The Solo disease?

[thedevilsjester]

Name an RPG that was released in NA that did not have a party mechanic of some kind, because i cant think of one. With that being said i don't think you can propose to kick party mechanics from an MMORPG till you have a viable alternative, and defining something through political correctness is not infallible.

We can start with FFXIII, then go to FFXII, and then some of them get a little hazy if you count ANY multiplayer ability as "a party mechanic" but thats really reaching as the FF games with said mechanic, played identical with or without the second player, so if anything its a solo game with an optional multiplayer aspect. And most NES, SNES, PSX, and PS2 RPG's didnt even have that. I can make a list for you if you want. Through the years I have owned most of them. Very few included such a gimmicky feature.

It may not be anti-social, but I do find it bit strange that you'll make friends and not play with them. What's the point then?

So your friends are only worthwhile if they group with you? Otherwise they are just...what? Wasted bandwidth? Thats nice to know. Usually my friends tend to be, like most peoples friends, of a like mind, and do not usually party if given the option. We enjoy each others company, they make me laugh, and I them. We do, well what friends do.

On topic however, I have no problem with people who want to play solo and I think it unwise to assume that in an MMORPG you should be expected to group all the time. At the same time, it is a large world with hundreds of thousands of people playing together, and it would be silly to not expect to find yourself play with others at one time or another.

Thats not really on topic, as the point of the OP was that soloers choose to solo, we are not forced to do so by circumstance as is the commonly held view. It has nothing to do with a game being intended for one or the other, or the need to group for particular content, or any of the other things that the topic has veered into! I expect there to be some things that are just not in the realm of a soloist, as I mentioned earlier there are some things that make no sense scaled down. But that is not the point of the topic, it has simply been hijacked by people who have not fully read my post or understood the intent behind it. And I, of course, love to argue, so I just go with it. I should stop at some point, but...well...I have probably had too much coffee.

[Bled]

I meant MMORPG rather RPG; which was my error and i corrected in my original post.

My apologies i didn't even notice the miss type till i saw your response ><

[Punxsutawney]

Well in FF 8 you had a group, but was it necessary? Squall was really you needed. Same with FF7, sure Tifa, Cid, Vincent where there, but they were just there to prevent Cloud from blowing up from awesomeness. But in all seriousness RPGs do tend to have multiple characters along side a main. But RPG and MMORPG do not equal the samething.

[Spellbinder]

So your friends are only worthwhile if they group with you? Otherwise they are just...what? Wasted bandwidth? Thats nice to know. Usually my friends tend to be, like most peoples friends, of a like mind, and do not usually party if given the option. We enjoy each others company, they make me laugh, and I them. We do, well what friends do.

Sounds like you're trying to twist what I'm saying, and perhaps you were not clear enough when you said you choose not to play with them. You just said you enjoy each other's company did you not? So do you play with them or do you not play with them? Make up your mind.

[Jynx]

Balance is key, there needs to be direct benifits for parties compared to solo play otherwise party play is downright discouraged. Solo players will play solo regardless of how "Good" the exp or rewards are mainly because they have the ultimate freedom to do what they want when they want.

In XI I played most all the jobs that could either Solo 1-75 or once 75 were proficient solo players. Beastmaster, Blackmage, Thief I prided msyelf on my skills as a thief taking on monsters that others would flee in terror from. I knew that I wasn't the best in a party, but I made up for it with my abillity to solo.

[Bled]

We can start with FFXIII, then go to FFXII, and then some of them get a little hazy if you count ANY multiplayer ability as "a party mechanic" but thats really reaching as the FF games with said mechanic, played identical with or without the second player, so if anything its a solo game with an optional multiplayer aspect. And most NES, SNES, PSX, and PS2 RPG's didnt even have that. I can make a list for you if you want. Through the years I have owned most of them. Very few included such a gimmicky feature.


So your friends are only worthwhile if they group with you? Otherwise they are just...what? Wasted bandwidth? Thats nice to know. Usually my friends tend to be, like most peoples friends, of a like mind, and do not usually party if given the option. We enjoy each others company, they make me laugh, and I them. We do, well what friends do.


Thats not really on topic, as the point of the OP was that soloers choose to solo, we are not forced to do so by circumstance as is the commonly held view. It has nothing to do with a game being intended for one or the other, or the need to group for particular content, or any of the other things that the topic has veered into! I expect there to be some things that are just not in the realm of a soloist, as I mentioned earlier there are some things that make no sense scaled down. But that is not the point of the topic, it has simply been hijacked by people who have not fully read my post or understood the intent behind it. And I, of course, love to argue, so I just go with it. I should stop at some point, but...well...I have probably had too much coffee.

Your OP was an opinion piece were you stated that you choose to solo because you like to solo (and the immersive qualities of MMORPGS), with an opinion like that of course your going to get opposite opinions and similar topics that branch off from that.

I don't think you have any ground to claim the thread has been hijacked.

[Esthar]

My god, let dude solo if he wants too.
When reading all your aggressive comments WHERE YOU TRY TO EXPLAIN SOMEONE WHAT'S THE RIGHT WAY TO HAVE FUN (my god...), I can perfectly understand why one would rather play alone. (^,^)

[thedevilsjester]

I meant MMORPG rather RPG; which was my error and i corrected in my original post.

My apologies i didn't even notice the miss type till i saw your response ><

Then I retract my reply, though I have no answer to your comment as I do not see how it relates to the topic at hand.

Sounds like you're trying to twist what I'm saying, and perhaps you were clear enough when you said you choose not to play with them. You just said you enjoy each other's company did you not? So do you play with them or do you not play with them? Make up your mind.

I may have been a little harsh in my reply, sorry. To interact with them socially, and enjoy their company socially, does not mean form an official game mechanic group to play the game with.

My god, let dude solo if he wants too.
When reading all your aggressive comments WHERE YOU TRY TO EXPLAIN SOMEONE WHAT'S THE RIGHT WAY TO HAVE FUN (my god...), I can perfectly understand why one would rather play alone. (^,^)

Oh I love it. Though its not quite my reasoning for solo play, it does contribute. I love being in a party where they tell me exactly how I should play my job, exactly what skills to use, at exactly what time. I might as well be a bot

Your OP was an opinion piece were you stated that you choose to solo because you like to solo (and the immersive qualities of MMORPGS), with an opinion like that of course your going to get opposite opinions and similar topics that branch off from that.

I don't think you have any ground to claim the thread has been hijacked.

My OP was not an opinion piece. I stated that me, and other soloists, solo because we enjoy it. The post was about the reason that I solo. And the reason is fact, not opinion. The fact that I enjoy soloing is not open to opinion. You cannot disagree and say that no, I (as in me) do not enjoy soloing (which would be the dissenting or opposite opinion of my OP). The thread was hijacked by those who thought that I was expressing an opinion about soloing being better than grouping, or (as the thread goes on, any number of things, including my supposed "made up" demands for the game to change!) I know I argue semantics, but its important when the whole intent of my OP can change based on a few key ideas. I do not claim that soloing is better than grouping, or that anything is better than anything else. Just that I personally love to solo and I do it as a choice, as do most of my MMORPG playing friends. We do, its true.

Not that I mind the derailment really. I like to have discussions, I just want the record straight for what my OP intended, and that was simply to say that all soloists are not soloing as our only option, we (at least a lot of us, I cannot speak for everyone) are doing it because we enjoy it.

[Bled]

Then I retract my reply, though I have no answer to your comment as I do not see how it relates to the topic at hand.


I may have been a little harsh in my reply, sorry. To interact with them socially, and enjoy their company socially, does not mean form an official game mechanic group to play the game with.


Oh I love it. Though its not quite my reasoning for solo play, it does contribute. I love being in a party where they tell me exactly how I should play my job, exactly what skills to use, at exactly what time. I might as well be a bot


My OP was not an opinion piece. I stated that me, and other soloists, solo because we enjoy it. The post was about the reason that I solo. And the reason is fact, not opinion. The fact that I enjoy soloing is not open to opinion. You cannot disagree and say that no, I (as in me) do not enjoy soloing (which would be the dissenting or opposite opinion of my OP). The thread was hijacked by those who thought that I was expressing an opinion about soloing being better than grouping, or (as the thread goes on, any number of things, including my supposed "made up" demands for the game to change!) I know I argue semantics, but its important when the whole intent of my OP can change based on a few key ideas. I do not claim that soloing is better than grouping, or that anything is better than anything else. Just that I personally love to solo and I do it as a choice, as do most of my MMORPG playing friends. We do, its true.

Not that I mind the derailment really. I like to have discussions, I just want the record straight for what my OP intended, and that was simply to say that all soloists are not soloing as our only option, we (at least a lot of us, I cannot speak for everyone) are doing it because we enjoy it.

"I stated that me, and other soloists, solo because we enjoy it" your opinion is not the opinion of every "soloist", i still call your post an opinion because you label your self in a sub group and claim to have the same view as everyone in said group, with no real way to validify that claim.

using your same argumentative tactics above Opinion: a personal view, attitude, or appraisal. Stating that you and a group of people (which is an inference in and of itself) are soloists and that you enjoy final fantasy for is solo content and solo possibilities is in and of it self a view or opinion, thus making your post a opinion piece.

"Then I retract my reply, though I have no answer to your comment as I do not see how it relates to the topic at hand."

You stated that an MMORPG does not need to have partying in order for it to be massively multiplayer, and i sir stated that i disagree. disagreeing is again not considered off topic.

[Eldaena]

I'm not sure why this is here. I understand soloists do not wish to be labeled in a negative manner, but as far as content goes, almost everything IS solo-able in this game. You very rarely 'need' to rely on other people to do things in this game. However, there are several options to work with others if you so choose. Benefits to both ways as well.

Most NM fights that are soloed are possibly exploiting a feature of the game that is probably being used in an 'unintended' manner or taking advantage of the unbalanced abilities currently in the system. That being said, I would say NMs and boss fights should be party oriented only. Whilst....practically everything else is optional for solo or multiplayer. This is, in my eyes, extremely fair for a game that allows people to work together. At least there could be one thing that would make this game being multiplayer matter. If they don't have this, it might as well just be everyone playing a solo game, passing by each other in the streets and not acknowledging each other, because they do not need to.

That also being said, I feel that some of the several things in this game that are 'solo only' should possibly allow people to work together on. I think it would be fun to have gathering grinding parties and working together on crafting (like working with someone that has the sub for a synthesis that you do not.)

I'm about equality. I think people should be allowed to solo and party if they wish. I want there to continue to be options for people to play solo...but I also want options for people to play together. Playing with my friends is the most important thing that makes this game fun to me and on some levels, I feel like there are too many solo-only activities in this game.

Like when I get a duty calls message and I know I have to set out alone. It makes me sad. I want to experience this game with others if I want to.

This is just someone on the opposite side of the solo perspective, but I also respect your wishes to solo.