New DDO players and wishing to play solo...

[Braegan]

I see alot of these threads lately and really this is an MMO, meant to be played with others. I understand having a solo build while things are slow but this is an interactive game I must admit I do not understand those wishing to play an MMO and play it solo. Two reasons:

1) You miss out on lots of great advice. About 10-15% of those that play DDO frequent the boards. Not grouping with the player base weakens you in knowledge.

2) Fun. Grouping with folks is/can be fun. Skipping this and you are skipping most of the DDO experience.

[Borror0]

I understand having a solo build while things are slow but this is an interactive game I must admit I do not understand those wishing to play an MMO and play it solo.
I think that those who post for soloable builds truly want to be able to solo when they want, not that they plan to play alone.

In all honesty, it is one thing that I enjoy from the typical "WoW clones". Whenever I feel like playing only a few minutes, I can log on an alt and have fun. There is no engagement nor downtime while waiting for the group to form. I can start playing now and can log off when I want to. That's a huge advantage. So much non-solo friendly games typically have a much lower subscription base for that reason.

Of course, the downside to that kind of design is that it is much harder to find groups which is what is most fun about MMOs.

But being able to solo stuff is extremely valuable. I can easily see why new players are looking out for solo friendly builds.

[Gelandor]

3) You can get Voodoo hexes cast on you in RL.

[Braegan]

I think that those who post for soloable builds truly want to be able to solo when they want, not that they plan to play alone.

In all honesty, it is one thing that I enjoy from the typical "WoW clones". Whenever I feel like playing only a few minutes, I can log on an alt and have fun. There is no engagement nor downtime while waiting for the group to form. I can start playing now and can log off when I want to. That's a huge advantage. So much non-solo friendly games typically have a much lower subscription base for that reason.

Of course, the downside to that kind of design is that it is much harder to find groups which is what is most fun about MMOs.

But being able to solo stuff is extremely valuable. I can easily see why new players are looking out for solo friendly builds.


I hear ya bro, and I too like that there are many ways to play this game, but with all the fun I (personally) have had in groups it's just hard imaging playing this game solo. It's just seems like fun with yourself if you catch my drift :p

[Braegan]

3) You can get Voodoo hexes cast on you in RL.

And in DDO! Beware there are harbingers of doom right now on Thelanis! :D :p

[Borror0]

It's just seems like fun with yourself if you catch my drift :p
Well, sometimes finding someone to play with is so hard that you're just better of playing with yourself that night.

Does not mean that playing with others ain't more fun. ;)

[Braegan]

Well, sometimes finding someone to play with is so hard that you're just better of playing with yourself that night.

Does not mean that playing with others ain't more fun. ;)

Said in a way most can't argue with :)

I just want to encourage the youths to play with others...man that is just a bad statement!

[Aenoanx]

I think there is a real lack of of groupage that's created by twinking (high levels running their alts) doesn't give much opportunity or this is hows kinda been like been like last few days on khyber or just guild groups (which really do no good for trial members and all the restrictions)

[BattleCircle]

I think there is a real lack of of groupage that's created by twinking (high levels running their alts) doesn't give much opportunity or this is hows kinda been like been like last few days on khyber or just guild groups (which really do no good for trial members and all the restrictions)

I kinda sorta disagree.

I have run a character without twinking, no cash, no gear, just what I found in chests and drops. I had no trouble getting in groups, or keeping up with the twinked toons.

Granted I have two years worth of experience and kind of know what to expect, but keeping up with the jones' is not really necessary for a new player.

Oh and that was exclusively pugging. It is interesting to say the least, but by no means is it discouraging

[Borror0]

but keeping up with the jones' is not really necessary for a new player.
It is, for many players. Many players don't like being dragged in quests.

[Zigana]

It really doesn't make a lot of sense to me either. D&D was always, and now DDO is, for me, just as much about the social aspect as it is the game itself. Actually, some nights it's way more about the social aspect than anything else! That's why I will never get tired of running with PUG's. I love meeting new people and making new friends, learning different styles of play and other ways to do things. I'm sure that would be severely limited if I tried to solo most of the game.

[Lewcipher]

I can see some aspects of it, but I enjoy the social aspect more than anything. It's so much more fun to have a group of friends/strangers that are fun.

[MrCow]

I do not understand those wishing to play an MMO and play it solo.

I can't speak for everyone who hops onto online games but with this statement in the New Player Forums I'll say this. When I started DDO I primarily did quests solo to start out because I wanted to get a firm grasp of the mechanics first. I wanted to feel comfortable playing the game before I started interacting with others while playing the game, otherwise my ineptitude around other people would have frustrated me and given me a negative association towards DDO.

I know that the idea of being anti-social in a social environment is conflicting, but there are people who prefer to learn to do something in a solitary fashion before using it in a public fashion. Having a character capable of soloing aids this mindset very well.

Also, somewhere else in these forums someone (I don't recall who, sorry) did mention that online games have large changes to them throughout their life cycle. A game that will change over time instead of the standard static single-player games has an interesting allure to a fair amount of people.

[Borror0]

Also, somewhere else in these forums someone (I don't recall who, sorry) did mention that online games have large changes to them throughout their life cycle. A game that will change over time instead of the standard static single-player games has an interesting allure to a fair amount of people.
While it was not on these forums, I have seen quite a few reports of players playing MMOs solo simply because the world constantly evolves and expands.

I have seen such posts in about every solo-friendly MMO that I have read.

[Nodoze]

I think it is important to have both options and frankly like having a third... I highly recommend trying to get into a 'static party' if you can and dedicate a character to it... Having the same group meet weekly (or more often) It is a ton of fun and like the Pen & Paper game except that you have the temptation to log in and go solo on non-party days... You can always create alternate characters for non-party days and you could have a build that is "solo-only" or "party-friendly that can go solo"...

[~RockHaven]

I solo....that's it.

I don't have enough time to group...wish I did but it doesn't work out for me.
If I get more than an hour to play I'm very lucky......not fair to a group to bug out in the middle of a quest so I just solo....I'm only lvl 4 at the moment and eventualy I'm gonna run into trouble on quests...That's actualy starting now because I am not familiar with the quests after the starting area. I started doing Cerulian Hils last night...that's going well for now...but that will run out soon I think and then what? Once in awhile I get a few hours on a Sunday....I'll try and group then but the rest f the time I get 20-30 min in the morning and the same in the evening and I'm done. I have an 8-5 job an active workout schedule and a band. Wifes in the band with me..that's a big help whew!...Sure would like to get some questing idea from you guys...soloable thingys :-)
Thanks!

[DakFrost]

I'm in the same boat RockHaven. I don't usually get enough free time to actually form a group and run a few quests. When I played a few years ago it seemed a lot easier to form low level groups (most often they would fill up quickly) to run the old Goodblades quests, but now I'm having trouble even finding one other person to join me. I just started playing again a couple days ago and have had to solo everything so far. I really miss having a group to help show me around new areas.

[Vincire]

What's not to understand? I personally much prefer playing solo in MMO style games to the point that I avoid group-centric content 90% of the time. I simply can't stand the hassle and the overhead (burned out on WoW's raiding). MMO's offer a much more dynamic and 'living' world experience than even the best sand-box SP rpg and have nearly infinite replay value. Besides, interaction with other players goes far beyond being forced into group combat situations. There's simple chat, trade & economics, crafting, and more.

MMO's do not equal "Forced to group to have fun". Fun is a subjective term anyway. I personally find soloing and enjoying the game at my own pace to be fun. Grouping isn't much fun for me at all.

[dopey69]

I see alot of these threads lately and really this is an MMO, meant to be played with others. I understand having a solo build while things are slow but this is an interactive game I must admit I do not understand those wishing to play an MMO and play it solo. Two reasons:

1) You miss out on lots of great advice. About 10-15% of those that play DDO frequent the boards. Not grouping with the player base weakens you in knowledge.

2) Fun. Grouping with folks is/can be fun. Skipping this and you are skipping most of the DDO experience.

you will go blind if you play with your self !

[Drfirewater79]

I see alot of these threads lately and really this is an MMO, meant to be played with others. I understand having a solo build while things are slow but this is an interactive game I must admit I do not understand those wishing to play an MMO and play it solo. Two reasons:

1) You miss out on lots of great advice. About 10-15% of those that play DDO frequent the boards. Not grouping with the player base weakens you in knowledge.

2) Fun. Grouping with folks is/can be fun. Skipping this and you are skipping most of the DDO experience.

when we are competing with bigger games whos only advantage is the ability to solo its good that new people know its possible in ddo as well

MMO = MASS MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ... so really i agree with you the whole point is getting together with a mass of people to experience and online adventure.

but its good to know that you can do what ever you want in an mmo its your online world ... in my opinion solo play killed SWG and was starting to take over COH/V when i left to play ddo.

DDO isnt built on a solo platform even if you have a great high hp Sorc still likely to be killed when soloing. That is why turbine store is gonna offer rez cakes for non raid missions when DDO EU launches later this summer. so when you cant find a team or just feel like being anti social you can buy a cleric contract (and in EU you can have more then one if ya want) and go blow some more turbine points on auto shrines and rez cakes and solo relitively any mission that your build can handle.

I am in a huge guild all great players and usually so long as there is three of us in the party regardless of class we are gonna get through the mission with success. But i still grab my monk and solo my way through coalesence that no one wants to run or vale runs for loot which are dirt easy on a monk especially a high ac monk. and maybe a new player ... comming from a game like wow where they solo'd alot they just want to know what the best builds are for soloing in case they dont mesh well with the player base on there chosen server.

as much as i think all wow players should quit all in the same day causing the largest mass suicide of a mmo ever (a man can have dreams cant he) ... I also would love for anyone playing any mmo to know they can come to DDO and have a similar experience both solo and group play.

its also why i think we should beable to reset slayer/rare quests once we have completed them in full ... who cares if people grind away in adventure areas to level ... that is what people do in pnp too when they want to level fast they talk there dm into letting them go on an adventure filled with mobs so they can build large exp over a small time.

so in final

solo if ya want to
party if ya want to
its all available in DDO

[Vincire]

MMO = MASS MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ... so really i agree with you the whole point is getting together with a mass of people to experience and online adventure.


Massively Mulitplayer is a term used to describe the technology; an online environment that supports a large number of concurrent connections to a singular persistant world...more or less. It doesn't necessarily mean that the content is so hard that you're forced into group situations just to play and experience the game. That's (and in my opinion a very flawed) design philosophy adapted by certain developers. Being social is not the same as being in groups all the time.

[Tomas]

I agree with Vincire. Playing an MMO has nothing to do with being in groups to complete content. It simply means that players are online together where they can talk and have some social interactions. Even Battlenet for Diablo II is a form of MMO because of the chat features. Yet most people played Diablo II solo even on Battlenet.

We can talk about the Utopian idealism of a perfect MMO society when that becomes possible to achieve. Until then, we have to deal with reality. I was one of the founders of DDO and have the preorder perks. But I recently came back to take a look after nearly three years on not playing.

I stopped playing DDO because it ceased to be fun when it became too hard to progress in the game given my play style. I simply do not want to play in groups except for with people I know. When my son or one of my friends decides to play then we can get some stuff done. Otherwise, I am not interested. I am not here to make new friends. I am here to play a game.

Sitting in LFG waiting to get a group holds no interest for me. Dealing with the immaturity or differing play styles of other players holds no attraction either. I like to take my time and enjoy a game when I am experiencing content for the first time. I want to be immersed in the challenge. I DO NOT want somebody to zerg me through. That isn't playing a game, it is farming for loot, xp, or favor.

The plain facts are VERY clear. The two most successful MMOs on are able to be solo leveled. That is both WoW and Lord of the Rings Online. Since LOTRO is a Turbine game you would think they learned from that experience, but NOOOOOO!

So far Turbine has managed to get another fifteen bucks from me while I took a look at the current state of DDO. I do not have a beta key so I cannot speak for Unlimited. But from what I have seen so far the same roadblocks are there as always have been. The game is not able to be solo played except for a small chunk of content that you can experience in a couple weekends. That makes it fun as a temporary diversion, but I need to see a REAL commitment to solo play if I am going to pay any money for this game in the future.

For the folks that insist that DDO is about group play well fine, you can have your dying game and welcome to it. Server merges and going free-to-play really ought to be sending some messages to you folks. Unlimited will not revive the player base if it is going to require group play to progress. Either Turbine needs to get this right or they are just scamming for a few extra buck before the who thing is scrapped. Because without a viable solo path to max level you have NOTHING here for the big majority of players.

[DakFrost]

I was once, not very long ago, one of the new players that prefered going solo because I hated chasing a Zerger through a quest and not ever really learning anything or being shouted at for getting lost and dieing. ( I guess taking a squishy Sorc as my main was probably not the smartest choice for a new player either, but I like fire!)

The key is to find a good group to quest with, (I found Remember Honor -Shameless plug) that will take the time to actually teach you some things and help you get to know the game a little better.

That basically makes all the differance in the world because this game really is about the people you quest with.

[Motherball420]

Massively Mulitplayer is a term used to describe the technology; an online environment that supports a large number of concurrent connections to a singular persistant world...more or less. It doesn't necessarily mean that the content is so hard that you're forced into group situations just to play and experience the game. That's (and in my opinion a very flawed) design philosophy adapted by certain developers. Being social is not the same as being in groups all the time.

I keep getting this image of playing the PnP by yourself. Oh what fun!

[Motherball420]

I agree with Vincire. Playing an MMO has nothing to do with being in groups to complete content. It simply means that players are online together where they can talk and have some social interactions. Even Battlenet for Diablo II is a form of MMO because of the chat features. Yet most people played Diablo II solo even on Battlenet.

We can talk about the Utopian idealism of a perfect MMO society when that becomes possible to achieve. Until then, we have to deal with reality. I was one of the founders of DDO and have the preorder perks. But I recently came back to take a look after nearly three years on not playing.

I stopped playing DDO because it ceased to be fun when it became too hard to progress in the game given my play style. I simply do not want to play in groups except for with people I know. When my son or one of my friends decides to play then we can get some stuff done. Otherwise, I am not interested. I am not here to make new friends. I am here to play a game.

Sitting in LFG waiting to get a group holds no interest for me. Dealing with the immaturity or differing play styles of other players holds no attraction either. I like to take my time and enjoy a game when I am experiencing content for the first time. I want to be immersed in the challenge. I DO NOT want somebody to zerg me through. That isn't playing a game, it is farming for loot, xp, or favor.

The plain facts are VERY clear. The two most successful MMOs on are able to be solo leveled. That is both WoW and Lord of the Rings Online. Since LOTRO is a Turbine game you would think they learned from that experience, but NOOOOOO!

So far Turbine has managed to get another fifteen bucks from me while I took a look at the current state of DDO. I do not have a beta key so I cannot speak for Unlimited. But from what I have seen so far the same roadblocks are there as always have been. The game is not able to be solo played except for a small chunk of content that you can experience in a couple weekends. That makes it fun as a temporary diversion, but I need to see a REAL commitment to solo play if I am going to pay any money for this game in the future.

For the folks that insist that DDO is about group play well fine, you can have your dying game and welcome to it. Server merges and going free-to-play really ought to be sending some messages to you folks. Unlimited will not revive the player base if it is going to require group play to progress. Either Turbine needs to get this right or they are just scamming for a few extra buck before the who thing is scrapped. Because without a viable solo path to max level you have NOTHING here for the big majority of players.

You are right, many multiplayer games have become solo-friendly, which irritates me to no end and is the biggest reason I have decided to try DDO.

[Bunker]

I say if you come on the DDO train, and want to sit alone in the dining car, go for it. The OP is correct though. You will miss out on the whole MMORPG true experience if you play alone. You will miss out on the good and the bad experiences grouping with like minded and irritating ppl. Both of which are quite entertaining and isn't that what we are playing a Video Game for in the first place. Entertainment.

"Come along and share the good times while we can."

[coldname]

I keep getting this image of playing the PnP by yourself. Oh what fun!

I guess you don't remember all those modules tailored for DM +1. In fact the first adventure in the red box set was a solo adventure. And yes it was fun.

[jfunk]

For starters, how is it possible that there people around that have yet to discover the logical flaw in using "fun" as an argument for what OTHER people do? What you find fun is completely irrelevant to what other people choose to do for fun. I know lots of people that do a lot of things for fun that I have no interest in doing at all.

That being said, I do like grouping with people in games when I can. However, I have a job, a house, a family, and other responsibilities. I cannot dedicate large amounts of time to gaming in solid blocks. Even when I think I'm going to, stuff comes up to interrupt me all the time.

Being able to solo content is important for me being able to play an MMO, because I can't guarantee I'll be able to stay online for more than 15 minutes about 90% of the times I log in. If I had to group to accomplish anything every time I logged in to a game, I simply couldn't play it at all.

I'm not against there being content that is too difficult to solo and requires a group, as long as that content isn't a roadblock to further advancement so I can get around to doing it when I have the chance. If I get put into a position where I HAVE to do a group quest to continue, I'll probably get bored and quit, because it could be weeks or more before I get the opportunity to log in KNOWING I'll be able to stay on for an hour or more straight. This issue becomes even more exacerbated if getting a group together is difficult and time consuming in itself.

For example, this is why I didn't last long in LOTRO. Really liked the game a lot, but once I got to the mid levels (upper 30's) I wound up with this big backlog of group quests that I couldn't complete and I couldn't advance the story without them because all of the "main story" quests required a group. They were also just difficult enough that you actually had to play your character properly to succeed even with a full group, which led to most regular players simply refusing to PUG at all (because one moron hunter would wipe the whole party). That meant when I DID try to go get some of those group quests done, I often couldn't after wasting an hour of my time just sitting around TRYING to get a group together. Nothing's more frustrating than finally getting the chance to sit down on a weekend and say "I'm going to play for 2 hours right now and do some of these group quests" only to waste what was supposed to be my gaming time standing around begging people to help in chat and getting nowhere.

Also, I'm new to DDO and so far I haven't found anybody looking to group for quests I was doing that was actually interested in "playing" the quest like I am as I'm going through the content for the first time. My objective here isn't to get to level 16 as quickly as humanly possible, it's to actually enjoy the content of the game. Every person who I've grouped with thus far has just been "running" the content to finish it and I wound up having to do the quest over again so I could actually read the dialog and see the story. I want to play the game, not get dragged through it.

[Jandau]

People like to have the option for Solo play available since it is quite frustrating to try to find a questing partner and run some basic Hard quests and all you hear are crickets and tumbleweed rolling. And if you do get a group, you're liable to get swept away into something you didn't want to do, likely a quest on elite that the group can't handle and the whole thing ends up being a waste of time.

Grouping is great when it works, but I've found (to my suprise) that finding people is remarkably difficult, despite the fact that the game is built around instanced dungeons...

[Tarrell]

I see alot of these threads lately and really this is an MMO, meant to be played with others. I understand having a solo build while things are slow but this is an interactive game I must admit I do not understand those wishing to play an MMO and play it solo. Two reasons:

1) You miss out on lots of great advice. About 10-15% of those that play DDO frequent the boards. Not grouping with the player base weakens you in knowledge.

2) Fun. Grouping with folks is/can be fun. Skipping this and you are skipping most of the DDO experience.

I'll stick to the real world for friends thanks very much. Gaming is for gaming. You know, playing the game? Not fooling myself into the corporate hype to keep you buying their game "YOU MUST GROUP"

Oh and the fact that they added solo versions of things proves everybody wrong who claims "It's meant to be played with others."

You play your way, let others play their way. If you can't, see a psychologist.

[Trevent]

I see alot of these threads lately and really this is an MMO, meant to be played with others. I understand having a solo build while things are slow but this is an interactive game I must admit I do not understand those wishing to play an MMO and play it solo. Two reasons:

1) You miss out on lots of great advice. About 10-15% of those that play DDO frequent the boards. Not grouping with the player base weakens you in knowledge.

2) Fun. Grouping with folks is/can be fun. Skipping this and you are skipping most of the DDO experience.

In the last fifteen years or so that I have played MMORPG's I learned a very valuable lesson above all others...

Rule number 1:

If you want to live then DO NOT group.

99% of the time, the reason that I die is due to the fact that I brake this rule and sure enough someone inevitably gets me and the group killed (and no I am not the cause.)

That is the reason for the most part I play MMORPG's solo. When I find a competent group that can work together well then I am all for grouping.

But until I no longer see healers that try to be tanks or tanks that run off at the first sign of battle, or thieves that don't know how to back stab, or leaders that don't know how to lead, and ultimately when people finally mature and stop grabbing the treasure before everyone else and learns how to GASP share. Until I see that happen (which I never will) I will stay away from grouping for the most part.

So why do I play an MMORPG solo?

Basic single player game, total time about 40-60 hours. Cost $40 to $70.

MMORPG's 800+ hours. Cost $15.00 a month.

Do the math.

[MrCow]

or thieves that don't know how to back stab

Thank god that sneak attack (the backstab equivalent in other MMOs) is passive in DDO unlike being an activated ability in other online games. :)

[whysper]

For starters, how is it possible that there people around that have yet to discover the logical flaw in using "fun" as an argument for what OTHER people do? What you find fun is completely irrelevant to what other people choose to do for fun. I know lots of people that do a lot of things for fun that I have no interest in doing at all.

I do not think anyone is really arguing that you should be having fun one way or another; it is a fear that your differing fun is going to cause my differing fun to suffer. In a very real way, an imbalance in developer resources toward solo playstyle can be away from multiplayer support and improvements, and increase of solo play at the expense of group play can impact a large portion of the playerbase.

Furthermore, solo-oriented play is offered not only by the vast majority of MMOGs, but also regular offline games. Real grouping is very, very limited. Is it, then, fair to further encroach on that territory, and further reduce the opportunities for enjoyment for those who prefer to group? In other words, I appreciate that your fun is different from mine...but you already have a wealth of options, whereas I do not.

So, in the spirit of of your question, how is it possible that people coming into DDO wanting to solo have yet to discover that their demands of fun could be destructive to the same of the large majority of grouping-minded people here? It seems very inconsiderate.

[Falco_Easts]

I play solo mainly now due to having a baby aorund. I won't put groups through
"AFK, baby crying".
"OK Back"
"Hang on, AFK again"
Would rather have a bit of fun running solo doing what I can.

[XCodes]

In the last fifteen years or so that I have played MMORPG's I learned a very valuable lesson above all others...

Rule number 1:

If you want to live then DO NOT group.

99% of the time, the reason that I die is due to the fact that I brake this rule and sure enough someone inevitably gets me and the group killed (and no I am not the cause.)

That is the reason for the most part I play MMORPG's solo. When I find a competent group that can work together well then I am all for grouping.

But until I no longer see healers that try to be tanks or tanks that run off at the first sign of battle, or thieves that don't know how to back stab, or leaders that don't know how to lead, and ultimately when people finally mature and stop grabbing the treasure before everyone else and learns how to GASP share. Until I see that happen (which I never will) I will stay away from grouping for the most part.

So why do I play an MMORPG solo?

Basic single player game, total time about 40-60 hours. Cost $40 to $70.

MMORPG's 800+ hours. Cost $15.00 a month.

Do the math.
This is so true, and was actually one of the reasons I liked WoW. WoW really punished people for pulling these kind of shenanigans, so by the time you got to the level 40 dungeons then even people in PUGs knew how to manage aggro for the most part (there was always that **** Hunter that made their pet growl at everything, though...).

That said, as a new player in DDO I do see a lot of people simply not playing by group rules. It's really bad when 1-2 characters run off while the others are resting at a shrine, since you know they're going to run back to the group with 5-10 mobs in tow and everyone will be fighting at half health with no buffs.

People also need to know just how group un-friendly Warforged are. Wizards may have Repair spells, but I highly doubt Sorcerers ever will, and nobody takes Cannith marks. That said, I guess they still expect people to burn their spell points casting CLW for 3 points of healing a shot on them.

[Brennie]

I just wanted to say...


Well, sometimes finding someone to play with is so hard that you're just better of playing with yourself that night.

Does not mean that playing with others ain't more fun. ;)

... *snicker*... :D

I love quotes taken completely out of context ^_^

Okay, now back to the discussion at hand...

[Zirconia]

I strongly prefer playing with groups in a MMO, but

(1) Sometimes I only have half an hour to play, and my end time is unpredictable. I'm willing to impact myself by logging out of a quest, but I feel its unfair to a group to bail part way through.
(2) My usual play time is a fairly dead time, 7-9 AM EST. Not as many choices for groups at that time.

Thus I'm looking for a build that *can* solo as well as will work on a team. I'm thinking cleric.

[Braegan]

Holy Necro! I forgot I even made this thread, lol! Seriously wasn't trying to insult/diss anyones play style - just seems like you're missing most the fun by solo play. And I understand times when you would just run a few quests yourself for whatever reason, at the time I made this thread because it seemed like alot of folks were wanting to make solo builds and whatnot and skip grouping in anyway, shape or form. But hey it's your 15 bucks, rock it however you want it.

[Tammuz]

I suppose it really comes down to the proverbial 'whatever floats your boat', what floats some people wont do for others. I for one really dont like soloing, and dont care for the solo quests that do exist. I've only played a handfull of MMO's, but I havent enjoyed soloing in any of them and only did so while waiting for a PUG or a friend to sign in. If a group is availiable, I'll join it. I also tend to play squishier mage types which dont solo well, which suits me just fine because I'm not interested insoloing. Thats the reason why I bothered to play MMO's in the first place, because I was looking for group play with a lot of different people.

[Midnightmoonwolf]

I started out on a beach, went in to a cave, and faught of some monsters..Now I am stuck in water where I had to go and get a KEY...How do I get out????

[DoctorWhofan]

I can't speak for everyone who hops onto online games but with this statement in the New Player Forums I'll say this. When I started DDO I primarily did quests solo to start out because I wanted to get a firm grasp of the mechanics first. I wanted to feel comfortable playing the game before I started interacting with others while playing the game, otherwise my ineptitude around other people would have frustrated me and given me a negative association towards DDO.

I know that the idea of being anti-social in a social environment is conflicting, but there are people who prefer to learn to do something in a solitary fashion before using it in a public fashion. Having a character capable of soloing aids this mindset very well.

Also, somewhere else in these forums someone (I don't recall who, sorry) did mention that online games have large changes to them throughout their life cycle. A game that will change over time instead of the standard static single-player games has an interesting allure to a fair amount of people.

I said something of the like

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=205889

[spitfirek]

The main reasons I like to solo are:

1) Most of the ppl I have grouped with so far actually make things go SLOWER and cause me much more trouble as I have to deal with their stupidity and lack of gear/planning which causes them to die too fast and/or do absolutely nothing to contribute to the group.

2) As a f2p account, I want to farm favor as fast as possible. This means NOT having to wait for groups to form and being able to be awesome in groups that I do join to make things move along faster.

3) A lot of times when you group you don't have time to actually enjoy the stories of the quests because others want to rush through them... I get the same way, but when I am doing a quest for the first time or so I do like to actually read the conversations and stuff.

4) Lastly, I like to feel like my character is the most powerful thing in the world... soloing quests does that for me.

I do like to group for elite quests and long chains or quests that are too high lvl for me to solo, but other than that they usually seem to just slow my gameplay down which is not fun for me.

[TasteTester]

I started out on a beach, went in to a cave, and faught of some monsters..Now I am stuck in water where I had to go and get a KEY...How do I get out????

You're in the starter tutorial instance. Swim over to the ladder in the tank that you got the key in and "walk" to climb the ladder. Then take the key and use it on the locked door. Celimas and the gang will explain from there.

...kind of a random place for this question, but welcome to DDO :-)

[LrdSlvrhnd]

I have a very methodical playing method. I'm cautious. I sneak around. I target one enemy, then back up as far as I can and range them. I sneak up, target the next, and do the same. I EXPLORE. This... is simply how I play. This... is never gonna happen in a group. NEVER. Unless I get extremely lucky.

IMHO, zerging isn't playing. Rushing through and past everybody simply to get to the end, while all those monsters are running up behind you as you beat up on the bad guy and then click Finish is not playing. I like to enjoy my environment. I like to have my "Oh **** I'm gonna die!" moments and then... not die. I like to hear the ice spiders skittering around Misery's Peak as I nervously look around for them and hope I don't fall off a ledge... OK, maybe not so much that. But I enjoy the EXPERIENCE of it lol.

This is why I solo. And for those who say I'm not getting the point of the "multiplayer" part... sure I am. In chat. I've had lots of enjoyment discussing things in chat, in between killing stuff. Don't need to be in a group for that. I get far more sense of accomplishment soloing a tough level than I would trying to rush through it in a group. So unless I can find people willing to take their TIME, to enjoy the level as I do? I'm gonna keep right on soloing. And enjoying it.

[Borror0]

I love quotes taken completely out of context ^_^
Its not out of context if that was exactly what I was alluding to.