It’s no secret that I enjoy playing games by myself. Perhaps it’s due to the lack of friends in general or that I enjoy the peace and quiet or even the fact that sometimes I just don’t have the time or schedule to dedicate to coordinating times to play with others. Regardless most games I play are by myself but one thing people ask me a lot with confusion is why I like to play MMO’s by myself.
Recently I started playing City of Heroes and am enjoying the experience a lot. Something that I find enjoying greatly is the ability to take on pretty much all the missions in the game by myself and still feel adequately challenged which is very difficult to do in an MMO environment. Most people would be confused by the concept of doing this as MMO’s are inherently a multiplayer-focused game, it’s in the name of the genre and everything! It’s like playing a multiplayer shooter but only playing offline bot matches. To that I would say that a big difference is that if a game allows for a good lengthed PvE environment then I treat it as if it is another open-world RPG with just the ability to run into other players at times. By doing this I can enjoy many MMO experiences without having to also deal with the coordination of others or communication when I just want to relax and not talk to anyone.
I’m aware that a lot of this is due to being very introverted and not wanting to communicate very often with others and that’s on me but I feel as though many should give the experience a try themselves to see just how much it changes their gameplay and how they may view the title as almost any game can be fun if you’re playing with friends, even terrible ones. So if a game can stand on it’s own two legs without the need to communicate or interact with others then it must be a good game in it’s own rights too. It’s why I enjoy playing Warframe too as I can play solo without ever needing to interact with another player aside from trading which I can accept as a fine balance. It’s why I believe many MMO’s and other similar games should include offline-modes or at least the ability to play the game without online features as it can allow people like me to enjoy the experience they want, it can allow those who don’t have great internet connections to still enjoy the game and when the servers inevitably shut down the game can still be played even if some features are missing.
What do you all think about this? Do you enjoy playing MMO’s by yourself and if so why? Discuss this with others in the comments! That’s all for now, and as always. It’s not just a game, It’s a Life.