Why do people want solo play in an MMORPG?

[DoctorMog]

Soloing say you make 40k/hr... so you solo for 2hrs and get your 80k/hr

Grouping you get 40k/hr... Take 15-20mins to make your party, then go level. In 2hrs you get ~60k/hr


There for Solo > Group


Also if solo = group the majority will take the easy way, meaning the vast majority will just solo because it is easier, a hell of alot easier.

So since grouping takes more then 1 person, and more people want to take the easy way and just solo. You now increase the party wait time to 45-60mins if you make the party... potentially 5-6hrs if you are waiting to get an invite as a DD class.



Yea It is not equal. Group based XP must be better then Solo per hour or everyone. EVEN THOSE WHO HATE IT will solo quest because they have no option. It is called forced soloing, which has no place in mmos. It is the MAIN problem in WoW, Aion, Rift, Tera, AoC, SWToR, and so on progression wise.

Casual do not want forced partying... I and many many others do not want FORCED SOLOING.

I hate to break your logic, but you could always solo until you get a group...

[AdorraEloom]

I can agree with this to a degree. This does HELP the problem but also CAUSES a problem. Old content now becomes obsolete and not done often, so now people that didnt get that one thing done or that one thing they wanted are going to have a really hard time getting groups for those dungeons.

As I said before several pages back, if you try to make EVERYONE happy, you will more than likely only end up making no one happy.

yes and no, by making the older content easier opens a window for more players (casuals) to do older content once more. Eventually leading to a point where you could solo older content, while the new content is now the hard content. This system is how you keep everyone interested in coming back, hard core players have new things to conquer, casual players can now get stuff that the hardcore players had months ago feeling a sense of achievement. How ever this system requires the DEV team to be making new additions to the game every few months, and after all when paying a monthly fee for a game that's what should be done do you not agree? No sense paying a monthly fee when your doing the same instance for 2 years. Need new things to keep people exited and paying.

[Zezlar]

I’ll be honest. I don’t like MMOs focusing too much on the solo element. I play online to play with others. Shocking concept, right? That’s not too say that I don’t understand the point of view of those who would like solo play, I just don’t share the same view.

Completing storyline, and leveling to cap solo to me is a massive turn off. Solo play more often than not means easy gameplay in an MMO. This does not mean this in every instance, but 9 times out of 10 the game is dumbed down to a level I find intolerable. I want to overcome a massive boss encounter with some random folks online and feel a sense of pride after doing it. If I go into a fight and face roll it I’m left disappointed and wondering why I’ve just wasted my life on something utterly useless. Also killing a massive enemy like Ifrit by yourself? Yeah one word: LAME

Solo play for me is left for such activities as gathering, crafting, and some side quests (hence not 99% of them). Massive emphasis on easy solo play will lead me to quit quite quickly. There is more to the game then end game, and if I can’t find an ounce of satisfaction due to an overabundance of these solo activities I don’t see myself playing long.

I don’t want it to the level of XI where you needed a person for every single little thing including moving through a door, but group play should be the predominant focus of the game. This includes faster leveling, dungeons, content, and more.

They need to find a decent balance. Content finder should streamline this process for those who have little time and want to hop into an activity quickly.

[Jeronlmo]

It's a tricky tight rope to walk, balancing solo content with group content. Personally, one of the things I miss most about FFXI is how it pretty much forced you to group up to make progress. That being said, I can completely understand the desire for things to do during downtime. FFXI had very few things you could do if you were actively trying to find a party for a specific job, as well as very few things to do that didn't require a set amount of time and prep work in order to make progress.

Though with the MMOs I have played recently it seems like the group content is too ancillary to the game until you hit the level cap. I can understand the desire to not always be forced into a group to progress, but at the same time, I think milestone achievements that need to be shared in order to complete are a good thing.

I certainly don't understand the mindset of wanting to play an MMO with minimal interaction with other players... Nor do I think that this is necessarily something developers need to bend over backwards in order to incorporate. But my opinion there is a bit biased.

That bold part there... that could have been fixed, the flaw in FF11 is that you had to be on the job you were LFG on, if you were trying to level drg, you needed to be sitting on drg. FF14 1.0, they let you search for a party on any job while you were on any job. You could solo w/e you want while LFG.

[Ferth]

That bold part there... that could have been fixed, the flaw in FF11 is that you had to be on the job you were LFG on, if you were trying to level drg, you needed to be sitting on drg. FF14 1.0, they let you search for a party on any job while you were on any job. You could solo w/e you want while LFG.

I completely agree, but people tend to not think that way.

[LicontAshontear]

yes and no, by making the older content easier opens a window for more players (casuals) to do older content once more. Eventually leading to a point where you could solo older content, while the new content is now the hard content. This system is how you keep everyone interested in coming back, hard core players have new things to conquer, casual players can now get stuff that the hardcore players had months ago feeling a sense of achievement. How ever this system requires the DEV team to be making new additions to the game every few months, and after all when paying a monthly fee for a game that's what should be done do you not agree? No sense paying a monthly fee when your doing the same instance for 2 years. Need new things to keep people exited and paying.

Yes and no. I prefer the content to last longer than 2-3 months. Maybe 1 year is more my style. This allows it to be both hardcore and casual. The hardcore guys will be completing the content as fast as they can, the in the middle people can also complete it but take their time doing it and enjoy the content. In most MMOs that come out with new dungeons every month I get very burned out very quickly and I dont even take the time to enjoy the game because Im too busy trying to keep up with the new content.

[LicontAshontear]

I’ll be honest. I don’t like MMOs focusing too much on the solo element. I play online to play with others. Shocking concept, right? That’s not too say that I don’t understand the point of view of those who would like solo play, I just don’t share the same view.

Completing storyline, and leveling to cap solo to me is a massive turn off. Solo play more often than not means easy gameplay in an MMO. This does not mean this in every instance, but 9 times out of 10 the game is dumbed down to a level I find intolerable. I want to overcome a massive boss encounter with some random folks online and feel a sense of pride after doing it. If I go into a fight and face roll it I’m left disappointed and wondering why I’ve just wasted my life on something utterly useless. Also killing a massive enemy like Ifrit by yourself? Yeah one word: LAME

Solo play for me is left for such activities as gathering, crafting, and some side quests (hence not 99% of them). Massive emphasis on easy solo play will lead me to quit quite quickly. There is more to the game then end game, and if I can’t find an ounce of satisfaction due to an overabundance of these solo activities I don’t see myself playing long.

I don’t want it to the level of XI where you needed a person for every single little thing including moving through a door, but group play should be the predominant focus of the game. This includes faster leveling, dungeons, content, and more.

They need to find a decent balance. Content finder should streamline this process for those who have little time and want to hop into an activity quickly.

^ completely agree. We need that sense of accomplishment. +1

[Xatsh]

I hate to break your logic, but you could always solo until you get a group...

I would rather go to work then solo quest.

Sorry but quest grinding solo is the least fun thing in the entire mmo genre for me. It is simply not an option. It is why I could never get past level 50 in WoW... it is just too casual for a hardcore to play.

Casuals can have their solo, but it better not screw up my party play. This is a mmo not a offline FF game.

[Jeronlmo]

I hate to break your logic, but you could always solo until you get a group...

You can solo while LFG, but not so easy while you are personally making the party.

[AdorraEloom]

Yes and no. I prefer the content to last longer than 2-3 months. Maybe 1 year is more my style. This allows it to be both hardcore and casual. The hardcore guys will be completing the content as fast as they can, the in the middle people can also complete it but take their time doing it and enjoy the content. In most MMOs that come out with new dungeons every month I get very burned out very quickly and I dont even take the time to enjoy the game because Im too busy trying to keep up with the new content.

I agree, 2-3 months would keep the game moving a bit too fast, a year seems like a good speed. But that's what I'm hoping happens in ARR. Biggest beef I had in ff11 was ... well dynamis rofl. I played ff11 for 6 years taking a few 6 month breaks, due to being bored of the same routine dynamis/sky/sea. Each time I came back after a 6 month break and got together with my LS it was back to dynamis/sky/sea really got to me and my breaks became more frequent until I eventually quit.