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Originally Posted by Ngruk [...] To compete in the MMO market I think it's absolutely 100% imperative that you have 1-50/60/70 solo content. The people have spoken and 7+ million of them say that having that solo gameplay to max level ability works. [...] |
I agree with this sentiment 100%. While I find I have the most fun playing with friends, sometimes they're busy or I just feel like spending some alone time online. Unfortunately, a lot of games really push the "online community" mantra to the point where they forget some folks may want to enjoy the game solo. This is especially true at the high-end (in terms of levels) of the games, where dungeon crawling and raiding becomes more prevalent, often requiring a group to beat.
WoW definately took a step in the right direction with solo levelling content. I remember back when I played my Necro in EQ I had no trouble soloing, but I was bored out of my mind just grinding experience for hours on end. With WoW, however, every class has the ability to do quests and reap rewards on their own.
Where WoW dropped the ball in terms of solo content was when players hit level 60. At the level cap all that's left to do solo is PvP (a can of worms I'd rather not open this late at night) and crafting. Even with those two avenues it's not terribly difficult to "finish" the solo game, Mr. Soloplay now with no form of progressing his character.
There are a few ways to remedy this issue, be it through Alternate Advancement systems, AI for NPCs so Solo players can enjoy the grouping experience to some degree, an increased number of world events to take part in, or something else entirely. As long as the team is properly staffed and funded, it should be feasible for developers to incorporate such a sphere of play into their game.
Edit: Peer editing myself. 