Blizzards New MMO

[ghost]

Cause your dealing with a persistent world and that would only works flawlessly in a instanced dungeon. WAR PQ are actually areas in the game that can be done organically, meaning that players in the area are instantly apart of the party. The problem is there is the number of players in any given PQ designated area can fluctuate wildly. Which means the math and instances (how many people in the area at any given second/minute) checking behind scaling the difficulty of the zones isn't always easy and not always accurate. And when its not accurate either the players exploit the area, or complain about the difficulty.

Malakili again the solo'er vs group argument. Back in the day guys like you argued that players who play solo shouldn't be able to advance at any pace faster then a snail. WoW came along and made a game where you can go from 1-max solo. How many subs does WoW have again?

They could work out scalability with PQs very easily.  Just have the mobs scale difficulty depending on how many are present in the area.  Regardless, I was talking about instanced dungeons and I like solo content.

[Inactiviste]

Ultimately, I see this as a crap argument to be honest.  If 2 people have a gym membership, and 1 person goes every day, and the other goes twice a week, they will both get something out of it, but one person is going to get a lot more out of it than the other, yet they both pay the same fee for the membership.  Should the twice a weeker complain to the gym staff that he isn't in as good shape as the every dayer?

You could make an argument that equal time put in should = similar rewards, and that solo players don't get that.  However, that seems like an awful stretch in an online multiplayer game to complain about having to actually, you know, play multiplayer.   If the genre doesn't suit your style, play other games.   Thats fine and there is noting wrong with that.

The other argument you could make would be something like : I played Wow for a long time, mostly as a casual-core. I played a lot, but never raided much. I had alts, rerolls, whatever you want. I was pretty hardcore when leveling, spending lots of time in dungeons, even with inapropriate group settings (and basically learning a dungeon is way harder than farming a 80 zomg heroicz in full purplez). I tried raiding, and sorta held my own, except I pretty fast became tired with the logistics and guild politic.

But as soon as I dinged 60, 70, 80... I stopped playing after a few weeks. Sometimes because I was lonely, sometimes because my group of friends was disrupted because some of them wanted to raid, etc.

I cancelled once again two months ago, and i'm pretty sure I'm done with Wow, except if they overhaul the whole endgame threadmill.

I would be pretty happy to pay Blizzard 15 bucks a month, except a few weeks after my warrior became 80, I lost interest in the game. I farmed dailies to get a decent starting stuff, went to a few heroics, looked at the drop rates, and saw

I had a few friends playing on my server, and that was nice, but we never were quite enough do to full guild runs. So we had to sit our ass in town, LFG. And PUG. Like if we were three friends, couldn't the game let us do something ? Nah, you have to be 5. Well it would be the same if by chance we happen to be 6...

I may not fit the mold, but I think there are LOTS of players like me. Who will happily pay for a MMO that let's them play and progress without forcing on us a playstyle that we don't enjoy, or for which we don't have time.

Ouch, was that a rant ?  

[Malakili]

Malakili again the solo'er vs group argument. Back in the day guys like you argued that players who play solo shouldn't be able to advance at any pace faster then a snail. WoW came along and made a game where you can go from 1-max solo. How many subs does WoW have again?

If you are going to invoke WoW for its subscription base than I can just come back and say "In WoW solo players will never have the loot of group players.  How many subs does WoW have again?"

I think both of those are stupid arguments though.

[Malakili]

I had a few friends playing on my server, and that was nice, but we never were quite enough do to full guild runs. So we had to sit our ass in town, LFG. And PUG. Like if we were three friends, couldn't the game let us do something ? Nah, you have to be 5. Well it would be the same if by chance we happen to be 6...

I may not fit the mold, but I think there are LOTS of players like me. Who will happily pay for a MMO that let's them play and progress without forcing on us a playstyle that we don't enjoy, or for which we don't have time.

I can see the merit of this argument, especially in vanilla and BC, where pugging could be truly disastrous.  However, I've been pugging regularly in Wrath and I can count on one hand how many groups I had that were really really terrible.  The content is easily enough that most people can complete it, even with strangers.  They've made it easy to find groups too.  The LFG interface is greatly improved.   4/10 classes can tank and 4/10 classes can heal, each of which are entirely viable now.  With dual specs  hybrid classes can fill more than one role pretty much at the drop of a hat, which means you don't need to be very picky with who you get.  I mean, it just seems to me that Blizzard has gone out of their way to make the content as accessible as possible, and I actually commend them for that.

There isn't a huge fundamental difference between 3 and 5 players really so they could probably make some 3 man dungeons, but its really really trivial to find 2 more people if you have a group of 3, at least in my experience. 

[DLRiley]

Malakili again the solo'er vs group argument. Back in the day guys like you argued that players who play solo shouldn't be able to advance at any pace faster then a snail. WoW came along and made a game where you can go from 1-max solo. How many subs does WoW have again?

If you are going to invoke WoW for its subscription base than I can just come back and say "In WoW solo players will never have the loot of group players.  How many subs does WoW have again?"

I think both of those are stupid arguments though.

Did I suddenly travel back in time to 2001? I'm not surprised I have to explain my point, but hey we aren't all made with an understanding of where the money is. The only innovation WoW made was betting on the solo player. That's it. That alone netted them their current playerbase. So by understanding the lesson from that example it tells me that the next game that bets on the solo player is going to make substantial more money then the game that didn't.

[Merusk]

The gym membership is the worst analogy I see thrown around in these discussions.  It's entertainment, not self-improvement.  If you pay more you should get more, if you pay the same you get the same, just like all other forms of entertainment out there.   Or are we going to say that investing all those hours raiding in video games actually enhances a person and their life?

[Inactiviste]

I must admit I left before 3.1, and had made a 2 month break just after the expansion too and had changed server, so I was somewhat out of the loop. Still, what if I don't want to PUG... Sometimes it's fun to play with new people, sometimes it's a chore. I guess when leveling, you can just group with someone to down an elite, or try to clean a few quests faster. You don't have a comitment to spend an evening with them. If the guy you're killing giant wasps with is an asshole, you just leave the group. I guess I'd like the endgame to offer something like this. Something like War PQ maybe, if I get the concept.

I'm not trying to bash Wow, I love this game (well mostly the feelings I got discovering Azeroth, learning to heal then to tank...), and Blizzard made efforts to make the game easier on the player. I can salute that. But they still didn't get the endgame well for players like me. Maybe it's a question of content. Even with lots of money they can't compete with all the other games out there, offering new shinies... After a point the only meaninful content is the people you play with. I mean after two weeks of admitedly intense (from my perspective) grinding, I had bought almost the best stuff I could get with crafting (I missed a trinket i think). I didn't have much time to raid, so was I going to farm heroics and hope for lucky drops and badges ? Yep, I hit the cancel button after a shitty Strat, telling myself "I'm not going through that again", and went on to finish The Witcher.

I love dikus, i don't even mind tank / heal / DPS but then it doesn't work without the regular ding and shiny loot.

What I'd like to see is new ways to allow people to play together. The way Wow does it is too rigid : you have to be 5, 10 or 25.

I'm perfectly fine with people wanting to fit in the mold.

Me ? I can't be arsed anymore, and well I guess the first MMO to allow for more flexibility than Wow is going to succeed (on a relative scale). Maybe what I'm looking for is Diablo 3 indeed.

[Ingmar]

This topic always seems to end up with the 'should every game try to serve every market segment?' argument. I'm not sure it is possible for a game to be all things to all people.

[Simond]

It's going to be a Free Realms clone, complete with microtransactions.
And I'm being totally serious here.

[Ingmar]

Me ? I can't be arsed anymore, and well I guess the first MMO to allow for more flexibility than Wow is going to succeed (on a relative scale). Maybe what I'm looking for is Diablo 3 indeed.

It is going to take more than just that. City of Heroes, for example, has been more flexible than WoW all along.

[Mattemeo]

Me ? I can't be arsed anymore, and well I guess the first MMO to allow for more flexibility than Wow is going to succeed (on a relative scale). Maybe what I'm looking for is Diablo 3 indeed.

It is going to take more than just that. City of Heroes, for example, has been more flexible than WoW all along.

I think it's more than fair to speculate that if City of Heroes was more along the lines of GENERIC FANTASY than HOPELESSLY NICHE it would actually be a serious ankle-biting contender in the MMO big leagues. As a system it's brilliant and versatile, it just doesn't have the manpower Blizzard throws at WoW to maintain long lasting depth unless you're really into Superheroes (hell, it's kept me entertained for nearly 5 years).

As it is, it's entirely self-sustaining and while Paragon Studios will never be swimming in money, they'll consistently turn a profit for years - I highly doubt the upcoming Champions Online and DCU will poach and retain enough of the CoX playerbase to put them out of business, for example.

My ultimate MMO would be a combination of WoW's depth, storyline and questing with the speed and versatility of CoX's engine and their unbeatable character customisation (I'd say something about the superior stability of WoW except that went to shit after 3.1).

But I'd like a fair crack at any loot, regardless of my ability to solo or raid. There needs to be viable alternatives to attaining things besides endless raiding. A new game would do very, very well to intelligently address this, perhaps in similar ways to City of's current Merit system.

[Nebu]

But I'd like a fair crack at any loot, regardless of my ability to solo or raid. There needs to be viable alternatives to attaining things besides endless raiding. A new game would do very, very well to intelligently address this, perhaps in similar ways to City of's current Merit system.

This.  In a pve game, there's no reason that everyone shouldn't have a shot at good gear.  My having good gear has no effect on the next person, so why the hell not make it at least attainable through different pathways?

[Ingmar]

But I'd like a fair crack at any loot, regardless of my ability to solo or raid. There needs to be viable alternatives to attaining things besides endless raiding. A new game would do very, very well to intelligently address this, perhaps in similar ways to City of's current Merit system.

This.  In a pve game, there's no reason that everyone shouldn't have a shot at good gear.  My having good gear has no effect on the next person, so why the hell not make it at least attainable through different pathways?

The stock answer is, they don't want people to ignore the group content. That has always rung a little hollow to me.

In a purely PVE game, of course, you only ever need gear as good as is required to do the content you're doing, if that makes sense, so the flip side of your statement is why do you need the gear necessary to do the group content if you're doing the solo version, or whatever. Presumably for many (most?) players, it is some kind of epeen comparison thing, and they want to look as awesome as Timmy the Raider when standing around in town. I don't know; it is an interesting problem to try to solve, particularly because so much of the issue is tied up in player psychology.

[Malakili]

The gym membership is the worst analogy I see thrown around in these discussions.  It's entertainment, not self-improvement.  If you pay more you should get more, if you pay the same you get the same, just like all other forms of entertainment out there.   Or are we going to say that investing all those hours raiding in video games actually enhances a person and their life?

I guess the question then is are you paying for the content or are you paying for access to the server?  What about single player games that are just plain really hard and most people that play the game can't finish them?

[Inactiviste]

It is going to take more than just that. City of Heroes, for example, has been more flexible than WoW all along.

Point taken, maybe I should try it. Super Heroes aren't my thing though, even if the movies are pretty popular, guys in pantyhoses just aren't part of my culture. And the explorer in me is just not tempted.

Heck, I got carried, of course I don't have any insight of what the next big thing will be. I guess I just want a MMO that lets me progress solo, with the accessibility of Wow. A game which understands why I play online : to be able to interact with people, but without the hassles. A game designed around this idea from the get go. Wow did a lot, but then it was built where making Everquest more accessible was a new feature.

This topic always seems to end up with the 'should every game try to serve every market segment?' argument. I'm not sure it is possible for a game to be all things to all people.

Well we're talking about Blizzard's next : at the time of its release, Wow was pretty much that, at least during leveling. Heck, I'm not even asking for a game catering to both the raiders, the PVPers and people like me... I wouldn't miss the raids or PVP all that much, I don't mind them though.  

[Nebu]

I don't know; it is an interesting problem to try to solve, particularly because so much of the issue is tied up in player psychology.

Excellent point here.  It's all about the carrot and the perceived value of the carrot that will keep players jumping through hoops. 

If it takes a lot of time/coordination, this is a value-added process in the mind of the gamer.  I just never seem to connect gaming with self-esteem building.  This is likely where my confusion with current MMO philosophy stems from. 

[Mattemeo]

The stock answer is, they don't want people to ignore the group content. That has always rung a little hollow to me.

In a purely PVE game, of course, you only ever need gear as good as is required to do the content you're doing, if that makes sense, so the flip side of your statement is why do you need the gear necessary to do the group content if you're doing the solo version, or whatever. Presumably for many (most?) players, it is some kind of epeen comparison thing, and they want to look as awesome as Timmy the Raider when standing around in town. I don't know; it is an interesting problem to try to solve, particularly because so much of the issue is tied up in player psychology.

I'm not going to try and pull a fast one here and say that to many people, including myself, there isn't a bit of peacocking going on, because pretty much all players, be they casual, hardcore, strict carebears or PvPers, want the best for their characters - otherwise, why play? At all? I go out of my way to obtain things, as you've probably seen - things some people don't even like that much ( my Nether-ray) - to me, this is no different in terms of a time:money investment as people who like to 25-man Naxx 5 days a week - the difference is I get to dictate how and when I obtain what I want rather than either A: diminishing my own life outside the game or B: putting others out because I can't honestly keep up with their schedules.

I think the real trouble with the whole solo vs group loot attainment scenario is that developers need to find a sweet spot between having players feel like they're playing a game and feeling like they're logging on to a job. It's a fine divide and there will always be dissent on either side of it - god knows there's been days when I've logged on to do faction dailies and sighed - but I honestly do feel that should I want [Greatstaff of Momentous Area of Effect Panty Removal] or equivalent that currently only drops from Hugebastard Toptier McRaidonly, I could go on a different path towards getting it than raid raid raid, RNG need/greed fail.

This said, I pretty much hate all the Ulduar gear. Ugly ugly ugly. I'll raid Ulduar if it's fun, but I can't say I give much of a damn about the gear drops!

[Malakili]

Did I suddenly travel back in time to 2001? I'm not surprised I have to explain my point, but hey we aren't all made with an understanding of where the money is. The only innovation WoW made was betting on the solo player. That's it. That alone netted them their current playerbase. So by understanding the lesson from that example it tells me that the next game that bets on the solo player is going to make substantial more money then the game that didn't.

Also, you are vastly underestimating how accessible the WoW group content is compared to some of those older MMOs.

[Mrbloodworth]

Raiding is a giant time sink created to soak up time while they make new content (anything, that is, that required more than one run). Offering another path to get the rewards, would main no one would raid. To a point.

[Nebu]

Raiding is a giant time sink created to soak up time while they make new content (anything, that is, that required more than one run). Offering another path to get the rewards, would main no one would raid. To a point.

If offering an alternate path means that noone would raid, doesn't this say a lot about how players (aka customers) feel about the raiding game?

[Grimwell]

It's possible Blizz may get caught outside the Singularity with this title, as will Bioware with SWOR and anyone else with a publishing date beyond 2 years from now.  The way tech. is currently changing, there may not be much demand left for dusty old-tech PC titles.

This derail brought to you by the sheer level of awesome that implying business decisions should factor in an imminent singularity creates.

[Ingmar]

Raiding is a giant time sink created to soak up time while they make new content (anything, that is, that required more than one run). Offering another path to get the rewards, would main no one would raid. To a point.

If offering an alternate path means that noone would raid, doesn't this say a lot about how players (aka customers) feel about the raiding game?

Sooort of. The problem with raiding isn't so much the raiding itself, it is the administrative overhead - scheduling, managing loot, making sure you have the right lineup, running a vent server, etc., etc., etc. Even if the raiding itself is fun (and I think it is for the most part), that stuff will put a certain number of people off if they can avoid it by getting the gear solo.

[UnsGub]

They could work out scalability with PQs very easily.  Just have the mobs scale difficulty depending on how many are present in the area.

And have other players grief it just as easily by being present in the area and doing nothing more.

[Ingmar]

They could work out scalability with PQs very easily.  Just have the mobs scale difficulty depending on how many are present in the area.

And have other players grief it just as easily by being present in the area and doing nothing more.

There are ways around that - make people flag themselves as participants in the PQ, and aggro mobs to participants on spawn, etc. There's a ton of ways you could stop that sort of griefing.

[DLRiley]

They could work out scalability with PQs very easily.  Just have the mobs scale difficulty depending on how many are present in the area.

And have other players grief it just as easily by being present in the area and doing nothing more.

There are ways around that - make people flag themselves as participants in the PQ, and aggro mobs to participants on spawn, etc. There's a ton of ways you could stop that sort of griefing.

All of which would look good on paper and fail miserably in practice.

This topic always seems to end up with the 'should every game try to serve every market segment?' argument. I'm not sure it is possible for a game to be all things to all people.

Its not really about whether you wish to appeal to everyone. You can appeal to everyone as long as you establish what your core game is. You build a core game and have it stand alone, be it able to function on its own merit. Then add what you will from there. Its really about building a good game first before worrying about who doesn't want what.

[Mrbloodworth]

Raiding is a giant time sink created to soak up time while they make new content (anything, that is, that required more than one run). Offering another path to get the rewards, would main no one would raid. To a point.

If offering an alternate path means that noone would raid, doesn't this say a lot about how players (aka customers) feel about the raiding game?

Yep.

[Draegan]

This just turned into a hardcore vs. casual aka group vs. solo content piss fight!  WOO!  I havn't been part of one in a while.

Some people LOVE group content so they get gear to do group content.

You only like soloing.  You have finished all you can do solo.  Why not quit?  Some people are very content doing dailys, collecting pets and doing all the other little things in the game. 

If you don't like group content why do you want gear meant for group content?  You know how DIKU-MMOGs are.  You know what you were getting into.  I don't see why you're railing against it.  Blizzard's actually done a lot to uncockblock the end game for most players.  More and More people are getting teh shiny.

It's pointless complaining that you can't do Ulduar because it's raid based and you want to be able to solo it.  It's actually silly.

I quit WOW because I don't like dealing with random raid guilds and I had completed everything else I wanted to do in the game.  Simple as that.

[Mrbloodworth]

I don't consider raid content, group content.

[Inactiviste]

This just turned into a hardcore vs. casual aka group vs. solo content piss fight!  WOO!  I havn't been part of one in a while.

Draegan, You're perfectly right in a sense. There are other games for us soloers to play. Well, maybe there lacks a solo game with other people doing their stuff around the player, which is maybe what I long for.


I'm not railing against Blizzard, I'm just trying to put into words the reason I left Wow... I'm not bringing anything new to the table, I'm perfectly fine about it. But if they want me to spend time with their new MMO (which is mostly going to be a day 1 buy, if it comes out before the world ends), they better change the formula. They don't even have to get rid of the diku mechanisms, I enjoy them for the most part until the solo content ends more or less abruptly. I don't really give a damn about Ulduar. Well, if you could get into raids more or less like you enter a BG, maybe I would care about them. Anyway I respect people raiding, I don't mind about them.

But saying that Diku-MMO have to involve raiding as the endgame is like saying Diku MMO need forced grouping from level 1.

Of course content is finite, of course the way Wow and other dikus are made implies giant time sinks in the form of raids.

Well, some of us just hope someone will find a way to make these games another way. I guess while talking about a "next gen" MMO we know nothing about, that is a valid, if a little derivative topic.

[Malakili]

But saying that Diku-MMO have to involve raiding as the endgame is like saying Diku MMO need forced grouping from level 1.

Of course content is finite, of course the way Wow and other dikus are made implies giant time sinks in the form of raids.

Well, some of us just hope someone will find a way to make these games another way. I guess while talking about a "next gen" MMO we know nothing about, that is a valid, if a little derivative topic.

I mean, there is plenty to do while still giving things to do for both groups of players.   WoW HAS done a lot for solo players in the end game.  I'd be willing to bet that you could outfit your character entirely in "purples" without ever joining a group if you put your mind to it.  Not to mention the various endgame collection mini games like pets, vanity items, mounts, etc which can mostly be done solo.

I guess my problem is that having seen WoW drastically skew towards giving solo players more and more options for both getting their shiny purple gear and having goals to work towards at max level, it seems like people just wanting to do the exact same content as group players seems silly.  Maybe its just a case of people always wanting what they can't have, even when they have plenty of good stuff in front of them.

[Inactiviste]

But saying that Diku-MMO have to involve raiding as the endgame is like saying Diku MMO need forced grouping from level 1.

Of course content is finite, of course the way Wow and other dikus are made implies giant time sinks in the form of raids.

Well, some of us just hope someone will find a way to make these games another way. I guess while talking about a "next gen" MMO we know nothing about, that is a valid, if a little derivative topic.

I mean, there is plenty to do while still giving things to do for both groups of players.   WoW HAS done a lot for solo players in the end game.  I'd be willing to bet that you could outfit your character entirely in "purples" without ever joining a group if you put your mind to it.  Not to mention the various endgame collection mini games like pets, vanity items, mounts, etc which can mostly be done solo.

I guess my problem is that having seen WoW drastically skew towards giving solo players more and more options for both getting their shiny purple gear and having goals to work towards at max level, it seems like people just wanting to do the exact same content as group players seems silly.  Maybe its just a case of people always wanting what they can't have, even when they have plenty of good stuff in front of them.

I would not go as far as calling the solo endgame of Wow good. Sure, you can grind, you will always have something to do. But once you hit 80, there's not much fresh things to solo. Of course, the game has to end... But

But to be frank, it's not only a soloer's problem. It's the grind. There must be more creative ways to iterate content...

I'm not even that much a solo player, my last main was a tank 10-80. I love to group. I'd just like to do it on my own terms (with 3, 6, or 14 players, for ten minutes or three hours...). I'd like the game to adapt to my schedule. Not the other way around. It's not always possible, but it should be pretty up in the developer's concern (if they want me as a player). So yeah to public quests, easier loot (so I wouldn't be regarded as negligible by players with more playtime when they need a tank and end up with a retard in T-whatever the latest)... yeah to a design that does not totally makes older zones negligible (some sort of newgame + ?)

I admit I must sound like someone who wants everything catered to him. At least I can wish.

[Ghambit]

I could list a lot of reasons but ultimately, because we're paying the same $15 a month.

Thank you.  I shouldn't be excluded from experiencing content because I have limited playtime.  I also shouldn't be forced to group with players noone else wants to play with because of my limited gaming time.  Not that I care that much about loot, but in a pve game why does it even matter that I have access to the same drops?  It's not like it affects the play of anyone else. 

My biggest reason for wanting access to content solo is to be able to see everything the game offers as a paying customer.  I don't think that is a lot to request. 

Or as I stated in the Darkfall thread...

WAR went a long way toward solving this with PQ's.  If Blizzard can find a way to encourage grouping in a more streamlined fashion while giving me the tools to come and go at will, then I'll play nice with the other kids. 

Forced grouping punishes those players that can't devote x hours to a play session.  It also punishes those players forced to play in pugs.  I'm sick of being punished in games because I have a life but enjoy the type of playing field that an MMO offers. 

My suggestion to you Solo folk is for Blizz to design some big purple semi-invisible Tram ride that goes through all the Raid instances.  This way, you can experience all the content just like the groupers w/o investing time, patience, and social stability.  Just sit back and watch the fireworks.  Maybe put a crafting station in it and you can drop pots on the folks below.   

[Musashi]

Why do you think you should be comparatively rewarded with more collaborative players in an MMO when you are willfully avoiding collaboration?  Honest question.

I get that raiding isn't for everyone.  And I'm not asking for a delineated list of reasons you don't like it.  Just why you (and lots of other people) think itemization should be handled differently than that.

I could list a lot of reasons but ultimately, because we're paying the same $15 a month.

I realized shortly after I posted that I was gonna be sorry.

Do you pay 15$ for access to gear?  Or do you pay for a commitment to ongoing content creation?  Because if your complaint is that there isn't enough content for solo players, I might be with you.  But the argument that solo players in an MMO should have access to equal gear because they're paying customers is just silly, and you both know it.  You don't want to play an MMO.  You want to play Diablo 2 on Battle.net.

I've always thought of raiding as sort of an e-sport.  More like an e-rpg playing league.  Where you have teams (guilds), who play games (raids).  You have a team captain (Guildmater/Raid Leader).  You have your assistant coaches (Officers).  You have a League (Developer) who handles all the rules, enforcement of such, and the greater health of the League.  You have to pay the League an association fee (monthly fee).  So you pick a team, and commit to coming to games.  Of course you're free to find a team that best suits your style of play within the League.  Some teams are more competitive.  Some are more laid back.  Or you can even start your own team.  But just because you paid the fee doesn't guarantee you get to hit home runs every time at the plate.  That's crazy.  Who would even want to play in that league?  Not me.  Not you either.

[Venkman]

I had to check the timestamp on this thread to be sure. Only thing I can think is that so many people showed up new to WoW, or were early EQ1 quitters who found religion in it

Seriously. And the analogies don't change much either.

The we're-all-paying-the-same thing is a red herring. You're not paying Blizzard to get guaranteed access to every bit of code they put into the software. You're paying to access their service in which you choose how to play. If you choose to play alone, then you get content appropriate to how you chose to play. You can get the best content in the game for how you play, and that's all you need. When you choose to play a different way, you'll get new content appropriate to that new way. And when you've finished the game the way you play, time to reroll or move on.

To think otherwise is merely the emotional investment you brought all by yourself to a game that nowhere lists it as a requirement.

[Merusk]

I pay $15 for enjoyment of a game.  Nothing more, nothing less.  If your game gateways or locks me out of something because of my play style, and another opens itself up to accommodate that play style and doesn't lock me out of others, I'll go to that other game.   This was part of the reason WoW was so successful to begin with.   Fewer gateways, easier access.

The F2P games get this and allow it through game play and microtrans. I agree that one of them will be the "next big thing" but we simply haven't seen it yet.