Quote Originally Posted by Miley View Post
I read that[...] You will be able to do the whole game solo or with the duty finder, no need for guilds,friends,or groups[...]
You need to define what is "do the whole game", which is pretty much the definition of playing. What is playing a MMO for you?


One does not play a MMO like he/she plays a regular singleplayer game or a game with a multiplayer option. When I start playing a single player game, I play to "beat" the game. In other words, I play until I reach the inevitable ending, which are usually marked by the end credits. Multiplayer options can sometime bring life to the game a while longer, but it has no real end goal, you play until you get tired and stop to move on another game.

A MMO is not about beating the game as you can only beat content that is currently available since the game is expected to take years before reaching a conclusion (and often, there is no such thing as an ending). Honestly, if all you can think of a MMO is to clear content with other players, your vision is flawed. Your money would actually be better invested in seeking multiplayer titles and their sequels. It's cheaper to spend about $60 every year for the next Call of Duty sequel and play it with your friends and other like minded individuals. Each game brings novelties (or differences), better graphics and new goals.

A MMO is a journey. It's essentially a job of its own (it's just that instead of awarding money, it awards entertainment time). You are meant to keep subscribing and to essentially spend time living in the virtual world, meeting people, making friends and facing challenges. In my opinion, the reason MMOs really begins at max level is because while you are levelling, you are spending most of your time building your character. At max level, you are meant to spent most of your time socializing and playing with others. Key differences between a Call of Duty's session and a MMO's session is that while in Call of Duty, you will always be playing on a map to defeat the opponents, sometime you may log into the MMO and just spend some time talking or doing pointless things with your friends. Other times, you may log in and attempt to get an better/new item. On both games, tasks will eventually become monotonous and it's the other people that will bring the spark of novelty here and there (or annoyance), yet the MMO has virtually a never ending content because players are encouraged to do content as they please, while in Call of Duty for instance, you are encouraged to get better and better and seek the number 1 spot of each matches.

It all comes down to what do you want. If you play to clear content as fast as possible and wait for more challenges after your done, your money could be better spent elsewhere. For $15/month, every 4 months of MMO subscription time, you could afford a brand new $60 title. It all comes down to if you prefer spending $180 on a subscription for a single MMO (knowing that new content is not guaranteed each month) or spend the same $180 on at least 3 brand new titles, which you know for sure, will be different games.

MMOs have always been about experiencing a journey in a virtual world full of other players. Trying to play solo only is just misplaced money.

My opinion,
Lloyd Shade

Note: I never played any Call of Duty titles. It's just that if you check Wikipedia, they have a solid history of releasing a new game each year.