To Solo or Not to Solo...

by: Kiara

MMO. Massively Multiplayer Online. Means lots of people play. So with all these other people running around with whom you could play, why are you running around all by yourself?

There are a few possible reasons for this.

Time constraints. Some people solo because they don't have the time to get into a group and play for long periods of time. They log in and do some stuff for an hour or so and get their fun in when and where they can.

Other people solo simply for the reason that they do not like playing with other people. Other people don't play well or they're irritating. Which of course begs the question of why on earth you'd be playing a massively multiplayer online game. But, hey. To each their own. Right?

Then there are people who play only to play with friends. When their friends aren't online, they play alone. For some folks it isn't about meeting new people, but a way to stay in touch with good friends who live far enough away that they cannot hang out daily. The internet is great for that. And what better way to hang out and have fun with friends than to play a game where you get to run around and beat stuff up?

All of these are perfectly reasonable and valid reasons to solo.

Let's face it though. MMOs are by their very nature meant to be played in groups. So what do you do when you've got a game that seems to eliminate the need for grouping?

On its face, Gods and Heroes seems to have done away with the necessity to group. The minion system on its surface appears to make grouping completely obsolete. Why mess around with finding a group of people in your level range who want to do the same things in game you do? Why not just gather up your minions and run around doing your own thing?

There's the rub. At some point, people are going to need to group. There's raid content. There's high end stuff that you shouldn't be able to defeat with just your group of minions. You'll need, in theory, to group up with others and their minions to take out some of the big, nasties.

So then the problem becomes... How will that work out? The whole having to learn how to group at higher levels after soloing for goodness knows how long. It isn't something that comes naturally or anything. People have to learn how their character's abilities fit in with others. It's a skill learned through trial and error.

How will people adjust to life in a group after life as a soloer? There are different techniques involved in both forms of game play. Which is not to say that people will necessarily solo all the way to the high end game for certain. It's just a possibility. But definitely something which bears a little bit of thought.

Either way, it will certainly be interesting to see just how the minion system affects grouping gameplay within Gods and Heroes. I'm certainly looking forward to finding out how it works.