTING to group, and not feeling FORCED to group. WoW went far down this path, but to do new raids...still need a group and (last I saw), new raids aren't part of the raid finder. SWTOR was on the way to this path, but found voice acting and adding to the story was much more expensive than adding raids that forced you to group.

But you can still group up while leveling in WoW and themeparks, doing dungeons and what not (that are still solable with certain classes)...if you want to...not if you are forced to.

You can't because then it loses the MM part in Mmorpg

There has to be some group content in it otherwise it is a single player game that just requires an internet connection..

Originally posted by shawn01
Why not just play single player games if you want to solo everything? MMO's main selling point is the multiplayer aspect, socialization and playing with other people.

not anymore if you look at recent standerds :(

Originally posted by hockeyplayr

You can't because then it loses the MM part in Mmorpg

There has to be some group content in it otherwise it is a single player game that just requires an internet connection..

If the MMO is supposed to be forced grouping...it should be the WHOLE game. Not being able to solo everything, then suddenly hit a brick wall. The MMO (MMORPG or otherwise) should be quick and easy to play.

Plus, the MMO genre is changing. No longer are you forced to spend 15 dollars a month...and it also encompasses many genres and games. Things change and evolve.

People should WANT to group with someone. Not be forced to group up with them.

Originally posted by TheScavenger

Originally posted by hockeyplayr

You can't because then it loses the MM part in Mmorpg

There has to be some group content in it otherwise it is a single player game that just requires an internet connection..

If the MMO is supposed to be forced grouping...it should be the WHOLE game. Not being able to solo everything, then suddenly hit a brick wall. The MMO (MMORPG or otherwise) should be quick and easy to play.

Plus, the MMO genre is changing. No longer are you forced to spend 15 dollars a month...and it also encompasses many genres and games. Things change and evolve.

 

People should WANT to group with someone. Not be forced to group up with them.

 

Another reason may be because they'd have to publish more content then.  When people have to coordinate together things are bound to go wrong at some point.  This forces people to have to retry the same content on top of having to grind it as well.  If it was set up for one person, someone would just come up with a guide for that class and everyone would blast through it

Originally posted by hockeyplayr

Originally posted by TheScavenger

Originally posted by hockeyplayr

You can't because then it loses the MM part in Mmorpg

There has to be some group content in it otherwise it is a single player game that just requires an internet connection..

If the MMO is supposed to be forced grouping...it should be the WHOLE game. Not being able to solo everything, then suddenly hit a brick wall. The MMO (MMORPG or otherwise) should be quick and easy to play.

Plus, the MMO genre is changing. No longer are you forced to spend 15 dollars a month...and it also encompasses many genres and games. Things change and evolve.

 

People should WANT to group with someone. Not be forced to group up with them.

 

Another reason may be because they'd have to publish more content then.  When people have to coordinate together things are bound to go wrong at some point.  This forces people to have to retry the same content on top of having to grind it as well.  If it was set up for one person, someone would just come up with a guide for that class and everyone would blast through it

By that line of thought. Themeparks shouldn't have quests or any kind of puzzle/storyline or anything like that...because someone can just go on the wiki and blast through it.

Now, there are games like Skyrim...but you have to actually pay for them. High quality singleplayer RPGs are MUCH more expensive than free to play and freemium MMOs. That is why I play freemium MMOs, to see a world and explore it and play on my own terms for a very cheap to non existant price. Plus, MMOs tend to last much longer than singleplayer games, and are always updated.

See, many MMOs are already more than half way there to being fully solable. You can hop on, play 15-30 minutes and accomplish a lot. But, then you hit endgame...and are forced to spend a lot of time getting a group...when before, you didn't need to rely on that at all. 

Like I said...one should WANT to group. Not be FORCED to group. That shows a lack of social skills, when someone needs to be forced to group with someone to socialize with them.

When i started playing DAoC in 2001 i had always played single player games, and i wasn't really interested in playing with other people. I tried to solo for a while, and occasionally someone would invite me to a group, and i noticed i made much much more exp in the group. I could solo if i wanted, but if i grouped i would gain 5x more exp. I made a lot of friends playing that game, because it basically forced me to group.

I havent made a single new friend in any recent WoW clone, simply because there is no reason to group. I don't do the gear grind thing, so normally i'll play a game like Rift or GW2 to max level a time or two then i move on.

Being forced to group to level is imo a good thing. If you choose to solo it should be long hard road, but its an achievement. Making it easy to solo everything in modern games takes away that sense of achievement.

Ive Solo WoW many many times very easy to lvl up a OP toon and solo instences in WoW right now you can solo instence with the hunter class in WoW very easy. For that matter get someone to join you in xfer your party to a raid and solo some of the WotLK raids or even BC raids for that matter. Heck Ive even solo Stormstout trash mobs had a little prob with the boss.

All comes down to the mechanics of the game.

Originally posted by Isturi

Ive Solo WoW many many times very easy to lvl up a OP toon and solo instences in WoW right now you can solo instence with the hunter class in WoW very easy. For that matter get someone to join you in xfer your party to a raid and solo some of the WotLK raids or even BC raids for that matter. Heck Ive even solo Stormstout trash mobs had a little prob with the boss.

All comes down to the mechanics of the game.

Key word "Current"  raids. I can solo old raids as a Death Knight in WoW. But I can't solo 100% of the content solo. When the leveling process was 100% solo, then the whole game should be too. If that wasn't the "real" game...they should just automatically make you the max level and skip leveling entirely. At least no one would be fooled.

Also, I made many friends in WoW. I joined a guild and socialized in chat (both in general, trade and guild chats). I wasn't forced to become friends with them for whatever benefit I wanted out of the friendship...I became friends with them because I liked them and WANTED to be friends.

Grouping should be the same way.

Originally posted by TheScavenger

Originally posted by hockeyplayr

Originally posted by TheScavenger

Originally posted by hockeyplayr

You can't because then it loses the MM part in Mmorpg

There has to be some group content in it otherwise it is a single player game that just requires an internet connection..

If the MMO is supposed to be forced grouping...it should be the WHOLE game. Not being able to solo everything, then suddenly hit a brick wall. The MMO (MMORPG or otherwise) should be quick and easy to play.

Plus, the MMO genre is changing. No longer are you forced to spend 15 dollars a month...and it also encompasses many genres and games. Things change and evolve.

 

People should WANT to group with someone. Not be forced to group up with them.

 

Another reason may be because they'd have to publish more content then.  When people have to coordinate together things are bound to go wrong at some point.  This forces people to have to retry the same content on top of having to grind it as well.  If it was set up for one person, someone would just come up with a guide for that class and everyone would blast through it

By that line of thought. Themeparks shouldn't have quests or any kind of puzzle/storyline or anything like that...because someone can just go on the wiki and blast through it.

 

Now, there are games like Skyrim...but you have to actually pay for them. High quality singleplayer RPGs are MUCH more expensive than free to play and freemium MMOs. That is why I play freemium MMOs, to see a world and explore it and play on my own terms for a very cheap to non existant price. Plus, MMOs tend to last much longer than singleplayer games, and are always updated.

 

See, many MMOs are already more than half way there to being fully solable. You can hop on, play 15-30 minutes and accomplish a lot. But, then you hit endgame...and are forced to spend a lot of time getting a group...when before, you didn't need to rely on that at all. 

 

Like I said...one should WANT to group. Not be FORCED to group. That shows a lack of social skills, when someone needs to be forced to group with someone to socialize with them.

So your a cheapskate?

Again go play a single player if you do not want any social interaction.

Social interaction has been what defined this freaking genre and people want to turn it into a single player game? just because they can get away with playing for free? omg.  IF you LIKE a game you freaking pay the bucks for it to support them to make more of that same type of game. Is bad enough as it is that content is soloable and people get spoonfed rewards evrywhere. now u want to remove the entire neccesity to group. 

im at a loss of words.. i can only smash my face into my keyboard now.. this is ridiculous.

Originally posted by TheScavenger

Originally posted by Isturi

Ive Solo WoW many many times very easy to lvl up a OP toon and solo instences in WoW right now you can solo instence with the hunter class in WoW very easy. For that matter get someone to join you in xfer your party to a raid and solo some of the WotLK raids or even BC raids for that matter. Heck Ive even solo Stormstout trash mobs had a little prob with the boss.

All comes down to the mechanics of the game.

Key word "Current"  raids. I can solo old raids as a Death Knight in WoW. But I can't solo 100% of the content solo. When the leveling process was 100% solo, then the whole game should be too. If that wasn't the "real" game...they should just automatically make you the max level and skip leveling entirely. At least no one would be fooled.

I agree. WoW mechanics is so very easy to master. Just find out wich ever class is OP for the latest patch lvl it up and go to town. Right now for WoW would be as you mention DK and the Hunter class along with the Monk class lmao basicly any class that has heals is OP now. Depends on your play style I guess. Feel bad for the players who like the rogue class. ouch.

Originally posted by JerYnkFan
Pokket wrote an article about this a few weeks back.  To me a solo MMO is an oxymoron.  While there should be things you can solo, the whole purpose of a MMO is to play with other people otherwise it's a open ended single player game like Skyrim.

I think the solo / group combination is fine. There are things you could fight by yourself, and there are things you would need friends for. What blurs this is when they try to make solo stuff look 'epic' and therefore cheapening the experience of grouping. GW2 handled this pretty well by having NPCs help you during the solo story, so you didnt seem like an omnipotent god, then go to a dungeon and need help killing lesser creatures.

Its pretty reasonable to assume that someone could go out practicing and learning to become a better fighter by themselves, but to achieve certain goals they would need a squad or army.

Originally posted by evilastro
EQ2 pretty much already offers that. There are solo versions of all the highest level content.

Really?

That's pretty sweet.  I've been playing single player rpg's lately and I've founf them to be vastly more entertaining than grouping with people these days.  The only thing missing is a chat to troll lol.

I might give EQ2 another go just to have a little variety.

Originally posted by TheScavenger

I'm not talking about having companions (npc or player)...but one character being able to solo 100% of everything. Now...hear me out...

 

Many MMOs, especially themeparks...they in a way...very much mislead you. You can spen levels 1 to 85 (as an example) being able to do EVERYTHING solo. Suddenly you hit max level...and the game had the bait...then it switched...suddenly there is very little content you can solo. You can only do raids if you are in a group, or if the raids become out of date (and that takes a while)...only very few (if any) classes are able to solo (when, while leveling, every class can solo everything). 

 

MMOs are already on the path of becoming quick to play, cheap and more solo oriented. Log on, do raid/dungeon finder...play for 15-30 min and accomplish a lot. Not relying on spamming chat "lfg" "lfg"...15 minutes later... "lfg". And many MMOs are very quickly relying on the player WANTING to group, and not feeling FORCED to group. WoW went far down this path, but to do new raids...still need a group and (last I saw), new raids aren't part of the raid finder. SWTOR was on the way to this path, but found voice acting and adding to the story was much more expensive than adding raids that forced you to group.

But you can still group up while leveling in WoW and themeparks, doing dungeons and what not (that are still solable with certain classes)...if you want to...not if you are forced to.

 

You are wrong but you are right as well.  The wrong part is a game promoting itself as massively multiplayer  allowing solo leveling from 1 to 85. The game should be right in  promoting the need to group, hense the multiplayer part from early on, lvl 5-15, through cap.

You should LEARN the group skills needed on the journey to cap in order to enjoy the content at endgame. Grouping shouldn't be seen as something forced, it should be seen as something integral to a truly interactive Massively Multiplayer Online RPG experience.

I think what you view as MMO is really more like a Massively Singleplayer Online game experience and then your endgame should be tailored to match - ffa PvP matches. Leave the Raids to the games that promote grouping and enjoy your new genre ... MSORPG.