Whats the attraction of playing solo and solo mmos ?

delete5230

I think I get it and I guess I could see the attraction, kind of.

We seem to have an equal split here.   However we DON'T have much choice anyway.  MMOs are designed for single players, even the classic's are completely single player driven.

This is how I see the attraction:

- The social media of it all.  You get to chat with your guild, compare what you have.

- You get the feeling your not alone in the world, and a feeling of liveliness around you. 

- The non-stressful feeling of not having to be responsible.  After all, others could be nasty.

Things like this have to be it or more off line games would be popular like Elders Scrolls Oblivion.  MMO's come with their own style that separates them from RPGs.  The leveling and abilities style of play.  I call this the one potato chip at a time style.  I have to say I like this too.  I always find it intriguing to get that new ability that will greatly effect your character, then I want more !......This could be another attraction.

Most here know I'm Old School driven, even to the point it's disgusting.  However half of us are Old School driven, just not as blunt.

In my years, I've found a few things to be true. 

- Most are shy    

- Many are afraid of that bully 

- Many don't like to get sucked in

I guess I could understand these three points. Their real !

But lets talk about the " shy " because this is the big one. This towers above all others.  In both real life and in game.  Everyone is afraid to ask that guy over their to play, he looks intense, better leave him alone.  ALMOST EVERYTIME THIS IS NOT THE CASE.  More often than not, he is a potential friend !........Try killing something next to him, then offer to play and chat !...... Now you have one friend.  This is what an mmo is suppose to be. This is how community's are built.....But now it's all automatic. Developers removed this for easy and a softer approach. Sure their doing it for you, but with consequence's..... MMO's turned into STRICTLY social media.

If your still the " shy " type anyway, that's fine, to each their own...........I just wish their was an mmo for the other half of us !!!! 

delete5230

DMKano said:

The attractions is -  not having to deal with other people. 

Because sometimes other people suck, a lot.

You don't have to deal with other's schedules, wants/needs etc.. 

Solo - it's just you, can play whenever and however you want without anyone else giving you any crap.

I think I covered that.  Thanks for being obvious

delete5230

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delete5230

Aori said:

I don't understand what we're talking about? What is a solo MMO? Most MMOs force group play. There is no alternate progression routes in most MMOs anymore that aren't locked behind an instance that requires group play.

I'm a lonewolf player, I have been since Lineage 1. I like to do my own thing, at my own pace. As for the "shy" thing, I have social anxiety and that exists even online to a degree. I can't do voice comms, which is a huge requirement in todays gaming.

I totally understand, you answered my question of what I was thinking.

Your not alone.  Seems half are lonewolfs.....It would be nice for at least one mmo for the other half.

Thanks so much  

IakXastur

Main reason I play solo, is I have a limited amount of time to play, less than an hour. And for finding a group, and being able to truly have any type of advancement in that time is kind of wasted. I hate being the person that joins a group and 10 minutes after starting to hunt, has to leave.

Admittedly, I will, ask to join groups in that time period, with the caveat that I can only play for a short time. Most of the time they don't want me, but sometimes they are perfectly fine with it. But when I have more time, I always group. I was the same back at the turn of millennium with Everquest.

Do I think games HAVE to have solo fighting XP content for all classes? No, but they should have something that you can feel productive with when someone was a short amount of time to play. One other caveat, I hate random dungeon finder groups. Most of the time I have no problem with whatever group I've joined for the dungeons, but it's pure grind, and no social interaction.

Gdemami

delete5230 said:
It would be nice for at least one mmo for the other half.

EVE, GW2, Tera, STO, BDO, Skyforge and others provide decent group content from the get go.

Altough I agree that western MMOs aren't really made with group play in mind but then, westerners do not like mob grinding much.


Thinking about it now, EVE is only one truly viable tho...

scorpex-x

The world.

You don't have to do content with others, you can treat an mmorpg like an offline rpg but with living breathing npcs.  Imagine playing witcher 3 and going upto an npc and them being able to say anything, or have a proper conversation, or making a friend, or them calling you a potato and to go **** yourself!.  That's the appeal.  There is also the aspect of getting some nice loot and showing it off to people instead of just yourself.

iixviiiix

Being  free is the attraction of solo MMOs .

delete5230

scorpex-x said:

The world.

You don't have to do content with others, you can treat an mmorpg like an offline rpg but with living breathing npcs.  Imagine playing witcher 3 and going upto an npc and them being able to say anything, or have a proper conversation, or making a friend, or them calling you a potato and to go **** yourself!.  That's the appeal.  There is also the aspect of getting some nice loot and showing it off to people instead of just yourself.

I value your opinion, I really do.

Thanks

Slapshot1188

Sometimes people just want to be the focus of the story and not share that/dilute it with other folks.

kitarad

I have met really terrible people over the years since my first MMORPG Everquest but I still enjoy playing with others because I have met great people too. I do however also enjoy playing solo too and solo does not mean alone. You can play solo and still have conversations and enjoy the social aspect of MMORPGs.

Squishydew

It's just a singleplayer game with a world that feels livelier because of the people in it
Even if you dont interact with other players directly, you still do so passively by seeing them run by, doing objectives, and talking, it makes the world less static and more fun.  

On top of that, as someone who enjoys a nice grind now and then, there simply is no better place to get it then a MMO, I've spend god knows how long playing WoW over the years, but i have still tons of mounts, pets, toys and other collectables to get, and man do i love collectibles.  

beebop500

For myself - and I am someone who has greatly enjoyed group play, but has also done quite a lot of soloing - it's all about having choices in an MMO.  To put it simply, I think you should be able to progress regardless of your preferred play style, and this is doubly true for b2p and p2p games. 

Grouping is fun, but not for everyone.  Nobody should be pigeonholed into soloing or grouping; this is one of the reasons I didn't last long playing ARR.  (Not to speak negatively about it, just giving an example of what I feel is a system that strips choice away from the player.  I'm sure there are others similar to this.)  By the same token, there are those who would rather solo, but group-centric folks shouldn't feel like they are being forced to go it alone.

d_20

I wish I had RL friends to play online with.

Otherwise, I like to just do my own thing but have people to play together with when I want to for certain activities. I'm pretty busy with my life and don't want to schedule around a game.

Mikeha

I mostly like grouping but I also like to solo at times.

Vermillion_Raventhal

To me combat should be soloable.  

The parts I think the genre go wrong is not have interdependency elsewhere.  The solo hero/savior quest lines with gameplay and the world overly designed around it. 

Hariken

You don't have to deal with dick heads. Todays mmo's are full of them.

Forgrimm

Hariken said:

You don't have to deal with dick heads. The world is full of them.

Corrected that for you.

nariusseldon

The attraction is IP and gameplay. For example, if you like a super hero ARPG with marvel characters, Marvel Heroes is it.

I play some MMOs as single player games, if they are fun as single player games. 

Azaron_Nightblade

delete5230 said:

Aori said:

I don't understand what we're talking about? What is a solo MMO? Most MMOs force group play. There is no alternate progression routes in most MMOs anymore that aren't locked behind an instance that requires group play.

I'm a lonewolf player, I have been since Lineage 1. I like to do my own thing, at my own pace. As for the "shy" thing, I have social anxiety and that exists even online to a degree. I can't do voice comms, which is a huge requirement in todays gaming.

I totally understand, you answered my question of what I was thinking.

Your not alone.  Seems half are lonewolfs.....It would be nice for at least one mmo for the other half.

Thanks so much  

There is no "other half". The MMO players that prefer to play solo most of their time online vastly outnumber your kind. That's why so many MMOs cater to that playstyle.

Also... @DMKano pretty much nailed the reasons as to why so many people prefer soloing. And clearly it's not that obvious if you have to make a thread on the topic to ask. xD

Charliff1966

I cant connect to people in RL, I can't use a mic in a game. Still a solo mmo gives me the feeling I have other players around me which doesn't happen in a solo RPG.

Distopia

Sometimes I wanna group sometimes I don't, yet I always want to work on progressing my character when I'm into an MMORPG. I don't solo to avoid people, I solo to work at my own pace. 

madazz

In UO you could mostly play solo but still stand out. You could actually make a name for yourself. Because of how the game worked, you'd eventually socialize. But you people killed the social aspects of MMO's so you wouldn't really understand the dynamic social world that older games had.

Sovrath

delete5230 said:

DMKano said:

The attractions is -  not having to deal with other people. 

Because sometimes other people suck, a lot.

You don't have to deal with other's schedules, wants/needs etc.. 

Solo - it's just you, can play whenever and however you want without anyone else giving you any crap.

I think I covered that.  Thanks for being obvious

Then what the heck was the point of your post?

It seems like a little rant ending with "if you are shy that's ok but I wish there was an mmo for the rest of us".

Maybe your title is misleading and maybe you need to tighten up the post a bit to make it clear.

freegames

So many reasons, not having to deal with terrible people have in games, yes they are everywhere.
Do not have to wait for a group to do some quests that require a large time investment.
A majority of people in mmos do play solo, this has been stated repeatedly all over the net.
Around 60% of players in mmos spend a majority of their time playing solo, that is a pretty huge percentage of the playerbase you are alienating if you fail a make an mmo that fails to cater to solo players. This info is based off the numbers of endgame max level characters, but those who are not max level in mmos it rises up to up to 80% depending on the mmo. (NCSoft)

People like the choice of whether to group or not group, personally I am not a fan of forced grouping or limiting content under grouping. I am fine with cosmetics that a exclusive, but not a huge fan of you have to group with x # of players for a 2% chance to get item y. I do not usually group in pve, but often group in pvp often times because it is required and you have to do something at the end game besides starting another game.

Antiquated

Nothing new to be gleaned from this thread that hasn't already been covered in one of the previous "extrovert feigns ignorance of introverts" threads.