This article’s title isn’t as ominous as it sounds but I couldn’t resist phrasing my topic of discussion into the name of Alan Sillitoe’s famous short story, and subsequent movie, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. It’s also the name of a rather lengthy Iron Maiden song of the same name. So, this play on words pairs together my youthful years, when I was a long-distance runner in high school, with my love of heavy metal and gaming. It also serves as an opening to discuss why, as a predominantly solo player, I still prefer to play mostly MMOs.
I’ve played many MMOs during my extensive years of gaming (more years than you might imagine). I’m also a veteran, and admin, in one of the largest MMO based gaming guilds in the gaming community. MMOs fill most of my adult life gaming time. When I’m logged into an MMO I rarely group and I’ve never really participated in a raid, maybe once. Exhibiting this type of behavior, one might ask why I simply don’t stick to playing single-player games? I can understand the reasoning since the word “multiplayer” is smack dab in the middle of the MMO acronym. This implies grouping, playing with others, raiding, etc.
So why am I a “solo MMO player”? For my case it’s not that I’m skeptical or smitten by “grouping”, it comes down more to the amount of gaming time I have in a single session. If I’m on only for an hour, e.g. during my lunch break, I don’t want to spend the time dealing with the headaches of looking for a group or sitting in a “dungeon finder queue”. And let’s not even speak of the “down time” usually associated with getting a raid started. I also tend to play during odd hours, i.e. those times outside of “prime time” when most big guild planned events are hosted. These are reasons I also avoid games that are tagged “co-op games”.
Figure 1 – The trend in MMOs is starting to cater a bit to solo players
But this still doesn’t answer why I tend to prefer playing MMOs. I play MMOs even as a solo player because I enjoy being in a somewhat dynamic living world. I enjoy seeing other players running around which makes the game seem alive. I enjoy assisting healers, on the fly, with an “oops” mob pull. I enjoy playing with other players, outside of a group, to conquer world events and world bosses. I also enjoy the occasional auction house buy or sell and the typical season events and goals.
Given the implications of the title of this article, I never really feel “lonely” in an MMO. In the end, this all comes together to give my otherwise introverted personality a feeling or sense of belonging. That’s why as a solo player I play MMOs.
Do you consider yourself a solo MMO player as well? If so, why do you continue to play MMOs? Do you feel us solo MMO players are ruining the genre? Jump down to the comments and let us know what you think.
