I’ll Do This SoloSeptember 29th, 2008 by Gloria
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Multiplayer games are awesome and I love them dearly. Obviously, if you’ve read any of my Wrath of the Lich King previews, I’m quite fond of MMORPGs. I tend to sporadically pick up new ones like I’m at a cocktail party and they’re a plate of hors d’oeuvres. One thing that repels me from MMORPGs, however, is forced grouping. The thought of being forced to be in a party with people in order to get anywhere makes me scream.
Do I like to be in groups? Yes, when the mood strikes me or I find a leveling partner I like. Do I want to be in a group the entire time I’m playing? About as much as I want to write a twenty page paper on the chemical symbol for lead.
I love soloing because I don’t have to rely on someone else to be on. I can essentially make my own hours, and nobody is going to complain if I randomly get up and disappear for half an hour. Sometimes I hate having to tell groups that I need to afk, so I make up ridiculous excuses.
“I have to go, my cat sat on and broke my gameboy.”
Though I think the funniest I ever heard was:
“I have to go, my cat got stuck on the ceiling fan and was pooping in fear as he was spinning so I have to go clean it up.”
How can you be angry when someone ditches a group after saying something like that, honestly?
I won’t name names, but I’ve heard of the MMORPGs that essentially require you to be partied 24/7 if you want to stand a hope of defeating any monsters and gaining exp. That kind of playstyle fits some, but my God does it sound like torture to me. After an hour or two of playing, I like to get up and get some air. Or maybe a sandwich. Either way, I don’t tend to return to my keyboard right away.
Oh, I can focus on a game. I’ve raided and all that good stuff. But if the entire game was like that instead of just 3-4 hours a few nights a week?
I also enjoy soloing because I can figure things out at my own pace. Granted a lot of the intricacies of a class in some games can only be learned via other people teaching it, a lot of times a class can be figured out solo.
Playing alone also gets rid of that, “Oh God gotta keep up with my friends” mentality. I like to read quest text and enjoy scenery. It’s hard to do that when powerleveling with buddies.
Sometimes when I’m in a bad mood I’ll sit down, turn a game on, flip on my music, and just vent all my frustration. It’s just relaxing, and I can’t piss anyone off or bring them down as long as I stick to myself.
So again, partying isn’t something I go out of my way to avoid. Sometimes I really do feel like being social and peppy. But other times I enjoy the privacy of soloing. So tell me, why do you solo?
September 29th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I primarily solo because of being able to read the quests. I’m one of those odd ones who actually wants to read it, even if just speed-reading my way through the quest the umpteenth time.
There’s also the annoyance of usually ending up in PUGs, where I find myself cringing continuously. If someone isn’t being racist, sexist, heterosexist, et cetera, there is often the person yelling at everyone how to do things and screaming N00B!1!
It gets annoying.
September 29th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Best AFK excuse I’ve heard: “Oh man, my fish tank just broke and there’s water EVERYWHERE! I’ve gotta go.” And someone else in the group’s reply: “Save the fish!”
I try my hardest to get by with soloing unless I can group with people I already know. I’ve had so many bad experiences with PUGs that the idea of being in one makes my head hurt. Basically, I agree with what Denis said. There’s always at least one person who makes me wish I had a button on my keyboard that would cause a boxing glove to pop out from somewhere and punch them in the face when pressed.
I also enjoy doing things at my own pace, being free to explore however much I want, read quest text, /salute guards, etc. Call me silly, but I like to immerse myself in the game as much as possible and explore everything it has to offer. Grouping makes that hard because groups are almost always in a rush to get things done.
Plus, I’m not a very social person anyway. I feel much more comfortable around friends and guildies than strangers, but sometimes I don’t even want to group with people I know. I just want some time to myself. It’s just like IRL. Sometimes you don’t mind going out with friends, but other times you’d rather just stay in, have takeout, and watch TV in your PJ’s.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I am almost exactly the opposite. I hate playing alone. Being by myself in a game is so boring! The world is so static unless there are people around. If I level, I prefer to level grouped in dungeons. My enjoyment of a game experience goes up the more people that I am interacting with. (Yes, that means I consider 40-man raids in WoW the pinnacle of WoW)
September 29th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I’ve done a heroic Magister’s Terrage 5 nights in a row now (no raiding or anything… But I’d like a white hawkstrider) and I’m feeling completely exhausted when I just think about logging to the game. I don’t especially love grouping either, though it’s fun every now and then. But I’m definitely hitting a limit here.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I like soloing because there’s no pressure on me. I can go at my own pace. I like to think about things, and I don’t react well when I have to think fast. If I’m soloing the accidental three-pull will only kill me, not my entire party. I am always slightly scared when grouping or raiding that I will screw up and people will think I’m rubbish.
Playing a healer class, I find that when I am grouping or raiding I have to concentrate more. When I was specced dps I didn’t find groups anywhere near as much work.
I identify with Alyssa’s comment as well. Sometimes I just don’t want to be sociable with anyone, and I will sometimes log on an unguilded alt who doesn’t join any of my normal chat channels, just to be totally anonymous.
The one person I will always duo with, the one exception to the rule, is my husband. We always have loads of fun together
September 29th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I like to solo for a lot of the reasons you named, but also just to show that my character’s a badass. I’m curious why you picked Lord Recluse from City of Heroes/Villains as your image on this article: because you need forced-grouping to kill him? I actually like soloing in COH/COV because my main is so badass that she can solo him. Pain in the arse, yes, but she’s up to the challenge. And ah, the glorious feeling in my e-peen when my guildies realized I had just taken down one of the most challenging bosses in the game.
September 29th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I’d rather solo in the most solo sense possible–single-player games. XD I’m not much on MMOs.
September 29th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I kinda chose Recluse for the wordplay
September 30th, 2008 at 2:51 am
Whenever I get bored with group mentality, instead of playing a non-multiplayer game, I’ll just break away from what my team is doing and have fun. Like Ubering enemy spies to kills my friend’s sentries
Classic
September 30th, 2008 at 4:59 am
Soloing vs Grouping.
I would say there is a thrill in grouping when you bring down a boss or complete some world changing event. Working together with a group of friends to some eventual goal is always fun. I have raided, grouped and even duo many things in many different MMORPGS and some of my most memorable experiences are with some of my friends.
Then again sometimes I crawl home from school/work and just want to relax, slaughter helpless animals and generally be by myself. Perhaps i just want to slaughter cleft hoofs that night for 4 hours instead of some gruuling raid that will keep me up past my bedtime.
The toughest thing i have found is that in many MMOs there are only 2 types of guild/organizations. The raiders and the casuals. If you are a raider you are expected to spend at least 4 days a week raiding and may be a key component tot he success of the raid, if you fail to show then 10/15/25/40 people are not gonna successfully complete their raid that day.
If you are a casual then you face a different challenge. Yes you can solo as much as you please, but you may find getting groups difficult. Worse, you may have to PUG. Dont get me wrong I have had some rely good PUGS, but for the most part there is always that one person who dosent want to be there, dosent care, or just plain thinks they know the best and only way to get through an instance.
Idealy for me is a select group of people you know, and i mean rely know not just have heard them on vent, that know you may have to AFK a while, and who will understand that someday you just cant group, just as you understand some days they cant group.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Primarily when playing MMORPGs I like to tandem it. It’s usually me and one other person. that way, we can still play like we’re soloing, but we have the opportunity to still enjoy the group setting of talking with each other.
No, I’m not afraid to be alone at all, whoever said that needs to shut up
*turns on night light*
It’s just for comfort, that’s all!