I personally prefer to play my MMOs solo. I think that it is unfair of some games to give better equipment to those who play in groups. Of the two MMOs I have played, WOW and Ryzom, only one catered to my playing style. it wasn't WOW. WOW practically requires you to be in a group for better stuff. I prefer the challenge of facing enemies alone. I think that should yield a greater reward.
I think there should be balanced but teaming should get a little more incentive than solo play. Before you go 'oh team when you want' let me tell you right now that WONT work.
I play Champions Online right now with my gf. There is absolutely no reason to team whatsoever. The only reason is to have fun or do the 1 mission for it. Another would be to to the repeatable daily nem con for more Unity Merits (which can be gotten solo by doing dailies).
So here I am. I like teaming and doing Lairs (CO version of 5 man dungeons) but the thing is....NO ONE WANTS TO GROUP.
There. No one wants to group. I can take anywhere from 15mins - 1 hour(or sometimes we wont even get a full team of 5) to form a group. This is for the lower level Lairs usually because people have missions there and some of them want to do it. Kicker is....Most people dont want to do it because they just want to skip it and solo. Because there arent any decent rewards for grouping.
So now Im left with what? Very little groups because well..There is absolutely no reason to group whatsoever. Soloing incentive is a lot better so why group? Before you say 'HA YOURE JUST LOOKING FOR LOOT THEN' no..no were not o.O The only thing we get from doign all those Lairs is...Doing all those lairs with a group lol. It rewards us with nothing except the enjoyment of doing the lair. Would other people do that? Yes sometimes other random lvl 40 people who are bored do it with us. But most of the time people just dont want to do them at all since there are barely any rewards!
People who group usually arent the selfish ones. We just try to get other people to group because 90% of the mmo population wont group unless there are better things for grouping than soloing. Because when 90% of the population are busy soloing and the 10% of the population who want to group have a hard time actually finding each other and grouping then yes...We cant group if no one else wants.
Im not against soloers and I can see that everyone wants their epic super rare OMGWTFTHATSAWESOME gear but theen what happens to the people who just wants to group and do stuff together? Yes were a minority but really o.O promoting soloing means youre telling people to not group. promoting grouping means youre telling people not to solo. Just find a decent middle ground so that people are encouraged that grouping is okay.
Are you guys still arguing about this? If WoW can get the solo crowd to group up more often (via the new LFD system) then any other game out there can do it. And so can any new game coming out in the future. Sure, some antisocial players will still waste their money in hopes of one day being able to flex thier Epeens, but the rest of us are having fun making new friends.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
2004, a french team publsihed an mmo, before WoW und Co. so that one is totaly different.
It is mainly based on teamplay, but many people miss a better solo play, so there are mmos - with a totaly different concept than WoW. (game i was talkin about is www.ryzom.com
Group play is a big problem for casual players on MMOs. You need the time to make a good team to play with and you must have the right gear to play achieve something with them.
From my experience in WoW is a mixture of luck and having good friends, around 40/60% of each I would say
Group play is a big problem for casual players on MMOs. You need the time to make a good team to play with and you must have the right gear to play achieve something with them. From my experience in WoW is a mixture of luck and having good friends, around 40/60% of each I would say
Without the dungeon finder, WoW is hardly representative of a game with optimal group play.
In later levels, I don't mind grouping, but I will only group with people I've known for a while to help them out or to achieve things that aren't solo-able.
I make new friends easily enough without grouping with a bunch of people I don't know then one of them screaming their ass off because they died, or didn't achieve what they wanted to. I won't put up with abuse to make friends I'll only see online.
Group play is a big problem for casual players on MMOs. You need the time to make a good team to play with and you must have the right gear to play achieve something with them. From my experience in WoW is a mixture of luck and having good friends, around 40/60% of each I would say
Without the dungeon finder, WoW is hardly representative of a game with optimal group play.
But with dungeon finder, its MUCH more entertaining. I've been in more instances over the last month, than I've been in in more than 2 years. Thanks to instance drops and emblems I have better gear than I've ever had. I wish they had added dungeon finder years ago.
Unless you're not interested in fun, no I guess there arent any benefits. I leveled to 80 in wow solo, and in groups. I had alot more fun in a group. It was a small group, granted. in fact it was just me and nother person, so a duo team. But still a group. Leveling alone was boring and not much faster. Key word here is fun. Some people play the game for that, others dont. Different strokes for different blokes, they say. And true it is.
If "fun" means "some soloer wants to try out grouping, fucks up the whole experience for everyone, I log out pissed" then no, I'm not interested. I can't say for sure but I doubt you had fun in these kind of situations either. I agree, leveling alone is boring.
Grouping is a weird animal; it needs a push to become as "fun" as soloing. I'm sure it would be more popular if that were to be done, too. And that's what this forced grouping fellow is asking for; a push. Hopefully santa will grant me that wish.
Merry xmas to you.
It amuses me greatly that someone advocating removing soloing as an option for gaming, and essentially forcing everyone to group, would whine about being in a group with some random asshat that doesn't know how to play the game.
This is the exact reason I prefer to have the OPTION to solo in MMOs. I hate random asshats ruining a group. So I solo until my RL friends and family are on so we can form a group. A game without this option included is a game with less subscriptions, end of story. This is why devs are including more of these options.
Group play is a big problem for casual players on MMOs. You need the time to make a good team to play with and you must have the right gear to play achieve something with them. From my experience in WoW is a mixture of luck and having good friends, around 40/60% of each I would say
Without the dungeon finder, WoW is hardly representative of a game with optimal group play.
But with dungeon finder, its MUCH more entertaining. I've been in more instances over the last month, than I've been in in more than 2 years. Thanks to instance drops and emblems I have better gear than I've ever had. I wish they had added dungeon finder years ago.
That isn't the point though. My point was the hilarity of a poster using WoW (pre-dungeon finder form the looks of it) as an example of a game with group play.
It would be hard for many people who have been playing MMOs only since WoW to really get a handle on what I mean, since even in games like DDO, WoW, and EQ2, running through dungeons with a group becomes an exercise of muscle memory instead of a period of socialization.
The best examples of games with optimal group play were Final Fantasy XI and the original EQ, which due to a lack of players filling out every level range, hardly resemble their original selves.
For all these solo play lovers some dev needs to make a new type of game we can call it a MMOSPG... IE you log online the game can only be accessed online. Then make it where you run around with other player but cant actually talk to them or group with them or anything. Maybe a world chat channel and thats it. All the content would be soloable. Even the raids. That way the casual players could get everything they want and still be in the mix with other people.
Doesn't this sticky mean dont' discuss solo vs group issues anymore? Because, is anyone really going to read through 24 pages of posts to figure out where the conversation is on any particular discussion about this topic?
Let's say you want to specifically discuss grouping in WoW verus what SWG grouping will be like. How you going to find that discussion buried in 24 pages of one long thread?
For all these solo play lovers some dev needs to make a new type of game we can call it a MMOSPG... IE you log online the game can only be accessed online. Then make it where you run around with other player but cant actually talk to them or group with them or anything. Maybe a world chat channel and thats it. All the content would be soloable. Even the raids. That way the casual players could get everything they want and still be in the mix with other people.
That sounds an awesome idea!
That sounds exactly like Free Realms.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4 Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Doesn't this sticky mean dont' discuss solo vs group issues anymore? Because, is anyone really going to read through 24 pages of posts to figure out where the conversation is on any particular discussion about this topic?
Let's say you want to specifically discuss grouping in WoW verus what SWG grouping will be like. How you going to find that discussion buried in 24 pages of one long thread?
You don't. Unless you have been following the discussion close to the start, most people give up after the first few pages. Or they only comment on what they see in those first few pages. Which is very likely to be a duplicate of what someone else said further on. But thats simply the nature of the beast. <shrug>
This thread has only served to stifle debate on the group and solo issue, does anyone even notice it up in the sticky section?
While I was glad of a rest from the near endless threads, we have moved to a situation where we have no new threads. The thread OP sets the tone and starts us of on hopefully a new direction, here we just regurgitate opinions.
Why not do a thread like this for sandbox/theme park, why MMO’s are getting worse, PvP verus PvE etc. Then we would have no new threads in the General forum at all.
This thread has only served to stifle debate on the group and solo issue, does anyone even notice it up in the sticky section? While I was glad of a rest from the near endless threads, we have moved to a situation where we have no new threads. The thread OP sets the tone and starts us of on hopefully a new direction, here we just regurgitate opinions. Why not do a thread like this for sandbox/theme park, why MMO’s are getting worse, PvP verus PvE etc. Then we would have no new threads in the General forum at all.
Or we could do another 30 plus thread on item shops(grinning, ducking and running like hell... ^^). There are certain themes that will likely never have any resolution.
The problem with having too much solo content is that people will always follow the path of least resistance. Group quests generally are harder, take longer, require setting up of a team, and so on.. If they have no incentive to do that, then people will just go the solo route and grouping will die.
This is easiest seen in LOTRO. There is so much solo content now that it's near impossible to get groups for anything except the max level instances. And the developers have noticed this trend and have made soloing even easier, so that previous group quests can be done solo. Check out the new addition of Inspirations that you are given for some of the older Book quests, where you become an unstoppable death machine smashing your way through hordes of elite level trolls.
But then, on the flip side, too much grouping can cause a similar problem. If the player base fades out then advancement without solo content will also be near impossible. Take a look at EverQuest as an example, where the majority of content requires a group to advance through, the developers have seen a problem with new players and have set up a new server where you start at high level with 100+ AA's to begin with.
So what can be done? Personally, I think grouping should win out, with a side of soloing as an alternate (but boring) way of advancing. For example, the main game might be all group content, but there could be one area of each level range that is soloable. If you want to solo that day then you can go to this rather limited area and grind mobs all you want. If you want to experience the full range of the game, then start grouping up.
And why do I say this? Well, because my MMO experience started with EverQuest and, when the players were there, they did it right. Grouping meant you got to know people, other people got to know people, names were mentioned as good players or bad players, you knew who you could trust, you knew who to avoid. There was always conversation between spawns, there was always a sense of achievement - even when fighting a simple group of orc spawns for experience. There were overwhelming challenges to face, there was danger around every corner, you had to switch your brain on to get anything done.
But in solo-based games, I find myself becoming increasingly bored and lonely. Taking LOTRO as my example, I only need to group a few times every ten levels. I don't know who I'm grouping with, I've never seen them before and I'll likely never see them again. There is no discussion or chat, only the required amount of conversation to work out how to get through the group quest. The challenges are small, there is very little danger - and what danger there is only means a respawn and a minor debuff for a little while. For a solo based game like LOTRO your brain is off, you go through a zombie like series of button presses to defeat the mob in front of you, then move to the next.
Saying that, I love LOTRO, but I also loved EverQuest. But I can't get over the feeling that LOTRO could be so much more if it just eased off on the soloing aspect and moved more into grouping. I mean, Lord of the Rings was about a fellowship, even Frodo had a partner rather than go off alone. Why is soloing the way to go in a world that was written with fellowships, friendships and helping each other in the forefront?
The problem with having too much solo content is that people will always follow the path of least resistance. Group quests generally are harder, take longer, require setting up of a team, and so on.. If they have no incentive to do that, then people will just go the solo route and grouping will die. Then it will die. Players will play the way they want to play, if grouping dies, it's evolution in action. Both soloing and grouping have inherent strengths and weaknesses. Soloing is faster and easier, but it is inherently slower than grouping. Grouping takes more time to set up, but you can tackle much harder and higher level content, thus getting XP faster and better gear earlier than a soloer. Now let the players decide which is favored. In practice, soloing wins because MMO gaming has shifted from a hardcore audience to a casual audience. So what can be done? Personally, I think grouping should win out, with a side of soloing as an alternate (but boring) way of advancing. For example, the main game might be all group content, but there could be one area of each level range that is soloable. If you want to solo that day then you can go to this rather limited area and grind mobs all you want. If you want to experience the full range of the game, then start grouping up. But that's not the way it works. Groupers are a small minority of the total MMO market and the people with the money will always win. Welcome to the real world. But in solo-based games, I find myself becoming increasingly bored and lonely. Taking LOTRO as my example, I only need to group a few times every ten levels. I don't know who I'm grouping with, I've never seen them before and I'll likely never see them again. There is no discussion or chat, only the required amount of conversation to work out how to get through the group quest. The challenges are small, there is very little danger - and what danger there is only means a respawn and a minor debuff for a little while. For a solo based game like LOTRO your brain is off, you go through a zombie like series of button presses to defeat the mob in front of you, then move to the next. I have the opposite experience, I tend to leave games where grouping is necessary to get anywhere, simply because the majority of people that I group with do not have the same goals I do. They want to run through the content as fast as possible, get as much XP and loot and gear and get out. I want to enjoy the ride. I want to see the sights. I want to make sure I clear an area 100%. That means I don't play in groups very often, only when I want a ton of XP with minimal effort. That's just not fun as far as I'm concerned. Your mileage may vary.
Are you guys still arguing about this? If WoW can get the solo crowd to group up more often (via the new LFD system) then any other game out there can do it. And so can any new game coming out in the future. Sure, some antisocial players will still waste their money in hopes of one day being able to flex thier Epeens, but the rest of us are having fun making new friends.
If players are antisocial, they won't play MMO's. Because players might prefer to spend most of their time solo rather than grouped, that doesn't make them antisocial. That makes them PEOPLE. We don't have to group up to do everything in real life, so we don't need to do so in MMO's. Force us to do it, and we go play an MMO that doesn't. This is pretty evident in MMO history.
MMO"s have changed over the years to now almost require grouping to reach an end-game. That was not the case when UO first showed up on the scene. You could solo the whole game.
I don't know forcing people to group in order to play an MMO is necessary. I feel as an individual, you have as much right to enjoy the game solo as with group play. If you want to group, well and good. Just don't force me into joining a group to reach an end game point.
My 2 favorite MMOs of all time are FFXI and DAoC. So I guess you could say I'd rather be in a party than solo. I lose a sense that there's other players when I'm in a game that just has you solo. Also, in party games, the community is 10000000000x times better. I think alot of this is due to the fact you have to group, so you don't want to make too many enemies or you'll be done.
Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game is NOT Massively Multiplayer Cooperative Game.
People come up with dumb arguments like "well if you dont want to group with others, why do you play an mmorpg?"
To which I reply: it's not about playing coop, it's about the persistent world, in which you can interact with real people, be it by adventuring together for a while, or just trading, or just hanging out bragging about that big boss you killed, at the local in-game pub. If you want to group up for stuff, by all means, go out, meet like minded people and adventure with them.
Essentially the pro-group argument comes down to: "I am unable to form social connections on my own, therefore the game should force them for me".
The worst part with 'Group-fanatics' are that they are ruining the (RP)PvP server with their presence and their 'PvE' fantaticism!
They should have been banned from the PvP servers if you ask me. There should be added some achievement system to get rid of all these nonskilled suckers who are ruining the real servers.
Don't think WoW pulled it off as well as some of the other posts might have described, I played WoW on and off for 2~3 years; and I gotta say there is a lot of content both solo and group, but it wasn't neccessarily fun (at least not for me). Raid/Gear gathering was tons of fun, but most of the solo-leveling that was done was repetitive and just plain boring; was pretty tough to get to max level (Just dulllllllllll).
It's defintely hard to pull off solo + group play in an MMO and pull it off well, it also depends on what the player wants to accomplish with the game as well (Casual player, Hardcore player); this would include Casual games and Hardcore games as well.
At the moment I'm playing Global Agenda, and I feel that it's a good casual game, with a mix of solo (non premade) play and Group (premade) play. I can jump on, do a few matches and head out; or I can take and defend territories in AvA (Agency Vs Agency), maybe even a bit of 4v4 with Clan mates. I highly recommended it to FPS/TPS lovers
Overall though you need both Group and Solo play, its just silly not to be able to do one or the other.
Comments
I personally prefer to play my MMOs solo. I think that it is unfair of some games to give better equipment to those who play in groups. Of the two MMOs I have played, WOW and Ryzom, only one catered to my playing style. it wasn't WOW. WOW practically requires you to be in a group for better stuff. I prefer the challenge of facing enemies alone. I think that should yield a greater reward.
www.ryzom.com
I think there should be balanced but teaming should get a little more incentive than solo play. Before you go 'oh team when you want' let me tell you right now that WONT work.
I play Champions Online right now with my gf. There is absolutely no reason to team whatsoever. The only reason is to have fun or do the 1 mission for it. Another would be to to the repeatable daily nem con for more Unity Merits (which can be gotten solo by doing dailies).
So here I am. I like teaming and doing Lairs (CO version of 5 man dungeons) but the thing is....NO ONE WANTS TO GROUP.
There. No one wants to group. I can take anywhere from 15mins - 1 hour(or sometimes we wont even get a full team of 5) to form a group. This is for the lower level Lairs usually because people have missions there and some of them want to do it. Kicker is....Most people dont want to do it because they just want to skip it and solo. Because there arent any decent rewards for grouping.
So now Im left with what? Very little groups because well..There is absolutely no reason to group whatsoever. Soloing incentive is a lot better so why group? Before you say 'HA YOURE JUST LOOKING FOR LOOT THEN' no..no were not o.O The only thing we get from doign all those Lairs is...Doing all those lairs with a group lol. It rewards us with nothing except the enjoyment of doing the lair. Would other people do that? Yes sometimes other random lvl 40 people who are bored do it with us. But most of the time people just dont want to do them at all since there are barely any rewards!
People who group usually arent the selfish ones. We just try to get other people to group because 90% of the mmo population wont group unless there are better things for grouping than soloing. Because when 90% of the population are busy soloing and the 10% of the population who want to group have a hard time actually finding each other and grouping then yes...We cant group if no one else wants.
Im not against soloers and I can see that everyone wants their epic super rare OMGWTFTHATSAWESOME gear but theen what happens to the people who just wants to group and do stuff together? Yes were a minority but really o.O promoting soloing means youre telling people to not group. promoting grouping means youre telling people not to solo. Just find a decent middle ground so that people are encouraged that grouping is okay.
Are you guys still arguing about this? If WoW can get the solo crowd to group up more often (via the new LFD system) then any other game out there can do it. And so can any new game coming out in the future. Sure, some antisocial players will still waste their money in hopes of one day being able to flex thier Epeens, but the rest of us are having fun making new friends.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
2004, a french team publsihed an mmo, before WoW und Co. so that one is totaly different.
It is mainly based on teamplay, but many people miss a better solo play, so there are mmos - with a totaly different concept than WoW. (game i was talkin about is www.ryzom.com
Group play is a big problem for casual players on MMOs. You need the time to make a good team to play with and you must have the right gear to play achieve something with them.
From my experience in WoW is a mixture of luck and having good friends, around 40/60% of each I would say
Without the dungeon finder, WoW is hardly representative of a game with optimal group play.
I play solo, and I like it that way.
In later levels, I don't mind grouping, but I will only group with people I've known for a while to help them out or to achieve things that aren't solo-able.
I make new friends easily enough without grouping with a bunch of people I don't know then one of them screaming their ass off because they died, or didn't achieve what they wanted to. I won't put up with abuse to make friends I'll only see online.
- Ross
Without the dungeon finder, WoW is hardly representative of a game with optimal group play.
But with dungeon finder, its MUCH more entertaining. I've been in more instances over the last month, than I've been in in more than 2 years. Thanks to instance drops and emblems I have better gear than I've ever had. I wish they had added dungeon finder years ago.
If "fun" means "some soloer wants to try out grouping, fucks up the whole experience for everyone, I log out pissed" then no, I'm not interested. I can't say for sure but I doubt you had fun in these kind of situations either. I agree, leveling alone is boring.
Grouping is a weird animal; it needs a push to become as "fun" as soloing. I'm sure it would be more popular if that were to be done, too. And that's what this forced grouping fellow is asking for; a push. Hopefully santa will grant me that wish.
Merry xmas to you.
It amuses me greatly that someone advocating removing soloing as an option for gaming, and essentially forcing everyone to group, would whine about being in a group with some random asshat that doesn't know how to play the game.
This is the exact reason I prefer to have the OPTION to solo in MMOs. I hate random asshats ruining a group. So I solo until my RL friends and family are on so we can form a group. A game without this option included is a game with less subscriptions, end of story. This is why devs are including more of these options.
I love soloing.
I enjoy soloing in Eve, WoW, Ryzom, DDO, AO and a whole bunch of games.
To the people that don't like it? Tough shit! I've been able to solo on my own since UO.
Wanna remove the option to solo? Ill just leave the genre and turn on my 360... no biggie.
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
Without the dungeon finder, WoW is hardly representative of a game with optimal group play.
But with dungeon finder, its MUCH more entertaining. I've been in more instances over the last month, than I've been in in more than 2 years. Thanks to instance drops and emblems I have better gear than I've ever had. I wish they had added dungeon finder years ago.
That isn't the point though. My point was the hilarity of a poster using WoW (pre-dungeon finder form the looks of it) as an example of a game with group play.
It would be hard for many people who have been playing MMOs only since WoW to really get a handle on what I mean, since even in games like DDO, WoW, and EQ2, running through dungeons with a group becomes an exercise of muscle memory instead of a period of socialization.
The best examples of games with optimal group play were Final Fantasy XI and the original EQ, which due to a lack of players filling out every level range, hardly resemble their original selves.
That sounds an awesome idea!
Doesn't this sticky mean dont' discuss solo vs group issues anymore? Because, is anyone really going to read through 24 pages of posts to figure out where the conversation is on any particular discussion about this topic?
Let's say you want to specifically discuss grouping in WoW verus what SWG grouping will be like. How you going to find that discussion buried in 24 pages of one long thread?
That sounds an awesome idea!
That sounds exactly like Free Realms.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
You don't. Unless you have been following the discussion close to the start, most people give up after the first few pages. Or they only comment on what they see in those first few pages. Which is very likely to be a duplicate of what someone else said further on. But thats simply the nature of the beast. <shrug>
This thread has only served to stifle debate on the group and solo issue, does anyone even notice it up in the sticky section?
While I was glad of a rest from the near endless threads, we have moved to a situation where we have no new threads. The thread OP sets the tone and starts us of on hopefully a new direction, here we just regurgitate opinions.
Why not do a thread like this for sandbox/theme park, why MMO’s are getting worse, PvP verus PvE etc. Then we would have no new threads in the General forum at all.
Or we could do another 30 plus thread on item shops(grinning, ducking and running like hell... ^^). There are certain themes that will likely never have any resolution.
The problem with having too much solo content is that people will always follow the path of least resistance. Group quests generally are harder, take longer, require setting up of a team, and so on.. If they have no incentive to do that, then people will just go the solo route and grouping will die.
This is easiest seen in LOTRO. There is so much solo content now that it's near impossible to get groups for anything except the max level instances. And the developers have noticed this trend and have made soloing even easier, so that previous group quests can be done solo. Check out the new addition of Inspirations that you are given for some of the older Book quests, where you become an unstoppable death machine smashing your way through hordes of elite level trolls.
But then, on the flip side, too much grouping can cause a similar problem. If the player base fades out then advancement without solo content will also be near impossible. Take a look at EverQuest as an example, where the majority of content requires a group to advance through, the developers have seen a problem with new players and have set up a new server where you start at high level with 100+ AA's to begin with.
So what can be done? Personally, I think grouping should win out, with a side of soloing as an alternate (but boring) way of advancing. For example, the main game might be all group content, but there could be one area of each level range that is soloable. If you want to solo that day then you can go to this rather limited area and grind mobs all you want. If you want to experience the full range of the game, then start grouping up.
And why do I say this? Well, because my MMO experience started with EverQuest and, when the players were there, they did it right. Grouping meant you got to know people, other people got to know people, names were mentioned as good players or bad players, you knew who you could trust, you knew who to avoid. There was always conversation between spawns, there was always a sense of achievement - even when fighting a simple group of orc spawns for experience. There were overwhelming challenges to face, there was danger around every corner, you had to switch your brain on to get anything done.
But in solo-based games, I find myself becoming increasingly bored and lonely. Taking LOTRO as my example, I only need to group a few times every ten levels. I don't know who I'm grouping with, I've never seen them before and I'll likely never see them again. There is no discussion or chat, only the required amount of conversation to work out how to get through the group quest. The challenges are small, there is very little danger - and what danger there is only means a respawn and a minor debuff for a little while. For a solo based game like LOTRO your brain is off, you go through a zombie like series of button presses to defeat the mob in front of you, then move to the next.
Saying that, I love LOTRO, but I also loved EverQuest. But I can't get over the feeling that LOTRO could be so much more if it just eased off on the soloing aspect and moved more into grouping. I mean, Lord of the Rings was about a fellowship, even Frodo had a partner rather than go off alone. Why is soloing the way to go in a world that was written with fellowships, friendships and helping each other in the forefront?
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
Now Playing: None
Hope: None
If players are antisocial, they won't play MMO's. Because players might prefer to spend most of their time solo rather than grouped, that doesn't make them antisocial. That makes them PEOPLE. We don't have to group up to do everything in real life, so we don't need to do so in MMO's. Force us to do it, and we go play an MMO that doesn't. This is pretty evident in MMO history.
MMO"s have changed over the years to now almost require grouping to reach an end-game. That was not the case when UO first showed up on the scene. You could solo the whole game.
I don't know forcing people to group in order to play an MMO is necessary. I feel as an individual, you have as much right to enjoy the game solo as with group play. If you want to group, well and good. Just don't force me into joining a group to reach an end game point.
My 2 favorite MMOs of all time are FFXI and DAoC. So I guess you could say I'd rather be in a party than solo. I lose a sense that there's other players when I'm in a game that just has you solo. Also, in party games, the community is 10000000000x times better. I think alot of this is due to the fact you have to group, so you don't want to make too many enemies or you'll be done.
The whole group vs non-group debate is silly.
Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game is NOT Massively Multiplayer Cooperative Game.
People come up with dumb arguments like "well if you dont want to group with others, why do you play an mmorpg?"
To which I reply: it's not about playing coop, it's about the persistent world, in which you can interact with real people, be it by adventuring together for a while, or just trading, or just hanging out bragging about that big boss you killed, at the local in-game pub. If you want to group up for stuff, by all means, go out, meet like minded people and adventure with them.
Essentially the pro-group argument comes down to: "I am unable to form social connections on my own, therefore the game should force them for me".
The worst part with 'Group-fanatics' are that they are ruining the (RP)PvP server with their presence and their 'PvE' fantaticism!
They should have been banned from the PvP servers if you ask me. There should be added some achievement system to get rid of all these nonskilled suckers who are ruining the real servers.
Make us care MORE about our faction & world pvp!
Don't think WoW pulled it off as well as some of the other posts might have described, I played WoW on and off for 2~3 years; and I gotta say there is a lot of content both solo and group, but it wasn't neccessarily fun (at least not for me). Raid/Gear gathering was tons of fun, but most of the solo-leveling that was done was repetitive and just plain boring; was pretty tough to get to max level (Just dulllllllllll).
It's defintely hard to pull off solo + group play in an MMO and pull it off well, it also depends on what the player wants to accomplish with the game as well (Casual player, Hardcore player); this would include Casual games and Hardcore games as well.
At the moment I'm playing Global Agenda, and I feel that it's a good casual game, with a mix of solo (non premade) play and Group (premade) play. I can jump on, do a few matches and head out; or I can take and defend territories in AvA (Agency Vs Agency), maybe even a bit of 4v4 with Clan mates. I highly recommended it to FPS/TPS lovers
Overall though you need both Group and Solo play, its just silly not to be able to do one or the other.