I was wondering if it was possible to get through this game playing alone (like GW) or weather you were almost forced to join huge guilds (like WoW) just to finish the game.

I dont get as much time as I would like to play online these days, so I guess I would be more of a part time player of this game. Its because of this that I think I will have to steer away from AoC or have I misjudged what these two  games will be like? I know I will end up playing one or the other but just cant make up my mind>

Any ideas which would be better for a part-timer?

(1st post in this wonderful forum!!!)

There wont be any huge raids in this game the devs are against it totally,The largest groups will be 8 people with basic groups of 4,Is a bit hard to say if you do the whole game solo,There will be times when you will need a hand from team-mates but it wont be a must if you like you could just leave that quest,Though I think even as a casual gamer you would have time to grab a group for the quests as all classes are hybrid so you wont spend most of your time crying out"looking for a healer"or indeed "looking for a tank"

*eyebrow raised*

If you want to play alone why buy an mmo which usually come with subscription fees when you could buy a single player game or a game with coop, vs modes?

What is it about being in MMO do you think you would be missing if you weren't playing it?

To answer your question. No you aren't forced to join large groups. In fact the game is designed to provide some activities for yourself if you want to do things alone. If you like to pve then you can take the time to further develop your character through multiclassing. While levelling you are restricted to the skills of your class but at the cap you can branch out learning some of the abilities of the other classes. If you like to play the money game you don't have to worry about training a tradeskill, all you have to do is get your materials and figure out the market trends. If you like to pvp you can gain some glory in Arenas which uses a ladder system to rank people.

There are other things you can do but I would prefer on seeing some more previews to reconfirm those things will be available.

Welcome to the forum.

Originally posted by mutantmagnet

*eyebrow raised*

If you want to play alone why buy an mmo which usually come with subscription fees when you could buy a single player game or a game with coop, vs modes?

What is it about being in MMO do you think you would be missing if you weren't playing it?

1.  Just because you're playing solo doesn't mean you can't be chatting away with your friends or even strangers on broadcast at the same time.  You can play alone without actually being alone.

2.  Some people like the challenge of soloing

3.  Some people enjoy the feeling of a persistant world that only an MMO can give.  There's also regular updates and character advancement and development.  That normally doesn't come in a single player game -- at least not to the extent that MMOs allow.

4.  People who like to solo might also like the option of grouping with they have the time and desire.  Options are always good.  Requirements are usually bad.

I could go on and on, but I don't want to derail this thread.  I'm curious to hear the answer to the OP's question as well.

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Originally posted by Deathstrike2

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Originally posted by mutantmagnet

*eyebrow raised*
If you want to play alone why buy an mmo which usually come with subscription fees when you could buy a single player game or a game with coop, vs modes?
What is it about being in MMO do you think you would be missing if you weren't playing it?

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Put the eyebrow down and slowly back away. There's lots of reasons for MMO players to solo and have fun.

1. Just because you're playing solo doesn't mean you can't be chatting away with your friends or even strangers on broadcast at the same time. You can play alone without actually being alone.
2. Some people like the challenge of soloing
3. Some people enjoy the feeling of a persistant world that only an MMO can give. There's also regular updates and character advancement and development. That normally doesn't come in a single player game -- at least not to the extent that MMOs allow.
4. People who like to solo might also like the option of grouping with they have the time and desire. Options are always good. Requirements are usually bad.
I could go on and on, but I don't want to derail this thread. I'm curious to hear the answer to the OP's question as well.

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You hit the nail on the head on all points. For example, I leveled 2 toons (WoW and Lotro), solo for the most part and grouped only when I felt the need or want to do so. And I intend on doing it in this game. Character development is key for me and the top of my list as far as immediate goals go. It's what I like to do with MY monthly sub fee.

Originally posted by Deathstrike2

 

 I'm curious to hear the answer to the OP's question as well. 

Shard conquest, another end game feature, not included at release, will probably not be very meaningful for a solo player, but nothing will hold you back to join in PvP solo while shard conquest is going on.

Of course, we have to see how it all works out in the game itself, but on paper it will be a game for you and the OP.

Actually, the groupsize for PvE-content has been reduced to 4. The 8-man (raid)group has been abandoned for the PvE-part as it 'pushed' the playstyle back to the 'holy trinity' which they tried to avoid at all costs. As mentioned above, you indeed do not often have to search for a very specific class as they all are hybrids in a way.

The 8-man (raid)group has been reserved for Arena battles as much as I recall (can go in smaller groups too though, down to 1vs1 fights). This likely to have a wider scale of options for the arena-types aswell.

*edit*

To come back to the question of the OP, as much as information was released about the game, there should be plenty of soloable content in the game anyways. Reading the interactive scrolls, or the story of Kytel Greymane, I personally got the feeling that there is quite the emphasis on the personal development of the characer.

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Originally posted by Pren
Actually, the groupsize for PvE-content has been reduced to 4. The 8-man (raid)group has been abandoned for the PvE-part as it 'pushed' the playstyle back to the 'holy trinity' which they tried to avoid at all costs. As mentioned above, you indeed do not often have to search for a very specific class as they all are hybrids in a way.

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Hmm I'm curious about this because last I heard them talking about this they were debating on allowing the group size to reach 12 with appropriate content after release. To simply restrict group sizes to keep the illusion you can play with any class is epic failure.

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1. Just because you're playing solo doesn't mean you can't be chatting away with your friends or even strangers on broadcast at the same time. You can play alone without actually being alone.

2. Some people like the challenge of soloing

3. Some people enjoy the feeling of a persistant world that only an MMO can give. There's also regular updates and character advancement and development. That normally doesn't come in a single player game -- at least not to the extent that MMOs allow.

4. People who like to solo might also like the option of grouping with they have the time and desire. Options are always good. Requirements are usually bad.

I could go on and on, but I don't want to derail this thread.

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Hmm, I get it when put look that but I look at half of these reasonings as seriously flawed. 1 can be achieved just by alt tabbing to your chatroom or instant messanger. 2 just says to me you like throwing money away.

3 and 4 are more compelling reasons; but considering the trends of more singleplayer games offering online coop/vs and more patches/updates than last decade, I wonder how much 3 and 4 will become justifiable in the future.

The basic thing I get out of this post is in your eye MMOs offer a more streamlined package than single player games. When I say streamlined I mean MMOs for a higher premium take out most of the tedium of trying to get the same experience from single player games by being frugal. I'll continue to question that perception, but whatever floats your boat. Still I would prefer to hear byrney2004's take on this because (s)he is not you.

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I'm curious to hear the answer to the OP's question as well.

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Daylight and I answered the question already. He gave the broad view while I gave specifics.

Yes can you please post a link that says there wont be 8 man groups(2x4man)as I visit TCoS forum quite a bit and havent seen anything there unless I missed it,Are you maybe getting mixed up with the 12 man groups that the devs are toying with but will not be in the game at launch?

Well, it was about a year back that the actual thread was around on the forum, but when I tried to find it back a couple of months ago, I could not find it back, not by going through the sections, nor the search.

It's still pretty clear in my head that they were talking how QA-testing revealed that 4-man grouping made possible what they aimed for, while 8-man grouping still caused the to much static gameplay.  They aswell explained that in the future, they might extend the groupsize for Arena-fights to 12 in that same post.

On a sidenote, in my opinion, getting extra confirmation of more people on any given question never really hurted someone.

Indeed .

Sorry for not getting back to this sooner (v. busy)

All of that info. is very helpful, thanks!!

Its not that I only want to play alone, its more that I hate having to rely on forming large groups after you get past a certain point. If you are part of a large guild then this wouldnt be a problem. But as a part-time player I would imagine it hard to stay in a guild.

I have decided that this will be te next game I play, cant wait. Shouldnt be too long now

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Originally posted by Cablespider

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Originally posted by Deathstrike2

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Originally posted by mutantmagnet

*eyebrow raised*
If you want to play alone why buy an mmo which usually come with subscription fees when you could buy a single player game or a game with coop, vs modes?
What is it about being in MMO do you think you would be missing if you weren't playing it?

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Put the eyebrow down and slowly back away. There's lots of reasons for MMO players to solo and have fun.

1. Just because you're playing solo doesn't mean you can't be chatting away with your friends or even strangers on broadcast at the same time. You can play alone without actual