MMORPGs and the single gamer

[SteveThaiBinh]

There's an interesting article at Gamespot with a Bioware dev, Damion Schubert, about people who play MMORPGs alone without interacting much with other players.

 

That said, Schubert specified that it is "unacceptable" to make an MMO game today that doesn't have "significant chunk of gameplay" accessible to the solo player. He didn't suggest that everything be accessible to those playing alone, just that there needs to be something for all the different types of solitary gamers.

This never really occurred to me - I always assumed there was little or nothing in a MMORPG if you didn't want to play cooperatively with others, but apparently lots of people are doing it.

 

Mr. Schubert identifies different kinds of lone-players ("New kid on the Block", "Sociopath" and reasons why people game alone in MMORPGs. With regards to The Old Republic, if I were ever to play it, I would fall into the "I'd really rather be playing Kotor3, but as you haven't developed that, I'm giving this a go instead" group.

[Maria Caliban]

I do about 85% soloing in every MMORPG I've played.

[LadyCrimson]

This never really occurred to me - I always assumed there was little or nothing in a MMORPG if you didn't want to play cooperatively with others, but apparently lots of people are doing it.

I built up 1 lvl 70 and several level 40+ chrs. in WoW playing all by my lonesome 98% of the time. I've never done ANY of the mid-high level raids/dungeons etc. It's why I liked WoW....I could play alone & there was plenty to do alone. My liking WoW had absolutely nothing to do with the MMORPG aspect...it was just this game I really liked, which happened to force me to play while connected to the internet. Although the Auction House (impersonal trade), which I treated sort of like a mini-game, did require other players to "play."

 

Edit: All online games that I've liked enough to play for more than a few days were fairly playable solo...if they aren't, I stop playing. I even played Diablo2 on Closed bnet completely by myself, most of the time...doesn't apply just to "MMORPG's'.

Edited September 20, 2009 by LadyCrimson

[LadyCrimson]

P.S. - I'd agree w/Schubert that an online game should have at least some content/ability for the solo player to progress through. There are a lot of us out there, and many of us are willing to shell out a little cash if we like the game, online or not. Also, it helps attract solo players who may play alone at first, but then gradually discover they actually like the group stuff and become even more long-term addicted.

 

Personally, I think that's one of the reasons WoW has been so dominant for so long.

[Hurlshort]

I play solo about 90% of the time in MMO's. There are a few things I enjoy about being online:

 

1. Chatting up guildmates while I am busy doing quests. It alleviates the grind tremendously.

 

2. Watching other folks engaging in combat nearby makes me feel like I'm part of something larger. Also, sometimes when I'm trying to finish a quest, I might not be able to do it, so I come back another time when other folks are in the area, and it can be a lot easier. I don't even have to group, it just helps to have people nearby taking out mobs.

[Atom523]

I also play the majority of WoW by myself, i will occasionally will gather a group to do harder quests as well. Thankfully my girlfriend and my mother both play the game and are far more sociable then I am so they can help me and when the three of us aren't enough they can gather more people.

In fact what i really wish would happen would be that someone develops a game on the scale of WoW and show me the consequences of my actions. I don't even need it to be a choice heavy RPG, I just would like to see what i do have consequences. If i conquer a mine for my faction, i want them to take control over it and let me see work being done in it instead of the enemies simply popping back up. My favorite parts of WoW was when the game changed due to my actions, mainly in the last expansion pack, like in the Death Knight starting area, or in Icecrown in Northrend. When i accomplished some goals it would change the map and those gave me the biggest feeling of accomplishment in all my playing of WoW.

I do hear that in the next expansion there will be more of that so i am looking forward to it.

 

(sorry for going off on an off topic tangent, but as a player who likes to quest alone, i am more interested in my own accomplishments then milking a never changing environment for rare items that half the game population already has)

[Niten_Ryu]

Just about everyone solo in MMOGs unless they have family or roommates playing the same game. Sure you might chat in vent or in guild channel but that don't mena that there's someone always in your group doing quests or killing mobs.

[ramza]

By the way, do you guys know that DDO is free from now on? How about we create some guild?

[Purkake]

By the way, do you guys know that DDO is free from now on? How about we create some guild?

 

It's free until like level 4, then it's all microtransactions all the time. Also, it's crap.

 

Spoony did a little review on the new free DDO.

Edited September 20, 2009 by Purkake

[Morgoth]

If the story and full VO stuff works well in TOR, I'm gonna spend more time with it than 2-3 days.

[Purkake]

If the story and full VO stuff works well in TOR, I'm gonna spend more time with it than 2-3 days.

 

So you'll take one for the team?

 

Godspeed!

[Kjarista]

There's an interesting article at Gamespot with a Bioware dev, Damion Schubert, about people who play MMORPGs alone without interacting much with other players.

 

That said, Schubert specified that it is "unacceptable" to make an MMO game today that doesn't have "significant chunk of gameplay" accessible to the solo player. He didn't suggest that everything be accessible to those playing alone, just that there needs to be something for all the different types of solitary gamers.

This never really occurred to me - I always assumed there was little or nothing in a MMORPG if you didn't want to play cooperatively with others, but apparently lots of people are doing it.

 

Mr. Schubert identifies different kinds of lone-players ("New kid on the Block", "Sociopath" and reasons why people game alone in MMORPGs. With regards to The Old Republic, if I were ever to play it, I would fall into the "I'd really rather be playing Kotor3, but as you haven't developed that, I'm giving this a go instead" group.

 

Even those who normally group can find themselves solo playing at times, and normally solo players might group for instances or grinding. One of the reasons for WoW success is that it is one of the first AAA MMOs that featured a large amount of solo play. Games released without substantial solo play have not been highly successful, and I would argue that any MMO which wishes to be successful ( I'm talking about WESTERN MMOs here), needs to have substantial solo content.

[Malcador]

Well EVE's solo content is sort of 'meh', it's doing well. Sitll I solo most of the time, close to 100% in WoW - can't stand most of the plebs there.

[Monte Carlo]

I looked at Age of Conan and really, really liked it.

 

But I didn't touch it with a bargepole. I don't want to pay a subscription to play a game. I don't want to have to put up with lamers and griefers to play a game. I don't want to be connected to the internet to play a game.

 

So why don't they simply make a basic Age of Conan single-player core product and charge for DLC / modules? You open up a new revenue strand for every MMORPG because the feedback here is that most folks are playing them solo anyhow.

 

Cheers

MC

[Purkake]

Griefing is awesome, when you're doing it

 

At least it used to be awesome until they made it all but impossible(I miss Everquest). /follow is till pretty funny in WoW, though.

[Monte Carlo]

^ I remember the open games on NWN1. I have the hand / eye co-ordination of a kitchen table. I'm also, obviously, a sweet natured and collaborative person.

 

I lasted about fifteen seconds on most servers. Never again.

 

Although I did get to have a short online chat with the Eric Noah in his virtual NWN dungeon on NWN release D-Day release date +2. Hi Eric! What a nice guy.

 

Cheers

MC

[Purkake]

Although I did get to have a short online chat with the Eric Noah in his virtual NWN dungeon on NWN release D-Day release date +2. Hi Eric! What a nice guy.

 

Cheers

MC

 

Did he put on his robe and wizard hat?

[Monte Carlo]

It was NWN1 old chap, he was a blocky and poorly-rendered figure, the precise nature of which escapes my memory. Although I'm certain that in real life Eric isn't poorly rendered nor blocky.

[Purkake]

And another internet joke falls flat on it's face.

 

I should have known better

[HoonDing]

The only time I remember playing online was Quake back in the day, and I got my ass handed to me every 5 seconds or so... but I did rule on the local Duke3D LAN in my secondary school.

 

That said, most likely I will give SW:TOR a try -along with a possible TES: Online (lol)- and see how that goes. I never gave WOW a try because the gigabytes of downloads were a bit too much for my paltry internet connexion.

[kingofsquid]

any MMOs I could play solo without a supsciption?

[SteveThaiBinh]

There's a free trial for Dungeons and Dragons Online - I'm downloading it now and will give it a try. I'm hoping the familiarity of D&D will offset the scary strangeness of MMORPGland.

[Maria Caliban]

any MMOs I could play solo without a supsciption?

 

Guild Wars.

[Purkake]

any MMOs I could play solo without a supsciption?

 

Guild Wars.

 

And all the crappy free MMOs like Runescape and the like.

 

There's a free trial for Dungeons and Dragons Online - I'm downloading it now and will give it a try. I'm hoping the familiarity of D&D will offset the scary strangeness of MMORPGland.

 

Brace yourself, it's Eberron.

[Oner]

I looked at Age of Conan and really, really liked it.

 

But I didn't touch it with a bargepole. I don't want to pay a subscription to play a game. I don't want to have to put up with lamers and griefers to play a game. I don't want to be connected to the internet to play a game.

 

So why don't they simply make a basic Age of Conan single-player core product and charge for DLC / modules? You open up a new revenue strand for every MMORPG because the feedback here is that most folks are playing them solo anyhow.

 

Cheers

MC

Some people enjoy the "life" (people chatting, fighting, etc) around them while soloing. There's a difference for some in playing alone and being alone.