Antisocial WoW Players?

[topgunn]

I have a question for all of you World of Warcraft players.

When I play games, I don't like to have to interact with other players. I don't like to wait for games to start online. I don't like to be schooled by people who spend exponentially more time playing than I do. I like to play for whatever chunks of time I have and that's it. If I have 30 minutes to play, I want to spend it playing and enjoying myself. I don't want to spend 20 minutes waiting to get a group together.

With all this in mind, could I still play and enjoy World of Warcraft?

[Airforce]

I have a question for all of you World of Warcraft players.

When I play games, I don't like to have to interact with other players. I don't like to wait for games to start online. I don't like to be schooled by people who spend exponentially more time playing than I do. I like to play for whatever chunks of time I have and that's it. If I have 30 minutes to play, I want to spend it playing and enjoying myself. I don't want to spend 20 minutes waiting to get a group together.

With all this in mind, could I still play and enjoy World of Warcraft?

Yup! That's how I play. I don't have time to wait around. I play 15 minutes here and there. With rested exp (doubles your exp), I still level up decently fast.

[Sky Blue]

I have a question for all of you World of Warcraft players.

When I play games, I don't like to have to interact with other players. I don't like to wait for games to start online. I don't like to be schooled by people who spend exponentially more time playing than I do. I like to play for whatever chunks of time I have and that's it. If I have 30 minutes to play, I want to spend it playing and enjoying myself. I don't want to spend 20 minutes waiting to get a group together.

With all this in mind, could I still play and enjoy World of Warcraft?

I don't think an MMO is for you.

[Airforce]

I don't think an MMO is for you.

He'd do fine. I do the same thing due to lack of time between life, college, and the Air Force. If I can do it, anyone can. ;)

[e²Studios]

He'd do fine. I do the same thing due to lack of time between life, college, and the Air Force. If I can do it, anyone can. ;)

I agree, I've played UO since 99' and ive gone through stages of just wandering around solo and hanging with guilds. In my experience once a guild gets too large it gets too political and there is too much BS around. I tend to stick to smaller guilds or on my own.

I think you will be fine, but in WoW i believe there are certain things that the devs require you team up for, i never liked the "on rails" feeling i got from WoW, i bored quickly from it.

Ed

[topgunn]

I have mudded for for 10+ years and I have enjoyed interacting with other players and occasionally teaming up to get something accomplished. But, I enjoy being able to do my own thing as well.

I have had the game stashed away in my desk drawer for nearly a year (it was on sale for $20 at Fry's so I picked it up) so I may go ahead and give it a whirl.

[Allotriophagy]

That is pretty much how I play it now. I prefer to play with real friends, in the same room together.

Otherwise I just spend my time buying Chinese gold and twinking my BG chars.

[huck500]

I think you will be fine, but in WoW i believe there are certain things that the devs require you team up for, i never liked the "on rails" feeling i got from WoW, i bored quickly from it.

Ed

True, but the vast majority of content is easily solo-able. You can completely skip any quests that require you to team up, although it's pretty easy to find a temporary group to complete most of them.

I don't get the "on rails" comment, can you expand? Just curious.

I played almost exclusively solo up to 60 or so, and now I'm in a pretty big raiding guild... but I don't think I'll be able to deal with how seriously they seem to take everything. You'd think we were solving a world crisis or something...:rolleyes:

There's a good reason to play an MMO even if you don't like playing socially - they by nature are designed to give you a lot of freedom, and a lot of different kinds of things to do. I can't really play offline RPGs anymore, because they just seem kind of pointless and generic.

Just don't play FFXI... you have to group for everything in that game.

[killmoms]

WoW is one of the (if not THE) most solo-able MMORPGs out there, in terms of game mechanics. However, I only really enjoyed it when I was able to play with real life friends, and when I was in an end-game raiding guild for six months (before it fell apart). That's me, you might be different.

[MacRumorUser]

I have a question for all of you World of Warcraft players.

When I play games, I don't like to have to interact with other players. I don't like to wait for games to start online. I don't like to be schooled by people who spend exponentially more time playing than I do. I like to play for whatever chunks of time I have and that's it. If I have 30 minutes to play, I want to spend it playing and enjoying myself. I don't want to spend 20 minutes waiting to get a group together.

With all this in mind, could I still play and enjoy World of Warcraft?

You play the same as I do.

I found I did fine initially with WoW and enjoyed the first few hours leveling up and exploring the immediate vicinity.

HOWEVER... once your up to maybe level 15-20 + the only way to really progress in the game is to join a guild and then all that commitment crap kicks in and your in a gaming place you simply dont want to be in.

Not worth the effort imho unless your really willing to sit down to 2-4 hour gaming sessions with people constantly telling you what do, where to go, what your doing wrong....

If I want to be nannied, i'll hire a feckin nanny. I just want to enjoy the game on my own and at €15 a month I should be able to.... but thats not what wow is about and it requires way too much.. wayyyy toooo much...

[Airforce]

You play the same as I do.

I found I did fine initially with WoW and enjoyed the first few hours leveling up and exploring the immediate vicinity.

HOWEVER... once your up to maybe level 15-20 + the only way to really progress in the game is to join a guild and then all that commitment crap kicks in and your in a gaming place you simply dont want to be in.

Not worth the effort imho unless your really willing to sit down to 2-4 hour gaming sessions with people constantly telling you what do, where to go, what your doing wrong....

If I want to be nannied, i'll hire a feckin nanny. I just want to enjoy the game on my own and at €15 a month I should be able to.... but thats not what wow is about and it requires way too much.. wayyyy toooo much...

I guess I'm playing a different wow. No nagging guild and I'm well past 20.

[pcypert]

It's solo able...but for me the charm was in the groups. The solo stuff is hack at a wolf, hack at a more powerful wolf, hack at a ogre, hack at... Sometimes it's just so dang repetitive...but the dungeons and caves are cool...but even then can be annoying...you get stuck with folks who play non stop and have done it 25 times and they spoil every little bit and there's 0% failure chance...takes the fun out....

Paul

[MacRumorUser]

I guess I'm playing a different wow. No nagging guild and I'm well past 20.

Probably so. There has to be a reason why 5 million others are playing :) Just posting my experience which of course will be different to others.

Just found the game wanted tooooo much from me in order to get anything rewarding out.

The solo stuff is hack at a wolf, hack at a more powerful wolf, hack at a ogre, hack at... Sometimes it's just so dang repetitive...but the dungeons and caves are cool...but even then can be annoying...you get stuck with folks who play non stop and have done it 25 times and they spoil every little bit and there's 0% failure chance...takes the fun out....

Yep that was it for me. Solo levelling - run here kill 10 of these, run here kill 20 of these. That gets so repetative and tiresome, you look for a decent mission/quest and find you really need a guild/group to do it... And then exactly as you say "you get stuck with folks who play non stop and have done it 25 times and they spoil every little bit and there's 0% failure chance...takes the fun out...."

[Kernow]

Entirely depends on what you want out of the game. If you want to go after the very top end rewards then you will have to group together to get them, and invest a severe amount of time doing so.

However, it sounds like you play exactly the same way I do. Blizzard have put a lot of effort into making WoW accessible for the solo/casual player, and there is a vast amount of content that you can easily and enjoyably play in the way you want. You are in no way penalised for not being part of a guild or for not participating in raids etc. I am up to level 50 and I have played very much in the way you have described and enjoyed every minute of it.

I would say give it a go.

[macjonny1]

You can solo up to level 70.
Whoever said you need a guild above level 15-20 above doesn't know what they are talking about.

If you want to go in the instances, you will need a guild.

Some quests need groups, but again you can level to 70 solo, and have hours/days/years of fun without grouping.

You can make WoW into almost anything you want to do.

[epicwelshman]

I played WoW for one of those week-log trial periods. Then I got bored, realised I wanted a deep solo RPG and bought a 360 and Oblivion.

[beige matchbox]

I play on my own most of the time, i used to play with a mate but he lost interest a while ago

I've got 4 or 5 level 19s, a couple in their 30s in a level 60, all pretty much done on my own, or in impromptu groups formed while i was doing the quest. I'm also a member of a guild, which unlike a lot of them is very informal, and rarely gets anything done :rolleyes: good group of people, i don't join in on the instances as i don't find it fun.


Oblivion looks like great fun, but i like the odd group session, or helping another player on a quest every so often, i don't think i'd get the same feeling :o

[miniConvert]

You'll still have plenty of fun without the social elements. I personally recommend finding a friend to play with, someone you know IRL, as I really really enjoy that a lot more than when I used to play solo - but it's possible to ignore everyone else in the game and still enjoy it :)

[MacRumorUser]

You can solo up to level 70.
Whoever said you need a guild above level 15-20 above doesn't know what they are talking about.

You can make WoW into almost anything you want to do.

one thing springs to mind..

http://www.chrisdiclerico.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/southparkWOW.jpg

[harveypooka]

I have a question for all of you World of Warcraft players.

When I play games, I don't like to have to interact with other players. I don't like to wait for games to start online. I don't like to be schooled by people who spend exponentially more time playing than I do. I like to play for whatever chunks of time I have and that's it. If I have 30 minutes to play, I want to spend it playing and enjoying myself. I don't want to spend 20 minutes waiting to get a group together.

With all this in mind, could I still play and enjoy World of Warcraft?

You could, but you'd be missing out on a lot of the WoW experience. WoW is the community and it all depends on what server you're on. Why not just try a RPG like Oblivion, I reckon you'd get more out of that.

[topgunn]

Thanks to everyone for your insight. Seeing as how I have some time tonight and tomorrow and possibly over the weekend, I believe I will fire it up and see how it goes.

You could, but you'd be missing out on a lot of the WoW experience. WoW is the community and it all depends on what server you're on. Why not just try a RPG like Oblivion, I reckon you'd get more out of that.
I am not opposed to forming up with anyone on occasion. I just don't want to have to depend on it. I would simply like to be able to get online, play and have a good time regardless of who else is on.

What I was hoping I could avoid was sitting around in a group of prepubescent boys listening to them talk about how cool they say they are all while we wait for the giant pickle monster to repop so that the pimple faced leader can bark commands at me so that I can have a shot to obtain the uber l33t girdle that I need to protect myself from the kid with anger issues who hunts down newbs to somehow justify his existence. I had my fill of that playing MUDs and it no longer fits my concept of fun.

[harveypooka]

Thanks to everyone for your insight. Seeing as how I have some time tonight and tomorrow and possibly over the weekend, I believe I will fire it up and see how it goes.


I am not opposed to forming up with anyone on occasion. I just don't want to have to depend on it. I would simply like to be able to get online, play and have a good time regardless of who else is on.

What I was hoping I could avoid was sitting around in a group of prepubescent boys listening to them talk about how cool they say they are all while we wait for the giant pickle monster to repop so that the pimple faced leader can bark commands at me so that I can have a shot to obtain the uber l33t girdle that I need to protect myself from the kid with anger issues who hunts down newbs to somehow justify his existence. I had my fill of that playing MUDs and it no longer fits my concept of fun.

Hmm. Nature of the beast if you're on a PvP server - but not all. I quit WoW after a year of playing - it just got tiresome. Especially when you get to the stage of pure leveling, it's pointless. However I have a mate that plays most evenings and does have fun regardless if he's in a group. He has about eight characters at varying levels and he enjoys that aspect of it. It really, really depends what you're after.

[sb58]

isn't socialization the entire concept behind MMO's?

[killmoms]

What I was hoping I could avoid was sitting around in a group of prepubescent boys listening to them talk about how cool they say they are all while we wait for the giant pickle monster to repop so that the pimple faced leader can bark commands at me so that I can have a shot to obtain the uber l33t girdle that I need to protect myself from the kid with anger issues who hunts down newbs to somehow justify his existence. I had my fill of that playing MUDs and it no longer fits my concept of fun.

Well, sounds like you don't want to play on a PvP server anyway, at least. Otherwise, end-game 40-man raids can be fun, as long as you find a good guild. The definition of this can vary though. Tends to be that the guilds that "get **** done" tend to take the game pretty seriously—meaning if you don't have your ass in gear, you'll get kicked, and justifiably so. Most of the end-game encounters require that people know the fights and do what they're supposed to. That's not to say that there aren't good raid leaders who are also decent human beings, but there's a certain level of hard-assery it takes to run an effective (read: profitable) raid.

Keep in mind though, if you don't like getting ganked by enemy players in PvP and the idea of running end-game instance raids doesn't sound appealing to you either... there really isn't much for you to do in WoW. It's either PvP or PvE once you hit the level cap. Of course, BC might've changed that somewhat, I hear the level 70 raids are focused on being smaller, rather than the 40-person dungeon crawls of the 60 days (MC, BWL, AQ40, and Naxx). But I can't speak from personal experience on that one—I sold my epic 60 before BC came out and escaped the time sink that is World of Warcraft for good. ;)

[iSee]

Haha, we could form our own guild, the antisocials.

Rules:
1. You are not obligated to help other guild memeber. In fact, it's discouraged.
2. Chatting with guild members is heavily discouraged.
3. Organizing guild events is prohibited.
4. Everyone in the guild has the same rank.
5. Anyone who levels significantly ahead of everyone else will be kicked (except that no one is monitoring this, so its kinda theoretical).
6. ...

[killmoms]

:D The antisocials. Geez.

To be fair, I actually liked the social atmosphere of a guild more than I liked the practical implications. I enjoyed interacting with people of decent intelligence (especially in the first non-raiding guild I was in, which was mostly just real life friends and their clan buddies who'd all known each other for years).

[harveypooka]

isn't socialization the entire concept behind MMO's?

It's a bit part of it - players from around the world, together, doing quests, communicating. It's more sociable than sitting on Oblivion for hours I guess. But it is a game at the end of the day and Blizzard have been tried to stress that recently, especially in the tips: "Remember to play outside Azeroth with your friends too" (or something similar).

[sb58]

:D The antisocials. Geez.

To be fair, I actually liked the social atmosphere of a guild more than I liked the practical implications. I enjoyed interacting with people of decent intelligence (especially in the first non-raiding guild I was in, which was mostly just real life friends and their clan buddies who'd all known each other for years).
same here. :D

It's a bit part of it - players from around the world, together, doing quests, communicating. It's more sociable than sitting on Oblivion for hours I guess. But it is a game at the end of the day and Blizzard have been tried to stress that recently, especially in the tips: "Remember to play outside Azeroth with your friends too" (or something similar).
i suppose you're right. but still, if you don't want to communicate at all with others ingame, you shouldn't be playing MMO's XD

[OscarTheGrouch]

MY guild is 50/50 the do a few raids a week, but ya know what.. my wife and i wont play for 3 weeks and when we play again they are always happy to help us. We help out when we play also. Great people. I solo a few of my characters, and do just fine. The is a mechanism to look for groups when you are needing to group, but for alot of things its not required.. you CAN solo up to level 70 if you want to.. take a little bit, but can be done.

[Gasu E.]

I have a question for all of you World of Warcraft players.

When I play games, I don't like to have to interact with other players. I don't like to wait for games to start online. I don't like to be schooled by people who spend exponentially more time playing than I do. I like to play for whatever chunks of time I have and that's it. If I have 30 minutes to play, I want to spend it playing and enjoying myself. I don't want to spend 20 minutes waiting to get a group together.

With all this in mind, could I still play and enjoy World of Warcraft?


Sure, as others have stated, you can play WOW. But why? You could enjoy the scenary in this very large, simulated world. But the quests aren't terribly interesting. I'd say you might get something out of dabbling for a month or so, but ultimately there are other games that are better for solo play.

And if you do decide to play, avoid PVP servers...

[topgunn]

Ok, I decided to take the plunge. I mean, I already had the game and I figured it was about time I used it. I had no idea how long it would take to install the game. Then I had to install a myriad of updates and the first three of them were each about 500MB. Anyway, 6 hours later I was able to create my first character.

The intent of this post was not to describe my experience but rather to pose a question. With the assumption that I would like to play alone as much as possible, is there a race and class combination that would suit me best? Also, are there certain professions or talents that would be best to concentrate on? I am not very familiar with professions or talents as I only dabbled in the game a bit last night. I want to avoid getting 40 hours into the game and realizing that I have picked a race and class that are heavily dependent on others.

On a dissimilar note, the controls were quite awkward at first but after 30 minutes I found them to be quite ingenious. Leave it to Blizzard I guess.

[killmoms]

The intent of this post was not to describe my experience but rather to pose a question. With the assumption that I would like to play alone as much as possible, is there a race and class combination that would suit me best? Also, are there certain professions or talents that would be best to concentrate on? I am not very familiar with professions or talents as I only dabbled in the game a bit last night. I want to avoid getting 40 hours into the game and realizing that I have picked a race and class that are heavily dependent on others.

Well, any class will be enhanced by grouping (especially when it comes to buffs), but you can solo your way through the game on pretty much any class. It's just some make it easier than others. For instance, my main when I played was a priest, and being holy specced for most of my run-up to 60 was probably a bad idea. That was not a fun character to solo with (though I GREATLY enjoyed end-game raid healing). I hear speccing shadow makes soloing much more tolerable. The rogue I took to 36 though, he was a lot of fun to solo (especially when enhanced by twinking him out w/ equipment purchased with gold from my 60). Problem with rogues is that there are a ****ton of them by the endgame, so if you have any interest in late-game raids you'll probably have a harder time getting into a guild. Healers are always in demand, but less fun to play up to 60.

Then again, you're more about the solo experience, so. I'd say a warrior would probably be equally fun on your own, but I've never played one myself. Rogue and priest are the only classes I played to any significant degree (which is to say above level 15).

[Kernow]

There's plenty of good advice on choosing classes/races/professions at wowwiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Main_Page).

[theman5725]

Apparently Hunters are the easiest class to solo level. I have a friend who plays one (level 49) and its really easy for him to level.

Typically Race doesn't matter a lot, unless there is a specific racial that would boost your particular class.

[sb58]

you could always check out guides like Joana's Guide if you want to level up solo. i think joana has the record for 0-60 in... 4 days i think? and thats always with a troll hunter.

and yes, hunter's are definately the easiest class to solo, then imo, warlocks.

[harveypooka]

Ok, I decided to take the plunge. I mean, I already had the game and I figured it was about time I used it. I had no idea how long it would take to install the game. Then I had to install a myriad of updates and the first three of them were each about 500MB. Anyway, 6 hours later I was able to create my first character.

The intent of this post was not to describe my experience but rather to pose a question. With the assumption that I would like to play alone as much as possible, is there a race and class combination that would suit me best? Also, are there certain professions or talents that would be best to concentrate on? I am not very familiar with professions or talents as I only dabbled in the game a bit last night. I want to avoid getting 40 hours into the game and realizing that I have picked a race and class that are heavily dependent on others.

On a dissimilar note, the controls were quite awkward at first but after 30 minutes I found them to be quite ingenious. Leave it to Blizzard I guess.

Mages are easy to level with. Druids are really fun. Pallys are pretty powerful now. Go Druid, you won't regret it... :D

[Gasu E.]

For instance, my main when I played was a priest, and being holy specced for most of my run-up to 60 was probably a bad idea. That was not a fun character to solo with (though I GREATLY enjoyed end-game raid healing). I hear speccing shadow makes soloing much more tolerable.

Yes, a shadow-specced priest serves nicely to solo. When you get into instances, you can stay shadow-specced as a seconday healer or re-spec to holy.

[bonafide]

Yes you can play WoW in little increatments. But be aware... you'll get sucked into the Void quickly!

I've played WoW for over a year now and I just recently cancelled my membership. That game will suck the life right out of you. Don't get me wrong it's a great game but the problem I found is even after a year of playing there is no end in sight. I enjoyed my time but lately I feel that it was a waste of time.

I would suggest if your playing in mini time slots to play on a PvE server rather then a PvP server.

[topgunn]

Yes you can play WoW in little increatments. But be aware... you'll get sucked into the Void quickly!
There was a time when I was in college when games (specifically online games) occupied much more of my time that I would like to admit. Classes and studying often took a backseat to a leveling session or a dungeon raid. I did telephone tech support for the university so I had plenty of time to play even at work. It was hard to cut ties but when I finally did, it was embarrising to look back at all the wasted time.

This is the main reason World of Warcraft has been sitting in my desk drawer for more than a year. I didn't want to repeat the above scenario. I don't think this will be a problem for me these days. Instead of classes, I have a wife. Instead of studying, I have 3 kids. Instead of working to have money for road trips and fast food, I am working for a a mortgage and retirement. Now, I still enjoy playing games but I just don't have the time or the desire to devote much time to them.

By the way, I created my first character Thursday and it was a Dwarf Paladin. It was ok but not quite what i was looking for (I only took it up to level 5) so I created a Night Elf Druid instead. I am now up to level 14 and having a great time.

[topgunn]

One more question. What population size server do you guys prefer; high, medium or low? Is one better than the other. I have selected a server with a low population but I am not sure that is the best thing to do. Perhaps they have a low population for a reason?

[bobber205]

One more question. What population size server do you guys prefer; high, medium or low? Is one better than the other. I have selected a server with a low population but I am not sure that is the best thing to do. Perhaps they have a low population for a reason?

That's not quite what you think. That simply means that there is a low amount of players logged on. :D

My server said that, but now it sometimes says high when I check its status, though it usually says medium.

[sb58]

That's not quite what you think. That simply means that there is a low amount of players logged on. :D

My server said that, but now it sometimes says high when I check its status, though it usually says medium.

no, its meant for how many different accounts have created characters on that server. or so i think. you could be right though.

personally, i like medium population servers. with high population, there's a queue sometimes, with low population servers, i can't find groups for instances and such.

[harveypooka]

One more question. What population size server do you guys prefer; high, medium or low? Is one better than the other. I have selected a server with a low population but I am not sure that is the best thing to do. Perhaps they have a low population for a reason?

I'd go for Low. The EU Moonglade server was always Low when I started and steadily sky rocketed.