The Weekly Raid: Can You Play MMOs As A Single-Player?

My biggest gripe with MMORPGs is that I'm often left to find my own community, or strive ahead alone. Friends I play games with quickly become disinterested, preventing us from honing in on one title and sticking together. Instead, we sit in Discord playing our own games until becoming bored and reverting to a dark comedy version of Would You Rather.

MMOs are inherently community based. One of the biggest complaints about modern MMORPGs it that they promote the single-player experience too much. But as an antisocial—and lazy—player I often don't want to exert the mental energy to forge bonds with fellow players I only know as voluptuous avatars. And soon my interest in the game wanes because I'm not a solo hero.

Playing a game with people you know, even if it's not directly together, imbues a drive to keep pushing forward. Your friend gets the first legendary drop so now you're motivated to grind The Desolate Sands for your own stat boost. Your friend is three levels ahead so now you have to catch up.

Every now and then I do find a game where I happily play it as a single-player experience. But it's rare.

Can you play MMOs as a single-player? Or do you need to play with other people to get the full experience? Let us know in the comments below! 

Each week the MMOs.com crew posts a question about MMOs to you, coinciding with the weekly podcast. We hope to hear from you in the comments section below!