Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

Solo vs Group

    • 9115 posts
    January 28, 2019 4:02 AM PST

    What do you like more, to play solo or to play as part of a group? #MMORPG #communitymatters

    • 18 posts
    January 28, 2019 4:07 AM PST
    Prefer to play in a group but it depends on how much time I've got to play. If I've only got time to play for 30 mins to an hour I'd rather just solo as I don't want to let a group down or spend half the time i have to play looking for a group!
    • 73 posts
    January 28, 2019 4:43 AM PST
    Can’t sleep Kilsin?...I solo a lot, I get bored to easy, grinding same “camp” mobs over and over. I like to move, explore, forage, gather resources, craft some. It seems more natural to me that way. When I got a group of friends on , that’s when I group. I will never pug new content.
    • 16 posts
    January 28, 2019 5:14 AM PST

    Group play is more fun specially dungeon crawling. I can see some solo play being good to have or possible for those that are waiting for friends or guild mates to log in. But a game that is mainly solo play well that is diablo 3 or wow or a console game which sucks and gets boring and old real fast. Personally, I like grouping just because of how the class you choose to play as has to work as a cog in a machine to progress and that will allow for gear no one else has ever seen which now you are unique. But that is my opinion. 


    This post was edited by Talinor at January 28, 2019 5:16 AM PST
    • 239 posts
    January 28, 2019 5:37 AM PST
    I prefer grouping over all. Like most people here it all depends on what is going on in real life at the moment. Another fun option is duos or 3s. I guess you can consider it grouping, but just 2 or 3 people, small group can be fun as long as al the players "click".
    • 945 posts
    January 28, 2019 5:45 AM PST

    Similar to Mekismo's response, if I have time to play in a group that is my preferrence but I ultimately just want to maximize the amount that I can play.  With that said, if I don't think I can play in a group with my allotted amount of time I will try to solo or do things that don't require a group like crafting, harvesting, vendoring ect.

    • 56 posts
    January 28, 2019 6:17 AM PST

    As what most have siad. Group play is the true draw of MMO's for me. With that siad if my friends aren't on I like the ability to go off and solo and more then just Crafting/Harvesting stuff. 

    • 1033 posts
    January 28, 2019 6:22 AM PST

    In a MMO like EQ, I like both, but I only like the soloing if it is content designed for groups and I am finding ways to see if it is possible to solo it. If it is designed for solo, it will be too easy due the nature of balancing solo content for all classes. I did enjoy playing a necro/druid at times in EQ and just finding some nice area to myself and listening to the rain and music of places like Butcher Block, but I played  a monk in EQ and so soloing was pretty much gone at around level 36, so groups were my main focus. 

    • 36 posts
    January 28, 2019 6:31 AM PST

    Mekismo said: Prefer to play in a group but it depends on how much time I've got to play. If I've only got time to play for 30 mins to an hour I'd rather just solo as I don't want to let a group down or spend half the time i have to play looking for a group!

    I'm the same way. If I have enough time in my play session I prefer to group. Especially if I have friends on. But if I only have a short time period and my regular friends aren't on then I will solo. I don't mind soloing being slower exp as long as it is possible.

    • 259 posts
    January 28, 2019 6:59 AM PST

    • 90 posts
    January 28, 2019 7:14 AM PST
    I'm all for grouping as long as I have a good chunk of time set aside. When there is a case of me not having enough of a block of time for a group, I like to forage, craft and explore.
    I'm hoping for a robust and somewhat involved crafting system to allow one to pass the time when you're LFG if there isn't much solo content. Ornif you're just unable to solo.
    • 3852 posts
    January 28, 2019 7:19 AM PST

    I do both but if I had to make a very bad choice I would pick a game with only solo content over a game with only group content.

    There are more times that I log on to do something relaxing than there are times I log on looking for pressure. 

    Yes sometimes I have quite a few hours available with not much risk of interruptions but more of the time I do not and to accomplish a great deal in one session in a group I would need to (1) find a group doing something I want to do AND that has a use for a character of my class and gearing and specialization if that is relevant; (2) get to wherever the group content is - yes I know that isn't an issue today in most MMOs but I am writing this with Pantheon in mind; (3) wait for everyone *else* to get there; (4) wait for people that went afk while they were waiting for everyone else; (5) actually do the content we were there to do which might not be right at the start of the dungeon in an open world no-instance dungeon. 

    Combine all this it can take a lot of time and if for family or other reasons there is a time I *must* log off it can get very stressful nearing the rewarding fight(s) with just 5 or 15 or 30 minutes left.

    So yes I agree that grouping can be a lot more fun and rewarding but I consider the chance to do things when I don't have the time or aren't up to the tension to be *more* important when I decide what game to dedicate years of effort to.

    • 945 posts
    January 28, 2019 7:27 AM PST

    @Dorotea - Exactly.


    This post was edited by Darch at January 28, 2019 7:27 AM PST
    • 200 posts
    January 28, 2019 7:41 AM PST
    70/30 group/solo. I prefer to group but my schedule favors solo.
    • 6 posts
    January 28, 2019 7:45 AM PST
    Grouping with friends > Solo > Grouping with jerks
    • 123 posts
    January 28, 2019 7:54 AM PST

    I prefer grouping when I have the time.

     

    If I am solo, I get bored quickly.  Have a quest to kill 100 mobs?  If I am solo I might get through half the quest before calling it a night to do something else.  If in a group I will have no problem completing the quest multiple times.  Something about being in a group makes what would be boring to me more engaging.

    • 1033 posts
    January 28, 2019 7:54 AM PST

    dorotea said:

    I do both but if I had to make a very bad choice I would pick a game with only solo content over a game with only group content.

    There are more times that I log on to do something relaxing than there are times I log on looking for pressure. 

    Yes sometimes I have quite a few hours available with not much risk of interruptions but more of the time I do not and to accomplish a great deal in one session in a group I would need to (1) find a group doing something I want to do AND that has a use for a character of my class and gearing and specialization if that is relevant; (2) get to wherever the group content is - yes I know that isn't an issue today in most MMOs but I am writing this with Pantheon in mind; (3) wait for everyone *else* to get there; (4) wait for people that went afk while they were waiting for everyone else; (5) actually do the content we were there to do which might not be right at the start of the dungeon in an open world no-instance dungeon. 

    Combine all this it can take a lot of time and if for family or other reasons there is a time I *must* log off it can get very stressful nearing the rewarding fight(s) with just 5 or 15 or 30 minutes left.

    So yes I agree that grouping can be a lot more fun and rewarding but I consider the chance to do things when I don't have the time or aren't up to the tension to be *more* important when I decide what game to dedicate years of effort to.

     

    Not to sound like a smart arse dorotea, but aren't you describing that if you had to choose, you would rather play a single player game, which... there is an abundance of? 

    I completely understand not having time though. Back when EQ released, I was working 40-60 hours a week in a professional job, married and with many responsiblities. So I can completely understand lacking time, but... you can manage the time to do it (and if you can't, the question that needs to be asked... do I really have time to play a game like this?). I usually had to carve out specific areas of time as I could. I still was able to play a minimum of 2 hours a day, sometimes more and I was able to get a single day on a weekend where I could put in a nice large play session (which is why most of us would use the week to travel to an area we would be grouping in game). 

    A lot of this due to how EQ worked required pre-planning. I would use travel sessions as I mentioned to get from place to place on some nights, coordinate on a forum with some friends to meet and play on a given night. Often the dungeon grouping would be reserved for the weekend and the week would be meeting with a friend or two and just exping a given area, or maybe exploring, messing around, or working on some obscure quest we found. Sometimes it would be collecting some crafting components for a friend, etc..

    So even though EQ was a group game, there were still plenty of things I could do that would fit into my limited time. I played a monk too, so grouping was a requirement and I was still able to form groups on the fly and work up interesting ways to exp with friends. Monks were great working as addded damage over time with various kiting classes. With necros, we would duo up and act like a pet. With wizards and druids we would chase after beating on the mobs as the druid kited, etc... At the end of the day, I could always choose to make a class that had an easier time soloing to meet my desire to solo.

    Now with raiding, it was very difficult which is why I was always raiding an expansion behind. My guild was not capable of competing for mob runs (we had jobs, so we couldn't log on anytime we wanted during the day just to do a raid mob). I can say though, if I had no time to play, but had the chance to have the developer create a bunch of content where I could throw in a quick session to be succesful, I would not play at all because I know the game would be harmed by such implementation. You can't have game with meaningful long term progression and then hand out easy rewards in such short times in my opinion. The long terms game will suffer from it. 

     


    This post was edited by Tanix at January 28, 2019 7:56 AM PST
    • 2419 posts
    January 28, 2019 7:56 AM PST

    Kilsin said:

    What do you like more, to play solo or to play as part of a group? #MMORPG #communitymatters

    I much prefer group play as it allows for access to content more interesting, challenging and reward that solo content.  Solo is just too limiting.

    • 1033 posts
    January 28, 2019 7:57 AM PST

    Vandraad said:

    Kilsin said:

    What do you like more, to play solo or to play as part of a group? #MMORPG #communitymatters

    I much prefer group play as it allows for access to content more interesting, challenging and reward that solo content.  Solo is just too limiting.

    The cool thing is that group content can actually still provide rewarding solo content to clever players. So it is a win/win if done right. 

    • 2138 posts
    January 28, 2019 8:41 AM PST

    I prefer grouping, even with one or two others. The trick is knowing ewnough people that also play on my schedule that I feel comfotable tapping to do something I want to do, or being free to help them fill out their groups to do their stuff. If we have identical stuff we want to accomplish, bonus.

    If I solo it would be for more of a self-test to see what I can do. I am always encouraged by the happenstance string of sucesses which is usually put into perspective by the one humbling and always unexpected undercon.  

    • 79 posts
    January 28, 2019 8:48 AM PST

    It really depends on the game.  I seem to solo more often than not in most of the MMoGs that I play today and I am looking for a change of pace from that.  But I will admit there are times that I log in and don't want to mess with a group or be messed with and just want to solo some.  Especially if my time is limited.

    I think there should be solo content but it should be far less rewarding than the group content.  If you make the crafting, exploration, or other aspects interesting and rewarding it should fill that gap.

    • 12 posts
    January 28, 2019 8:54 AM PST

    Collum A and collum B... Grouping is awesome when I get some quality time to sit down and chat and occupy some camps with some solid players. Counter to that, I also enjoy taking my time solo - spending time working through a challenging area and seeing if it can be done on my own. Variety is the spice of life and keeping the strong focus on group content is why I'm going to retire into this game, but there needs to be the ability to run solo.

     

    #bringoutthebards


    This post was edited by Morn at January 28, 2019 8:56 AM PST
    • 5 posts
    January 28, 2019 8:59 AM PST

    I prefer to both group and solo. I enjoy grouping with friends, guildmates, and pick up groups. I also enjoy playing solo. I think it is important to have ample content that give players the opportunity to solo, duo or group. Solo rewards shouldn't match group content rewards. I just like having the ability to play and progress my character whether in a group or not. 

    • 3852 posts
    January 28, 2019 9:20 AM PST

    ((Not to sound like a smart arse dorotea, but aren't you describing that if you had to choose, you would rather play a single player game, which... there is an abundance of? ))

     

    When I saw the first few words I was starting to compose a somewhat snippy response (not nasty - in addition to being rude that generally is counterproductive) but this is a good question that I see quite often. Fortunately I happen to have a good answer (chuckles). 

    1. I *did* say I also liked to group and grouping when everything goes well is more fun and accomplishes more. It just isn't always feasible. A single player game doesn't give me the choice of grouping or soloing so for the last 20 or so years I have played MMOs and MUDs almost exclusively. I want Pantheon to give us all the choice of which mode to play any time we log on. 

    2. Perhaps even more important - while I solo I do many things that I cannot do in a single player game. I talk in zone or world chat - more than most people probably since it is how I socialize when not in a group. I try to be in guilds in MMOs and so I talk to guildmates, help guildmates and sometimes get help from guildmates. Technically a lot of this *is* group play but I don't think of coming over and spending half an hour helping someone accomplish something as the type of grouping Kilsin had in mind - thus my answer. But In a single player game I can't do any of the things I just mentioned.

    3. One of the things I do a lot of is craft. When crafting is well designed many things benefit from more than one person being involved. Hard to have more than one person in a single player game.

    You make the mistake that some other people also do - you think of going out and doing things in a full group or raid as the sine qua non of a MMO - the only thing a MMO offers that distinguishes it from a single player game. You forget, or choose not to mention because it defeats your argument, a MMO lets us talk to other people whether we are grouping or not. A MMO lets us help other people and be helped by other people whether we are doing "group content" or not. A MMO lets us join guilds with other people and work with other people for the benefit of the guild - as in building a guildhouse in Vanguard. A MMO lets us work with a more sophisticated, vibrant and interactive crafting system. No I do not want a single player game I want a MMO that provides all of these benefits, a MMO that lets us raid and group, and a MMO that lets us do solo content when that suits our available time and mood. I think Pantheon will be that MMO.

     

    You mention that you like to solo by doing group content - possible if you are way over the level of the content or have a class that lets you break the content and handle it in ways most other classes cannot - as in "emergent" use of feign death to break groups of enemies. If that is what you enjoy fine but it isn't what I want as solo content, it isn't what most of us want when we say in this thread we want some solo content (you have noticed a distinct lack of support for having *no* solo content by now I assume), it isn't the type of solo content that will attract players from other MMOs and get keep them here while they get used to the concept of grouping not just getting to level cap solo, it isn't the type of solo content that will attract and keep perhaps younger players that aren't used to uninterrupted play sessions of hour after hour after hour as we old timers are, it isn't ....you get the point. The solo content that will do all of these things and more is content designed to be done by characters of almost any class (yes some better than others of course) without having to *break* group content in an *emergent* way such as by kiting their butts off 24/7 or flopping.


    This post was edited by dorotea at January 28, 2019 9:23 AM PST
    • 1714 posts
    January 28, 2019 9:21 AM PST

    Finding an organic static group is the best type of experience. I do very much enjoy soloing.