Group-lovers: the REAL freaks in the MMO world...?

raystantz

Originally posted by Hyanmen


But Multiplayer means socializing, too! They want to play in a world full of people they can ignore while playing by themselves, that's like playing a whole different game than normal RPG!

There argument is that we shouldn't be complaining because you can group in all the current MMOS... 

So why are they complaining since you can Solo in all the current mmos, on top of being able to play thousands of solo rpgs.

I think we are the ones on the short end of the stick here, not you solo players.

Hyanmen

Originally posted by raystantz

Originally posted by Hyanmen


But Multiplayer means socializing, too! They want to play in a world full of people they can ignore while playing by themselves, that's like playing a whole different game than normal RPG!

There argument is that we shouldn't be complaining because you can group in all the current MMOS... 

So why are they complaining since you can Solo in all the current mmos, on top of being able to play thousands of solo rpgs.

I think we are the ones on the short end of the stick here, not you solo players.

I'm not a solo player by any means, and I've been through this same argument before on these boards- I'd just like to speed things up by providing the counter argument the solo players would use.

"You can group in all current MMO's, too, you are selfish for wanting a group-only based MMO" will be the next reply.

Ihmotepp

Originally posted by chrisel


As opposed to you Scot, I have no problems with those who play their MMO different than I do. Nor do I have ANY problems understanding they enjoy it their own way. I also do not bother what they do end level. What I see as a HUGE problem though, is people coming here, questioning my wit & sense, as well as present me as a retard in one comparison after the other, just because I prefer to solo in my MMO. This is on top & after all the most normal way to play MMO's these days. In fact, it seem to turn out that the REAL freaks in the MMO world are those who are 'group-fanatics'. It is for sure, no soloers that tries to force the group-players into their playstyle. It all seem that we just want to be left alone, and have a bite of the MMO cake as well, since we too pay a monthly fee.
If you had no problems with "soloers", why are you questioning my playstyle and what I do ingame?

 

People that like games that encourage groups pay subscription fees too.

 I think it IS the solo players that try to force others into their play style. They want the game dumbed down until there is a disincentive to group.

Then when groupers ask for a game they like to play, the solo crowd cries "forced grouping". ALL games must be solo friendly because solo players pay subscription fees!

There should be games for everyone, soloers and groupers.

Just not the same game. A GOOD solo game is usually a sucky group game, and vice a versa.

Groupers actually want a GOOD grouping game, not a solo game with crappy grouping.

Solo players argue that all day long. Hey, why are you complaining? There's crappy grouping in the game, so you can group all you want!!!

Who is going to be happy with crap? Not me.

 

flguy147

I dont understand people that complain about not grouping in mmos.  It is player's choice if they want to group or not.  If you like to group then group, its that simple.  If people are not wanting to group then you are in the minority of the game.  Most people with jobs, friends and a family dont have time to log on and take an hour or 2 to find a group and then do the group content.  IF you want to group then find people and group, nobody is stopping you to group ever.  But for people that like to solo there are forced grouping content like end game raids, and yes i do love to raid but its still forced.  Its players choice if they want to group or not so stop complaining about not grouping and group. 

Ihmotepp

Originally posted by flguy147


I dont understand people that complain about not grouping in mmos.  It is player's choice if they want to group or not.  If you like to group then group, its that simple.  If people are not wanting to group then you are in the minority of the game.  Most people with jobs, friends and a family dont have time to log on and take an hour or 2 to find a group and then do the group content.  IF you want to group then find people and group, nobody is stopping you to group ever.  But for people that like to solo there are forced grouping content like end game raids, and yes i do love to raid but its still forced.  Its players choice if they want to group or not so stop complaining about not grouping and group. 

 

The reason you don't understand, is because groupers are not complaing about not grouping in MMOs.

It's like you walk into a restaurant and ask for a steak. And the guy says, why are you complaining, we have lots of ice cream here!

No groupers are asking to be able to get together in a group when there is no content, and crappy group mechanics.

They are asking for good group mechanics, and good content, not the ability to join up together and see each others health bar.

They say this in hundreds of posts, and you go....

But, you guys can join up and see each others health bars. Why are you complaining?

But no one is asking to be able to join up and just see each others health bars, they are asking for good group mechanics, and good group content....

And you go, but hey, you guys can join a group, and that's what you want right?

NO, it's not what we want, why do you keep saying that?

Cephus404

Originally posted by raystantz



Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game.
Now, you'll notice that nowhere in that phrase does it have the word "Solo", or "Just me" or "By myself" or "All Alone" get the idea?
You'll notice that nowhere in that phrase does it have the word "group" either.   Stop pretending that it does.
Now what this means is, an MMORPG is meant to be played "with" or "against" other players. Novel concept right? Correct me if I am wrong but, "Multiplayer" as far as I know means more than 1 player! Imagine that!
Yes, multiplayer means more than 1 player, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to group with them to play the game.
Now, if you'll go to gamestop.com and do a small search from MMORPG's you find  a fairly large list of them. HOWEVER! If you do a search for SINGLE player rpg's. You probably will be there a while going through them, since the number will probably triple or quadruple that of the MMORPG.
Why go to Gamestop?  There are lists right here and with the number of free, downloadable MMOs, there are many, many times more MMOs than there are similar single-player games.
Now lets play an MMORPG...Lets play without ever interacting or grouping with anyone else. Lets "solo" all the content by ourselves all the way to end game.
Now you're changing definitions.  Who says no one ever interacts or socializes in an MMO?  Soloers just don't feel the need to group with other people.  We're still social, in fact we're probably more social because we don't feel the need to use people for our own personal gain.
Now lets play a single player rpg.. wait... your doing the same thing! It can't be?! The horror! 
Of course you're not doing the same thing, there's no one to talk to in a single player game and single player games are typically plot-driven as opposed to open-ended.  Even in the worst themepark game, you're not dragged around by the nose the way you are in a single-player FPS.
You want to know why people who enjoy grouping get so up in arms about people like you? Because you are selfish! There are already thousands of games catered to the playstyle you want to play in. You just can't be satisified with there already being tons of games that revolve around SOLO play. You want games that aren't solo, to cater to you as well. 
Oh gee darn, we don't let you use us!  It's all our fault!
Its unfortunate that you wouldn't be able to complete all the content, but there are plenty of games already catered for what you want to do. Why not play one of those and zip it?
Why not shove it up your ass?  See, the problem is that casual, solo games are the most popular by far, the overwhelming majority of paying players want solo content and you're going to have to grow up and accept the reality of the business model.  Group-centric games, the games where you really had no choice but to group for the majority of content, had it's day but that day is over.  You lost.  Deal with it.

 

Hyanmen

You didn't have to write up all that Cephus, I already covered it for you few posts up. If we want to beat on the dead horse let's skip the predictable parts at least.

pojung

@ chrisel

Remove classes, as they are the wors feature of any MMO if you ask me. If that would happen, you would have to find a setup to handle each of the instances, which prolly means re-training when classes are removed.

 

Right now, as it is today, you already "know" you need a healer, a tank, and a ranged DPS in the instances. Which is a big LOL:

1: -Hey, lets kill the Balrog!

2: -Okay, I am in!

1: -Sorry; we already got a mighty warrior like you; we want someone who uses daggers instead of your big nasty & hard hitting axe!

2: -Huh??

1: -Yup. So we dont have to argue about the nice axe the Balrog drops.

 

What a lousy game mechanic that supports this type of playstyle...

Except the example you come up with has absolutely nothing to do with a grouping mechanic. It deals with loot, and how loot influences the group mechanic. Classes also have an indirect play in this example. While the example is wonderful and determines how to ensure group play isn't negatively influenced by outside factors, it still doesn't underline any issue with grouping, just surrounding issues.

Make classes desirable amongst each other, and make loot identical in stat distribution... and problem solved. You still haven't touched on grouping.

chrisel

Originally posted by Ihmotepp

Originally posted by flguy147


I dont understand people that complain about not grouping in mmos.  It is player's choice if they want to group or not.  If you like to group then group, its that simple.  If people are not wanting to group then you are in the minority of the game.  Most people with jobs, friends and a family dont have time to log on and take an hour or 2 to find a group and then do the group content.  IF you want to group then find people and group, nobody is stopping you to group ever.  But for people that like to solo there are forced grouping content like end game raids, and yes i do love to raid but its still forced.  Its players choice if they want to group or not so stop complaining about not grouping and group. 

 

The reason you don't understand, is because groupers are not complaing about not grouping in MMOs.

It's like you walk into a restaurant and ask for a steak. And the guy says, why are you complaining, we have lots of ice cream here!

No groupers are asking to be able to get together in a group when there is no content, and crappy group mechanics.

They are asking for good group mechanics, and good content, not the ability to join up together and see each others health bar.

They say this in hundreds of posts, and you go....

But, you guys can join up and see each others health bars. Why are you complaining?

But no one is asking to be able to join up and just see each others health bars, they are asking for good group mechanics, and good group content....

And you go, but hey, you guys can join a group, and that's what you want right?

NO, it's not what we want, why do you keep saying that?

Wrong.

Group fanatics are THE epitome of whiners when it comes to complaining about MMO's becoming more solo friendly. Sorry mister, that is a FACT. On top of this, you ruined "your" genre with elitist way of gaming and discriminating ingame behavior. All you are after, is the loot anyway, so dont blame the soloers for this. Now, eat the result of your own crop, and stop whining for the gods sake. You are yourself to be blamed. The more you fight against the neccessary changes, the more obvious is that the MMO's actually need more solo friendly content. Just look at your selfish attitude, demanding that YOUR play style should be better rewarded than other, while "phat-loot" is written all over your foreheads. Pretty much speaks for itself. For that reason, I am happy to say that battle is already 'won'; there are no signs in the future that the MMO genre will change into more 'solo-hostile'. Actually, it didnt seem there were any contest at all, as we didnt even have to bring up this topic before the MMO changed. All group-fanatics can hope & pray for, is one niche game here & there. The question is, how much will be left for you sad little angry whiners.

We who solo, mainly want be left alone, while you group -fanatics are trying to force a concept down our throat which we sure aint like. On top of this, the 'forced-grouping' is very newbie hostile, esp in a well established game. If you want ME to pay a game YOUR way, please pay me first. Obviously game developers have understood this lately. It is for no reason all MMO's ask you why you leave when cancelling subscription, right? I guess they got reasonable data collected this way, since I havent seen this topic being discussed into such proporsian ever before. Meanwhile, MMO's have become solo-friendly without the war between group-fanatics vs soloers. In fact, this is my VERY first time discussing this, and even looked into this topic. Actually, I started this thread just because I was a little curious about soloer vs groupers, giving a good damn for years about games that didnt support solo play. Now, this thread, have convinced me that games are by far not solo friendly enough, and it has become my "major" issue withing the MMO world. Group-fanatics are killing the genre, not the soloers.

You see, in the end, we soloers aint much to be afraid of...; what harm can we really do ingame...? When we talk about  the group-fanatics and their MMO beliefs, it is quite something different... After all, MMORPG does NOT mean Massive Multiplayer Role Playing Groups; It is a GAME, which we play just as we like.

So dear group-fanatics; you are outnumbered and considered 'poisonous' the MMO genre. Thank you for you efforts, they are most appreciated, as it saves me from alot of work. Anyway, by all means, belch up more fodder for the game developers to take into consideration.

/bearhug

 

 

hidden1

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Originally posted by chrisel


Wrong.
Group fanatics are THE epitome of whiners when it comes to complaining about MMO's becoming more solo friendly. Sorry mister, that is a FACT.

 

Damn, point well proved. using CAPS LOCK to emphasize BIG WORDS make your point more VALID because there can be no counter-argument against CAPS LOCKED WORDS.

Also the use of examples to prove your point such as YOU ARE WRONG, YOU HAVE LOST ADMIT IT I WON'T LISTEN TO YOU ANYMORE *PUTS HANDS ON EARS*, YOU ARE SELFISH FOR WISHING GROUP BASED CONTENT and my personal favorite, NO U are excellent ways to convince everyone.

Zoinks, "Group fanatics..."?  Really?  Wow.  And here I thought the eptome was due to too many companies making too many MMO's in a short amount of time as the cause of failing MMO's.

 

Here's my humble opinion on solo'ing and grouping.  MMO's should be solo friendly but balanced equally along group-play.  Its good to have a good balance of both.  The best of both worlds in that case.  Also, in your previous diatribe, it was mentioned that some ppl like to solo because they don't have time due to work.  Then logic escapes me on that one as there are many Single-player games out there (... some of the ones I can recommend that I'm enjoying are Dragon Age, Torchlight, Fallout 3).  I mean if it's argued that some ppl just don't have the time due to scheduling/jobs/social obligations, etc..., then why bother playing a "Massively Multiplayer" game?  Just seems like a strawman argument at best when "time" excuse is used for not wanting to party where there are many single-player games that suits your needs.

Ceridith

---

Originally posted by chrisel
Originally posted by Ihmotepp
Originally posted by flguy147 I dont understand people that complain about not grouping in mmos.  It is player's choice if they want to group or not.  If you like to group then group, its that simple.  If people are not wanting to group then you are in the minority of the game.  Most people with jobs, friends and a family dont have time to log on and take an hour or 2 to find a group and then do the group content.  IF you want to group then find people and group, nobody is stopping you to group ever.  But for people that like to solo there are forced grouping content like end game raids, and yes i do love to raid but its still forced.  Its players choice if they want to group or not so stop complaining about not grouping and group. 

 
The reason you don't understand, is because groupers are not complaing about not grouping in MMOs.
It's like you walk into a restaurant and ask for a steak. And the guy says, why are you complaining, we have lots of ice cream here!
No groupers are asking to be able to get together in a group when there is no content, and crappy group mechanics.
They are asking for good group mechanics, and good content, not the ability to join up together and see each others health bar.
They say this in hundreds of posts, and you go....
But, you guys can join up and see each others health bars. Why are you complaining?
But no one is asking to be able to join up and just see each others health bars, they are asking for good group mechanics, and good group content....
And you go, but hey, you guys can join a group, and that's what you want right?
NO, it's not what we want, why do you keep saying that?

---

Wrong.
Group fanatics are THE epitome of whiners when it comes to complaining about MMO's becoming more solo friendly. Sorry mister, that is a FACT. On top of this, you ruined "your" genre with elitist way of gaming and discriminating ingame behavior. All you are after, is the loot anyway, so dont blame the soloers for this. Now, eat the result of your own crop, and stop whining for the gods sake. You are yourself to be blamed. The more you fight against the neccessary changes, the more obvious is that the MMO's actually need more solo friendly content. Just look at your selfish attitude, demanding that YOUR play style should be better rewarded than other, while "phat-loot" is written all over your foreheads. Pretty much speaks for itself. For that reason, I am happy to say that battle is already 'won'; there are no signs in the future that the MMO genre will change into more 'solo-hostile'. Actually, it didnt seem there were any contest at all, as we didnt even have to bring up this topic before the MMO changed. All group-fanatics can hope & pray for, is one niche game here & there. The question is, how much will be left for you sad little angry whiners.
We who solo, mainly want be left alone, while you group -fanatics are trying to force a concept down our throat which we sure aint like. On top of this, the 'forced-grouping' is very newbie hostile, esp in a well established game. If you want ME to pay a game YOUR way, please pay me first. Obviously game developers have understood this lately. It is for no reason all MMO's ask you why you leave when cancelling subscription, right? I guess they got reasonable data collected this way, since I havent seen this topic being discussed into such proporsian ever before. Meanwhile, MMO's have become solo-friendly without the war between group-fanatics vs soloers. In fact, this is my VERY first time discussing this, and even looked into this topic. Actually, I started this thread just because I was a little curious about soloer vs groupers, giving a good damn for years about games that didnt support solo play. Now, this thread, have convinced me that games are by far not solo friendly enough, and it has become my "major" issue withing the MMO world. Group-fanatics are killing the genre, not the soloers.
You see, in the end, we soloers aint much to be afraid of...; what harm can we really do ingame...? When we talk about  the group-fanatics and their MMO beliefs, it is quite something different... After all, MMORPG does NOT mean Massive Multiplayer Role Playing Groups; It is a GAME, which we play just as we like.
So dear group-fanatics; you are outnumbered and considered 'poisonous' the MMO genre. Thank you for you efforts, they are most appreciated, as it saves me from alot of work. Anyway, by all means, belch up more fodder for the game developers to take into consideration.
/bearhug
 
 

---

Any group of players (pardon the pun) who prefers one playstyle over the other will always complain about the opposite being represented. Players that preferred soloing have in the past complained as much about not being able to solo their way through everything.

The reason why so many people who prefer grouping, or at least a moderate amount of group oriented content, are upset is because many games that started off with an emphasis on grouping have been drifting towards an emphasis on soloing. This is not the same as one game being solo friendly and the other group friendly, because then those players just avoid those games. It's when the game they enjoy and are familiar with is changed away from the playstyle it was originally intended for.

To claim it's the people who prefer to group are just 'whining' is just an arrogant and ignorant thing to say. I can say with absolute certainty that if a game that started as solo friendly drifted towards an emphasis on group oriented content, then the soloing players would be just as upset.

It's not a matter of one mechanic vs the other. It's a matter of games shifting their focus on mechanics that makes people upset.

chrisel

I think the discussion here is about the niche that is changing instead of specific games. We soloers, have accepted MMO's favoring grouped-playstyle as well as taken the group elitists jerk behavior and selfish demands, for years. Now, we finally are being listened to. Ofc it would not be wise to keep our mouths shut. These MMO changes have come, withous us even making them demands. Now we have understood we are the major force. We shall and WILL be listened too. The time is over when we accept is as "normal" that the grouped-playstyle is favored above the soloers.

It turns out, that we soloers aint the real freaks after all...

Hyanmen

Originally posted by chrisel


I think the discussion here is about the niche that is changing instead of specific games. We soloers, have accepted MMO's favoring grouped-playstyle as well as taken the group elitists jerk behavior and selfish demands, for years. Now, we finally are being listened to. Ofc it would not be wise to keep our mouths shut. These MMO changes have come, withous us even making them demands. Now we have understood we are the major force. We shall and WILL be listened too. The time is over when we accept is as "normal" that the grouped-playstyle is favored above the soloers.
It turns out, that we soloers aint the real freaks after all...

Your mistake is to think that both can not coexist together. That is simply why you are the selfish one.

chrisel

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Originally posted by chrisel


I think the discussion here is about the niche that is changing instead of specific games. We soloers, have accepted MMO's favoring grouped-playstyle as well as taken the group elitists jerk behavior and selfish demands, for years. Now, we finally are being listened to. Ofc it would not be wise to keep our mouths shut. These MMO changes have come, withous us even making them demands. Now we have understood we are the major force. We shall and WILL be listened too. The time is over when we accept is as "normal" that the grouped-playstyle is favored above the soloers.
It turns out, that we soloers aint the real freaks after all...

Your mistake is to think that both can not coexist together. That is simply why you are the selfish one.

 

O'rly...?

I welcome group-playstyle in the MMO world... Scroll up or roll back. How can that be selfish...? I have never said I dont think they can coexist. Never. So please, don't put words in my mouth.

 

karat76

I like that ideal Tarka. I truly despise raiding and most of the raiders I have met in wow. I would love to see group or solo versions of the raid content. I don't even care if it would take me 20 runs to get something  a raider could get with a couple it would be worth just to not have to put up with the raiders.

chrisel

Agreed.

That would make me feel like a true hero for once in the MMO. I dont care what tools they give the groupers; give them better chance to drop same loot, give them sliders to make instances harder than-usual. Let us soloers be able to kill the epic bosses too. Give us at least a SMALL chance for same phat loot, that would make me happy. Win-win for all. Groupers dont have to have us soloers with them, we dont have to stand in their faces.

raystantz

 I don't think I've heard one person who is "Pro grouping" say that soloing and grouping can't coexist in the same game, or same genre. What we are trying to get across is that its silly to think you should be able to do the "same" things groups do, solo.

I'm fairly sure, the lich king would laugh at you if you showed up as his doorsteps all by yourself.

I could see it now..

Solo guy: Behold Lich King! I've come to slay thee!

Lich King: (muffled laugh) you... your joking right?

Solo guy: Um, no.. I've been honing my skills for 80 levels now. I'm the best warrior in the game.

Lich King: Ok, so let me get this straight. You've been adventuring all by yourself this whole time? You had no help?

Solo guy: Yeah, thats right.. whats the problem? Why are you giving me a hard time.

Lich King: (chuckling) Well its just, well... the last crew that came through here... well there was 25 of those guys and they still couldn't kill me. I don't really see how your going to be able to.. seeing as how your "alone" and all.

Solo guy: I've soloed all the quest lines! I can beat you!

Lich King: So, which graveyard would you like me to send you to? Hmm? You know your looking at at least a 15g repair bill right? You sure don't want to reconsider?

Solo guy: shut up old man, I'm a soloer..

 

Seems pretty silly to me.

There needs to be group and solo content, but not a "solo mmo".

Scot

As I seem to be having perfectly reasonable replies deleted on this thread I can only think that certain soloers are hitting the 'Report' button as a knee jerk reaction. Looking over their posts I could do the same, but will not descend to that level.

I look forward to someone pretending they are offended by this post as well.

LynxJSA

Originally posted by raystantz


I'm just going to remind you one more time what an MMO is..
Since apparently you just can't seem to grasp the concept.
I'm going to highlight the part of it you need to understand the most... ok?
Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game.
Now, you'll notice that nowhere in that phrase does it have the word "Solo", or "Just me" or "By myself" or "All Alone" get the idea?
Now what this means is, an MMORPG is meant to be played "with" or "against" other players. Novel concept right? Correct me if I am wrong but...

 

...nowhere in the phrase does it say "group" either. 

I know you'll refute that, so let's play a little game. I'll list the definitions I can find for "multiplayer" and you list yours. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong spot for the right definition. Here's my list.

http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Amultiplayer

 

 

 

 

Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by raystantz


 I don't think I've heard one person who is "Pro grouping" say that soloing and grouping can't coexist in the same game, or same genre.

Ihmotepp says it about once every three days.

Hyanmen

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by raystantz


 I don't think I've heard one person who is "Pro grouping" say that soloing and grouping can't coexist in the same game, or same genre.

Ihmotepp says it about once every three days.

 

No, he doesn't.

Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by raystantz


 I don't think I've heard one person who is "Pro grouping" say that soloing and grouping can't coexist in the same game, or same genre.

Ihmotepp says it about once every three days.

 No, he doesn't.

He said it a couple of times in that other thread yesterday and the day before.

Let's wait 'til tomorrow and see who's right.

(I actually thought I was being charitable when I said "three days")

Hyanmen

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by raystantz


 I don't think I've heard one person who is "Pro grouping" say that soloing and grouping can't coexist in the same game, or same genre.

Ihmotepp says it about once every three days.

 No, he doesn't.

He said it a couple of times in that other thread yesterday and the day before.

Let's wait 'til tomorrow and see who's right.

(I actually thought I was being charitable when I said "three days")

Can't recall, but if it's true in that case he's wrong.

Teiman

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by raystantz


 I don't think I've heard one person who is "Pro grouping" say that soloing and grouping can't coexist in the same game, or same genre.

Ihmotepp says it about once every three days.

 

To be honest,   the whole genre is ruined by soloers.  Even if a strong grouping happy game release, it will do poorly, since everyone is soo focused on playing solo, so have zero  "grouping culture".   Is easy to learn how to play solo, but the mechanics of a group with real people is more complex, most soloers play like greedy bastard,  ninja looters or autist. You don't want these people on your group, or worst, a whole group made of 6 guys like that.  So is hard.   Yes. soloing ruin the fun for everybody,  can't coexist.  

 

Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by Teiman


 To be honest,   the whole genre is ruined by soloers.  Even if a strong grouping happy game release, it will do poorly, since everyone is soo focused on playing solo, so have zero  "grouping culture".   Is easy to learn how to play solo, but the mechanics of a group with real people is more complex, most soloers play like greedy bastard,  ninja looters or autist. You don't want these people on your group, or worst, a whole group made of 6 guys like that.  So is hard.   Yes. soloing ruin the fun for everybody,  can't coexist. 

The genre hasn't been ruined. There are more people playing MMOs than there ever have been. Developers are falling over themselves to make their mark in the genre.

We're in the golden age of MMOs right now.

There are MMOs out there that offer good, challenging group content. Adding solo content to those MMOs serve only to give players more options and the ability to enjoy the game during times when groups are not available.

The only way that soloers can "ruin" the game for you is if you're incapable of enjoying yourself while other people are enjoying themselves in a different way.