Guild Wars 2

For those of you who heap scorn on those, like myself, who choose the solo path for reasons relating to real life issues, I challenge you: Take on one of us. Be understanding when we need to go AFK at inconvenient times. Don’t accuse us of leeching XP/rewards/whatever if we are AFK for extended periods.

Some of you have stated that these dungeons don’t take long. Be that as it may, it is entirely conceivable that, if my disabled husband calls for me during that dungeon run, I -will- be gone for upwards of ten minutes while I take care of whatever he needs. I’m not trying to kitten a group out of anything when I do this. It disappoints me to let folks down as much as it disappoints the team that I can’t provide what meager skill I have to help. But if I’m going to be lambasted for doing this, as well as avoiding teaming at all… well, kittened if I do, kittened if I don’t. Perhaps I need a thicker skin, but there’s another side of the coin here. Those of you who engage in this kind of behavior might need to grow a little understanding as well.

I know this is an MMO, and some content will not be soloable. I like teaming. I really do. There’s nothing like the feeling of running with a pack and laying waste to everything in your path. But teams, -especially PuGs-, don’t generally like AFKs. I know this for a fact, as I’ve been kicked plenty, accused of leeching and dragging the team down whenever I’m called away. So I solo.

Sure, I could play a single player game. However, a big part of being a caregiver is ISOLATION. Outside of one person I knew from college who works a lot, I have no friends in my local area, because the person I care for requires 24/7 attention, so I can’t reasonably leave the house for things that are needed, much less taking time to hang out with others. The remainder of my friends are online. How do I keep in touch with them? MMOs, for the most part, because they provide not only communication, but recreation, should enough of us be on at one time. The group that plays together, and all that. Even if no one I know is online, mapchat at least gives me a lifeline to other people. MMOs provide quite nearly all the socialization I get, even if I never team with a single person. Why should I give that up?

It’s not just missing out on the rewards, either. I know the minis can be bought in the gem store. I’ve done so. However, I am missing out on the content, the experience. I was able to do a Tixx dungeon because a miracle happened and enough of my tiny guild was online that we could do it. It was a lot of fun that I would have missed out on if they hadn’t been around. Could I have soloed that dungeon? Maybe. Maybe not. I am a decent player, but not a great one. And I am hampered in certain ways with my need to AFK, even while solo. The one part of the dungeon with the skritt that constantly respawn while you’re taking back the chalet? Had I gone AFK solo during that, I’d have come back to what likely would have been an untenable, frustrating situation, that would have prevented me from finishing the dungeon.

I’d like to team to do these. I really would. But nothing in this forum, and nothing I’ve experienced in the past, shows me that, outside of my tiny crew, I’ll find anything but frustration and discourtesy. I have every sympathy for those who are in the same boat as me.

Morvani.2937:

For those of you who heap scorn on those, like myself, who choose the solo path for reasons relating to real life issues, I challenge you: Take on one of us. Be understanding when we need to go AFK at inconvenient times. Don’t accuse us of leeching XP/rewards/whatever if we are AFK for extended periods.

-snip-

I’d like to team to do these. I really would. But nothing in this forum, and nothing I’ve experienced in the past, shows me that, outside of my tiny crew, I’ll find anything but frustration and discourtesy. I have every sympathy for those who are in the same boat as me.

Here are the issues I have with your post:
- This is your situation and you have to deal with it. Not some random people you met today.
- You expect courtesy from strangers, yet can’t show them the same? I could never understand how smb can go in a dungeon with a pug group knowing that they might not be available for the run(emergencies happen, bio breaks happen, can’t see it coming, but when you know…). I’ve had issues that put me in such situation. And if I knew there is a chance I might have to leave(from pc/net issues through sick cat to on-call at work), I simply didn’t pug. Because I feel bad when I’m leeching(being afk while the rest are doing stuff and you get a reward for it is the definition of leeching) or making people wait on me)in case they can’t keep going without me).
- You say you are in it for the social aspect, right? Well, be social. Join a big guild, talk to people. Strangers don’t care. And you can’t expect them to, because they are, well, strangers. Guildies are somewhere between friends and strangers. Even if you never said a word to them, they are far more likely to accept and tolerate you(unless it’s impossible to progress without u), at least for a while.

@ Morvani, thanks for standing up for us caregivers! I agree with you, pretty much 24/7 caregiving and the subsequent isolation from providing it do make playing mmos very attractive even if we cannot participate in the typical tied at the hip guild/group play.

Caregiving is also one of the reasons I don’t like getting into all the chatplay some play these games for, caregiving is absolutely one of the most emotionally draining activities a person can engage in. Caregiving is like housework, it’s never done and you only have fleeting moments of feeling like you’ve accomplished anything….

Therefore, when I log in all I want to do is relax, release some tension by bashing a few baddies and try to contribute to making this changing environment/world/shard/server a little nicer by assisting others when I can and then collect stuff/loot to make stuff to make my character better(stats/looks) to help give me a sense of having actually done something that day. I really prefer games that let me have fun doing all of that, frustration is something I really don’t need more of.

Anymras.5729:

What I’m asking for is not for new content to be single-player – it’s for it to offer a single-player option, or to scale with the number of people. Currently, Holiday events seem to emphasize group play more than anything, to the point where it’s borderline impossible to do them alone – and a slog through hordes to find out that the boss is just too much.

I know a lot of people like playing in big groups, or going and just joining a random party – I just don’t. I prefer to group up with people I know (generally met elsewhere, or through mutual acquaintances), and if they aren’t around, then I’d still like to be able to do events like Holiday things without joining group #5632, -and- have fun. I’m also a big fan of more options, thus my suggestion of having things like this scale.

I realize that this is perhaps a strange issue to have as far as an MMO goes; it just so happens that I am terrible with people, for a variety of reasons I’m just not going to go into, but like playing games.

Edit: Also, when I say “They make it take forever?” I’m not being a speed-snob, if there is such a thing. I actually like taking my time and examining things. I just happen to also find “Now go destroy eighteen turrets, in the midst of hordes of enemies,” incredibly uninteresting after the first, I don’t know, five? Doesn’t matter if there’s five people in the group or just me – hordes of enemies and a high objective count doesn’t seem like fun, just padding.

i agree and to that end gw1 did scale down the difficulty when running solo
so i dont see why it cant be done here though they kinda want you to help each other and they are trying to remove the stigma of pugs bad guildies good

that said given the attitude of anet in “play your way” kinda thing i cant see not having something story line like as an alternative maybe

and for those who would say that would end up everyone just doing that maybe but i dont think so

ppl who still run with the attitude that its all about me and everyone else is just not worth my time is missing out on the game its not a race you should slow down and enjoy the scenery much like life the game is meant to be looked at why else all the vistas

TWMagimay.9057:

Here are the issues I have with your post:
- This is your situation and you have to deal with it. Not some random people you met today.
- You expect courtesy from strangers, yet can’t show them the same?<snip>

snip is mine, but your point is valid from both sides…

That’s just it. I -never know exactly- when he will call. I’m essentially ‘on call’ 24/7. If you’ve ever been a caregiver for someone who’s effectively quadraplegic, you’d know what that’s like. There are nights I’ve been awakened four or five times… or more… to deal with whatever he needs. This is not every night, but it is enough nights, and this is -in addition- to what I do for him during the day. It wears on you. It wears you down, breaks you. I’ve been doing this for ten years now. Am I a bad person for wanting to have a little fun every once in a while? Yes, this is my situation, and I have to deal with it. I also have to find ways to recharge my batteries, make sure I don’t burn out. Believe it or not, games help.

I do show courtesy to strangers. On those -extremely rare- occasions I work up the gumption to try a PuG, I lay it all on the line for the person putting it together. I tell them briefly my situation, and explain what may happen. It is rare that I’m taken up after I do. So therefore, like you say, I don’t PuG, because to do otherwise would be a discourtesy. Yet I, and others like me, are still shown abuse for choosing a solo path. Like I said. Kittened if I do, kittened if I don’t. It would still be nice if strangers showed some compassion, even if it was just refraining from making nasty comments about the choice to solo in a MMO.

I am social. I talk in map chat. If a stranger asks me nicely for help, I provide whatever help I can to the limits of my ability. There’s been many occasions where someone asked me for help locating a POI, or defeating a skill point, and I’ve been happy to do so. I belong to a guild of people who came over here from City of Heroes, which had a vastly better community that I miss greatly. If I could, I would still be over there now, but NCSoft has taken that away from me. So, I’m making the best of the situation I have over here. That doesn’t mean I have to accept being looked down upon for being between a rock and a hard place.

TWMagimay.9057:

Here are the issues I have with your post:
- You expect courtesy from strangers, yet can’t show them the same? I could never understand how smb can go in a dungeon with a pug group knowing that they might not be available for the run(emergencies happen, bio breaks happen, can’t see it coming, but when you know…). I’ve had issues that put me in such situation. And if I knew there is a chance I might have to leave(from pc/net issues through sick cat to on-call at work), I simply didn’t pug.

She doesn’t expect it from the strangers. She quite CLEARLY makes the point that if you’re going to make demands of her while simultaneously arguing against solo play, then you need to act like a reasonable human being and extend some common courtesy to her. She is saying EXACTLY what you’re saying, that is, she doesn’t want to break the social contract implied in PuGs (be nice, be helpful, no leeching). But if there’s no solo option, what are her options? Using your “rules” she can’t PuG and since ANet doesn’t provide a solo option, she’s left in the position of not being able to do group holiday content. Which, as the thread title says, is the the subject and theme of this discussion.

Do you not see that you’re making her point for her?

Solo gamer. Hmm.
I know GW1 was solo oriented, but guys… GW2 risen to a MMO game, finaly. Get social. Play with others.
I enjoy most of PUG runs in dungeons. People are socialable, joke a lot, try to help etc. Not always, there is always a jerk-friday sometimes, but you know… playing with others is not that bad.

Wow! Do people really not read what they’re responding to?…..

Morvani.2937:

That’s just it. I -never know exactly- when he will call.

I meant knowing as opposed to an emergency/unforeseeable event. Like, you know your husband is sick and might need you. I don’t know that the dikes will break and I’ll find myself swimming(I live in -that- part of NL…and I can’t swim….this can’t be good…)

Yet I, and others like me, are still shown abuse for choosing a solo path. Like I said. Kittened if I do, kittened if I don’t. It would still be nice if strangers showed some compassion, even if it was just refraining from making nasty comments about the choice to solo in a MMO.

What kind of abuse?!

Who made nasty comments about the choice to solo in an MMO? Such comments come when soloers try to demand more and from people who knows what happens. You solo by choice and like every choice, it has consequences. Whether your choice is a great one that deserves respect(and it does, not many people could do what you are doing) is, after all, irrelevant. Because it’s an MMO and as such, should be oriented towards group play and not solo play. GW2 already has plenty aspects that a solo player can enjoy, dungeons are the only activity that’s mostly out of reach for smb in your situation. And that’s where the whole social thing comes in.

That doesn’t mean I have to accept being looked down upon for being between a rock and a hard place.

Who’s looking down upon you?

I’d love to be able to solo dungeons(because I’m terrified of going in Arah with a pug and always end up in wvwvw guilds -.-‘’), but knowing how it’d affect GW2, a game that already promotes solo play and antisocial behaviour…I don’t want that. Because even thought it’d be great for me, I don’t think it’d be great for the game.

Lastly, in general, I also don’t understand people who expect strangers on the internet to show them courtesy or have common decency or anything. It’s the world of Anonymous.

TWMagimay.9057:

Lastly, in general, I also don’t understand people who expect strangers on the internet to show them courtesy or have common decency or anything. It’s the world of Anonymous.

It’s called the Golden Rule, and I don’t mean ‘he who has the gold makes the rules’. It’s ‘do unto others as you would have done unto you’. While I have my days, I try to be a nice person. I hope that I succeed. I hope that others try as well. Admittedly more often than not, I am disappointed in others, which is sad. When people take the time to follow the Golden Rule, it makes things better all around. Even for strangers on the internet.

Morvani.2937:

It’s called the Golden Rule, and I don’t mean ‘he who has the gold makes the rules’. It’s ‘do unto others as you would have done unto you’. While I have my days, I try to be a nice person. I hope that I succeed. I hope that others try as well. Admittedly more often than not, I am disappointed in others, which is sad. When people take the time to follow the Golden Rule, it makes things better all around. Even for strangers on the internet.

You see, your rule only applies to actions that can have repercussions. Which is pretty much my point. In a game with thousands of people, you’ll rarely run into the same pug guy twice thus there is no crime and punishment aspect(you can also roll a new char or change server if you really are deep in). That’s also why you find more tolerance and understanding in a guild. Those people know they have to face you again. And, well, most people are not nice by nature but by necessity. There are a lot of factors that determine our behaviour, but on the internet…there is no fear of consequences…no shame(because you are anonymous)…no real dependence on others(as opposed to a boss or teacher)…no caring(because you don’t know these people). And that makes it the perfect venting place. When your boss screws up, you can’t call him an idiot(no matter how much you want to). But that random guy in GW2?

I mostly play either solo or with RL friends, but I had no problem getting a group for these holiday events and had no problems with the people I grouped with.

Just “LFG Tixx” and you’ll get an invite. If someone advertises a group needing more, just type /join Character Name, substituting the name of the person advertising an open slot.

Might i suggest that as a solo gamer, you get good enough to solo the dungeon.

It’s entirely possible and would cut down on the QQ holiday nonsense.

If not learn to party, the dungeon is literally all of 5 minutes long even with a PUG.

First off, it is not hard to find a group. With a group, it should only take about 20min (even with low levels/garbage gear).

Second off, the dungeon is soloable which only takes 40min. I did it by myself and the tar part was the only difficult thing to do.

Stop complaining.

End of topic.

TWMagimay.9057:

And, well, most people are not nice by nature but by necessity. There are a lot of factors that determine our behaviour, but on the internet…there is no fear of consequences…no shame(because you are anonymous)…no real dependence on others(as opposed to a boss or teacher)…no caring(because you don’t know these people). And that makes it the perfect venting place. When your boss screws up, you can’t call him an idiot(no matter how much you want to). But that random guy in GW2?

And yet you want us to group with these people?

You can group even as a “solo player”. Just think of everyone else as NPC allies. No words are needed. Being bad with people shouldn’t even matter. Just request party and that’s it.

Even Kirito did a boss with groups while being solo.

I’m a chronic solo’er. I don’t really want to be, but I’m hopelessly shy.
One thing I did do however was get in a snowball fight today with other players in a patch of snow. I loved it, and I think if I could push myself harder I would love grouping with others.

I generally play solo, but actually don’t mind grouping with random people for the holiday events. Parties form quickly and the GW2 community is mostly well-mannered and enjoyable to interact with. The only issue I have had is with the occasional player who continually hounds the group to hurry up because they want multiple speed runs, but these players don’t tend to appear in randomly assembled parties too often.

TWMagimay.9057:

Morvani.2937:

It’s called the Golden Rule, and I don’t mean ‘he who has the gold makes the rules’. It’s ‘do unto others as you would have done unto you’. While I have my days, I try to be a nice person. I hope that I succeed. I hope that others try as well. Admittedly more often than not, I am disappointed in others, which is sad. When people take the time to follow the Golden Rule, it makes things better all around. Even for strangers on the internet.

You see, your rule only applies to actions that can have repercussions.

um wait the golden rule applies only to certain circumstances?
last time i checked being decent to other ppl is something you should always be doing

jokermo.3058:

um wait the golden rule applies only to certain circumstances?
last time i checked being decent to other ppl is something you should always be doing

That being the point. Just because you should doesn’t mean you do or want to. If you read this golden rule, you’ll notice it connects the way you treat others to the way they treat you. It’s not just “be nice”. And that is the other part of the point. The whole rule is based on “actions have consequences”. If you mistreat others, they will mistreat you in return. But that simply can’t happen in a pug in a game with thousands of players. You can’t retaliate in GW2.

I am a solo player, I am not really keen on being forced into a random group to complete a dungeon so I can enjoy the festive events.

Arena Net said solo is a valid play style, yet at every turn they provide barriers for most end game or important content. The last Story mission, dungeons, Ascent to Madness and now the numerous versions Tixx’s Infinirarium.

I hope it is something they plan on addressing with future updates, feeling a little neglected here.

Ze Dos Cavalos.6132:

Anymras.5729:

They make it take forever

To get a random group takes 1 min + 15 to finish dungeon.
16 min on a random group is to much of your time?

I’ve been in many dungeons that took an hour to finish.

Get real – this person is a real person who is asking for people to be patient when in very long dungeons.

TWMagimay.9057:

Morvani.2937:

For those of you who heap scorn on those, like myself, who choose the solo path for reasons relating to real life issues, I challenge you: Take on one of us. Be understanding when we need to go AFK at inconvenient times. Don’t accuse us of leeching XP/rewards/whatever if we are AFK for extended periods.

-snip-

I’d like to team to do these. I really would. But nothing in this forum, and nothing I’ve experienced in the past, shows me that, outside of my tiny crew, I’ll find anything but frustration and discourtesy. I have every sympathy for those who are in the same boat as me.

Here are the issues I have with your post:
- This is your situation and you have to deal with it. Not some random people you met today.
- You expect courtesy from strangers, yet can’t show them the same? I could never understand how smb can go in a dungeon with a pug group knowing that they might not be available for the run(emergencies happen, bio breaks happen, can’t see it coming, but when you know…). I’ve had issues that put me in such situation. And if I knew there is a chance I might have to leave(from pc/net issues through sick cat to on-call at work), I simply didn’t pug. Because I feel bad when I’m leeching(being afk while the rest are doing stuff and you get a reward for it is the definition of leeching) or making people wait on me)in case they can’t keep going without me).
- You say you are in it for the social aspect, right? Well, be social. Join a big guild, talk to people. Strangers don’t care. And you can’t expect them to, because they are, well, strangers. Guildies are somewhere between friends and strangers. Even if you never said a word to them, they are far more likely to accept and tolerate you(unless it’s impossible to progress without u), at least for a while.

I’ve never seen a more uncompassionate person in a MMO forum.

Apparently you’ve never had a disabled or dying person to take care of by yourself.

Meanness will never make this game better – you’d better grow up and learn some compassion soon.

“I’m a solo gamer”
Okay so why do you play MMOs? It’s not like there are so many awesome solo RPGs around, right?

So I’m a legit solo player (made a guild just for the extra bank slots) and…yeah, seriously dude. Just join a pug of 80s (or at least mostly 80s). Tixx goes quick and you don’t really need to coordinate with your group. Most of the holiday content is soloable…That’s the one thing that isn’t and I’m kinda weirded out by the suggestion that it be tailored as such.

I think there’s a difference between solo player and misanthrope. As a solo player (and only part-time misanthrope), I don’t get offended by pugs and I’m STOKED by the anonymous hookups out in the wild. those are my favorite kind of pug.

kokiman.2364:

“I’m a solo gamer”
Okay so why do you play MMOs? It’s not like there are so many awesome solo RPGs around, right?

There really isn’t. At least none that add all the things MMOs can add, like crafting, economy, PvP, WvW, constant updates, new content etc. etc.

Solo RPGs last about a month, and then it’s done. MMO’s can be played for months.

I’m a solo player, who has been playing MMOs for about 12 years now. I hate group play, I LOVE MMOs…. The idea that somone who really enjoys a genre is playing the wrong game just because he enjoys it in a different way than you is just very silly to me.

It’s FUN playing MMOs solo. That’s why people do it. Is it really THAT hard to understand? I don’t think so.

Well, you are playing MMO not a single player game, but if the dungeon scalled to the number of players, it would solve the problem and everyone will be satisfied. So I do agree with you.

Strejda Tom.6108:

Well, you are playing MMO not a single player game, but if the dungeon scalled to the number of players, it would solve the problem and everyone will be satisfied. So I do agree with you.

Thanks.

It’s funny, the tech to scale instances has been around since at least City of Heroes. I always wonder why more MMos don’t use it.

you don’t need a group for the winter event dungeons i did it solo with my Necro (full exotic) .

I enjoy MMOs. I enjoy teaming up with others to visit instances/dungeons. But I bought Guildwars 2 because I played and loved so much Guildwars, I didn’t care if it was going to be online/offline/mmo/rpg or whatever. My thing in GW2 is exploring PvE content, I do the occasional Dungeon but for me the best bit is Events. I suppose that more or less makes me a solo player.

The only thing I would like to have seen is a way for solo players to get the minis. Keep Tixx and his scary toys as they are but everyone should be able to get those minis regardless of how they play. Doesn’t make a difference to me but I do get your point.

So I’m usually a solo player. I don’t mind hopping in with people on events or chatting, but I don’t like to depend on other people to accomplish things.

So, I soloed the first Tixx dungeon (level 80 elementalist). It was difficult and took a while, but I did it. The second one I did with a friend and it was faster. Last night I wanted to do the fourth one quickly, so I found a PUG and did it in like 15-20 minutes. It didn’t require much teamwork at all, and was pretty easy to finish.

To those who like to solo, I’d suggest giving PUGs a chance for the holiday Tixx instance. It’s not difficult and a group makes it go a lot faster.

Morvani.2937:

I’d like to team to do these. I really would. But nothing in this forum, and nothing I’ve experienced in the past, shows me that, outside of my tiny crew, I’ll find anything but frustration and discourtesy. I have every sympathy for those who are in the same boat as me.

The solution to Morvani’s issues – as well as to the complaints of those who seem to be up in arms about a call for more soloable content – is for the rest of us to be a little more understanding when it comes to our teammates. Honestly, if Morvani joined my Tixx or Fractals pug and explained that she(?) might have to go afk for 20 mins to help her disabled husband, I would like to think that I’d have the compassion and team spirit to say ‘No worries’. I’d like to think that any GW2 player would. Is it really so much of a hassle to take a break midway through and have a costume brawl, chat to guildies or read a bit of your book?

Sure, plenty of folk will continue to kick folk like Morvani. Those people suck and I’d sooner lose someone like that from my pug than Morvani. But the more of us who are welcoming of gamers with important commitments, the more they’ll feel able to take part in team-based content when they want to – which is win-win for the game and for our community.

atheria.2837:

I’ve never seen a more uncompassionate person in a MMO forum.

Apparently you’ve never had a disabled or dying person to take care of by yourself.

Meanness will never make this game better – you’d better grow up and learn some compassion soon.

Oh, I don’t want to be compassionate. It’s such an empty word. It’s the “get out of helping free”-card. When I was 9 and my mom was sick, I heard it so often after the hospital said the ambulance will take 4h: “I’m really sorry for you and your mom, trust me, I feel for you, but I’m just too busy right now to drive you to the hospiatl, but I’m really really sorry”. And you obviously pride yourself on being compassionate…which further proves that compassion is just an excuse. Because if you truly cared, you wouldn;t be sitting here and typing on a game forum. You’d be building houses in Africa or feeding children in Asia. But you aren’t. Because you are so “compassionate”. On paper.

Just curious, but if you know you’re going to possibly go afk at any time…do you warn the group beforehand? People tend to be willing to work with you…if they know whats going on. I know I personally find it terribly frustrating to have someone randomly go afk. I can’t imagine it’d take much time to either warn the group before proceding, or a quick reason why you’re going afk, and even a guess at how long you’d be gone.

Edit: I’m also sure lots of people are still jerks, but I’m sure there are lots that aren’t. And if you warn ahead of time then the group (or jerk) can decide if they’re okay with this or now. It’d save a lot of headaches I think.

Kraken.4206:

I also wish there were either a solo option, or that it the dungeon were more like the Mad King’s Labyrinth. I happen to be a very social person, however, that side of me is usually something that is strongly integrated into my RL. I deal with tons of people at work and in my career, and though I enjoy it, it drains my reserves.

As an introvert, I recharge my energy, which includes my energy to be social, by being alone—and a big part of that is through gaming. I am not an anti-social person, nor am I a completely solo player; I’m an officer in a small guild, and I have friends. Holidays, though, are times when I’m over-exposed to social events in RL, and I especially feel the need for some alone time while gaming.

…snip…

I hear you. I’m very similar to what you’re describing. I prefer to game with my few close gaming buddies and sometimes enjoy some mindless solo playing to sort of recharge. Sometimes the act of trying to find others for PUGs just adds a bit of anxiety that I really don’t care to experience in a game. Other times I’m totally fine with it.

What I have learned though about the dungeons and WvW in GW2 is that most of them are pretty much like you’re playing solo in that multi-player mob way that GW2 has. People often don’t say a word, they just go about their business to finish the dungeon/event/whatever.

So what I’m saying is… Give it a shot some time. If you can get through the small wait in getting a PUG together the rest of the experience can still be rewarding even for those like us.

Most of the additional content you don’t need to group up. Some of it you do. Why should solo content be so important that people who like to group shouldn’t get anything?

No no no no no no no no. I disagree with the OP 100%.

I refuse to allow what they did to GW1 happen to GW2. With the add of mercenaries and what not, where you basically could just get a group on NPC’s to do your dungeons and runs, drives me up the wazoo. It completely obliterated the Multiplayer aspect of the game.
If they add ANYTHING like that, this game will no longer be an MMO. It will just be a giant cluster of elitists running by themselves and no one will ever do anything besides the world events again as a group.
I disagree with every bone in my body to the OP.

atheria.2837:

TWMagimay.9057:

Morvani.2937:

For those of you who heap scorn on those, like myself, who choose the solo path for reasons relating to real life issues, I challenge you: Take on one of us. Be understanding when we need to go AFK at inconvenient times. Don’t accuse us of leeching XP/rewards/whatever if we are AFK for extended periods.

-snip-

I’d like to team to do these. I really would. But nothing in this forum, and nothing I’ve experienced in the past, shows me that, outside of my tiny crew, I’ll find anything but frustration and discourtesy. I have every sympathy for those who are in the same boat as me.

Here are the issues I have with your post:
- This is your situation and you have to deal with it. Not some random people you met today.
- You expect courtesy from strangers, yet can’t show them the same? I could never understand how smb can go in a dungeon with a pug group knowing that they might not be available for the run(emergencies happen, bio breaks happen, can’t see it coming, but when you know…). I’ve had issues that put me in such situation. And if I knew there is a chance I might have to leave(from pc/net issues through sick cat to on-call at work), I simply didn’t pug. Because I feel bad when I’m leeching(being afk while the rest are doing stuff and you get a reward for it is the definition of leeching) or making people wait on me)in case they can’t keep going without me).
- You say you are in it for the social aspect, right? Well, be social. Join a big guild, talk to people. Strangers don’t care. And you can’t expect them to, because they are, well, strangers. Guildies are somewhere between friends and strangers. Even if you never said a word to them, they are far more likely to accept and tolerate you(unless it’s impossible to progress without u), at least for a while.

I’ve never seen a more uncompassionate person in a MMO forum.

Apparently you’ve never had a disabled or dying person to take care of by yourself.

Meanness will never make this game better – you’d better grow up and learn some compassion soon.

All this “grow up” talk is getting on my nerves. Fristly as an adult there is one thing you need to do as a caregiver when grouping up. Communicate. Communication is key to anything in life. If you cannot explain your situation in a few minutes then I’m sorry there is no gaming company that can help you. That is truly a ‘solo’ act in of its self.

So please grow up and learn to communicate. If you cannot find a group that is nice enough to say: “Ok. No problem.” Then it is through no fault but your own. I’ve run with caregivers and many people who just randomly disappear but if they don’t tell me before hand what they are or what they are going to do I can only assume that they are being rude to me and my group. Being courtous goes both ways, you must also be courtious to explain that you’ll disappear. I’ve run into 1 group that was rude during an AC dungeon that didn’t wait for me when I explained that I had to take an important phone call out of hundreds that have let me run off to take care of my father, my business, my bios, everything. So perhaps it is a user error in this instance.

Btw I solo just about everything in this game but dungeons because I understand I can’t do everything by myself. I also try to communicate to my PUG before the party starts it’s way any situations that may pull me off the radar at any moment. So far it’s worked for all my game play experiences GW2 and other much harsher MMOs.

ddoi.9264:

TWMagimay.9057:

ddoi.9264:

How in the world does giving them an OPTION to solo possibly ruin your gaming experience so much to inspire such contempt and sarcasm?

That’d be basic human nature. Most people when given the choice between looking for a group or running the dungeon solo will opt for soloing. Which in turn reduces the amount of player available for a party. Take it to the extreme. Let’s say at any given time there are 5 people who want to run dungeon A. Right now, those 5 people will come together and do it. With dungeon scaling, at least 1 of them(from my experience with MMOs who had that feature, it’d be more like 3-4 of them) would rather do it solo than bother looking for group. As a result there are 4 people sitting somewhere shouting “lf1m dungeon A”. Until another one decides to run it solo, cause it’d be faster. And them another one. Until there are 5 people soloing dungeon A and nobody is running it in a party. And that’d be how the option to solo affects those who’d rather go with a party.

While that is true, if dungeons were to scale to the number of players it would easily solve that problem. Maybe even increase the cap to 10 players and give better and more rewards for larger number of players to encourage group play. But there will always be an option to solo if desired. Give people the freedom to play however they want.

Not just that… the guy himself uses the word ‘bother’ about finding a group. And that’s exactly it, isn’t it. People think it’s a bother, and generally don’t like doing it. So why force them?

And to the people who say ‘why bother playing an MMO if you don’t like grouping’… seriously, MMO are not about grouping, they’re about having a world that is shared, and where you can often work toward a common goals of some kind. Which may or may not involve grouping. Some people just like to stand around and chat… VERY social. Others adore to play the market and outwit others who do so. Again, social. Yet others delight in downing the hardest mobs in the game solo, for bragging rights (again, a social thing). Many are compulsive puzzle solvers and explorers, who love showing others their tricks (just check out youtube). And again, it’s social.

tl;dr: choice is all. what you like in a game may not be what others like. Forcing others to do what YOU like, however, (and that goes for ANY gaming preference), usually ends up in pretty empty servers.

I play PvE pretty much exclusively but I have no problem with this.

I can grab a PUG if I need to.

Playing an MMO solo is fine. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. Just because other players exist in the game world doesn’t mean there’s some requirement to interact with them.

The problem only comes when solo players expect all content to be soloable. Being an MMO, the game is built around multiplayer. That is one of the core design aspects of the entire game as a whole. If you want to solo, fine. Much of the game will accomidate that. But the game is made with multiplayer in mind, so you have to expect certain things are going to be designed around multiplayer and ONLY multiplayer. You’re free to ignore part of the game (multiplayer) but you should expect to miss out on certain content in the process. There’s nothing wrong with not embracing every facet of the game, some things just aren’t fun for everyone. But if you’re not willing to play it all then you shouldn’t expect to get the “full experience” so to speak.

And yes, that does include certain aspects of holiday events as well. Its part of the game, its going to follow the same design philosophies as the game, so if you’re going to ignore part of the main game you’re probably going to be ignoring part of the holiday events as well.

Granted, Wintersday in particular does seem a lot more group-oriented than, say, Halloween. Halloween had the scavenger hunt as major solo content (well, mostly solo… there were always people around, but you never actually worked with them or anything unless you were underleveled), the jumping puzzle, pumpkin carving / doors, and to some extent the Labyrinth if you just wanted to gather materials and kill a few mobs. Wintersday doesn’t have much of anything besides the Jumping Puzzle and I guess overworld packages / snowmen. A few more things to do solo would have been nice, though preferably in addition to what we got, not “turn Infinirium into solo content”.

As far as being “absused” for wanting to solo, I think a lot of that probably goes back to my initial point. Now I’m sure there are some people who are just kitten and treat people badly if they don’t agree with them, but I think a fair number of people just take offense when solo players want everything to be soloable and complain when its not. Its not so much the mere fact that you want to solo, but the fact that you want to solo everything in a multiplayer game. Particularly because usually when someone brings up the fact that they’re a solo player, its usually associated with some content you can’t do and wish you could (because why else would you bring it up, really? I doubt anyone goes around simply announcing “I’m a solo player guys!”. Its usually more like “I wish I could do this without a group” or something).

For those who have asked, yes, whenever I try for a PuG, I -do- disclose my situation to the team lead/former before even joining the group. This is why I do not get into PuGs. Apparently, they’re all in it for a quick run, and don’t want someone like me along. So I team with my guild, when I can. On those rare occasions my guild is on and I am able to team with them, if -at all possible-, I do give them warning of my AFK and a rough estimate of the time I think I will be away. There are times, rarely, when I cannot, but they’re good folks and understanding of my situation. In addition, if I -know- I will be occupied with something for a significant period of time, e.g. feeding my husband, I will not team at all. With anyone, known or not.

I do my absolute best to be a courteous and considerate teammate.