Being A Single Player In An MMO World

I got into video games through single player RPGs. I loved the vast amount of content and rich stories games like Breath of Fire IV and Final Fantasy IX offered – Baldur’s Gate II remains one of my favorite games of all-time. But good RPGs are hard to come by nowadays, and have been for a while. When the trend towards FPS games and all things multiplayer began to occur, I started gravitating towards MMOs to get my RPG fix.

For almost a decade now I’ve played most MMOs on my own. It may sound counterintuitive but many MMOs are quite solo-able. You can get to the endgame of the vast majority of MMOs by rarely partying with anyone, and doing so effectively often gives the game an entirely new dynamic that most people never get to experience.

That isn’t to say the single player route is right for all MMO players. There are positive and negative aspects to doing so.

The Pros of Playing as a Single Player

1. It’s more of a challenge.

If you play games for a challenge then playing through an MMO by yourself is definitely for you. Discovering ways to reach items and kill bosses that are generally accepted to require a party is incredibly satisfying. I’ve snuck into elite mob dungeons to grab quest items, solo’d the “unsoloable” as a badass battle cleric and used other players as unwitting bait more times than I can count.

Sure, it can be frustrating at times, but achieving something solo that normally requires a group – especially when you do it at level – is often enough of a reward in-and-of itself. You don’t need an achievement to pop-up because you have a memorable experience that’ll last a lifetime.

2. You do what you want, when you want.

Have you ever been stuck going along with guild/group members and wasting your precious gaming time doing something you don’t really want to do? It’s an inevitability for most MMO players, but an issue single players don’t ever have to face. When you log in, you get to do whatever you want without possibly offending someone else or making them upset because you “wouldn’t play with them” or go along with the guild’s directive.

3. All the loot is yours.

You’re going through a dungeon or taking out some quest mobs and all of a sudden an uber rare valuable item drops. As a single player you get to jump for joy and scream, “I’M RICH, BITCH!”

However, if the drop happens while you’re in a group or guild, a discussion usually has to be made about how to “best use” the drop. Maybe someone in the guild needs the item or the group wants to split the proceeds from selling it. All of a sudden that uber rare loot drop isn’t as exciting as it would be if it were all yours.

It may sound selfish, but anyone who’s ever gotten a rare drop while in a guild and silently tried to sell or otherwise profit from it without their guild finding out knows what I’m talking about – and the situation is more common than most people may think.

The Cons

I’m not going to tell you playing on your own is a picnic. It’s not for everyone, and here’s why:

1. It’s harder and takes longer to progress.

Playing with friends or other people often results in more efficient progression for everyone involved. Dungeons that require group members usually give out more experience and are easier to run with guild members than a bunch of random strangers.

Games with crafting-heavy economies, like Albion Online, often base their progression system around the assumption that players are going to work together instead of trying to craft everything themselves. Trying to be independent in MMOs like Albion takes substantially more time and a vast amount of extra grinding that people with guild members don’t have to go through because they can focus on individual interests and rely on the rest of their friends/guild members to pick up the slack.

2. Teamwork is eventually forced upon you.

Nearly every MMO eventually requires teamwork, whether it’s because the main storyline requires you to go through a dungeon that requires a party to even enter or because the overall difficulty of everything around you is too high to complete on your own. You can’t play 99% of MMOs expecting to thoroughly experience the game from beginning to end, including the end game, as a pure single player.

Nor should MMOs cater to a single player audience. By definition they aren’t meant to be single player. Eventually you have to cobble together a party with random strangers to proceed, which I can tell you from experience is hardly the best way to play.

3. The grind is real.

This goes along with con #1, but it deserves its own spot on this list because it can’t be understated. Playing most MMOs as a single player means you’re probably going to be grinding a lot more than the average player. This can be quite rewarding but it also requires a level of patience most players don’t have. If you can’t put on music and just go, then playing MMOs on your own is probably not for you.

MMOs are Becoming More Single Player Friendly

I’m not the only person who plays MMOs as a single player. In fact, I’m willing to bet most people jump into MMOs on their own at first. A lot of developers are taking note of this and creating systems to allow players to more easily play through their game with as little player interaction as possible.

FFXIV is a perfect example. The game has a Party Finder feature that makes it so you can run most group dungeons without ever even speaking to another player. All you have to do is queue up for a dungeon and the system puts together a balanced group for you, in which you just have to play your designated role. I ran through multiple dungeons in FFXIV without anyone in the party saying a word to one another.

Group/party finding systems are becoming more common than ever before, allowing players to participate in the multiplayer portions of MMOs without actually having to interact with each other.

A lot of MMOs are also including portions of their games that are primarily meant to be enjoyed as single player experiences, like Albion Online’s inclusion of single player dungeons or The Elder Scrolls Online’s single player focused main storyline.

Yes, I’ve Done the Guild Thing

I’ve been in guilds with membership numbers ranging from single digits to thousands spread across a variety of servers. I’ve even been a guild/linkshell/clan leader multiple times over, managing dozens of active members at a time.

I’m not saying playing as a single player is best. Actually, if I had to make a case for one way or another, I’d say playing with friends or guild members at your side is the better way to go through MMOs. But it’s important to note that MMOs aren’t strictly for multiplayer gamers.

MMOs can fulfill a nice RPG and exploration itch that many single player games fail to successfully scratch. Games like Minecraft and Rust are nice and all but often feel void or empty when played alone. There’s something to be said about walking into a major town and seeing it filled with players, or playing the economy and creating something other players purchase.

They can also be incredibly enjoyable when played as a single player. Gamers shouldn’t be afraid to hop in with the full intention of never interacting directly with another human being. Many MMOs offer hundreds of hours of single player fun, a lot of which is 100% free.

If nothing else, I hope this article can be used by MMO fans to explain just how viable the genre is for single player gamers. I’ve been doing it for over a decade and don’t intend to stop.

What’s your opinion on playing as a single player in MMOs? I’d love to hear what other players think in the comments below.

Until next time, I’ll see you on the servers.