Soloable MMOs - Solo Players Saved The Genre
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- Опубликовано: 2 июл 2024
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Ive been solo since the beginning. Ultima Online, EverQuest (Necromancer solo baby)
Awesome video Ghost!, Solo player here keep up the great work. Subbed by the way🤙🏽
While with all do respect and I don't want to sound as rude, but solo play is what ruining mmo games.
Solo play is opposite that of mmo,
All mmo's are build on 3 founding pillars.
1) Cooperation - team/group/q group, party( insert group naming).
A content which require a group of players to clear it. Either raid, or hunting or building or exploring, any content which include multiple players.
2) Competition - pvp, first boss kill, sieges, speed runs, factions wars and etc.
Any sort of conent where player compete. Even outplaying other factions or guildss anything goes. That's drive players to keep playing game. Lineage 2 very focused on wars( pvp), there where servers where two guilds where at war with each otehr 8 years nonstop. This rivaly what kept them log in and play game for all these years.
3) Communit.
Trading and chating/communication, thats the very essance of mmo game. You log in to game to play it with friends, maybe met new friends and do have content where you can spent time together.
It is central pillar, the very foundation to all mmo games, regardless which genre and type it would be.
MMO RTS, MMO FPS, MMO RPG, moba, even Card games online or table version of D&D.
When games start relaying on solo play content mainly, and reducing mmo elements ( team play, competittion)< this also remove Community element. Which more less brings question what the point for me to even log in to the game?
Other thing, if game build so can be done solo, it will have also same effect like all offline rpg games had. End of game ( Game Over).
MMO by nature have no end, you mentioned Lienage 2. Do you know what is end game of that game?? If you think that beat Valakas, Antharas( dragons), Or reach max lv, or obtain gear part. The you are wrong.
Lienage 2 don't have end game. Whole principle of game is guilds compete with other guilds. Crafting, sieges, influences all are just part of it, but not the main element.
When any game have end game = after you reach it you also complete game and there is no reason to play game anymore..
So while to some degree solo game in mmo is welcome, but too much of it leads to burn out and quiting game.
@@hadestemplar1467 THIS!!! Totally agree with you! There is so much more i would like to add and emphasize, but then I would need to sit down and write a paper on so many topics(maybe later I will). But the design for group focused game vs solo makes a huge difference and even affects our daily way of thinking/interacting.
in short, almost everything should be soloable, or eventually, with more incentives when you group(whether more exp/faster kills/challenges/different play because of group/mob dynamics). MMORPG should really encourage grouping, even on things that are not just dungeon running.
Most mmo I try I don't last even an hour because of certain play style and designs(usually WoW-ified and solo based). The few I stay with I had hope for it and made some cool friends. Yet the games failed, and the only reason I log back in is to hang out with friends/meet more and afk in the hubs.
@@micah2341
Here is what happens when bigger part of game you can solo.
Certain class/build is picked, the one with which is easiest to do content solo, while others got discarded.
Obviously tank/heal classes gets in questionable position. I mean, I can do x content solo, why I need get tank, heal or buff or other dps??
It's make no sense to form a group if I can do these content solo anyways.
Also even if party get formed, one player does everything, while rest are just passangers. Now ask who want to be passanger in mmorpg games. It's like, Ok guys/girls, you can go afk I wil clear dungeon for you all.
As healer you are not required, as tank not required. You become irrelevant.
Also if game is more solo, you can't build community. Once again Neverwinter online is good example. That game is casual players focused, and due game mechanics, usually one player does most damage, while others just passangers..
Players don't bother to build realation, a friendships and etc. Players don't even bother to communicate. Imagine 80 players guild, 20 of them online and chat is silent. Not even Hello or bye. Nothing.
You can play whole day and nothing, empty as like you would be alone in whole game.
While in other hand, when I played Lineage 2, grinding where long, but due that I formed friendship with various players. There where times we gathered and just where making fun stuffs. Like assisted low lv players to get better gear, raid dungeon ( buffing /healing) or even power lv up.
Even hunted P's ( player killers). Or someone who try mess with our guild member.
Imagine one higher level player bully our guild member and in moment 20+ players rush after him, and most of them at leat x3 time higher lv and better gear. :P
So solo game is nice, but thats cause class disbalance, kills social interactions, and over all breaks very mmo foundation.
To some degree solo content should be in game. Actually there should be in few categories.
Solo, Small party ( x6 players or so), then big party like two parties. And then guild/clan scale content, which require at least 3 or 5 parties..
Neverwinters largest pve content is ~20 player. Not much of mmo, can't even bring whole guild in one content.
While in Lineage 2 I loved to bring whole guild to big boss hunt or mass pvp.. Every class feels usefull in own way.
I prefer to play alone, but I like seeing other player characters, because it makes the world feel more alive to me.
Definitely this!! Great comment!
Yep, exactly!
Same unless I spy two players one laying down and another doing push ups over them... in public... by a wayshrine.
@@CeaseEcho This is the best comment but back in 2014 I got paid to do push ups on people 100 gold a session lol
Thats why i love this game called "warframe", you dont need to fully rely on your team
I'm a player who didn't even get into MMOs until my mid-50s (I'm 65 now), and I confess I'm really more into it for the lore/story and world exploration than the bashing big critters parts. 😀 I really prefer taking my time puttering around the gorgeous worlds these folks build for us, poking in all the corners for Easter eggs and whatnot (as you know ESO is pretty darn good for this). Plus I know my sloppy playing technique and randomish build can and has driven more competitive players to distraction and I just don't need the stress at this point in my life. So LOL yeah, what can I say? I embrace my filthy casual solo playstyle, slap on that Pale Order ring and crank up the Companion, and have a good time.
Am 68 and just retired….glad to see someone my age playing MMO hahaha….wish to play with you sometime
Have been playing MMOs for the better part of 25 years and now I'm in my 50's. Things in my life have changed, and I enjoy the story and lore more now than I do the grind and the rush to max level. A lot of my friends have had kids and watched them grow up (as have I) and we've had life and career changes which have necessitated a change to our available free time. It's what drove the whole Solo-content push in MMOs and gaming in general. There's that need to have a game you can play with your friends, but also just knock out a few quests or missions when (like the video creator said) you don't have time to wait around for people to jump on. It's just our lives have changed and with it, our gaming preferences.
Skyrim is much better for this.
I am 58 and i feel the same way. 👍
Love your attitude. You sound a lot like me. Kudos! :)
For me it was the players that changed it for me. Back in the day if you were an average or " casual" player you could still get in a guild or a group no problem and have fun. But today, if you haven't spent 10 hours min maxing every single little aspect of the game, you wont even be considered for a group or guilds. If you didn't treat the game like a JOB then you were S.O.L that's what drove me to the solo experience.
"Back in the day" the general level of player competence, access to information and tools was _much_ worse than it is now. Games were simple and easy. Both the skill floor and ceiling were much lower, you could get by just playing "casually". You can still play mmo games casually, but you shouldn't expect to do the harder content without putting in the effort and having the right people to play with.
@@SaltyMaud beg to differ asherons call and ever quest had some crazy mechanics for their time. As for asherons call max level was 275 and could easily take a year or more to reach. There was also min maxing back then as well mmos haven’t changed much besides graphics and world events (even asherons call was doing those back in the late 90s)
This a problem with the loot grind philosophy (themepark) in some MMOs.
@@SaltyMaud yea that's why the genre is dying, want you to treat it as job
It is s bit said if you get kicked from a group if you do not outgear the content...
I tend to play solo too because if you're in a group you have to adapt to the speed of the group. Sometimes you want to stop to mine that random copper ore that spawned when you were walking, or you want to read the story, or maybe you are the one that have too little time so you want to skip it all and go for the main action, but in a group you have to follow the group speed, whatever that speed may be.
About the "MMO changed" actually our generation is the first generation of MMO players, our fathers grew up with an Atari at best, we were the first kids that had Ultima Online, Tibia, Lineage, Mu and WoW, but we had no real responsabilities and no comparisons to what a MMO should be like, since we were the first playing this new genre, so entering in a world that every character walking was an actual player was amazing by itself after spending hundreds of hours alone playing FF7.
Nowadays we are online 24/7, so playing online is not a feature that you can log in to see your friends anymore, it is just the 11th "social gathering" login that we do in a day, so sometimes you just want your alone time.
Now the MMO generation have kids, jobs, way less time and lots of MMOs to choose from, so the "holy shit" moments aren't there anymore =/
wow. what you said is just wow. made me think deeply because of how so right you are about the "MMO changed" thing.
New content on the regular, no friends playing the games I want to play, and if they do, it's on a different system, and I can play the way I want, without someone disagreeing. If my build works, it works. I don't have to deal with critique for a glass canon that dies 10 times a run but can hit 5k dps more. It's not a good tradeoff. Also, every group has an inner circle, and you never really get to be a part of one unless you can outperform everyone and are on and socializing all the time. And quite frankly, dealing with people is exhausting and defeats the purpose video games serve me. To have fun and relax.
Same here
Exactly.
right? as long as your not doing doing it in a pick up group dungeon or something then playing alone and enjoying yourself with whatever build or look or style you want should be a normal thing
@@Drsmiley72 I'd even argue that as long as your build is capable of carrying its own weight its fine even in pick up groups/dungeons.
One of the big differences today compared to years ago, is that there is way more entertainment available. So many games, TV/movies on demand, youtube, twitch..etc.
None of this existed in the early days of MMOs. People are now spread out over all kinds of media. The internet brought people together, but over time it became so huge, we are all on our own island of content.
I'd always wonder, if social media didn't exist, would MMOs still be as large as it was back then? In the early 2000s, we either chatted through mIRC, Yahoo Messenger or an MMO game. And most of the time, since a lot of people played MMOs back then, the preferred gathering place were MMO hubs, chatting after a good chunk of time levelling.
True
At least Hollywood make an herculean effort of makeing movies horrifyingly bad thease days. It is telling when movies like Top Gun Maverick are an exception to the rule.
I almost exclusively play solo and only group up when forced to. One of the points that you made, that the games are, potentially, never ending is what draws me to them as there is no worse a feeling than ending a game you really loved and knowing there is no more content to come.
I like playing in automatically formed groups like world bosses in WOW. Then i feel like there's not that much responsibility on me.
I just feel like there are not enough games being made these days that don't have multiplayer functionality
This video nailed it. I play solo or with one best friend. I don’t play with strangers. I tried some group content and you’re right about all the challenges: wasted time waiting for a group to start the raid, time zones, unreliable people, my own time restrictions, etc. I’m there for a story and exploration not to make friends. Forced group play to get gear is unfair to those of us that just can’t do it. I’m not that good at combat anyway, shrugs. I’d rather do my own things when I feel like it.
I like the option to be able to group but ultimately I play alone. Time restrictions don't help with that. Enjoying the content, keep it up
This I like playing solo but I love the option to make friends and sometimes just random dungeon run silently you know when you just want to get something done before bed lol
Exactly, I also like seeing other people in the game it does make it feel more alive. But just because I don't group most often I will still always help a fellow adventurer if I see one in a fight
Same
In World of Warcraft Dragonflight I found that my priest can solo group content meant fot three players and I do not have good gears from dungeons.
for me it's not about running away from the social experience, but from the time commitment and the social pressure to participate, when being part of a guild/group etc. I want a laid back, relaxing gaming experience, and not something i HAVE to do daily and at certain hours because we have raids/ guild battles/ guild events etc. Also the mad race to keep up equipment wise, level wise, etc. It was fun and i loved being part of a close-knit community, but chilling on my own gives me much less anxiety.
imo it's the overcoming difficulties feeling that leaves you with emotions and memories. You will fail to recall many of moments of a game that you played in a laid-back style, and you will have vivid flashbacks if someone asks you about your time in a competitive guild where you were fighting for territories/bosses/castles e.t.c
I remember the time in clan I was in when I played Lineage II, they helped me to get the top-grade weapon for my class, then we were doing epic world bosses, holding back competitors at the same time (pvp + pve), then we were sieging few castles...I remember all that.
I don't remember chill, laid back leveling up experience,
I don't remember questing for profession change,
I don't remember who I was in a party with for leveling.
But I do remember the difficulties I overcome and those who was beside me these days.
@@visceros480
thing is a lot of gamers are no longer 15 or whatever. I partially agree with your statement about group efforts being memorable. But it required a lot of time, commitment, effort, even emotional investment sometimes. Which was cool back then, when you had time & energy to do that.
10-20 years later, you just want to chill since you just got off your 8-12 hour shift after which you probably had to do some house/family choirs, etc. The game is of a less priority in your life now.
Ofc, there's always a 15 year old kid out there with time to kill, but today he also has a smartphone with million other things to distract him that doesn't require any commitment or large attention span.
Bottom line, on average less people are willing to be super-invested in a game these days.
@grim_2000 this is why I like ff xiv, it doesn't require a whole lot of commitment & most of the people playing it are patient & very nice. I dont like duties that much but other people make them more tolerable.
So you have no aim in life. Raiding/group end game allows for much more fulfillment than anything you mentioned. Been an MMORPG gamer for 20+ years and I can count on one hand the solo experiences I remember. I can write a book on group, raid, guild, etc experiences. You can find a group of like minded players on similar schedules that allows for everything you complain about.
And FYI modern games like FFxiv are NOT MMORPGs. They're cute imitations. They've cute out the MMORPG to make people who never learned to be adults feel okay with never never confronting and overcoming their social issues. You enjoy what keeps you weak. It's comfortable and it's why you'll end up with an unfulfilled gaming time and life.
@@davidfence6939😂 sure, my preferences in gaming tells you all you need to know about me as a person.
I'm a single-player gamer at heart. I play all MMOs as if they were massive single-player games. I love ESO's huge world. I love its gameplay. In some ways I find these things more satisfying than the single-player games, which can feel cramped and limited by comparison. And as much as I love single-player games, I sometimes feel lonely when I play them. I enjoy seeing other players around me, passing them on roads, watching Night Elves dance on mailboxes in Goldshire, ect. To me, this makes MMOs feel more lively than single-player games. But, that said, I usually feel little inclination to interact with these players.
The problem with socializing is you have to be lucky to meet the right people. And sadly, that's not easy. There are also many people who babble about their personal stuff and don't do anything else anymore. Then they constantly misunderstand you or are rude. Everyone can and should play ESO the way they want. And that's just as well. It means that you have your peace and can come down from work. Everyday life is really stressful enough (when you're an adult and you have obligations) and you have to listen to who with whom all day long. As a woman, there is always the first question, how old you are, where you come from and whether you have a boyfriend. When you're over 40, you really don't want that. Conclusion: Play solo or with others. Exactly what you need to enjoy the game. 😁
As a fellow female gamer, your comment is spot on! Especially regarding people babbling about their problems but then that’s ALL they do. Def regarding them asking you all these personal questions 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
That was never the case, you face that now because it's became solo friendly. MMO were a second job and because of that everyone helped each other because the grind was real and you had to know your class. Go back to the time of EQ, DAOC and while it was time consuming you knew that and did it because of the people on your sever, guild. You make it that you can go solo then why be nice to others, why stay and help someone learn their class etc.. People might think it's better now and sure it brought in new players but the MMO is dying now because of it.
@@rybald1973 First of all thank you for your honest opinion. That's also something that an MMO needs. You say it never was but that's just too personal. I wasn't always solo, loved my guild life, but at some point it was too exhausting to experience the same thing over and over again. I like your opinion but you say mmos are dying because of solo players. 🤔 I think that at some point we will get older and some will just deal with things differently. Even if some play solo, it's still weird to say they're to blame. The majority is not solo. Guilds are a big part of ESO. I find it quite hard to blame everything on a small group of players. But of course, someone is always to blame. 😁
@@yukicookie439 What MMO's have you played? I ask so I can get a idea of what you are use to with them. I take nothing from ESO but it's was always a single player game first and MMO second. I get the exhausting part, 4 hour raids ( if things went well) followed by 3 hours sleep before work can take a toll. I still play games but stick to single player ones as I don't have the time. Making MMO's causal friendly and for solo players has destroyed the community these games once had. Ask any DAOC player when the realm was under attach and a call to arms come out everyone would go to the frontier to defend regardless of lvl. Compare that to ESO,WOW, guild wars 2 where no one cares all just goes will keep swap. Bro we would have day long battles defending/taking keeps, guilds would join forces to defend, hell we had midgard and hibernia from a truce to take on albion because they were destroying everything in there way. Players would put bounty's on other players head because they were that good. You don't get that now because it's all about themselves, hell players will screw over guilds if it means getting a head. Don't get me wrong there are some great, nice people who play but the golden age of MMO's is long over.
@@rybald1973 B&S, BDO, Tera, Eos, Star Wars, Lost Ark, Revelation online, Guild Wars2 and EOS🤔 Maybe more. But then maybe it's just a changing of the times thing. I've been playing since the C64 and I think that may be a factor for me too. Playing together makes sense, but like I said, there are reasons to play solo. maybe you just have better nerves than me 😁 I will definitely think about your opinion because it also makes sense, if you explain it that way.
I don't want to group with random strangers at first because I don't know what I'm doing at all and I dont want to hold them back. Once I'm more confident I'll accept group invites or random dungeon groups
FFXIV is really nice to new players.
@@Zenryo11 Oddly enough I never found the FF14 equivalent of a guild while playing it for months. Maybe no one ever sends invites and you have to find one some other way.
I have the same, i don't want to fuck up so that others have to pay for it. It feels bad to do any mistakes while playing with others.
It's all about learning your role, having a good rotation, and wearing the right gear. Once you confident enough in these 3 things you should be good. That's the only reason I play mmos is to grind the dungeons/raids. Most people won't kick you from a raid/dungeon unless you're playing horrible or you been afk to long. Also I suggest going a guild so others can show you as well. Guilds have it perks as long you doing guild quests most times they won't kick you as longs you helping the guild out. I'm currently playing Elder Scrolls Online and it's a fun mmo in my opinion.
Solo content is essential as one can't always find a group, if someone is playing off peak hours or can't be on long, etc they can be locked out of playing, that was my problem playing through FFXIV, I was in queue for the quest progression trials for over an hour before giving up because of the hours I was playing and had finished all the possible solo quests leaving me with nothing to do so I eventually just stopped playing, I couldn't progress to Heavensward without playing through ARR but I couldn't progress through ARR because no one was online. Limited side content or main story progression being locked behinds group content can kill an MMO.
Being able to play an MMO solo was one of the things I quickly appreciated about City of Heroes (back in the day). Teaming up with others was fine if you were just looking to get some extra XP if you had already run your contacts out of missions or wanted to do one of the task forces. But most of the game was doable solo with any decently built character.
I never play alone. I have Isobel. And my bear.
Spot on. I play ESO 90% solo, and group in zone chat to kill a WB I also watch LG videos on how to solo group content 😂
I play ESO 2 years now. I also play mostly solo. Never entered trials because lack of free time. But still so much content to do with alts and dailys its never boring. I feel like ESO is only MMO game that doesnt force you to endgame content if you dont want to.
Give Guild Wars 2 a shot, its great and very casual friendly.
I've been playing since launch on and off
GW2 also has excellent character creation.
I got overdose from questing in ESO and my char was only level 34 or something. I did like 100 quests and got maybe 1 level, that felt terrible. After that i've had zero interest in wandering in the zones.
I have rotated ESO and Guild Wars 2 for a few years. I recently added FFXIV to the mix now that they have Duty Support that allows you to do the main story quest dungeons solo. GW2 is VERY solo friendly.
👏👏👏for the whole text and analysis.
Its nice to see real players around, sometimes group fir something when you have time, but playing solo its the neverending journey that counts.
The memes are hilarious!!! I've always played solo games, TESO is my 1st MMORPG. I've found that most guilds don't last long or they have the "inner circle" that can't be broken unless you sacrifice yourself to them. So I've learned to solo almost everything except trials lol
9:41 I think another reason people like mmos solo is because they feel good seeing other players and the hustle and bustle of the world but don't like actually having to interact with people.
I'm an introvert and understand this 100%. I love being in the same room as a ton of people. Don't like the interactions as much unless it's one on one.
Sometimes going solo better than full party, clear connection, no ninja looting, just you and companion pets if available traversing dungeon without any problems.
seeing huge raids like in WoW...bad memories. Allways problems, Ld's. I never group up. Im more flexible deciding what id like to do.
Things have changed drastically from the days when people liked the social aspect. Now, most of us are constantly in contact with people online all the time whether it's social media, work, school, we're always online with others day to day now unlike back when MMOs were new. Add in how a lot of people online can turn nasty with the shield of anonymity and a lot of us value the option to play with others if we want but get turned off by feeling like we have to.
The logistics of playing with friends-- schedules, life, commitments-- make it complicated. Oftentimes it's more relaxing just logging in solo. But it's nice seeing others in the game since it feels alive, and sometimes forming PUGs is enough for the occasional group experience.
Great video don't be afraid to cover topics like this. Would love to see more. Keep up the great work!
I prefer MMOs over SP games purely for persistence. It’s hard to give a shot about a single player world once you’ve spent time in an online persistent one
Loved your repeating decimal joke in your ad. Wasn’t expecting that and it made me laugh!
I prefer to play grouped content but I don't have much time to play anymore with being married, kids, work, and being in school. So when I'm on I typically have a limited window and don't have time to waste trying to get everyone together
I still join guilds though cause the raids are my favorite parts. Currently in one for ashes of creation
I play WoW together with a bunch of friends. We were all very hyped for recent WotLK release, and even tho we all had time to level together, I still preferred to do it alone. I like to be on my own schedule
but, dungeon finder was a thing right in the new classic? Also many other conveniences. So I believe yes, people prefer to play solo if is more convenient. But many old experiences just don't happen as they used to.
I enjoy eso alone, like most ppl it’s playing at your own pace and doing what you want when you want,great video :)
For me what's lost through time is the commitment to make the world feel alive, adventurous, and sort of dangerous when it should be. It should be a world you each to be engrossed in, not just a lobby for you queue up for dungeons and then auto pilot through solo questing.
Great content as always!
I can see both sides for sure. While I do enjoy being able to go at my own pace and solo content myself when I want to (busy schedule, work, friends, etc.), I also enjoy being able to group up with people and tackle harder content when I'm in the mood. I find it hard to stay in contact and actually become friends with others in MMOs bc most just want that solo experience.
I'm definitely a total hermit when it comes to MMO's. I like my solo experience. I like it to the point where I'm the one out there walking my horse through Tamriel on the way to my quests because I thoroughly enjoy getting into my characters head by absorbing the scenery instead of racing everywhere. It's not that I don't like the people I've met in eso, I've met some really great people. It's that they always want me to be doing something other than what I REALLY want to be doing. It's not that I don't like doing vet content with them now and then when the fancy takes me to do so. Im capable of it and do like experiencing my characters power in that way. And it's not that finding out what's behind the gates of a trial doesn't hold appeal....it's that constantly doing and practicing these things seems exhausting mentally and emotionally and I have no desire to spend my time hitting the right mark for DPS when I could be off somewhere in my imagination. While one part of me is tempted by endgame and all that it promises, the pressure of constant socialization and meetings for practice, of basically having my time absorbed by meeting the needs of others in a game that's supposed to be fun....? It just seems like another job!
I blame the elites
And the times have changed as well people don't want to sacrifice hours to get a flawless rotation to have fun
Like myself I don't do the number game but I do enjoy a bunch of us getting together doing dungeons or raids without worrying about a number cap
> I blame the elites
Interesting then that the video-creator advertising Blackrock. ;)
@@rabbitcreative 👍🏾
You eventually touched on every point I was going to add, but as a mainly solo player, I love being immersed in the game by way of the story. Even if it's not world shattering story telling, if it at least gives fun context to how the world functions, I'll usually gladly go through the main story before branching out into the group content. Also, the added benefit of it being massive multiplayer is having the option to ask people about things you don't understand in game. Sure, you can google it, but sometimes its better to get a direct answer from a veteran player. In that way, the world feels more real because there can be those who have been playing for over a decade, and that's really cool imo.
The average work week in USA has gone nothing but up in the last 10-20 years. We're always working, then when we finally have time off we don't always want to log on a game on our precious day off. lol
"... while I missed the camaraderie that came with forcing everyone to play together all the time. I don't miss that part of it"
I second this statement
Excellent video. Like many, I prefer to play alone mostly due to toxic environments within guilds I've experienced in the past. Because of these experiences I'm much less prepared to put myself back in those circumstances. Wish it wasn't the case. That said, I did enjoy meeting and playing with new people (who were not narcissistic sociopaths, ;)) but have often been felt intimidated because as an older player, I'm not as good/quick "on the draw" as younger people. Wish there was a compromise but I haven't found it yet. Always enjoy your videos, builds (ESO) and advice. Much Thanks! :)
I'm old enough that my slower reflexes and reactions are a hindrance to young players, too. Solo content feels somewhat incomplete, but pugs don't work out when the other players are younger than my grandkids. I can't blame them for being impatient.
@@DaisyCloverbee Agreed. I dopn't blame them but it is intimidating somewhat. We need an older player guild on the NA server. Know of any?
I feel ya. At 52, there's no amount of "get guud" that's going to help you have the reflexes you did 30 years ago, with no arthritis.
@@Vomgnar. Yep, that's me. My reflexes are slower and my hands shake now. I'm never going to be perfect no matter how hard I try or how many times I practice. It is what it is. And I've experienced way too many people being horrifically abusive to ever put myself in that situation again.
Same. All the people around me that are my age call any sort of game on a computer a "video game." I have no friends that play and never have, except in Dark Age of Camelot and in WoW I did make friends and still keep in touch with some of them. "Just play with friends" haha. This requires that you have friends that game. Nope I don't. I started playing MMOs way back before Wow came out and frankly didn't enjoy it as much as other games but it was way better than Everquest. Not as good as Dark Age of Camelot but all my DAOC friends quit and went to WoW so I did. I was in my late 40's then and a pretty decent player, taking the time to learn how to min/max etc.
Now, my reflexes are not good and I simply can't "git gud." I end up playing with young people who do not understand how people find a lot of content difficult. So I putter about, avoiding high pressure activities and end up crafting and gathering a lot. Warhammer Online (free version Return of Reckoning) is one game an older slower player can join in to the main activities and even there, I craft and putter. I loved that game when it came out, was in the beta. There is a dev team there and they do release new content. As such it's not really the same game as originally but I like it. ESO is ok, but I like FFXIV the most. Although the newest patch is just too difficult so I've kind of lost interest. It was terrifically difficult to finish Endwalker but the followup has been well, I'm too old to stress and try and fail and try again, etc. I want to putter about and it's gotten boring. Black Desert Online is still imo the most lovely game out there but their predatory practices made me quit. I most loved bartering in my ship lol. I had almost gotten it upgraded as far and one can be and was proud, as that is something you absolutely cannot do with money. You have to work at it and do it yourself without taking the riskiest most illegal chances with your account.
So yes. I'm mostly a solo player now. I really enjoy how they've been made accessible to people who enjoy playing solo, with no need for waiting around for others constantly. I am getting close to 70, I don't have time for all that.
So much truths. I do miss the days of working to find a group and everything being harder and more rewarding, but I was younger and less obligations. Now days I'm thankful I'm able to get into a group or chill with some solo content in the free hour I have before bedtime on worknights.
Caught this vid on Asmond's page. Everything i've been thinking for so long and you hit the nail on the head.
I've often discussed my first MMO (FFXI Online) I was obsessed, this new amazing experience of logging into the playOnline Portal, seeing friends in the portal you could chat with (reminded me of the .hack// experience but with actual people) I was so addicted to this new experience my mother tried to have an intervention. No game since has given me that same vibe, feeling, excitement. or need to play.
It was hard getting into groups later in the games life. No dungeon finders, no level downszing to help with new friends. Having different schedules as friends didn't help. At the end of my time I couldnt even level a new job to 15 cause no one was in that old zone, and you 100% needed a party of people to get exp, (a friend to power level you, or you rode the struggle bus trying to solo one monster at a time) to get exp cap, to do story content, to even get teleported to another zone.
The amount of time spent in that game traversing the world just to get from place to place. There was no insta que, no teleport to a dungeon. You walked your ass there (or rented a chocobo).
These were some of the best features of FFXI Online. It forced comradery, and socializing. I still have people on my friends list from during that time, I'm 38 now, i was 20 when we played together. It forced immersion and experiencing the world they created. I hardly remember zones in games now because we breeze thru them so quick then fly over them or teleport past them. One of FFXI's worst feature for a game (best for immersion) was actual boat rides. You waited for that boat to arrive, and if you missed it, you are waiting for it come back. You rode that boat in real time as it traveled its 30 minutes to the next zone. There were sometimes battles that happened, you could fish, and socialize. AMAZING! I could never imagine that being something good no a days though. I still remember the Ferry boat in the Jungle area, it was beautiful to ride that down the river to travel. Traversing the world to get to a new zone was difficult, and scary, especially if you were under leveled. Early days, those mobs would chase you until they killed you, or you got to a zone and left the area or had other players to help you cross dangerous zones,. The memories and experiences I have from my time in FFXI is like NO other I've had since. I remember more from my time in that game than in any other game I've played since.
The features that made it so memorable are the same features that made it not age well. None of this stuff works for today's gamers. The average age of gamers is 30's+, we have families and responsibilities and cant devote 12 hours a day playing, or any hours just waiting and hoping find others just so you can play. The younger gamers have so much more content to choose from than we did 2o years ago There are so many fricken games and mmos i just.. ugh i just don't have time. I more and more appreciate the games that are 20 hours long, or MMO's that respect my time, and the companies that understand the biggest gamers at heart are the ones who've been at it the longest, the 30-40 sometimes who identify as being a gamer, even if we're AFK making dinner for our family. As Asmond says, when the average age of the gamer goes up their average time to play goes down.
Sometimes I get the itch to reactivate my XI account to check it out but have resisted so far.
When I played WoW back in the day, I loved the group aspect and as I play ESO nowadays I get bored easily. I got back into mmo because of the nostalgia but I've come to realise that it wasn't the RPG side I missed. It was grouping up and having a good time
I think you made some real good points with this. Whenever i finish a solo game i always feel a bit letdown knowing that it's over. Skyrim or Fallout are good examples for this. I've completed every quest, gotten all equipment, cleared every map and wiped all enemies from existence. There is nothing more for me to do unless i make a new save. They were AMAZING games, but they ended. Even though i don't like group content, at all, i gravitated to mmos because i could always keep playing and enjoying the game. I'm not social, i prefer my solitude, but mmos offer a much more fulfilling experience and feel like a better way to spend my gametime.
Great vid! A very good take on the evolution of mmos! I always preferred the more soloist play style. That being said I miss the good old days when if you wanted to run a dungeon you had to physically find a group!
This was an incredibly good discussion and one I have frequently with friends. So good.
I wanna comment on what you said about static groups and friends leveling too quickly or too slowly. Guild Wars 2 solved this issue with their zone by zone player scaling and events scaling based on the number of participants. If every mmorpg adapted this system, then mmorpgs would become mmmorpgs again instead of just rpgs.
I play ESO alone. I think it’s because I came from playing the single player TES games and as ESO is easy to play alone, I do. I have no interest in PVP content or grouping for dungeons etc. I feel for folks who see it as a social thing as the development really seems to be heading towards massive single player games with a tacked-on group option. I suspect this is also why Zenimax don’t seem to be in any rush to fix the PVP issues in the game.
I don’t find grouping In ESO that bothersome you can Q in and ignore everyone for the most part like he said in the video if you want to most groups even without talking to each other destroy everything The only exception is some veteran DLC dungeons and the trials
eso is easy too play alone .
Wtf are you even doing in the game if your not doing pvp. Pve.
Most players play alone because there is no reason for anyone to message them for help because they are complete bots who just quest ...
Roll players etc...
the story of eso is just awesome. it’s the best medieval fantasy open world RPG out there along with tw3 🤷🏼♂️ leaving cadwells silver and gold aside, as it was just boring rushing through zones
@@lefthangin4549 The game is a PVE game mostly with a little bit of PVP in there hence is why most people doPVE in the game and the developers add little to the PVP in this game in case you haven’t noticed
Same thing for me cheers
I like playing solo and then finding a group when I need to. If you look at it from a role playing perspective it is like a scene in a story where people need to come together as a ragtag force to handle a threat none of them can handle on their own.
This is one of those complex topics I could talk about for hours, and I think there are a lot of moving parts and intricacies to it.
My first MMO in 2004 was FFXI. A friend and I decided to play together, and it wound up meaning we played the same game at the sometime. I had less time and lived on the opposite coast, he quickly passed my level and even a small difference meant you couldn't group up and be effective. I would get some some nights and like you bee looking all evening for a group to never get one. On the nights I got a good group, I would wind up staying up way too late.
When WoW came out that winter a bunch of the people in my FFXI linkshell my buddy got us into, but I hardly knew because they were all way past me in level, decided to move over to WoW, and I played that non-stop until after SWTOR came out.
Wrath was a time that made PuGs and Alts much more friendly, and there were still more challenging modes for group content, and then for Cata they decided to pivot back to harder content, and really that made it into grindier content, and a lot of more casual players quit.
Group content in most games isn't really that good for socializing in, and honestly every MMO I have played has made group questing weirdly inconsistent and sometimes annoying. I think the best social questing was SWTOR, the choices that the system rolled off for, and the voiced and choreographed cut-scenes made for some great conversations while playing with friends.
I like the idea of a large shared world, but I think computer games have gotten stuck with a lot of old baggage and might benefit from looking back at TTRPGs and try creating co-op adventures instead of loot and xp grinders, with plenty of solo adventures for when your pals aren't around.
Solid analysis. We solo players are not alone. 🙂
definitely true, sometimes solo, but never alone!
9:27 BINGO!
9:40 The other players make the MMO feel more alive. Because it's not just the NPCs being NPCs. You see actual players interacting with the MMO world, making it feel real and alive.
11:04 Yep, life happens.
14:47 YES! That's where a lot of us are now.
Right now, the best (open)group content in MMOs belongs to Guild Wars 2. Where you help out an NPC do their open world quest that leads into an attack or defense. If you lose, that spot where there was supposed to be a small NPC town where you can buy and sell things is temporarily gone. The game will have you later on fighting back to gain control. Once you've gained control, you must defend the post from attacks. After fending off the attack, the town is rebuilt and now anyone can use that small town/village. It's not one whole event, but a series of publicly open quests that chain together. And a mix of different open to public events happen. And yes, there are World Bosses anyone can join in, even at very low levels, and get items and money afterwards.
You nailed it! In my opinion the best MMO out there right now IS GW2 due to the helpful community and living breathing world!
I'm a solo player, but love the choice of grouping up or joining a guild. There are just so many games that full groups can go to these days for immediate play that, ironically, catering your mmorpg to solo players makes more sense. I believe it was smart choice and is guiding mmos on a path with the times.
Outstanding content as always homie.
I enjoy playing alone but that's mostly due to work and family obligations - no way to set up times to run content with others.
Nailed it. I love to solo. I hate it when I can't. I also love to get into a good group. I play mmos because like you said, they never end. Always evolving and adding more content. All my friends from the early days of WoW are gone with families now. Here I am a divorced father of 2. So I got lots of time lol. But yeah, I was so enthralled with final fantasy 10. Best FF of all time(screw the abominations that are 11 and 14, 12/13/15 as well, utter trash, a true final fantasy is and always will be a turn based epic rpg ). I was just bummed the hell out that FF10 ended and would never have more story or adventure. I loved the characters, all my progress and it was just over. I wanted it to keep going.
Ff7 is goated.
I feel like soloing is just more fun, most group based activities are so toxic these days. No one communicates, every one wants to be the hero and get groups killed. Getting kicked because you don't no life the game and people want to be carried. To much drama for something that's played for fun...
bro you hit the bell... Not always we have team to play or would like play with someone else but sometime we would play our favorite game with someone else for that i really love mmorpg
One event that cemented my love for MMO's was a bunch of random strangers helping my squeaker self years ago get a mount to keep up with them so i would not be left out. I was not even that good, just felt like a whole room of genuine supporting people that wanted to see a non veteran do good
I think mmos need a healthy balance of solo and group content. I think it's also good if the game gives a little push for players to socialize, it would help to keep the game alive longer and make content more available for everyone. Having content that you can do solo is good since your friends or guildies or whatever aren't always online. If everything's soloable then it just becomes an RPG with randoms running around imo.
Have to agree. An MMO that I played and thought got the closest balance was near end of life base PSO2. There were solo quests against two major story bosses that had floors that added mechanics and got progressively harder as you went on, quests you could solo like Divides if you were good enough but you could bring a 2-4 man group if you really wanted, and Urgent Quests (Raids) which you wanted groups for and could easily find people for. There was an endgame superboss I ran through many times and only cleared with randoms twice, and that quest gave very good exclusive rewards that were kind of like a badge of honor. They had to give out a lot of freebies to catch up new players as it hit a resurgence during the tail end of its last major story update, which was somewhat fortunate/unfortunate depending on how you look at it. Ironically, the final years were only great because the man who was killing the game with the worst content drought in the game's history got called away to make the game's successor, while someone else who I think was the game's item designer got the reigns. The successor has been out for a year and well, all I can say is I can tell why that man has the reputation he has now.
This is probably the most accurate response to this topic I've heard and a rather good sentiment. Whilst I do hold on to the memories of Ragnarok online, Everquest, and WoW 2003-2009 those experiences stay during that time period that not even WoW classic could bring back. The only time I felt that come alive again was during Light's Hope WoW classic private server because everyone was on that nostalgic itch until WoW classic released, but it soon died. The one thing I would like to see though is relative dungeon strategy change from cleave to more communication play.
I like mmo’s for chat with others, but for gameplay I prefer to play solo & if a game forces me to group/ raid with others I tend to either move on or start a new alt. Mostly because of my health issues will require me to go walk around or lay down without notice. So I really like some of your vids to show me other games I wasn’t aware of that would work for me
single player games are a bummer because I don't get to share all the cool stuff I worked so hard for. The costumes, the housing, the level and abilities. It lives and dies on your screen, never shared with anyone.
MMO's don't feel as much of a waste of time because there are always people to share the experience with.
When MMOs first started, the people that played them were a different breed. These people were more social and accepted the fact that grouping was part of the game. However when MMOs were discovered by the great unwashed, who were more self-centered the genre changed. Now its all about me instead of helping others.
While it seems as if people have changed a bit, gotten more insane & absurd, I disagree. I think the reason there's more solo players is because most people don't want to be bothered anymore.
The world seems to have gone nuts and this is probably why.
Perhaps people "not wanting to be bothered anymore" is the cause of our toxic social climate, not a symptom of it.
Maybe having a little brick in your pocket that you can do almost anything with has turned people into anti-social, intolerant, impatient maniacs who are incapable of getting along with others under the best of circumstances, let alone when they disagree or their interests conflict. Maybe our culture is too in love with "personalized" and "curated" spaces and they no longer value interpersonal interaction, teamwork, and compromise.
Damn, such good commentary. Pretty much sums up latest trends in MMOs rn
I agree completely. I'm usually watching tv in the evening with my family and just want to relax and do solo content, but also enjoy typing in the guild chat and cracking jokes.
I'm an old timer. I started playing in the late 90's with Everquest, and even then, I almost entirely soloed everything I did. Sure, still I grouped up, made friends, did some of that, but much of the time I was alone, and I loved it.
I haven't changed in all the MMO's I've tried since. I like making friends. I like doing things together. But I like doing things at my own pace and having personal adventures in a large persistant world even more.
Recently, the best MMO experience I've had since maybe WoW: Lich King, was in Elden Ring, and that's not even an MMO. But it had almost an MMO-like sense of scale to the world, and I could still team up with friends, and it was hard as hell, but not too hard.
MMO developers could really learn a thing or two from that game. Exploration, lack of hand-holding, cool unique weapons and armor to find, challenge.
Anyway, MMO's are still my favorite game, but they've failed me with them being too easy or pay to win and so on. I think the MMO that looks the most promising is probably Ashes of Creation. Although I've never enjoyed PvP, everything else about it looks fit and worth a shot.
you spot on got it. i play mainly solo however i love the feeling of an ever changing never ending world
Excellent video. I play ESO and I have two play styles: solo and duo. I will often play with my brother (who lives a few hours away, so it's a great way for us to keep in touch), or my cousin. No worries about drama or judgemental people. No pressure. Thanks to ESO's companion system, we can run 4-man dungeons with 2 players plus their companions. I enjoy the extra challenge, and we don't need to coordinate schedules with several people. With ESO's scaling and a variety of dungeon difficulties, we really don't need to worry about someone leveling up too much or too little. Gear matters, but once you have mastered crafting, you can make pretty good stuff for yourself and others. Not endgame meta stuff, but I don't care about that. I enjoy the stories/exploring in solo mode, and I have a blast with teamwork in duo mode. I'm happy.
Couldn't say how and what started that but 100% agree.
One of the major point might have been that fact that games started to value numbers more then skill or in other words GREED.
In order to round up more players who pay the monthly fee, as was common back then, developers needed to make games less hard so the avarage player had a fair chance. This lead to the above numbers vs skill movement. And because of that it became possible for skilled players to solo content. And that's where we are now.
I have played WoW and ESO on and off since launch. Both games started with level based content which forced you to be no more than 2-3 levels apart from friends, but both changed to a scaling system where you can group with friends no matter the level for most content. It's great.
Exactly how it went.
Started MMO's in 1999 with EQ and grouping was great, social and fun. Made a friend who is still a friend to this day.
After groups were hard to get I started boxing and soon had my own group.
Them came MacroQuest... My own group and I was the puller, tank, DPS or whatever I felt like playing that day.
LOL, THIS VIDEO IS GOLD. When your in a guild or clan and everyone is in a static, so Raid finder become your new companion
My new solo character is a redguard warden healer and Bastian is my tank. I’m a healer but I don’t plan on doing group dungeons. My mission last week was to increase my bank space by doing all the material surveys that was taking up too much space. Yesterday, I had a thief’s guild daily that required me to take on WB. Another player joined in to take down the WB as I stumbled through this new healer build. No one died, but it was a long fight. With no communication, at battles end, we went our separate ways. It was fun.
I’ve always been more of a solo player ( mainly because i suck) and always had the feeling i was playing the games ”wrong”.
I gravitated to SWTOR since it gave me exactly that.
A great solo story with the OPTION to play with others.
Also, i’m one of those explorer guys so everything takes for ever since i feel compelled to RP a tourist in every new cool location.
At times i even sit around just soaking in the ambience, ”having a coffee”.
Riften in Skyrim and both of the first player homes in SWTOR ( Republic and Empire ) as well as Nar Shadaa being examples.
I enjoy my ”inner roleplaying”. 🤺
swtor is the best solo freindly mmo .
oh that EQ1 scene ... that starter zone was the best ever ... I always went back shortly to give low players some summoned items... ❤
Hey Lucky, thanks for this. I see so many on the Ashes of Creation sub-Reddit and forums are living a dangerous myopic view of the MMO genre and feel that AoC will not go far enough to provide a good solo experience and instead are running with this notion of forced grouping. I'll link this video to every rose tinted comment. You have hit the mark 100% my friend.
I listened to this video while solo grinding BDO on Christmas Day. I agree with your assessment, and have been playing MMO's since the glory days of EQ1 in 1999 lol
Great video. I have some really good friends in wow but for the most part I love grinding something on my own or just afk in town :D
I have played many mmo games, but I'm playing ESO right now. I like the mix of group and solo content. I wish it was easier to get into more group content such as trials and 4 person arenas. ESO needs a que system for those. I must admit I don't like waiting for groups to form, but if I have to wait a bit, I do some solo content. I also like belonging to 5 different guilds because I prefer to do group content with people I know and have fun with if possible As far as trying to level with a set group, what I found is that if I am getting too far ahead, I just start an alt and play that while people catch up. You are right when you say the best experiences and memories come from playing content with people you have formed social relationships with. That's an important part of the mmo for me.
Runescape was my first official MMO and that's a totally solo based game. I did have a good run with WOW before my laptop fried in 2010. Great times now I play solo but interact with chat and try to make friends (healers) so I can continue the grind. Great video! Keep up the hard work!
Rs3 mobile
I played WoW for years solo. I enjoyed it. Before that I enjoyed WoW as a multiplayer experience.
A couple years back I got into RP on WoW and joined the Moonguard server which is notorious for Goldshire's inn. If you go past the inn however, and explore the world itself, the players make the world alive with their characters. It's multiplayer in a different way.
After playing WoW for years solo, and seeing empty zones and cities full of people just waiting for ques to pop, it was so refreshing to see so many people everywhere bringing the world to life in their own ways. Creating their own stories and bonds between each other. If you found a player who was good at it and you both clicked, you'd RP together more and more, and eventually more people hop on board, and before you know it, you networked and made the game social again.
Very well put! Great video!
Thank you Lucky, I was always a solo player, through WOW, Eso, New World, Black Desert, ... And I agree that demand from players like me changed MMO. I am happy, though I'm not playing any at the moment
I like MMOs for the progression and ability to show off that progression while being able to play with others if I want to. Seeing others definitively makes the game feel alive too. I think the solo experience is perfect for casual days, and that’s mostly what I do, but it’s nice to be able to have the option of socializing, I just don’t seem to have the same casual experience if others are also there. The pace is either too slow or too fast.
I'm definitely a little bit of both. The majority of the time I play solo, but I do enjoy group content when I need to do it. I don't like learning specific things by myself such as trying to figure out how to beat a specific boss or go about running a dungeon. Unless the game is designed with that in mind I often find it easier to group with knowledgeable players who can guide me and teach me the mechanics. Outside of that specific content however I enjoy getting lost and just doing my own thing. Trying out builds, learning an in-game skill like fishing, cosmetics, farming, etc. Most MMOs I play tend to have something for me to do that doesn't require me to be social.
I will admit though it's nice to jump into a game and find players just running around, hanging out, and chatting with each other in the various chat channels. It is definitely reassuring as a solo player to know that other people are actively playing the game and that, if I need to, I can ask someone for help and usually get a response back.
Never liked the idea of being forced to play in a group with randoms since 98% of the time they either didn't know what they were doing, despite having +80 hours in, or just being toxic deliberately not contributing to the group in combat. If I can solo it, I'd gladly solo it.
Solo'd BnS, Shaiya and many others, to the point where I maxed my class, wasn't easy, but was worth it. I'd gladly group with friends, not with randoms.
I was nothing more than a solo player before, at least before I met the guild that became close friends to me, that was years ago and I loved the feeling of doing quest with friends along with roleplaying with each other, now I don't know how they're doing since schedules and what-not became tight, have been chatting with them sometimes, but of course schedules, and now I'm a little of both a solo player and a team player, an experience that I enjoyed.
As many have stated already, the ability to play something I enjoy but also disengage when I have to is what keeps me solo - and the speed at which I can do content is the reason I play a healer; fastest queue times!! 😂 Everything I do in the game will revolve around me being as efficient as possible in order to keep my busy life a priority, and I wish sometimes I had time to play constantly… but it just isn’t a reality. I miss the social interactions online or consistent groups, but I just don’t have time for it. I’m glad we have the option (in ESO) to solo a majority of quests, zones and dungeons, it’s what keeps me coming back!
I totally agree with this video. I love group content but sometimes just the wait used to be so long. The solo content helps you divert your attention and you can do what you want to do at your own pace. The group content is just the bonus for a majorly solo player like me, for the drops or for playing the market with crafting.
Don't get me wrong I will join a guild, if I have the time and people want to do raid/dungeon content I will definitely join. However what you say is true when you reach the limit of max level or near that threshold it won't be a problem even if the group is random at that tier, because at that time a lot are already familiar with what needs to be done.
Between story content, crafting, gathering all those fall under the solo category for me and it's something I generally like to do. I think it's right to say that people just need to find their time for the things they want to do when it's convenient to them.
Great video~!
Hey I'm from german👋, I play eso on ps4 for over a year and I play most of the time solo because I have no one to play with, but I must say eso is the perfekt game to play solo. Its a huge game with hours of content. And I watch your guides every time because they are super helpful. Thanks for your good work lucky🙏
We didn't change, we get older. We grown in MMO era where we had CS 1.6 or MMO. There was no COD Warzone, No Fortnite, no other battle royals, no twitch and streamers. There was single player games, CS 1.6 and MMOs. Now MMO allow us play with more casual way instead of play as before as we have jobs and families.
I'm not a social butterfly when I play MMO's so I tend to play solo for the most part. However I do join guilds to tackle the harder content with but besides that I very rarely communicate with other players. I just find playing solo is more fun as I can just do what I want and just level my characters on my own.
Something I've noticed even back in the day 15 years ago, is that the older players never spoke out in the world. They only talked to their friends in guild chat. We all talked as young 8 year old noobs. Now that we're 30 year old boomers, we're just as quiet as those players who were maxed level in bis gear we all called no life nerds.
Loved the random dungeon finder I finally had time to grind and it brought people to me lol.
I play alone because i am in my 30's with job and family. Being solo player allow me the flexibility to log off when i want. I don't have to be bound to any time tables or feel guilty/bad for leaving the group if i have to leave for family emergency or just because i have an hour or two to play.
1000% me, couldn’t have said it better
Been a top tank main in most MMOs I play and even I have gravitated towards solo play cause outside of that time my time is always taken up in groups for dgs/raids or I am busy doing WvW so for me that solo content is a place to get away and just chill lol. Funny thing is it was that constant waiting in towns for a group back in the day that pushed me into tanking cause I would get tired of waiting and on the days I did not feel like tanking I would have my DPS/Support PvP char for fun.
As a few mentioned in group play, some rush through the game. I like to take my time. Read the quests and explore.
Fun fact, in Arche Age unchained when you kill a mob the xp is split between party members. Meaning people basically grind mobs solo.
That brings a memory from Skyforge before the subquest gone away, I was with a clan we were planning for a raid with frog mobs area think sea water area forgot. So what happened was we all were in discord during raid, during the last boss fight boss did an aoe atk, and the healer had to to was put a shield on everyone to survive but the main healer missed the time, and due to long cd everyone was panicking I was the 2nd healer just trying to heal or buff so I head the shield buff skill ready and man I did the perfect timing on it. Just as the boss started the animation for attack and about out to unless I put the shield on everyone. The group was expecting mass wipe and thinking of redoing it again :D
People can also like the social experience of an MMO without actually always wanting to go out and get declined asking a bunch of people or finding people to run stuff with them as well, that and getting out of sync doesn't ultimately mean you have to stop playing together either, I see it as kind of a D move if someone over levels you or gets further in a quest then is just unwilling to re-visit older stuff to continue to play with you or help you catch back up, I do that a lot when I'm actually in the mood of grouping and not doing everything solo.
I think you nailed it. I've been a gamer since 1975 and went through MMOs from the beginning. I always played a healer or tank just for the reason I didn't like standing in town LFG.
Now I'm old and bitter. They've removed healers from games for the most part, and I have enough friends, so I prefer to play alone unless it's something big map event, and even then I'm not there for conversation. I'm there to hit it and quit it.