The Solo disease?

[AuctionGirl]

If you want to play a solo game, play an offline game.

I agree with you 100%, except the fact that even when your partying alone, you are NEVER playing solo.

Solo games are games which there is no economy, there are no player vendors, you don't sell materials to others, you are set on 1 path and that's it.

You are lucky that people who SOLO, can make your gear, repair your gear, and help you get materials.

[Aketo]

FilthyDisco If I wanted to play alone I would play a rpg but since I want to be connected with people I play an mmo.

As it stands me and many like thedevilsjester would prefer to play alone and here are my reasons why I enjoy playing alone.

For one it allows me to play at my own pace instead of the pace of a group wanting to rush as fast as possible without care to each persons needs in real life.

Yet it should still be noted that like jester I enjoy talking to members in several of my LS and in the world at large through out the day everyday I am on playing solo(be it grinding away at crafting, or farming mobs for sp and items in the field).

While I will occasionally group up to get leves done on occasion I usually end up like my local leves doing them solo.

Partly because one, people in my LS's usually want a higher rank or a particular job in their group at reset.

That or other demands come into play even when its people outside of a LS at camps that will join up with me.

Not only is it time consuming but also people tend to be selfish in groups lazy and demanding to say the lease.

Doesn't help I have played many mmo's Final Fantasy XI included that make it a pain and very time consuming to get a group together,and to have very pushy people tell you where to go and how to play at time to make for a very jaded experience 9 time out of 10 for me at lease.

But go ahead and say we are all anti-social even though I Love talking to people in game, but due to time constraints and frustration a with past groups I usually avoid the headache of dealing with people group wise unless its behest or I have enough time to do a leve reset if time permits.

Otherwise I have nothing against groups per say except for horrible past experiences that drive me to want to play solo.

However when people come off as knowing what I want to how I should play in any game MMO or otherwise it irks me, I mean telling us how we should play or what we should play is pretty arrogant to say the lease.

[thedevilsjester]

I agree with you 100%, except the fact that even when your partying alone, you are NEVER playing solo.

Solo games are games which there is no economy, there are no player vendors, you don't sell materials to others, you are set on 1 path and that's it.

You are lucky that people who SOLO, can make your gear, repair your gear, and help you get materials.

I do not quite know which side you are arguing for here! Your first line seems to be agreeing with the mindless comment posted by FilthyDisco which assumes that the only difference between an offline RPG and an MMORPG is the partying aspect (which if he had actually read some of the posts, he would see that this isnt even remotely the case), but then you go on to be a champion for the solo cause (and I just had to like the post for that!).

Soloists (again, when I use this term, I do not intend for it to be all encompassing) are not people who do not participate in the game world at all. They simply choose to solo PvE instead of partying. We still (using myself and friends and an example) craft, repair, sell items, and as you put it, generally be a part of the world and its economy. (I have occasionally joined a party simply because they needed my job and couldn't find anyone else, so as a nice, social creature, I choose to put aside my dislike for parties, and help out) This is no different than someone choosing not to Parley, or not to harvest or craft. Sure they are not experiencing every aspect the game has to offer, but for many, those aspects are not enjoyable, so its not much of a loss.

Do I think there are benefits to partying in games? ABSOLUTELY. Without a doubt partying has its advantages (as does soloing), I simply prefer the advantages to soloing over those of partying, as simple as that.

@Aketo Oh beautiful. You hit the nail on the head.

[BruceyBruceyBangBang]

However when people come off as knowing what I want to how I should play in any game MMO or otherwise it irks me, I mean telling us how we should play or what we should play is pretty arrogant to say the lease.

It may get on your nerves and you may have the right to play however you want, but it doesn't change the fact that MMOs are socially driven games by design. Especially a Final Fantasy title. If there is solo content, it's for the players with little time to play, not players who prefer being alone. It goes against the nature of MMOs in general.

[Asmeret]

It may get on your nerves and you may have the right to play however you want, but it doesn't change the fact that MMOs are socially driven games by design. Especially a Final Fantasy title. If there is solo content, it's for the players with little time to play, not players who prefer being alone. It goes against the nature of MMOs in general.

Really, how come we don't all know this then? Where's the rule book at?

[thedevilsjester]

It may get on your nerves and you may have the right to play however you want, but it doesn't change the fact that MMOs are socially driven games by design.

Granted, of course. But you miss the point that socially driven does not mean party driven. These are not mutually exclusive concepts.

If there is solo content, it's for the players with little time to play, not players who prefer being alone. It goes against the nature of MMOs in general.

Again with this mysterious "nature of an MMO". Your statement should read:

"If there is solo content, it is my opinion that it's for the players with little time to play, not players who prefer being alone. It goes against my personally held belief about the nature of MMOs in general."

The bold changes are very important distinctions.

There is no "official" nature of an MMO that states you must party.

Also, you make the assumption that soloers "prefer being alone" which is not the case. We prefer to tackle PvE content without participating in party mechanics, that is all.

@Asmeret Yes! I am sure I didn't see it in the EULA, I may have missed it though, they are so damn long...

[BruceyBruceyBangBang]

Really, how come we don't all know this then? Where's the rule book at?

All I'm saying is the best content is reserved for group play and that never changes and will never change for MMOs. You don't need a rule book to figure that out.

If soloing for the challenge is what gets you going. That is admirable and is something I like to accomplish and reach towards when I play MMOs as well. However, and I said this previously, group designed content soloed by players is based on skill, but also inspired by design flaws. Skill exploits, terrain exploits, and character builds. Which is most always the case. Content, especially in FFXIV's case to which I should say little content, is not designed to be soloable, but is through a loop hole in a combination of class, skill, and attribute exploitation.

If it were designed for both parties we would only have to rely on the skill of the player or players involved and not a design flaw.

[Mitsuhide]

FFXI and XIV sure are meant to play with others and it is much more fun.
But to be able to play some of the Content Alone is a good addition.

Party up can be fun but sometimes it can be much of a pain too, you just dont have the nerve to play always with people its just natural.

I personally like to do my Leves and just go off again because of certain reason...doesnt matter if its the time or i just dont know if i want to play with other at the Moment.

[BruceyBruceyBangBang]

There is no "official" nature of an MMO that states you must party.

Also, you make the assumption that soloers "prefer being alone" which is not the case. We prefer to tackle PvE content without participating in party mechanics, that is all.

Actually, it's not my opinion. There is a system that describes what I'm talking about. They are called "Guildleves". They were and are designed to be most effective in groups, but also are designed specifically to be completed for players who don't have much time to play. Which is their official description of them, not mine.

The difficulty bonus and leve linking bonus shows you that their intentions are that groups are superior. Which would make sense because not only is this a Final Fantasy installment, but it's also an MMO. MMOs? Highlighting group play? Whoa! Insane.

Edit: and I'm not talking about MMOs in general. I'm leaning towards FFXIV's case.

[Aketo]

Just because SE makes it clear that groups are desirable to do leves at higher ranking and reward people more does not mean that soloers are not welcomed in this game.

I mean you make it seem like we should all group up all day everyday if that were the case then you might not be happy with how SE has handled crafting and gathering as a solo jobs

I mean how dare they, you know since your so driven to remind us the exact definition of Guild leves?, how about you go and tell Se how upset you are that crafting and gathering is not group oriented.