Instances are for groups, silly solo player
by Mike Schramm 
Jun 16th 2008 at 2:30PM
We've mentioned solo instances before -- just like more midlevel content, Heroic versions of old world instances, and player housing, they seem to be the kind of content that players seem really interested in, but Blizzard isn't all that excited about implementing. And now they've come up again on the forums, and once again Bornakk has given a few good reasons why it just wouldn't work for the game Blizzard is making.Tremallyn of Shu'halo is actually asking for scalable instances -- he says that if 10 and 25man groups are going to be playing the same instances in Northrend, why not scale those down to five man and even solo versions, so all players can get a chance to see the content? Bornakk replies that the rest of the game already is solo content, and that they want the endgame dungeons to be more exclusive. We've heard other good reasons before -- to tune an instance for every class, with all of their varied strengths and weaknesses, would require Blizzard to water down the instance so much that it wouldn't be nearly as dynamic an experience as you can have with a minimum 10 people in the party.
Not that it's impossible -- other games (I know of one in particular) have scalable instances, some of which are even tuned for one player. But at the same time, we play MMO games for a reason -- if you really just wanted to play a great single player experience, there are a wealth of single player games to choose from out there. And if you really want to do an instance solo, you could always just wait 10 levels and do it solo anyway.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Instances, Raiding, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jack Spicer Jun 16th 2008 3:06PM
I like how Bornakk ignored the issue of balancing "solo instances" for every class, and just focused on the points that are really hard to argue with, namely:
1) This is an MMORPG.
2) There is already a ton of solo content.
jrb Jun 17th 2008 1:39PM
saying it's a MMORPG is such a cop out, when you consider that most of the people playing this game are annoying, social retards.
on the other hand, wow is great because there is the flexibility to play how you like. if you want to solo world content, you can. if you want to instance with PUGs, or organised groups you can. If you want to pvp in battlegrounds, world content, or arenas, you can. And in each case the content is world class for each aspect. Part of me doesn't really care that instances aren't soloable, but it sure would be nice to be able to do that stuff, even if it meant AI picking up the other 4, or 9 slots.
for example, as a 63 hunter on my way to 70, that's played various alts over the course of the game since launch, i still want to do the olde world content, like the onyxia attunement quest chain, which still isn't soloable, and very few other players actually want to do any more.
Mullinator Jun 16th 2008 3:18PM
I understand not implementing scalable instances.
However the lack of solo content is very frustrating. Sure there is a large quantity of solo content but around 80 to 90% of it is years old. The rest is either what was added for leveling from 60 to 70 or was a few new quests in old world zones that adds maybe 3 hours at the most of new content.
Meanwhile there is constantly an incredible amount of new group content added all the time. People argue there is a lot of solo content but the problem is that I have been through it countless times already. Meanwhile there are always new large scale group content added.
Sure this is an MMORPG but then why is the majority of leveling in this game focused around solo content? The question then becomes why does this content suddenly cease to exist upon reaching max level? It was fun while it lasted but I have been through it all many times.
Jack Spicer Jun 16th 2008 3:25PM
"It was fun while it lasted but I have been through it all many times."
This pretty much sums up the high end group content as well. The difference is that you're doing it with other people which helps keep it from being 100% redundant.
jbodar Jun 16th 2008 3:59PM
You answered your own question: this is an MMO. You are supposed to group up, and leveling solo is for convenience. You are encouraged to group up while leveling through instances and occasional group quest, to help you understand how your class works in a group. This isn't a solo game and eventually you will have to work with others unless you are just doing dailies. Sure you can pass the time solo, but to get anywhere, you need other people. You're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
Baluki Jun 16th 2008 8:05PM
They don't add new solo content? What about Ogri'la, Skettis, Netherwing Ledge, Sunwell Isle, Cooking and Fishing Dailies...
There are dozens of daily quests available now. Yes, eventually you run through it all, but the same can be said of raids, except that it takes longer. And if they DID add new solo dungeons? You'd run through them a few times, and say "well, now THAT'S gotten old".
Get a game that isn't an MMO if you're looking for more solo content. I recommend checking out the stuff that's available on Steam.
Mullinator Jun 17th 2008 10:09AM
@jbodar
My question was not answered at all. Solo leveling is what almost everyone does. My problem is that upon reaching max level there is no longer such a thing as solo character progression. That is not the case leveling up. I have every opportunity to level up solo if I want and I see real character progression from it. There is no good reason why a similar thing should not exist at max level. It was there before so why should it disappear?
@Baluki
I wouldn't call daily and rep grinds solo content. What I and many others want is some form of solo progression. Give us quests that can only be soloed but are difficult enough that completing them rewards something that matches that difficulty. Reward something that lets others see what you have accomplished. Who hasn't done Ogri'la or Skettis? Those aren't accomplishments at all. Give us truly difficult quest lines that will reward something we can show off to others. Custom titles or the occasional epic. Things like that.
Also note I didn't say I wanted solo dungeons. And I also play Steam games all the time but there is no such thing as an RPG that is as well developed as WoW. Nor is there a solo WoW RPG. Finally there is no solo RPG where I can show off my accomplishments to real people.
Finally I want solo content but that doesn't mean I want it so I don't have to do group content. If all I wanted was solo content then I would have quit years ago. I want this to go alongside the group content I already do. Something to do in the game to get away from people occasionally but still do something that feels worthwhile. Those are not what daily quests accomplish at all.
bearded Jun 16th 2008 3:36PM
lets make everyone do the same instances/'raids' over and over again, and just add more ppl, monsters, and hp to them. That will solve everything....
except boredom from doing the same crap 400x
Warcloud Jun 16th 2008 3:38PM
Yuck. It's already hard enough to get a group to run a 5-man. Imagine if one could 'solo' the instances too. Forget about it.
It won't kill you to play with other people, guys..
p3ngu11 Jun 16th 2008 3:46PM
it's a multiplayer game
if you want to solo, deal with there being a limited amount of things you can do. if you can't find 4, 9, or 24 other people to do things with amongst the 6+ million playing, you should probably find a different game...
Mullinator Jun 16th 2008 3:55PM
A lot of people want to feel like a hero in a game with a lot of other people. Hard to feel that way when every accomplishment you can make requires you to be just one in a group of people.
jbodar Jun 16th 2008 4:01PM
@ Mullinator
So you want to feel like a hero in a game with other people, but you don't want to have to interact with said people, or have them there when you actually accomplish something? You're playing the wrong game.
Ugkul Jun 16th 2008 6:46PM
@mullinator:
Yes, so everybody else would have accomplished the same goal in the solo instance and gotten [Little pinprick of death]. What's there to "boast" about then?
Mullinator Jun 17th 2008 10:15AM
@jbodar
You have very much misunderstood me. Solo content in an MMORPG would allow for solo heroes to show their solo accomplishments to real people. That is what I ask for. You can't do that outside of an MMORPG.
@Ugkul
What is there to boast about in raids then? If you are decked out in Sunwell gear you can boast about being in a guild that accomplished that. It is very very difficult to get to that level. Solo content could just as easily be made as difficult if it was ever desired. Of course it would have to be class specific to balance properly but it would still work very well.
Hell just make the solo content only accessible or beatable using group content gear. Many people would still be quite happy with that. I know I would be. I do group content all the time but that doesn't mean I don't also want something to do on my own.
jbodar Jun 17th 2008 4:05PM
@Mullinator
jbodar Jun 17th 2008 4:18PM
@Mullinator
Ugh, stupid "Add Your Comments" Button.
What you are describing is nothing different from XBox Live achievements system, really.
http://www.xbox.com/en-CA/Games/tips/achievements.htm
Also, how would they be real accomplishments, since you could in theory just bring a group, the same as you can for any "solo" content? Which is fine, since the main design goal behind an MMO is to have people work together.
Orestes Jun 16th 2008 3:55PM
The only solo "instances" I'd like to see are along the lines of trials to test how well you know aspects of your class.
Frederik Jun 16th 2008 4:55PM
I agree. Things like the hunter- and priest epic quests were good examples of such content. Doing the hunter epic quest is definitely my best WoW experience.
Zarzuur Jun 16th 2008 3:57PM
Instancing a dungeon is just a technical solution to synchronize multiple players together. Otherwise groups of people will camp out, fight, and lag over respawns.
Soloing doesn't need anyone else to synchronize with, and holding up 1 player for a respawn is not as costly or annoying as holding up 5/10/25/40.
However I think there should be more obvious epic quest routes for soloing at end-level beyond just dailies. But it can easily be put into the world with scripted events and good loot, it doesn't need an instance.
Shelby Jun 16th 2008 3:57PM
I thought of this scalable instance idea quite a while ago when a group of us wanted to run an instance but we had 7 people and they all wanted to go. I don't think scaling down to 1-player instances would be a good idea, it's not a single-player game, but to be able to scale from like 3-7 people and then 8-12 people or something like that, would be really handy.