WoW - Musings & Discussion

[MNM]

So there's a slight...difference of opinion, shall we say on whether you can play it on your own?

I do appreciate the game might be "intentioned" to play with others to get the best out of it. But if you can solo as well, it makes it more appealing to me.

Ah well ,we shall see, wont be doing it before finishing Dragon Age anyway.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Good grief, how did this turn so ugly so instantaneously? Oh yeah, Sojourner was being cranky. We're arguing about personal preferences here, so we're all equally full of BS.

Full truth, especially the last clause in your post.

 

[Kestra]

Who hasn't spent a Sunday afternoon peaceful questing by themselves in Stranglethorn Vale or Nagrand? But eventually, to get the most out of your $15 a month you really should be interacting with other players in the game whether it's running Heroics, Raiding or PVPing. Most of my fondest memories of the game come from group leveling with close friends.

I did the solo thing for a long time, then I was in a guild that kind of pushed me into doing instances and even tricked me into doing Naxx. It was kind of just stressful for me more than anything, and when the guild split up I tried doing instances with other groups and had some really bad experiences. I'm back to soloing now, the only exceptions being when someone asks for help with a group quest or battlegrounds (but the people in there turn me off a lot of the time as well).

I'm 78 on my pally and I'm dreading reaching 80, because I really don't want to play with other people so it's sort of a dead end. I don't know what to do. It's not that I'm anti-social, I actually love people and have gotten to know a lot of people in game. It just seems like there's such a high proportion of jerks and idiots out there and I'm not sure I can get through all the screaming and stupidity to a point where it's still fun.

It really sucks, because I know there are a lot of decent people out there, but they seem to be drowned out and overshadowed by the jerks, at least for me.

 

[Crash]

You seem a prime candidate for roleplaying, Kestra.

 

[SPCTRE]

So there's a slight...difference of opinion, shall we say on whether you can play it on your own?

Maybe not whether you can play on your own, but whether it is a viable play style.

Of course, Blizzard has been very successful in creating what is, in essence, the first MMORPG that allows players to not only reach the level cap by soloing, but also to have content at max level that can be done solo and provide entertainment over a significant span of time.

Traditionally, MMORPGs have been about having fun with your friends, forming a group and slaying the proverbial dragon and/or members of the opposing faction(s).

For traditionalists like myself, there is zero point in playing an MMORPG on your own, much like there isn't much point in playing a team sport like Basketball or Soccer on your own.

Sometimes people like us forget that many WoW players haven't played an MMORPG before and are therefore not biased like we are, they don't view the most challenging PvE raids and organized group PvP as the be-all and end-all playstyle.

Many of them, as evidenced in this thread, are quite content with solo questing, solo PvPing, and doing the occasional pick-up-group content. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

[sojourner]

WoW is not meant (i.e. not designed) to be played solo. It's meant to be a social game.

Fact.

That you or anyone else is able to find pleasure in it is just fine for you, but is anomalous and not at all representative of the norm.

So "back at ya" with your "bullshit".

Sigh, the question was "can it be played solo at times?". The answer, regardless of whether you like to, is yes. The answer, regardless of whether WoW was meant to be played that way, is yes. And based on other's posts in regards to the question, it seems it can be enjoyed even, however anomalous that may be.

 

[TheBrew]

WoW is not meant (i.e. not designed) to be played solo. It's meant to be a social game.

Fact.

That you or anyone else is able to find pleasure in it is just fine for you, but is anomalous and not at all representative of the norm.

So "back at ya" with your "bullshit".

Sigh, the question was "can it be played solo at times?". The answer, regardless of whether you like to, is yes. The answer, regardless of whether WoW was meant to be played that way, is yes. And based on other's posts in regards to the question, it seems it can be enjoyed even, however anomalous that may be.

Bullshit. WoW isn't meant to be played at all.

It plays you.

 

[Rii]

WoW is not meant (i.e. not designed) to be played solo.

On the contrary, WoW's most significant (and, quite possibly, sole) contribution to the MMO genre is the degree to which it enables and supports solo play.

To quote Jeff Strain (of Blizzard, ArenaNet/NCSoft) for the upteenth time:

Don't design an MMO around the assumption that players are a "type" of gamer. I often hear developers discussing whether an individual is a roleplayer, or a PvP player, or a solo player. Our belief is that while you can certainly find players who exclusively fall into one category, most players dabble in everything. It is tempting to believe that because a player is playing an MMO, and because good MMOs are social games, every player must therefore like to play with other players in a group. Our experience with Guild Wars is that this is an erroneous and dangerous assumption. On any given day, a player may want to play with his guild, or he may want to play with his best friend, or he may want to play alone. The fact that he is playing in a large communal environment is not a predictor of how he wants to play. We should be striving to make games that let you play how you want to play right now, and offer you the flexibility to progress with any combination of players you like.

Don't underestimate the importance of solo play! Sometimes your friends aren't online, sometimes you want to kill 30 minutes while everyone groups together, and sometimes you just don't want to go to committee on every damn decision. The quality of the solo play experience is just as important to the success of an MMO as the quality of the multiplayer experience.

 

[sojourner]

^Which is why 99% of the quests in WoW are solo-able.

 

[Rii]

Cryptic's Jack Emmert seems to think WoW was on to something with this 'solo' business too:

The second thing is just [improving] game mechanics – we know that forced teaming doesn’t work – or rather, isn’t necessary for a successful game. EQ did it, and everyone thought that’s what you had to do. If you recall, Dark Age was somewhat forced grouping and CoH had a touch of it… but World of Warcraft is pretty much solo-able up to the end game. And that’s totally fine. And actually would have thought that was forbidden beforehand, and I fell in to that trap myself. There are a lot of lessons we’ve learned

 

[Rii]

^Which is why 99% of the quests in WoW are solo-able.

Jeff Strain was lead dev on WoW for a while so that statement might be more literally accurate than one might think.

 

[darthraidr]

seems like he was a lead programmer, and as such, probably didnt have a whole lot of influence over quest philosophy in WoW. not that it matters, as early WoW quest philosophy was pretty rough compared to how questing is implemented now.

WoW is very much a game that can be played solo. i generally play solo, or in a duo (which is really the same as solo since you aren't rolling into dungeons (5 people needed) or raids (10-25 needed)).

i will jump into battlegrounds because you can contribute to a group effort and the punishment for a mistake is much lower than in a dungeon or raid. you die in a dungeon or raid, your party may be in a lot of trouble and die because of you. you die in a BG, you are back up and attacking in about 30 seconds. (this is all a pretty big generalization)

 

[SPCTRE]

Cryptic's Jack Emmert seems to think WoW was on to something with this 'solo' business too:

The second thing is just [improving] game mechanics – we know that forced teaming doesn’t work – or rather, isn’t necessary for a successful game. EQ did it, and everyone thought that’s what you had to do. If you recall, Dark Age was somewhat forced grouping and CoH had a touch of it… but World of Warcraft is pretty much solo-able up to the end game. And that’s totally fine. And actually would have thought that was forbidden beforehand, and I fell in to that trap myself. There are a lot of lessons we’ve learned

Proves my point. Catering to different playstyles generally is a wise business decision, and contributed greatly towards WoW's success.

As I said, MMORPG veterans are biased towards the traditional playstyle, which involves the principle of group/raid or die, while the WoW generation of players has no clue what these cranky, elitist people are on about.

 

[Kestra]

As I said, MMORPG veterans are biased towards the traditional playstyle, which involves the principle of group/raid or die, while the WoW generation of players has no clue what these cranky, elitist people are on about.

That's totally me. Raiding? What's that?

I've considered roleplaying as a possible alternative as Crash suggested but I feel a bit silly doing it. I did "For the Horde!" today and that was a rush. I've realized that PvP is really the best for me in terms of group situations. When you get a group that actually works together, it's so freakin' awesome. We just rolled through all the Alliance cities and I didn't die once. Who knew I was so aggressive?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

There's only so much you can do without grouping with other people.

If you want to play solo, I recommend you stick to games like Dragon Age, which is very good in it's own right. WoW is most certainly NOT meant to be played solo.

What! I soloed many chars to 60 and 70. Even now that my main is finally in a guild I don't actually rely on them to do anything. Many of the things you need groups for (dungeons) you can use a setting that will automatically group you with random people to do it, and put you there.

I love solo play. The exploring, the questing.. this game is perfect me because solo is what suits me best.

 

[TheBrew]

There's only so much you can do without grouping with other people.

If you want to play solo, I recommend you stick to games like Dragon Age, which is very good in it's own right. WoW is most certainly NOT meant to be played solo.

What! I soloed many chars to 60 and 70. Even now that my main is finally in a guild I don't actually rely on them to do anything. Many of the things you need groups for (dungeons) you can use a setting that will automatically group you with random people to do it, and put you there.

I love solo play. The exploring, the questing.. this game is perfect me because solo is what suits me best.

I pretty much solo leveling and sometimes did PUGS if I was near the instance. Only on my last character (a Disc Priest) did I use dungeons and that is because of the LFG utility that was implemented.

 

[LitmusDragon]

The points already been made but the soloing is indeed a big part of WoW. There's lots of content that's intended for solo. Loremaster for example, an achievement requiring the completion of the bulk of the game's quests (3,000 or more), is something that is done almost entirely solo and takes dozens if not a hundred hours of gameplay to complete. This is not even to mention "The Insane" which I understand takes even more time than that (and I hear is quite likely to drive you literally insane trying to complete it).

 

[Chaos Descending]

I don't know how you guys can solo WoW.

I made it to level 45 before I would rather poke my eyes out with a meat fork than log back in to the game.

 

[Kestra]

Well the thing about WoW is that people can enjoy playing it for totally different reasons. When my husband first introduced me to it, my only reason for doing anything was because he showed me tailoring and I was excited to make and wear pretty clothes. Eventually he told me I had to do more than just kill humans for cloth. He also told me about the talent system. That's right, I kept levelling without putting any talent points in.

I like exploring. How awesome is it to have a huge world where mountains aren't just some artificial wall, where there are chairs you can actually sit in, and little things tucked away for those adventurous enough to actually look in strange, hard to reach places?

I enjoy mining and my other professions quite bit. I like seeing how many creatures I can aggro on my pally without any danger of dying. I actually don't quest a whole lot, so it's not boring because I'm not just sitting killing things for eight eyes/fangs/whatever. There are actually so many zones and quests I've skipped over.

Anyway, my point is that WoW is popular because it appeals to a diverse group of people who enjoy it for a wide variety of reasons.

 

[darthraidr]

Well the thing about WoW is that people can enjoy playing it for totally different reasons. When my husband first introduced me to it, my only reason for doing anything was because he showed me tailoring and I was excited to make and wear pretty clothes. Eventually he told me I had to do more than just kill humans for cloth. He also told me about the talent system. That's right, I kept levelling without putting any talent points in.

that is awesome! i knew there had to be people that played and never spent talent points because of how poorly they are introduced (a button flashes when you reach the correct level). hopefully the UI changes in Cataclysm will help make it easier to learn.