The Solo disease?

[thedevilsjester]

Hi, my name is thedevilsjester and I am a soloist.

I see a lot of hate for solo players in almost every MMORPG. I had hoped that FFXIV, being very solo friendly would be a haven for the soloist because we have been officially "accepted", unfortunately even those who defend solo players, do so with the back of their hand.

Solo players, apparently, only solo because they do not have time for larger/group content, or just cannot find a group to play with. It seems as if playing solo is some kind of ailment that we would all love to be cured of.

Its not. I play solo because I like to play solo. I have plenty of time on my hands, and could find a group easily if I wanted one. I don't. In fact, unless friends need help doing something, or I have no choice in the matter, I do not group at all, and will often turn groups down because I simply do not want to play with other people.

Why play an MMO then? Because off-line RPG's do not even come close to the splendour, size, and sheer awesomeness that MMORPG's do, and probably never will. And, even though, as a soloist, I like to play the game by myself, that doesn't mean that I want to play in a lifeless empty world. I want my game world populated, and to feel alive, I just don't want to play with anyone. If I have to put up with an occasional group to play in such a world, its a price I am willing to pay.

Sorry for the...rant, I just ran into too many "hate the soloist" topics today, and needed to vent!

Hopefully those who just cannot understand why someone would play solo (trust me, I feel the same way about groups), can take something from this to better understand a soloists reasons for playing an MMORPG.

[sketch]

Hi, my name is thedevilsjester and I am a soloist.

I see a lot of hate for solo players in almost every MMORPG. I had hoped that FFXIV, being very solo friendly would be a haven for solo players because we have been officially "accepted", unfortunately even those who defend solo players, do so with the back of their hand.

Solo players, apparently, only solo because they do not have time for larger/group content, or just cannot find a group to play with. It seems as if playing solo is some kind of ailment that we would all love to be cured of.

Its not. I play solo because I like to play solo. I have plenty of time on my hands, and could find a group easily if I wanted one. I don't. In fact, unless friends need help doing something, or I have no choice in the matter, I do not group at all, and will often turn groups down because I simply do not want to play with other people.

Why play an MMO then? Because off-line RPG's do not even come close to the splendour, size, and sheer awesomeness that MMORPG's do, and probably never will. And, even though, as a soloist, I like to play the game by myself, that doesn't mean that I want to play in a lifeless empty world. I want my game world populated, and to feel alive, I just don't want to play with anyone. If I have to put up with an occasional group to play in such a world, its a price I am willing to pay, but not one that I enjoy.

Sorry for the...rant, I just ran into too many "hate the soloist" topics today, and needed to vent!

Hopefully those who just cannot understand why someone would play solo (trust me, I feel the same way about groups), can take something from this to better understand a soloists reasons for playing an MMORPG solo.

fair enough but ur not alone tbh its the same towards partys. 11 had this prob in the past being mostly group stuff peeps who couldnt solo hated it vice a versa

[Shika]

I can see both sides- in FFXI there were often times when I'd be like "Ugh I just want to go out and do x y z by myself". That is part of the reason why I leveled Beastmaster to 85 before I quit; I had so much fun just going out and exploring, beating mobs up and not having to rely on others. If I died then it was through my own stupidity or pushing it a little too close to the wire!

I had other jobs that were for partying, endgame events or helping people out in groups, but with some of the people you come across sometimes you just can't stomach the possibiltiy of encountering stupidity, selfishness or laziness by being in a random group of people you just don't know. Of course not everyone is like that and it is probably unfair for me to put it like that (but I'm sure everyone has come across these type of people at some time or another!), and partying with others and helping random people out is a great way to make friends.

If you want to solo, I don't see the problem with it. Of course there will be things that you will not be able to do just on your own, but if that's good with you or you decide to party with people at that point to get the job done then I see no difference ^^

[Kailea_Nagisa]

the one thing I never found to make any sense........ if you want to solo..... why in the heck are you playing an MMORPG....and dont give me that "single player RPGs dont hold up to MMORPGs) because I have a whole shelf full of games, spanning decades that will prove that wrong.

[BruceyBruceyBangBang]

Just something you have to live with depending on the content. It's not designed for solo players. If you just want to play solo, there is nothing wrong with that in my eyes. Most cases I like to solo things as a challenge to myself, but in terms of group oriented content that gives out top notch gear, just gotta bite the bullet.

If this doesn't bother you, there is no argument to be had and I wish you the best of luck and hours of fun with XIV.

[Dubont]

I don't have a problem with people who solo because they like to solo. My problem is when certain soloists expect to be able to do everything that a full party can do. Example: In FFXI, for the longest time, you needed a good solid group to take on any endgame bosses. Later, certain jobs/job combinations, with the right gear and macros, could solo most of them. This is fine for me because not every job can do it and you have to be exceptionally skilled and knowledgeable to do so. Now, we fast forward to FFXIV and a lot of soloists are wanting to be able to solo EVERYTHING on ANY JOB. This is unacceptable. If everything is soloable, what is the point of having a party? At the same time, I understand the soloist point of view. Not everyone wants to get a party together and go fight things, but please understand that this game isn't (or shouldn't be) a solo game. Yes, it is solo friendly and will have solo content, but the game isn't going to be 100% soloable (At least not if they want to keep a solid player base) and people need to understand that. There are going to be things that you, as a soloist, will not be able to do without a party and it's the people that complain about not being able to solo everything, in an already EZ2Play game, that really tick me off.

tl;dr I understand the solo view, but not everything is going to be solo onry so people need to suck it up and accept the fact that a party will be needed at some point.

[Shikaree]

OP, I'm also a solo player.

I have my times where maybe I want to try grouping, but I don't like having to do this on a consistent basis. There's times where I just like to choose when I want to start or stop doing something. Or maybe I just want to focus on crafting more, I'm also the type that doesn't like to rush myself to max level on a battling class so fast.

I'm also this way on linkshells. Either the linkshell is not active/populated or the people in there talk very dirty way too often (this occurred to me once on FFXI, one guy would not stop from making a sexual reference every other minute and I ended up leaving the ls because I couldn't stand it).

I wouldn't mind finding a nice group of people to chat and eventually do some things with in the game, but they also have to understand I have my playstyle and personality traits that cause me to prefer doing things in a different manner occasionally.

[Leeloo]

Right on.

So far in this game I enjoy fighting a lot more when I'm solo rather than in groups. Sure, if I do it I'm gimping myself on the best SP/hour by not max leve-linking and doin' behests, but I'm actually fighting more like it should be. Making use of the armoury system and my full selection of abilities. Behests & leves in large groups are no fun to me aside from watching the SP bar go up.

Soloists definitely get looked at funny, but beyond that a lot of people tend to get caught up in thinking that the way they play is the only way to play. Anyone not hanging out in Uldah, max leve-linking the same leves & failing the good ones is doing it wrong. = D

[Dubont]

Right on.

So far in this game I enjoy fighting a lot more when I'm solo rather than in groups. Sure, if I do it I'm gimping myself on the best SP/hour by not max leve-linking and doin' behests, but I'm actually fighting more like it should be. Making use of the armoury system and my full selection of abilities. Behests & leves in large groups are no fun to me aside from watching the SP bar go up.

Soloists definitely get looked at funny, but beyond that a lot of people tend to get caught up in thinking that the way they play is the only way to play. Anyone not hanging out in Uldah, max leve-linking the same leves & failing the good ones is doing it wrong. = D

pfff Raptor parties ftw.

[Leeloo]

pfff Raptor parties ftw.

Oh yea, those too