Stories that focus on the individual should never require parties.
Because I hate resorting to /shouts for hours or even days just to progress in a plot. I enjoyed running through the main scenario's plot because I could go at my own pace if I was leveled high enough to do it. Job quests, and the latest grand company quest in castrum novum, however, give me headaches.
I'm not really in a position to have a full LS ready to help me whenever I need it (they have lives), and at times I feel like more of an annoyance when shouting for random people to come help me. I even used the search/party options, but it seems like no one ever really uses them on my server, even after the merge.
CC/AV/Primal (hard) raids for rare kick ass loot when beating them I am more than fine with having a full party. If I don't finish those, all I miss out on are some rare items.
I realize the job quests, mini primal runs, and a few GC missions are promoting party play, but when it deals with a story line centering on only one person, and no one else is interested in doing them because they already rushed through them after an update, it turns fun into frustration because now my progress is forced to a halt.
I'm not asking for everything to be spoon fed to me, things should be challenging, but I just mainly want my character to experience what happens next in his story whenever I have time to do it myself.