The Loner: Why Some People Play MMOs Alone

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by oplek, Jan 17, 2020.

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  1. oplek

    oplek Avatar

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    I thought this was interesting. I may in fact be the "Daria" type.

     
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  2. vulcanjedi

    vulcanjedi Bug Hunter

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    I don't think I turned universal chat on until 6 or 7 months into playing this game. And only in the last couple of months have been playing in a party. Way back in early 90's I played everything in groups on BBS's or mid 90's on a text MUD like Medievia.
    I did my Shroud quest solo, but would not have gotten good enough on my own without grouping with the elite players and getting a months worth of XP in a day or two.
     
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  3. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

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    [​IMG]
     
  4. oplek

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    One thing I'd add is that, this overlaps with the "why don't people just haggle with people directly on trade chat channels?" side of that particular debate, as opposed to people being "lazy".
     
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  5. Chatele

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    Hmmm, very interesting..... But, I prefer to solo because I like solving things on my own...I feel like I actually accomplished something on my own, so, more rewarding to me. And yet, sometimes i'll group just cause, but very rarely. I usually quit a game when I can no longer solo, and move on to another, rinse and repeat. What that makes me is a DEDICATED SOLER :)
     
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  6. majoria70

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    Thanks for posting. I thought it was very interesting and also I feel it's important for mmos to realize there will be many variations of loners that come into their game.

    -the always play alone
    -the play alone but group occasionally to return to alone status
    -the play alone until they progress to a certain point of confidence and skill progression then they might become more social

    While we do have looking for group it is not full featured or as Chris mentioned working to include dungeon queues so players can que up for them without being forced to join guilds or be more social. Afterwards they can just go back to their comfort zone.

    I feel we don't address alone time well in this game. I strongly feel battlegrounds would address this in so many ways. It would be a timed event with daily quests, capture situations, a team effort, and give interesting and rewarding rewards to work for. Loners could do this grouping event daily but still return to their solo game afterwards.

    We do not have anything close to this. Some want to just come into a game with their limited play time and do an event.

    Anyway I agree a game must address many types of players to be successful.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2020
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  7. vulcanjedi

    vulcanjedi Bug Hunter

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    While providing a revenue stream to maintain itself with enough left over to keep cycling new players in as some leave. And whats left after that to develop content to enlarge the core group. And devs to get whatever pennies are left :)
     
  8. Barugon

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    Not accurate. It should say "most people".
     
  9. redfish

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    Yep, its something a lot of people don't understand about the MMO market.

    The average player likes the idea of joining up with others occasionally or occasionally going to events, but most of the time, most people will play solo. That's just how it is. Its why MMO developers need to pay more attention to solo gameplay, because if there isn't good enough solo gameplay, people aren't going to stay around to do multiplayer.

    In fact, on your average F2P game that has grindy gameplay, your average player is going to just play through all the story content, then quit the game until the devs add more content.
     
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  10. Barugon

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    Yes, this.
     
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  11. Numa

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    Agreed. This is exactly my playstyle.

    I like seeing people on the overland map or even watching groups do their thing in the zones. Doesn't mean I always want to join them (though occasionally i do).

    It feels much better playing in a LIVING world.
     
  12. Sway

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    Loot plays a big role in playing alone in this game. When you have to kill a boss over 20 times for a drop, then having to split it really hurts. If you solo it at least when it finally drops its yours
     
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  13. ShurTugal

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    I agree. I like to group every now and then but if I am after loot drops or gold or most things (even experience gain) (yes I understand that one can get more experience in a group but not if the group can't keep up :) ) I will do it solo because it feels like I sacrifice to much when in a group which to me is a serious flaw in the system.
     
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  14. Mishikal

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    There's also the "play as a couple" group... My wife and I clearly don't play alone, in that we play together as a unit, but we also almost never group with other people, and only rarely join guilds.
     
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  15. Mishikal

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    Vryce is calling. He wants you to know that Medievia is still alive! He actually restored my old characters for me when I had a moment of nostalgia. There are features in that game that I would love to see in Shroud (Trade runs with catastrophes anyone? :) Random ambushes along the way? etc).
     
  16. Bowen Bloodgood

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    I'm just a natural introvert. :p Though I'm happy to join a group if invited and am not in the middle of something.. (rare as it is when you don't really "know" anyone)
     
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  17. Lazlo

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    I like playing solo because I can just log in and immediately start doing what I want. It's kind of analogous to ordering food. I like eating with friends, but if I'm really hungry, I don't want to call everyone up, ask everyone where they want to go, get all the orders straight, etc. I'd rather just get what I want and start eating.

    In SotA specifically, I think solo game play is a lot better than grouping, too. Grouping can ofc still be fun if you're with people that you like to hang out with, but there isn't really much risk involved unless you do something pretty dumb.
     
  18. SmokerKGB

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    I don't think "Laziness" has anything to do with it... When people are all around the World, in different time zones, it's really hard to meet face to face to "haggle", even on a trade channel...

    My experience with group play was soured with Ultima online, trying to get 8 people to meet at a certain time was a pain at best, I remember waiting 20 minutes for all to meet, once they did meet, most that were present said: "wait I need more regs, used them waiting", then another 20 minutes goes by waiting for those to return... Total waste of time IMO.... Then once in the Dungeon, my chr was always targeted by the mobs (my guess is I was the most vulnerable in the softwares eyes), if I ran for safety, I was chastised for not standing still for a heal, even though a single heal would not be enough and many times, too little too late for my death, then my corps being looted by my fellow group members, what fun...

    WoW was totally different: I was chastised for allowing my pet to attack the Boss, the tank was the only player allowed to attack them to maintain their lock on the tank, so standing around watching someone else do all the work for me, gaining exp and loot for doing nothing was and still is not appealing to me...

    I'm a casual player, I have limited time to spend playing... I quickly get bored with "grinding" the same thing over and over, I feel that group play is easy, when there are 8 players to 1 Boss, the combined power should be enough to tackle anything out there, no matter what: loot can never be distributed equally between 8 people it just doesn't drop with any kind of frequency (I call it Lottery odds), you can never be sure what loot has dropped total and who got what and who held back, IMO...

    Guilds are another story, as the guy said in the video: everyone wanted pants or some other service... I don't play games as my 2nd job, sorry...
     
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  19. Numa

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    Depends on the guild. The casual ones go on xp grinding forays and drag the lower level guildies along. Powerful ones would tank but everyone would pitch in with either dps or heals.

    Artifact forays would be smaller and more organized but still fun.

    I think when guilds are too serious about loot it sucks out the fun and camaraderie. Why even bother joining a guild in the first place if those two ate missing?
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2020
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  20. vulcanjedi

    vulcanjedi Bug Hunter

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    Hmmm, Oh I know it's still up. Had Soleil reset a password a while back to my original account from 98 :) I have known Mike since our Atari BBS days in 1986. When a swap meet meant bringing a box of games and a box of blank disks and a happy drive over on a Saturday afternoon.
     
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