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Why Do People Solo?
Majestico
Member UncommonPosts: 481
Yes, this is a leading question.
I finally got a next-gen console and have been in heaven so far with Mass Effect, Fable II, Lost Odyessy, The Force Unleashed, and to a much lesser extent; Quake 4.
Now as you may be aware from my sig, my main MMO at the moment is Lotro. Which I have noticed panders more and more towards the solo friendly player. Now before anyone bombards me with posts about Lotro being a casual friendly game, etxc, I alreadt know this. It was one of the reasons why I choose it.
However, I have noticed more and more that this 'casual' style of play has been getting morphed more and more into the solo play tag.
Whether by design or not, I just had to wonder why someone would choose to play an MMO mostly solo.
And please bear in mind that hear is where the question is aimed. To those people who blindly ignore any other player, unless of course a quest is required. Oh, you need a party to finish off an epic story, then I'll grab a PUG, say very little. if anything, and then bugger off when the quest is done.
Now, please do not answer with posts such as: 'well sometimes I like exploring and doing things on my own' that is very well, and I do it myself, or posts like 'well sometimes I only have an hour to play,'. Or the classic; 'I like to play in a MMO by myself, and like the idea that the other people are real!' - shy people in an environment that is geared towards you throwing off any social inhibidtions and allowing you to be anyone you want!
So. strictly for those who I initially mentioned. The ones always solo, unless they absoloute;y have to group. Why? Is it some competitive thing? 'Look I can get to max just by solo'. What reason can there by that makes sense?
Of course, it is your game, and you are entitled to play it any way you choose.
But when I play so many great single player games, I have to wonder the incentive for the solo gamer.
Serious answers will be appreciated, as I am genuinely interested.
Comments
I play single player RPG's as they come out and beat them.
I play MMO's to have fun and progress through team effort whether it be with a group, a guild or just one other friend. I hate soloing. If i wanted to solo id go play fallout.
Perhaps it would be better if you just minded your own business and let people enjoy games they way that like to enjoy them and for yourself to enjoy what you enjoy.
I guess sometimes group play feels like mass soloing, everybody only in it for their own gain, although in a group. Specially if you play with people who do not aim at the game only the top. After such experiences I prefer solo for a while.
In instanced games you are locked with the people you group with and if you are really unlucky it is like being in a prison with evil madmen. I have stopped group playing in these. So it is an MMO only through the chat and within the guild.
I solo mainly because I don't always feel like looking for a group, or don't have the time to commit to one. In ffxi I grouped because I needed to, but for the most part this more often then not limited my playtime instead of encouraged me to play more.
There is also some discomfort, for me, to group because in my experience, social and good groups tend to be the minority and we went about our tasks, sometimes very poorly. At worst it can be a very harsh and terribly dull situation.
I love mmo's and am not opposed to grouping, but these are just some reasons for me to not do it on a regular basis.
You ask a question, and then tell people the good answers are not allowed? :-) Or are you only looking for those who never ever interact with anybody else in the game world in any way? I honestly doubt you'll find a single one of them on a forum, and I'm not sure they exist at all.
I normally solo myself, mainly due to very difficult game time. I don't play little overall, I just can't play in a very structured way. I might have to leave the game on a minute's notice, and I hate to leave a group because of that. At the same time I don't want to depend on random people to advance and get stuff done, just in case those people are slow and can't get their act together. And sometimes I simply don't have time to play at all for a month or two, without knowing so beforehand, which can make me feel bad about being in a guild.
However, I love chatting with people, trading, comparing gear, crafting for people (e.g. enchanting in WoW), using auction houses or similar, playing scenarios or battlegrounds, competing or collaborating for spawns, etc. I don't get that in a single-player game. Even if I didn't ever group (and I do, those rare times where I know I'll have more than an hour to spare) at all I'd still want those elements. I imagine the pure soloers also look for those things, even if they never cooperate with people on the killing and questing.
I enjoy soloing from time to time in MMOs..its kinda nice to just go do my own thing and just 'exist' in a persistant world. I mean its perfectly with in RPG bounds to not spend every moment of the day with a group. Its nice to see other people around and if there's good conversation to jump in, but its also nice tha tjust like in RL if i don't want to deal with a douche bag I can go and participate in x activity and get something done and call it a night.
I enjoy grouping more often then not but sometimes after being at work and dealing with people all day its kinda nice to just hang out do a few quests talk to some online friends and not worry about putting a group together. I mean honestly what sort of loser in RL can't do anything without 5 friends there with him? Why should MMOs force you to do everything with five friends. I shouldn't need five friends to go fishing or do some crafting. I shouldn't need five friends to delivery Mr's J's pies to the bake shop either.
Not everything should be epic group affairs. People want more realism for some reason and they want games to have more freedom. Being able to exist and paricipate in the world without a group is part of the freedom to choose.
I solo because I cannot always play with my guild.
I'm tired of people telling me how to play and what to wear. Telling me why my build is wrong etc. None of these people have ever really thougt about it, they've just read it on some guide site that tells them how to think, and what to do, then they bore me with it.
Sometimes I solo because my time is limited and I don't think it's right to join a group and leave it halfway through an instance.
Actually, I mostly play FFXI so obviously I prefer to group, but in most games the average group is so painful I cannot be bothered.
In most games since WoW there is really little difference between soloing and grouping because there is minimum interaction between players. The only difference is that in a group you're probably chasing some guy who has done the instance 100 times already or has studied a guide beforehand.
Actually groupig can be good on some role playing servers, until of course the players remember that the aim of the game is simply to level as fast as humanly possible and that conversation is slowing them down.
Don't worry I'm enjoying the games I play, but in most MMOs these days the grouping experience is crap.
The Only time I will join a team/Group is when its come to Bosses other than that I am pretty much on my own..Dont need to stop every 10 to 15 minutes because of some one d/c or there lagging or there mom and dad calling them and anything else not mention..Even if you join a "Guild" is it not like having a group?I see no different in it..I kid you not I had some one who wanted to party on a lvl 1 mob..Whats worst they (Monsters)were a one hit kill..haha But some players are user/scammers who just want to join to suck up exps and the good loot..Seen that many times..So a group party just turns me right off..Of course if i know ya or seen you in game allot it be a different story to group up.But mostly I solo and shoot the shit.Game events andGuild events are excluded.
Some people rob you at gun point..Others will rob you at "Ball Point Pen"
Most mmos are designed in the same way that single player games are. They tell you a story and you follow the path from beginning to end. The other people in the game are not part of the story and as a result there is no real incentive to involve yourself with them. Parts of a game may very well be easier with a group......in fact some parts of a game may require a group......but in most cases teaming up with people is merely an option that is actually secondary to the game.
The stories in mmos are geared towards the individual player. Every person in the game is playing their own personal copy of the same game. I personally like to get immersed in whatever game I am playing and I find that talking to other players actually breaks that feeling of immersion. It just seems really silly to me to have to go to the effort of comparing my quest list with their quest list and then both having to decide on what we are going to do and then 10 minutes later one of us has completed the quest they needed to do......but hang on! I still need to complete the "Collect 10 crabs" quest......but they have already done that quest and they are off to do the "Bash 20 Boars" quest.....and I dont want to do that quest as I finished it yesterday.......so we part company and I have to repeat the same old crappy conversation with the next Mr or Mrs Anonymous.
So I dont bother with that crap most of the time and just plough my way through the quests on my own and only bother grouping up if I really feel the need to. I think this is why many people dont bother chatting to each other when they are in a PUG. Afterall why should they? What are they gonna say which hasnt already been said before a billion times?
"Hello. Doing the Crab quest? Yep me too. Lets go. Done it. What do you wanna do next? Oh I've done that. I dont wanna do it again. It was boring. I'm off to bash some boars. Cya"
When mmos move away from the single player design concept and actually move more towards being actual roleplaying games where people need to talk to each other and communicate their thoughts in detail to achieve their goals then things will probably change.......but as mmos cater to the solo player then we will continue to see people playing them solo. Cant blame them for playing the game the way it has been designed.
Perhaps it would be better if you just minded your own business and let people enjoy games they way that like to enjoy them and for yourself to enjoy what you enjoy.
god's sake he's genuinely interested in the reason why people solo, he already admitted it's their game and people can play how they want.
Because its fun to be given a persistant world that you know has no sudden and shitty ending (Fallout 3). Solo'ing allows you to enjoy your character in their far more interesting life than our own in reality. Wandering, exploring, observing, overcoming, winning... alone. Its rewarding all its own... Many heroes in the stories we loved were "solo'ers". Aragorn (up until the war of the ring), Conan. These kinds of characters are who we all wouldn't mind being, so when we get the opportunity?
Perhaps it would be better if you just minded your own business and let people enjoy games they way that like to enjoy them and for yourself to enjoy what you enjoy.
god's sake he's genuinely interested in the reason why people solo, he already admitted it's their game and people can play how they want.
He also put a restriction on some answers. IMO, that is just playing forum games.
People solo because the game allows them to solo. Simple as that.
If a game allows solo play to be effective, then most people will be soloing.
Why? Because many/most gamers do not have large blocks of time in the evenings where they can in effect put a "do not disturb" sign on their lives. If they have a spouse, children, etc., they just cannot block themselves off to that for long periods, other than later in the evenings (and some people can't game for long periods late in the evenings due to having to wake up for work the next day). Grouping takes time -- time to organize, time to mobve through the content, time to sort out loot issues, and the like. It requires chunks of time that a lot of people do not have. I think the gamers who play in large chunks would be quite surprised at how small the chunks of time are for the typical gamer -- 30 minutes at a time, maybe 60. It's pretty common.
So if a game allows people to solo, people will do it because it fits their lives better.
Having said that, I think that these games should not allow as much soloing as they do. This would surely make the games less accessible, but it would also make them better MMOs.
I prefer soloing because I tend to accelerate faster and can do basically what a group can do. In the times when I do choose to join a group, RARELY do they know what they are doing. Thus causing more downtime and making a situation worse. Most of the time the groups I join cant keep up the pace and they get mad.
The only person I do like teaming up with is my brother and friends. We're all on the same page and the pace is steady and fast. I'm not talking about grinding to max level ASAP, I'm referring to just getting things done and have extra time doing other things. I like to split my time grinding levels and crafting. I dont want to have to focus on grinding levels all day. It gets boring.
Soloing suits my personaltiy. I'm not anti-social just very selective on friends and friendships. The volume of people that cross my path in life means nothing compared to the few quality friendships i've made in my circle of friends. I'm PVP first PVE latter. My thing is PVP is hunting, stalking, ganking, griefing you name it.
This means i prefer to hunt the unsuspecting. Like special forces. Get in make the kill and get out just as fast. Have a reputation for being a bad boy that you always have to keep your eye out for in the PVP area's. With that being said i'm not above grouping by any means but grouping is second choice always. I don't have to group even guild to have a great amount of good friends in MMO's. Thats my thing is you will. Lone wolf style.
Right now i'm having a problem because my style of play fits PVP games perfectly but the game developers are taking that away from us who choose to play that way. I like to be able to choose how i want to play. WAR has no real griefing or ganking in the game because nobody leaves the scenarious. In 2 months of WAR i never got ganked one mainly do to stupid chicken mechanics.
Generally when it comes to grouping i normally had a play partner. So its just the two of us 99% of the time. Thats nearly solo as well. Ultimately i solo because i choose to and i should be allowed the freedom to do so if that is my choice don't you think?
"I don't want to depend on random people to advance and get stuff done, just in case those people are slow and can't get their act together."
There's your answer, people.
When did MMORPG turn into MMORPJ (J=Job)? I must have been absent that day.
Perhaps it would be better if you just minded your own business and let people enjoy games they way that like to enjoy them and for yourself to enjoy what you enjoy.
god's sake he's genuinely interested in the reason why people solo, he already admitted it's their game and people can play how they want.
He also put a restriction on some answers. IMO, that is just playing forum games.
Sadly, you had neither the patience or the understanding to grasp my discussion matter.
First of all, you took a minute quote from my post and mis-represented my arguement. Did you even read what I wrote? Or were you so desperate to try and nullify an issue, I don't think you undersrood?
If you had taken the time to actually read my post before retorting (kind of what people do in a debate - they wait for to hear the person's arguement before making up their mind), then you would have understood that I am not bashing anyone's playing style. I for one solo for quite a lot of the time, and I was curious as to this was going to be an increasing phenomenon, (which is ironic seeing as the genre is socially based).
Of course all of this was oblivious to you, and only became apparent when Nomadian illustrated how vapid and malicious your first post was.
At which point, I figure you actually went back and read my original post, and possibly skimmed some off the other posters who had contentions with my post.
This was done I guess so that you could try and redeem some form credit for not coming across as an illiterate moron, which in your final statement you lost any fragment of cred, and revealed to all that you are one of the multitude of people in today's society that need to learn to read before trying to rubbish someone's opinion.
And for your information, I did not put any restrictions on people's answers, I merely did not want to hear the same reasons that people solo, as I do! Otherwise what would be the point? My interest was in why some people solo - ALL THE TIME! It interests me because I think there is something odd happening in what is supposedly a 'social gaming genre' and wanted to hear these people's views. I expressed that I did not want to hear things like, 'ye I someyimes solo a lot, because I have not a lot of time'. and the other examples I gave - simply because I AM one of those people. Understand now?
As for your statement of forum games? I'm sorry, I am the one who does not understand this time, am are curious to what you mean?
And to everyone else who thinks I have been too hard on this guy? Well I am sorry, but when you try and start a serious debate, only to have some nugget try and de-rail it after the first post. Puts me off.
Now, I'm off to bed.
People solo in MMORPG's because they complete misunderstand the whole MMO part and think they are entitled to not have to interact with anyone yet still be able to achieve the same things.
I think basically, as companies tried harder and harder to make MMO's "casual friendly", they continuously increased the ability to solo. This allowed the single player gamers to play MMO's without actually haveing to play it like an MMO. Crazy right? Why would you want to pay $15 a month to do what you can do in a single player game for the cost of the box.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Perhaps it would be better if you just minded your own business and let people enjoy games they way that like to enjoy them and for yourself to enjoy what you enjoy.
god's sake he's genuinely interested in the reason why people solo, he already admitted it's their game and people can play how they want.
He also put a restriction on some answers. IMO, that is just playing forum games.
Sadly, you had neither the patience or the understanding to grasp my discussion matter.
First of all, you took a minute quote from my post and mis-represented my arguement. Did you even read what I wrote? Or were you so desperate to try and nullify an issue, I don't think you undersrood?
If you had taken the time to actually read my post before retorting (kind of what people do in a debate - they wait for to hear the person's arguement before making up their mind), then you would have understood that I am not bashing anyone's playing style. I for one solo for quite a lot of the time, and I was curious as to this was going to be an increasing phenomenon, (which is ironic seeing as the genre is socially based).
Of course all of this was oblivious to you, and only became apparent when Nomadian illustrated how vapid and malicious your first post was.
At which point, I figure you actually went back and read my original post, and possibly skimmed some off the other posters who had contentions with my post.
This was done I guess so that you could try and redeem some form credit for not coming across as an illiterate moron, which in your final statement you lost any fragment of cred, and revealed to all that you are one of the multitude of people in today's society that need to learn to read before trying to rubbish someone's opinion.
And for your information, I did not put any restrictions on people's answers, I merely did not want to hear the same reasons that people solo, as I do! Otherwise what would be the point? My interest was in why some people solo - ALL THE TIME! It interests me because I think there is something odd happening in what is supposedly a 'social gaming genre' and wanted to hear these people's views. I expressed that I did not want to hear things like, 'ye I someyimes solo a lot, because I have not a lot of time'. and the other examples I gave - simply because I AM one of those people. Understand now?
As for your statement of forum games? I'm sorry, I am the one who does not understand this time, am are curious to what you mean?
And to everyone else who thinks I have been too hard on this guy? Well I am sorry, but when you try and start a serious debate, only to have some nugget try and de-rail it after the first post. Puts me off.
Now, I'm off to bed.
I dont think you were too hard on him. That was a very good reply and straight to the point. Gets a thumbs up from me
Perhaps it would be better if you just minded your own business and let people enjoy games they way that like to enjoy them and for yourself to enjoy what you enjoy.
now if only the soloers would take that same advice ... but they wont go to any new MMO forum and ask for group xp bonuses, or raid content and you will have the elite soloers come out of the woodwork flaming you.
Yes. The main reason not to group? People - many people in MMO's are complete chumps. I wouldn't want to "group up" with them in realspace, and I certainly don't want to group with them while they're wearing an elf costume.
I solo exclusively with a sub-group of my LOTRO kinship (guild). I solo with a near-silent PUG sometimes just for the convenience.
How dare you present him with logic! Don't you understand? He fights epic fights, in epic games, with epic toons....eats epic food and takes epic dumps! He has more e..pic..icity...ness in his little finger than you have in your whole unepic body! - ChicagoCub
No its not crazy at all. People are playing these mmos in the same way as single player games because.......
THATS EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE!!!
These so-called mmos are nothing more than single player games that have been made available to everyone over the internet and had multiplayer functionality incorporated into them. They are the same as single player games in every way. They have a story which every player must play through. They have static npcs which dish out the same quests. They all have a means of progression in the form of levels. The players unlock more of the story by moving along this progression path etc etc etc.
Everything in these mmos is set up and staged beforehand. All the player has to do is just follow the path which the game dictates for them. In what way are any of these so-called mmos different to a single player game in multiplayer mode?
The players dont misunderstand what an mmo is. Its the developers who have failed to understand how to make one. The players are simply playing the online single player games with optional multiplayer mode that has been provided to them.
I prefer solo play over PUG play. Why? I simply do not like dancing to other peoples tunes. I do not like the way most pugs go, i.e wait around for ages while someone afks, or can't find the way. I do not like that sensation of feeling selfish when I have done all I want or need to, or have time to and the person/people I am with wish to continue. I do not like feeling of being tied into doing something ~ even though it's easy to leave and with the anonimity, I still behave like a decent chap.
I like to pick and choose to do quests in my own order. If I want to go afk, as I often have to, I know I am not holding anyone up. If I want to go sell crap I can, no hassel. Basicly I am just happiest solo'ing. Unless........
My 2 RL friends are online, they are most days, we've known eachother for years and all live within 2 miles of each other. When we are online we are grouped, even if we aren't doing the same stuff.
However, I do love online persistant worlds. There is something great about the hustle and bustle of other people all doing their own things, sharing the world you are in. I group when I need to, or feel like it.
You asked.
Yes. The main reason not to group? People - many people in MMO's are complete chumps. I wouldn't want to "group up" with them in realspace, and I certainly don't want to group with them while they're wearing an elf costume.
I solo exclusively with a sub-group of my LOTRO kinship (guild). I solo with a near-silent PUG sometimes just for the convenience.
Yep that pretty much sums it up actually. People dont group with other people because a lot of the human race are arseholes. Yeah you do meet people that you might personally click with but the majority of them either suck as people or their perception of fun is so different to yours that you are just completely incompatible. Thats the reason many people dont talk in PUGs. Why should they waste their time when it is merely a temporary alliance of convenience?
In most MMOs, soloing is more efficient. Grouping means less experience and loot, letting the group be slowed down when one player goes AFK, getting screwed when one player does something stupid, and generally putting up with more dumbasses than usual.
The nature of an MMORPG means nobody is ever truly "soloing." I'm always interacting with other people, even when I'm not using a specific "group" or "team" game mechanic. I just don't want my entire game experience to de determined by four other people chosen more or less at random.