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General: Five Things to Love About Playing Solo
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
In The List today, MMORPG.com Associate Editor Suzie Ford takes a look at all the wonders of solo play. Massive multiplayer means nothing to we, the soloists of the genre. Find out why soloing is THE way to go in The List! Have more reasons to add? Think that group play is the only way? Let us know in the comments.
The title of The List today seems like a bit of an oxymoron doesn’t it? Or maybe I’m just a moron? Be that as it may, there is no question that millions of people play MMOs but play them as individuals who only occasionally enter into the “multiplayer” part of the game. To dedicated soloists, massive multiplayer simply means that they share a space with a lot of other people but that those people, other than convenient for end-game content, really don’t impact their game play experience.
Read more of Suzie Ford's The List: Five Things to Love About Playing Solo.
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Comments
Okay, that was hilarious and TRUE. I relate to everything you said and all those reasons are my reasons for liking to solo a good part of the time. I also enjoy grouping, but not all the time, that's for sure. I find soloing to be more relaxing than grouping, but then I'm not always in the mood for "relaxing" and want more excitment.
The dude asleep on the computer with the pizza....that hit a little close to home. tsk tsk
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The only ones I would disagree with are 1) and 2). Embarrassing deaths are wasted if you can't share them with someone. That's part of the fun. I find sharing loot fun as well. People being greedy is fairly rare in my experience. There is joy to be had in seeing people get something they really wanted or can really use.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
I don't mind sharing and I don't have so much pride that I can't laugh at my misfortune with others, so those don't apply to me. The other three, most certainly. However, the number one reason I prefer to solo is that I can do what I want without having to put the decision up for a committee vote.
Playing at your own speed and on your own timetable is worthless if what you are doing is following someone else's path instead of your own. I like the freedom of being able to watch cutscenes, read game text thoroughly, explore interesting landmarks, hunt for crafting materials and simply chase butterflies whenever I feel like it, without fear of wasting someone else's time or forcing them to do something they don't want to do. I don't like it when it happens to me and I don't want to be responsible for doing it to anyone else.
Allowing me to solo, gives me the option to ignore the most annoying thing typically found in all MMORPG's... Other Players!
That is, until you run across a wan... er I mean, ganker!
I agree with all of the above lol anyway i do get my enjoyment out of soloing my way to the lvl cap.
only reason i think i solo on mmo's is because they aren't on consoles :-P
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I don't hate other players. In fact, I like the fact that when I log into an mmo, there are a bunch of other people there. I enjoy pugs and random pvp group for instanced and world pvp. World boss pugs are a lot of fun too. I just don't want to intertwine my life with theirs so I can play a game.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
I like the option of grouping and the tools for socializing with others in MMOs, but I do not like being forced to do so in order to actually play the game. Games like Vanguard and high end EQ and WoW that require grouping and even worse, raids, are not my style of game and if I even play them, I quit long before I reach the parts where that becomes a reality.
You missed the real #1
1) I generally dislike other people...
See here's the thing, i actually enjoy grouping well enough, what i don't enjoy are the setup hassle, the drama and the often long waiting times before you can get anything done.
I tend to find that public groups ala WAR and Rift solves all these problems, you jump in and if there's other players around you're all suddenly playing together, rewards depending on how much you participated. Of course then comes the instances and raids where you're down to the old slog, but the public groups are brilliant, pure and simple.
Of course there's the issue of immersion too, i simply can't get into a game if there's a bunch of people jumping up and down when they're bored (Every story segement) the same people going "Lol" as a substitution for periods and commas or trying to discuss every single thing as it happens. It's annoying at the movies and it's annoying in the game as well.
Playing in a great group is a thrilling experience. Most PUGs are horrific unless you really get lucky.
Great groups are hard to find. PUGs are a dime a dozen.
If I can find a great group, count me in. If not, or if I'm short on time, I solo as a way of getting ready for the next group.
Even though I do solo, it's still all about the grouping.
I tend to solo a lot (but by no means exclusively) because I like exploring the world and reading the complete text of quests. Whenever I'm in a PUG, I feel incredibly rushed and like I'm missing-out on actually enjoying the game world that was so lovingly created by the developers.
Almost every PUG I've been in has been a max-speed blast to get to the quest goal or instance boss, then almost instantly disbands. Need to pick up a sub-quest along the way ? Forget about reading the quest text: "What are u DOING man, let's go !"
Perhaps I'm just out of sync with the majority of MMO players, who seem more intent on reaching level cap than enjoying the journey.
This syndrome also seems at it's worst in MMO's that have a PvP component, because "you can only really compete once u get to level cap", so those that want to PvP are focused on the final destination. Anything between them and the level cap is just an irritation that has to be gotten through as fast as possible, by any means possible.
Its cheaper to buy a rpg for your console than to buy a mmo and pay a monthly sub. Granted you can play a f2p mmo, but you still will spend money eventualy, well some do.
I dont see why people that wish to solo everything play mmorpg's. I think people have taken a step back from the true nature of mmo's and caused many companies to dumb down mmo's because people rather play a console rpg online. Its kind of turned mmo's of today into a lughing stock, none of these new games coming out are worth a damn. My hope for SWTOR and GW2 have already been dashed due to companions for TOR. GW's i already knew was not a true mmo, so no big loss there.
Seriously, want to solo go grab a rpg game. Leave the mmo genre alone. You just make it more horrible with all your want for solo play, no pvp, no player housing, no crafting, no real challenge, no skill, and no using the brain. Thats for the rpg section, not for a true mmo.
Seriously, if I want to spend 15 dollars per month to solo in an mmo I'll do it. And not lose any sleep over it. I appreciate your concern though.
Here's the thing, there are many ways to enjoy a social game that don't entail being in a group. Come to think of it, I've had more discussions with people "out of groups" than in groups.
I will offer that I don't think every bit of content shold be "soloable" and that there should be group content that is not only different from solo content but also grantsa different experience and should be groupable from the moment you get into a group until you decide to log off.
In addition, did it ever occur to you that maybe many people solo because of bad groupers? I can say for myself that I'm alwasy up fora group with kin folks but would rather stay away from most mmo players for a whole host of reasons.
In any case you don't pay my monthly mmo bills so you don't have to worry.
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Sorry, for a moment there I thought you were saying that real MMOs can't be RPGs. An odd statement to make on a MMORPG.com forum, so I must be mistaken.
As for why play an MMO instead of a single player game, I prefer the moving scenery constituted of folks like yourself to the static ones in an SP game. MMOs also have a built in longevity unparalleled in SP games that's very attractive. I'll be done with an SP game in a matter of days, sometimes weeks if it's exceptional. Game time in MMOs I measure in months and years. Also, sometimes I do like getting together with close friends and hanging out with them in the game world. And on rare occasions, I might come across someone else whose company I enjoy, so that's always a nice possibility that I can't get from an SP game.
But really, why would I ever want to only play in a group in any game, when I face the likelihood of getting stuck with someone like yourself? Your attitude exemplifies the problems with groups. In RL, I wouldn't want to spend a moment of my time in your presence for something as mundane as standing in line to pay for groceries. Why would I do it in a game that I'm trying to enjoy? And I'm going to assume the feeling is mutual...
Maybe you are little young to realise there were mmos before EQ so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and educate you. You could solo in UO all the time. There were no artificial group mechanics. UO had all of those features that you are blaming soloing for the loss of, so you may want to rethink your thought process because it doesn't hold water.
As far as the article goes I can relate to those topics. But the big one you forgot is dealing with "that guy/girl". I don't dislike grouping perse but there are more and more of the "that guy/girl" in the genre in general.
Great article! I especially relate with 4)... when I play I usually take 2,3 short breaks / hour, something I don't feel comfortable doing when in a group so I don't keep people waiting.
As a side note, all these might seem trivial points, but they have a huge affect on a player's enjoyment of a certain game... and this is why every MMO out there has vast solo content.
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I think solo players only play mmo's because other people can SEE what they have achieved. If they achieve something offline it's not as epic as when you do online.
A big chunk of modern mmo players play to be the best.
The best of their friends, the best of the server, the best of their region etc. etc.
'Older' mmo player tend emphasize the community and social aspects when they play and rather strife to become a personality within the world instead of the a-hole with an epeen with over 9000.
And the last mentioned group is getting outnumbered faster and faster by the 'new' mmo players (often introduced to the genre by the instant gratification block buster we all love and hate). And it's sad that companies start to cater to these people because to them $$$ >
.
It's fine if players choose to ignore the most unique aspects of this genre. Hopefully the next generation will be different. The only thing on that list that you can't also do in a group is number 2. There used to be a lot more players willing to accomodate the others in thier groups instead of being selfish and always in a hurry.
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The big thing for me is #3, #4, and #5. My schedule doesn't always work out with other players. And I'm easily distracted while questing...meaning I will change task on the fly that usually irks my group. What irks me is that they are not as flexible as I am. Also I hate small talks that has no value to the task at hand. Who care about the weather in New York when I'm fully immersed in Telara? Seriously?
In MMORPG, there is always a witness to your death...
...and who needs the loot? It will be obsolete on the next patch or expansion anyway. No need to waste 6-9 months in a hard a$$ dungeon or raid for loot with no staying value. Your "legendary" sword will quickly become a legendary piece of junk that vendors don't even pay half the price for it.
So for me...I would list those backwards.
Ready for GW2!!!
Because it's more entertaining to kill you, while I'm soloing.
I agree with almost the entire topic except the part about dying and loot. I have no problems when people see me die (its part of gaming at times) and I am not, by nature, a greedy person so loot does not bother me most of the time (it does when people "Need" in a public group setting when they cant or will not use).
I generally solo due to my wacky hours and RL. I could be doing a quest, hear my wife and daughters pull up, log off and spend some family time with them after work. In a group setting, this would be inconsiderate to the group members. I am often on call as well and that leads to the same situation and I do not like to put others in a situation where they are stuck looking for someone to fill a slot that I had committed to.
I agree with some of the posters who were talking about voice chat (I am an audible and totally ruins my gaming experience listenting to some kid yap) and also how it always feels like the groups are going balls to the wall to get done. Gaming should be enjoyable, not feel like work or a race. I actually like taking my time and also typing out what im thinking. Yes, I am old school, but I also enjoy the social aspects of guilds and seeing RL people running around on their avatars.
Narrow minded people assume that those who solo are doing it for their own sake. While that may be true in some instances, I know many who do it so as not to be rude to others. Regardless of why, it should be enjoyable for the person who is actually paying for the experience. Like someone earlier said, that is why I never got into Vanguard or other heavy-grouping MMORPGs. Good thing is I get to control what I purchase and play, you just do not see me going to the Vanguard forums and bashing those who like to group. I simply find a game that is MY style
@ SpottyGekko no you aren't alone. I enjoy PUGs but the struggle I usually have in a dungeon PUG is the same: I want to take my time, enjoy the instance, actually read all of the quest text. I know that probably most of the group has done it before and just want to kill the boss so we can all get our loot, but it would be nice if I could do it at least once my way.
In Rift they are releasing Chronicles, which are basicially raid and other instances tuned down for solo/duo groups. Finally, I can enjoy the story without having to rush through it.
Otherwise, reasons listed are generally the same for me (and I suspect many others.) My schedule does not permit very much group participation (young children don't care if you have a raid at 7PM, they just want your attention.) So playtimes are most often after 10PM local time and most gamers have gone their merry way into dreamtime.
I like to group and even raid, but it's nice to be able to enjoy the game my own way as well. I'm one of those "1 Year To Level Cap" players who doesn't care how long it takes me to get there. Others' mileage may vary...
Great post that sums up most of the reasons I prefer to solo in mmorpg's, not sure I care that others see me die but most of the rest I completely understand.
One thing with me has always been we game to escape the constraints of reality and what I have found when in tight knit guilds and raid groups is you are being "counted" on and expected to do certain things which ultimately boils down to responsibility which is one of the reason I play games to avoid "responsibilities" so often times the minute I find myself in groups an internal clock begins ticking in my head taking away from my enjoyment.
Hopefully TOR will change that because the grouping content I've seen in that game actually looks like something I have an interest in engaging in which is more than I can say about any other mmorpg I've played outside of COH and it's task forces (I always enjoyed running those with my super group).
#5 is my biggest reason I solo with #4 a close second. #4 is why I don't have to feel guilty about logging in "every" night because as an older adult I have several RL responsibilities.
#3 doesn't bother me as much. I fulfill the feeling of not being "lonely" by having on and participating in guild/league chat.
Suzie, How about a list of the "Five Things to Dislike About Playing Solo"? Mine would be that some of the best armor/loot and story content seems only attainable by grouping.
How so raistlinm?