Should all new content be soloable?

[Deleted]

What ho,

Controversial? Maybe.

But wouldn't it be rather cool if there was a solo-mode available for every new piece of instanced content? Scenarios, dungeons, and even raids.

Rather than out-levelling content before approaching it for mounts, transmog, and so on - we'd take it by storm when its new and challenging.

Rewards would obviously have to be tweaked to ensure that endgame loot primarily came from group-based raiding, but this would still be an excellent way to challenge players and keep us busy while not raiding. Loot could come in the form of reputation bonuses, Valor, as well as the ordinary mounts and transmog items you'd otherwise expect to find in there. But the primary reward would be the sensation of having beaten the content better than last time, and better than everybody else. It'd be the true challenge mode, and for once the solo player would be the hero of his or her own adventure.

I stress: group-based raiding would still be the main allure for challenging endgame content and big rewards. But it doesn't really make sense that only a select few raiders with 16 hours / week on their hands should be able to find the wicked lore-items and mounts from the final boss. Or that only those inclined to join a serious raiding guild should be able to claim the glory from beating the content at the highest difficulty-level, while solo-oriented players are stuck with not having any sense of achievement from beating it through LFR.

While I do want to beat the content with a raid, and have that be my primary endgame - I definitely wouldn't mind first beating it all alone and claim the story and achievement as mine. I think we all see ourselves as the hero of the plot, but strangely enough we're hardly ever alone when it really matters. I'd also love to be able to measure my progress across the expansion by the difficulty-increases I can make while soloing content. It would make the gear-treadmill less pointless, and put more agency into my hands.

[Serj Tankian]

I think that could be fun.

But I'd personally rather see it able to scale form being solo or having up to 25.

[Wolfheart9]

No. Not even a little.

[clevin]

No.

If you want to play solo all the time an MMO is the wrong genre. Find a great single player game and have at it. it's a waste of dev time and effort for everything to be soloable. You already can solo to max level via questing and PVP - that's plenty.

Honestly, when I see posts like this I always wonder if people realize that there are multiple genres of games for a reason. It's like books, music, movies or any other kind of entertainment - if I want to see a blockbuster superhero movie, that's what I want to see, not a romantic comedy or a serious art film. To bring this back to games, Dragon Age was a great single player fantasy RP game. No one was crying for it to also be a PVP focused MMO and if someone wanted that the right response is to tell them to find a PVP focused MMO.

[Ghostile]

No, it should not be MADE soloable.
People should get off their asses and find ways to solo, as some have done.

[Socialhealer]

no, and it's not going to happen anyway.

[Solidsteel]

Terrible idea.

[Deleted]

It's an MMO, certain content should require you to play with other people.

[DeleteThisUser]

I like both concepts, but not one over the other.

[Uoyredrum]

MMORPG

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game


tl;dr: no

[Jordaen]

This idea would be awful for people who are mainly healers or tanks who aren't as skilled with damage specs. I killed Garrosh on heroic as a healer (at about 8 hours a week...half the time you suggested btw) but I seriously doubt I'd be able to play either feral or balance well enough to kill him as a damage dealer. It would be difficult to balance - people who are good at soloing (warlocks, hunters, death knights) would have it WAY easier than someone who has a harder time soloing things (shadow priest, mages, rogues).

This is an MMO RPG. One of those "M"s stand for "multiplayer." I get it, you want to have more difficult solo content but this is not the game to add that in. The point of raiding new content is to get a group together that is good enough to do it on the difficulty of your choice. You can't have your cake and eat it too - you either join a "hardcore" guild to kill heroic content and deal with having to set aside a greater amount of time, or choose to join a more social guild or even roll solo and forever stay in flex or normals.

[Kyux]

Yes

I think it's a good idea. I can see it happening two ways: you scale up to the strength of 25 people; or the raid scales down to you. I don't think it should award loot and maybe not mounts or valor, but rep and transmog items like the Dark Shaman set? Sure. The reason why no valor and mounts is because I think there are too many mounts and also solo-ability can largely depend on class.

I think it'd be a nice idea much like the Challenge Modes, but maybe less ranking focussed, more like pet-battles. That kind of emphasis. Just for fun, check it out and what not.

[Deleted]

^ Fair points above. I stress that this is a topic for discussion, not a design-concept that I'm presenting. I realise there are serious arguments to be made for both sides.

Indeed, it is an MMORPG. But nothing in the term MMORPG strictly suggests 'cooperation' in my view. I know it's a big aspect of the genre (and one I thoroughly enjoy), but is it quintessential? The 'Massively multiplayer', to me, refers to a vast world populated by players that all live and co-exist in the same realm. An MMORPG doesn't have to contain raids or any sort of group-based endgame content, in theory.

[ACES]

Yes. I don't want to have to play with other people if I don't want to. I don't care if it's an MMO, for me that can just mean many people inhabiting the same game world, not necessarily many people in a group working together. Allowing everything to be soloable would let players do more things on their time and how they want.

[Serj Tankian]

Yes

I think it's a good idea. I can see it happening two ways: you scale up to the strength of 25 people; or the raid scales down to you. I don't think it should award loot and maybe not mounts or valor, but rep and transmog items like the Dark Shaman set? Sure. The reason why no valor and mounts is because I think there are too many mounts and also solo-ability can largely depend on class.

I think it'd be a nice idea much like the Challenge Modes, but maybe less ranking focussed, more like pet-battles. That kind of emphasis. Just for fun, check it out and what not.

That's my exact thought. I love solo'ing content and it could just be something fun to do, maybe not even have it share the same lockout. Just do it for bragging rights, maybe make some achievements for doing it solo or something.

[Korgard]

It's silly how ppl play "it's MMO" card whenever there is some single player content duscussion on the table. Open your eyes, there is A LOT ways to interact with other players in MMO apart from "slaying dragons togheter".
Me, personaly, would love to see more single player content that would be both challanging and rewarding.

[ACES]

This isn't an RPG, this is an MMORPG.

No

Someone said before; MMO doesn't necessarily imply cooperative group content, it just implies multiple people occupying the same game world. I bet you really love your guild.

[Deleted]

http://media.giphy.com/media/12XMGIWtrHBl5e/giphy.gif

Infracted. Removed the [IMG] coding.

[Zoaric]

No, no it really shouldn't...

[Pizzakid2093]

Well OP, I generally agree and enjoy your well thought out and researched posts, but this one is just downright stupid. This is an MMO. There are so many things wrong with this idea it hurts. There is already a problem with group content and this would only make that worse. The mounts and lore items are reserved for that group content, it is the main motivation to some of us. They are putting so much work into having people play together again with the new normal/heroic raid tiers in WoD and this defeats the whole point. If you want those rewards, play the content they were designed to reward. So tired of the entitled vocal minority of WoW at this point. It's an rpg, you work for your rewards. And more than that it is massively multiplayer one. Play with other people.