Why is it that most MMORPG don't support players who just like to adventure solo or in small groups of 2-3 characters? For example, WoW is really bad for this. All the best Epic items in the game are only acquired by large raid groups. There are no solo instances and many of the fun quests are only for large groups of players. Some people might argue that the MMO game is all about social play, but I would have to disagree. I don't mind playing with groups of people, but not ALL the time. Sometimes I just want to explore the world on my own and I don't want to always have to work at finding a group of players. I should be able to build a powerfull character via group play and solo play. If my character is anti-social then I should be able to play that personality type and not get screwed because of it.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

That's a question that I've always had too, mostly because the only times I get available to play aren't conducive to finding groups and also because I don't have the 5+ consecutive hour blocks to get a good group adventure together.

So here's my $.02.

The need to work in groups mirrors the real world. It's not that things are set up to intentionally "screw" you for going solo, but you just won't get as far if you don't learn to work in teams and groups. The best items in the game should reflect the most heroic of effort to achieve. Yet, to make them accessible to solo players, the level required to achieve them would have to be lowered. If that were the case, the game's economy would suffer greatly, as these great items would flood the world, and "epic" wouldn't mean a whole lot. If there were some way to increase difficulty without making it impossible for a solo player, then that could be overcome. There is a price to pay in doing things solo.

Then there's also the fact that WoW and the like are products sold by businesses. By forcing everyone through the inefficient funnel of having to find teams, it takes longer, which means you have to pay more months worth of subscriptions to achieve higher levels and whatnot.

Quote:

Original post by smr Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

I'm sorry but there is still a big difference between playing solo in an MMO and playing a single player game.

In a MMO you can share your experiences and talk to people even if you play solo. My problem is being forced to group up with a bunch of losers all the time.

The problem with games like WoW is that they tend to create a massive LAG fest of 40 + characters with everyone fighting over that one epic item.

Quote:

Original post by Anonymous Poster Solo WoW is actually pretty fun in small batches. But yeah, it is a MULTI-player game. I hate solo-only games like Morrowind. Now *that's* boring! Stupid too... you mean there's a million people on this continent and I'm the only one walking around doing stuff? Come on people!

Well in Wow you should be able to solo lower level dungeons and still get xp and items.

Quote:

Original post by juanpaco That's a question that I've always had too, mostly because the only times I get available to play aren't conducive to finding groups and also because I don't have the 5+ consecutive hour blocks to get a good group adventure together. So here's my $.02. The need to work in groups mirrors the real world. It's not that things are set up to intentionally "screw" you for going solo, but you just won't get as far if you don't learn to work in teams and groups. The best items in the game should reflect the most heroic of effort to achieve. Yet, to make them accessible to solo players, the level required to achieve them would have to be lowered. If that were the case, the game's economy would suffer greatly, as these great items would flood the world, and "epic" wouldn't mean a whole lot. If there were some way to increase difficulty without making it impossible for a solo player, then that could be overcome. There is a price to pay in doing things solo. Then there's also the fact that WoW and the like are products sold by businesses. By forcing everyone through the inefficient funnel of having to find teams, it takes longer, which means you have to pay more months worth of subscriptions to achieve higher levels and whatnot.

yeah I never thought of the money aspect of the game. :) perhaps Wow is doing this on purpose. To fix that problem, I guess all they would have to do is make it take 5 times as long to aquire good items in solo play as it does in groups.

Working in groups doesn't work for all characters. It also doesn't work in the real world all the time. There are many time when groups fail because of a lack of effort by the few. You are in fact only as strong as your weekest link. In the real world those who work in groups are the underlings of the CEO. They are not the leaders of the world they are the ones who work for 'The Man' and they always will.

What about the lone wolf sort of character or the master thief. There are many adventuring paths that can lead to high rewards .

All you have to do is read a good Novel. I have yet to read a novel about a Hero that joined a raid group. Where is the heroic nature in that?

Quote:

Original post by 00Kevin Well in Wow you should be able to solo lower level dungeons and still get xp and items.

Yeah that could be a nice thing, but my opinion is that any dungeon being soloed should have a significantly lower drop rate of "high-value" items. Or perhaps any high-value gear won while soloing an otherwise group instance would be bind on pickup. Otherwise, like someone has already stated, there would be no shortage of epic items on the auctionhouse. If everyone suddenly had the ability to easily go get their own epic, then Blizzard would have to go create a whole new tier of "epic" so that the people who aren't satisfied having the same thing everyone else has have something to go for. But then everyone else will eventually get that stuff then the cycle repeats. The line has to be drawn somewhere. My opinion is that if you're not willing to work in a team, then you're not going to accomplish big things in wow or in life.

Quote:

Original post by smr Quote: Original post by 00Kevin Well in Wow you should be able to solo lower level dungeons and still get xp and items. Yeah that could be a nice thing, but my opinion is that any dungeon being soloed should have a significantly lower drop rate of "high-value" items. Or perhaps any high-value gear won while soloing an otherwise group instance would be bind on pickup. Otherwise, like someone has already stated, there would be no shortage of epic items on the auctionhouse. If everyone suddenly had the ability to easily go get their own epic, then Blizzard would have to go create a whole new tier of "epic" so that the people who aren't satisfied having the same thing everyone else has have something to go for. But then everyone else will eventually get that stuff then the cycle repeats. The line has to be drawn somewhere. My opinion is that if you're not willing to work in a team, then you're not going to accomplish big things in wow or in life.

Again, I would strongly argue against the arugment that people who work in groups are the ones who make it big in life. The real success stories are about 1-2 people who have an idea and execute it. Self made millionares are not people who do the grunt work. They are not midle managers working in groups all day. They are people with an idea and they usually act like dictators.

As for Wow. Most of the best Epic items are Bop anyway. So I fail to see how this would create a problem.

Those rare individuals who make it big alone or in groups of two or three don't do it by murdering ten-story animals with sharp sticks. There are businessmen in EvE who get fabulously wealthy on their own by studying the market, buying minerals, building low-end goods and selling them in a place where there's a high demand and a low supply.

The thing is, that requires savvy and research, and doesn't involve feats of derring do or endless grinding until you're so tough you can do the work of a hundred newbs.

Yes, you can solo in an MMO. Most of them subsidize solo players in some way, with fetch quests or certain, oft-repeatable tasks that pay you a substantial amount of money without requiring you to interact or compete with other players. No, you can't complete the most advanced party quests or raid the hardest dungeons without help, just as EvE players can't maintain a starbase chain or build capital ships without help.

If you could get epic items on your own, then shouldn't a task that takes forty people to accomplish award forty epic items?

It's not that you're punished for being anti-social, it just that other players are rewarded for cooperating.

It was very hard to solo to the highest levels in EQ. WoW changed this and that was a big factor in contributing to it's success. If people who don't have the time to find a group and just want to hop on for an hour or two are removed from your game, this is another customer lost. Imagine if bars banned solo drinkers, those people would just drink at home. Business lost.

While it would be interesting, creating a dungeon that could be played by solo players as well as groups is not practical from a development standpoint. You just doubled the amount of the work. How do all those bosses work now that there is only person? You also eroded some of the group dynamics that make the classes unique.

The concept of an rpg with classes has some roots in dependency. A healer alone is not formidable but coupled with a warrior is a powerful. Magic users have forms of crowd control another aspect of group design.