Solo Or Group
Tobold discusses soloing in World of Warcraft and MMOs in general and it’s not the first time he’s discussed it. A point he’s trying to make is that MMOs are becoming more and more soloable because that’s what people want. But he goes on to say that people want to solo because it’s the easiest way to level.
One of my criticisms of Tabula Rasa was that it was too easy to solo and there was no need to and no benefit in grouping. The occasions that I did group were a mixed bag with most of them being terrible. People just didn’t know what to do. They would run all over the place, getting separated, getting killed, getting lost; there was just no cohesion.
Vanguard on the other hand encourages groups. It has a lot of dungeons scattered around and the mobs in these dungeons are too tough to solo. It is also by far the quickest way to level. I soloed my first 13 levels, but from then on I’ve spent most of my time grouping. In fact, I’ve probably spent one hour soloing since level 31 and the rest of the time has been grouped in Vol Tuniel and Thelaseen. I’m now level 37. I’ll probably spend another level or two in Thel before moving on to the next dungeon.
For me, MMOs are all about the other people playing the game. For me it’s about grouping, or adventuring together, or just hanging out for a chat. If I wanted to solo I’d just play Oblivion.