Why do people want solo play in an MMORPG?

[Uriahnool]

For me personally I just like knowing a group of like-minded people are in the game with me, so if I do get bored or want to talk to some friends or party up I can do so, which is an extra layer of enjoyment. I also like having a personal experience with the game and being able to explore and try my skills and go through the story without having to rush through things for the other players who aren't as patient. I won't always have the best party or be able to find enough people to do what I want to do. Knowing there is still plenty to do as a solo player makes it easier to experience the game and study the lore.

I understand there are still challenges in an MMORPG that do and should require skilled parties to explore and complete, and things should be easier as a group, but those things should not be a wall that keeps the game from being enjoyed.

[strallaalaa]

i hate solo in mmo's, fact even in shooters i don't even play the campaign part of COD, i jump right to the online play and never look back. it's all about playing with others for me. the way ffxiv is now has destroy my hope for it. 16man party grinds down to 8man grinds then to now solo crap quests. no thanks, i will quit as soon as i realize i hate the leveling system. it's what we do the majority of the time in between events and new content, it's not what you rush threw so that you can just log into the game twice a week and feel like your a gamer and not get the wife mad.

i'd rather not play mmo's at all then play ones that are built this way, and if i didn't have time for a good mmo, i just wouldn't play rather then try to trick myself into thinking calling a mmo modern makes it ok.

you can tell the majority of people don't like making parties, they afk and wait for invites. that is why they like solo, they can just do it themselves. you can blame elitists but you didn't have to party with them, why do you want to join a group with the best gears rather then a group with gear like your own? rushing threw the game and leveling rather then taking the time and stopping and gearing up isn't how a mmo should be. when i got to 50 on my samuri ..i stoped leveling for a week or two and then got a party going for the weapon ..forget it's name lol. speed bumps and things along the way, a year to hit max rank? hell yeah. that's a mmo. if you want to pay 15bucks for the same amount of content an offline throw away game has then ...i don't know what else to tell you other then you destroy what a mmo is about for your own needs or wants or changes in your own lifestyle.

sorry but this topic truly strikes a nerve with me, not a mmo since ffxi could i truly enjoy and it's bullshit. and don't tell me to go back to a 20year old game, it's not even the same game any more. it was changed for gameplay for casual/modern game play. i've said this b4 but ffxiv is my last mmo, but desided to lol check out everquest 3, but i have zero hope for it. then i'm done forever with mmo's. when i hear about a mmo that is like ffxi and other old school mmo's that don't feel like you can actually beat the dang thing then i'll come back. /end rant.

[Xatsh]

People refuse to pay $15/month for the same content as an offline solo game... it is why F2P is the way of the future. Because no mmo released in the last 5yrs is worth a sub, because they all have about 1/5th the content they need to be worthwhile.

Everything is rush rush to endgame to do 2 dungeons, then break for 3 months wait for content, do the 2 new dungeons and level 5 more levels, wait 3 more months... repeat. yea that is not worth paying for.

No one will pay for a game they are bored of, at least no normal person would.

[strallaalaa]

yeah and at the same time we go threw like 5mmo's in the time we used to go threw 1 mmo. your still doing all that useless grinding.

[fusional]

it is why F2P is the way of the future

people keep saying this, F2P's keep failing (arguably faster and more frequently than sub-based games- which tend to last several extra months before going F2P and then dying out thereafter) and WoW keeps trucking along with 10 million subs.

weird!

[IronSoup]

people keep saying this, F2P's keep failing (arguably faster and more frequently than sub-based games- which tend to last several extra months before going F2P and then dying out thereafter) and WoW keeps trucking along with 10 million subs.

weird!

Well, bad sub-based MMOs die extra months later because of the subcription money they get. That's the main reason why.

F2P MMOs can be a good or a bad thing. If the MMO charges extra like SWTOR (when it got F2P) to be able to equip certain gears and get unlimited number of raids per week, this is a bad thing. If you do like GW2 and sell paid cards allowing you to get extra golds (basically RMTing your own game), I think it's a good way to do things (if the better stuffs are untradable-drops).

The problem is that, generally, F2P MMOs are hiding the fact that you'll be unable to do certain events if you aren't paying for it. But, again, some thought of interesting ways to get money in without holding content back. Of course, those paying players will have an advantage but those players would have probably used RMTs to get their extra currency.

[Shougun]

why do you want to join a group with the best gears rather then a group with gear like your own? rushing threw the game and leveling rather then taking the time and stopping and gearing up isn't how a mmo should be. when i got to 50 on my samuri ..i stoped leveling for a week or two and then got a party going for the weapon ..forget it's name lol. speed bumps and things along the way, a year to hit max rank? hell yeah. that's a mmo. if you want to pay 15bucks for the same amount of content an offline throw away game has then ...i don't know what else to tell you other then you destroy what a mmo is about for your own needs or wants or changes in your own lifestyle.

sorry but this topic truly strikes a nerve with me, not a mmo since ffxi could i truly enjoy and it's bullshit. and don't tell me to go back to a 20year old game, it's not even the same game any more. it was changed for gameplay for casual/modern game play. i've said this b4 but ffxiv is my last mmo, but desided to lol check out everquest 3, but i have zero hope for it. then i'm done forever with mmo's. when i hear about a mmo that is like ffxi and other old school mmo's that don't feel like you can actually beat the dang thing then i'll come back. /end rant.

None of this applies directly to solo play.

Blasting through levels doesnt have to be associated with solo play. Easy content, easy gear - doesnt have to be associated with solo play.

Blame the developers for that not the players.

Tell Yoshida, I like content that shows I earned it, regardless of source. Perhaps then you can feel assured that no one is hecking their bed for relics.

[bobbygunz]

I kind of disagree about the concept of "equal balance" between solo and multiplayer play. There needs to be a "balance" sure, but one which befits a Massively Multiplayer game. That balance may be tipped more toward party play though rather than solo play.

[AdorraEloom]

Been posting a bit and now reading a bit of the posts on this thread, Why are some people hating so much on the fact that you can do quests in ff14 ARR>? What is the problem.... Yes quests will be solo for the most part so what, you can still play in groups just as you could in ff11. So they added some quests for people who live in the 21st century and like doing quests and being more involved in the game instead of sitting in a corner waiting around for a group or pulling mobs for 12 hours a day.

I really don't understand the game will still have the hard core party play, end game will be 8-24 man groups, leveling could be done either by solo questing, or party grinding, or running instances, or behest, levs, FATE, and most likely PVP and more! This game really does have it all, it does not focus on one aspect but ALL aspects regarding a great MMORPG.

What path you take is up to you, you can do anything in this game, there for this game will be great, no reason to point out something somebody does not like, because what they like is also in this game. And to top it off, we all know about 5% of what ARR will be like, 95% at this point is just guess work, so no point getting all wound up over nothing, Yoshi knows what he's doing and is working hard to make a wonder full MMORPG and putting stuff in the game for everybody.

[strallaalaa]

None of this applies directly to solo play.

Blasting through levels doesnt have to be associated with solo play. Easy content, easy gear - doesnt have to be associated with solo play.

Blame the developers for that not the players.

Tell Yoshida, I like content that shows I earned it, regardless of source. Perhaps then you can feel assured that no one is hecking their bed for relics.

so your saying people loved tera? it was solo all the way but it took very long time to do and people hated it and it went f2p recently. you might say it's cause lack of content, that is always the excuse ...but a slow party grind in a good mmo like ffxi can be considered content.

most people associate there solo play with easy leveling, when some one says i want solo to max that usually automatically means hey i want easy fast leveling to max as well. and tera proves that cause all i hear is ...too much quest and grinding in that game to level to max.

also mmo's like ffxi had tons of solo content, so it isn't that you want stuff to do, it's that you want to solo rush threw to max. ffxi had 3-4classes that you can solo to max(the mistake here was not making them important to content/endgame), farming, tons of quests that were solo, side quests, solo NM's, other then large events 1-2times a day, you could be solo'ing all day long. if i'm wrong then go head and prove me wrong but i don't see it.

as for not knowing what the game will be like, if party play grinding was to be part of it still they would of already said so. it's safe to say from alpha and everything the devs hint at and tell us that this mmo will be solo. even party questing, sucks. we did that with leves and guess what everyone was bitching about how boring it was. so why they gave us even more of it and take away party grinds i don't know. i leveled in a static 5classes from 20-50 and i will never want to keep doing that again. it's boring even with a party.