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by Elizabeth Wachowski 
May 7th 2007 at 1:43PM
My little blood elf tankadin has just hit 50, and I've got to admit that I'm having more fun with WoW than I have in a long time. I'm exploring a new class and new roles, looking forward to quest rewards and leveled skills, and not dealing with raid schedules, raid invites, instanced rep grinding and all the other hassles of endgame. My 70 troll rogue sits alone in Shattrath City, probably wondering if I've ditched her for a younger, skinnier toon. And while I'm looking forward to walking my pally through the Dark Portal, part of me dreads getting her to 70.
Maybe I'm just not very good at this whole MMO concept, but I wish there were more things to do at max level in solo PVE. Questing is my second favorite part of the game, after professions, and it sucks that after 70 soloable levels, nearly all character progression is in groups. Yeah, yeah, I know, this is an MMO and I do like instances and raids, but I also like being able to log on for half an hour and accomplish something while kind of paying attention instead of having to devote a set amount of time and brainpower to an instance. Especially since on my pally, I can alt-tab and read forums or write between Holy Shields.
I'm looking forward to patch 2.1 because there looks like there will be a lot more reputation quests that can be done solo to get nice rewards. Maybe then I'll dust off my old rogue and start working on some new quests -- or at least have something to look forward to on my paladin.
Do you like soloing or not? What other options would you like to see for character advancement at 70?
Image courtesy of bbc.co.uk.
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Quests
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
folas May 7th 2007 4:12PM
@18
You don't happen to live in a log cabin in the middle of no where do you?
Paul May 7th 2007 4:26PM
I totally agree with you. I just don't have the time or desire to commit up to 4 hours! Love the game but hate requirements. I just want to play a little when time allows and group with friends if I have the extra time. More solo content Bliz, please.
UncleChuckle May 7th 2007 5:03PM
This is one reason I quit the game. Blizz just don't give a crap about solo players. Yes, it's an MMO, but it seems different people have different perceptions of what that means.
Some think it means "I must run around with 39 other people". Whereas myself, I see it as merely being a world populated by real people. Just like the real world (I realise some of you won't be familiar with it:)) you go about your business, and interact with other people etc...
The other thing that made me quit is the attitude that other people think they have the right to tell YOU how to play your character. That REALLY pissed me off. "No, you need to be doing this". Well this is an RPG. I'll play my class however I damn well like, thank you. Plus you invariably get one incompetent jackass if you go group with random strangers who is utterly clueless, but feels compelled to tell EVERYONE else what they're doing wrong.
I still remember a Deadmines run I did around level 19 or so. We grouped up with some strangers (my wife plays as well) and ran through. All the time this character (I will name and shame. Karissa on Kirin Tor) was complaining about how everyone was playing, being a truly endless chore. So we fight all the way through, kill Van Cleef... "Er... Why can't we get the quest item..." Karissa, the genius, had set the instance for a RAID at some point, meaning we couldn't complete the quest. Then she quit without so much as an apology.
That right there sums up why I hate groups.
For what it's worth, I was in the beta of LOTRO, and it showed how great WOW is in comparison.
Quoi May 7th 2007 5:34PM
They do give a crap, you can solo the whole game up till 70, and what are they going to do? Release new quests every week for you?
Plus, you can't base your hatred of grouping on one level 19 instance run where someone accidentally set it to raid.
And if someone sucks terribly, then I believe it's ok to tell them what they're doing wrong. For instance, it isn't ok for the tank to have a near full rage bar and only have 2 sunders on the target. If you're a mage that's meleeing everything, you may need a healthy dose of L2P. Don't get upset because you may need to fulfill a role in a group.
max.korovesis May 7th 2007 6:16PM
The soloing and questing are the boring parts of WoW for me. It's the social aspect that I like, and the challenge of raid instances. Maybe I'm just weird, but I would rather shoot a basketball around for 30 minutes than do a solo quest.
Frogs May 7th 2007 9:12PM
Some more solo content would be nice (they're adding some in 2.1, I believe...)
It's annoying to log on and find there's no one running the instances I want to do, no guild raids scheduled, no friends online, and nothing to do but farm motes, which is hardly exciting.
Aurendar May 7th 2007 9:19PM
What I find annoying right now for my character is that when I open my quest log, about 95% of them say (Group), (Raid) or (Dungeon)... uuuggghh... Time to group up.
Unregistered May 7th 2007 10:22PM
i create a whole bunch of alts so that whenever i hear some LF1M i can then just switch to which alt is of the appropriate level and class and join in the party! and if the party cannot take out the boss at the end, i bring in my level 69 warrior or priest depending on situation.
once you are in the outlands, it's pretty easy to join a group for instance, so that's no big deal.
try getting a party for SFK or BFD (alliance). they are virtually non existent now.
i pity the newbies who were attracted to BC. azeroth is either gank land or a place where even undead dont bother to turn up
foodle May 8th 2007 2:54PM
I almost exclusively solo due to the sporadic nature of the time I can commit to WoW. I've skipped most of the instance content at the level it was intended for, but go back later and solo instances when I'm a high enough level. Obviously this isn't an option for the high-level instances, but I'll deal with that once I hit 70 (main at 66 now). Also, I like the challenge of trying to solo an instance with a class that has litte/no CC ability (pally).
Juliah May 12th 2007 12:05AM
I generally prefer to solo whenever possible, although Monday night is grouping night with my guild, and I do that ... it's kind of frustrating sometimes, though, because I feel like my husband and I are often teaching the others (I don't mean to sound arrogant). I can't abide most pickup groups.