Why do so many people solo on P99?

[long.liam]

This is a Massively Mulitplayer Online Role Playing. Why would spend a significant amount of time playing Muliplayer game all by yourself. If you want to play by yourself, why not just play a Single Player game? Like Skyrim, or Morrowind, or really any single player modern, or old game that will have a much better Single Player experience than a Mulitplayer game.

[supercalif]

The biggest difference is that many of us have families, kids, jobs and other responsibilities that prevent long gaming sessions that are required to find a good group to play with. Sometimes it’s just easier to solo for less than an hour or two.

[Ennewi]

For similar reasons that people wanted a co-op version of TES:V—it's a different way of experiencing the virtual world which allows the player to better appreciate what they otherwise might not. But forget that EQ's multiplayer, how many of the players actually roleplay? Some even treat it as seriously as a job.

It's just a very human trait, using things in unintended ways. How many potheads in high school did you know who used those plastic honey bear container as makeshift bongs? That's one example. Another would be hearses...originally built to account for the length of coffins, but some guys from Chula Vista I used to know would buy used/rent new hearses and load all of their surf boards inside, then drive to the nearest beach that wasn't already crowded.

[Old_PVP]

The biggest difference is that many of us have families, kids, jobs and other responsibilities that prevent long gaming sessions that are required to find a good group to play with. Sometimes it’s just easier to solo for less than an hour or two.

Pretty much this. Don't know about everyone else, but I'm not 15 anymore. Full time job & family. I'm unreliable in groups and may have to log at a moments notice. It is fun to still play a multi-player game though cause I can still have an impact on the server.

[starkind]

Psychology.

I would say there is a narcissistic element.
And an anxiety element.

[Ennewi]

That josh strife hays video really did convince a lot of people of a partial truth being the whole truth.

[Chortles Snortles]

https://i.imgur.com/yTfjckT.jpg

[Grumph]

No one plays solo for raid mobs.

If you want to do things together with other people?

Join a raid guild.

[Arvan]

Antisocial?

[wuanahto]

Being nice is a skill we just dont have anymore because this game came out like 30 years ago and we are all 70 or so and its just too late for us and considering we dont know any better we just stick with what we know.
and what we know is getting tribal as fuck on an island whenever someone gets too close to our giant

[OuterChimp]

Covid has infected Norath and they are social distancing.

[Ooloo]

Well for classes that can quad\swarm kite it's kind of a no brainer for leveling. But I think mostly people solo because it's easy, steady consistent XP that you can pick up for 30 minutes or 3 hours at a time if you want. It's slower than a good group in a high zem dungeon, but it's much more consistent because there's no waiting around for a group to assemble or to invite you into it.

[eisley]

When I was leveling my warrior, I had a Fungi Tunic, Fungi Staff, some lower tier raid weapons (VP weapons, Eashen 2h, Dagarn Whip, etc) and was twinked to shit. Despite that, I still wasn't very useful in groups. Holding aggro was still very hard compared to Pal/SK, and I got like 3x more exp just soloing the guards in HighKeep.

So even though I wanted to group, it was hard to justify. Even now at 54, with Epic, Willsapper, Pirate Eyepatch, etc. I can't hold aggro for shit. Honestly the best weapon is the 2h that procs Root from Chardok. If I can get buffs (Dex, FoS, VoG) it's not so bad, but even at 54 I feel useless in groups and it's better exp to solo. Everyone else grouping in KC or Seb is super twinked too, so the only hope of holding aggro is procs. I've been in groups where we just let the ranger tank to make it easier on the rogues.

On my bard though, I got epic at 50 and grouped all the way to 60. It was a blast. Charming, mezzing, slowing, lulling, pulling. Pulling like packs of 10 in KC basement and snare kiting them around the room while the group picks them off one by one. Or doing Sebilis and lull pulling, staying in camp just long enough to proc epic then running off to get more. That was a blast.

I grouped on my necro too even though I knew it was worse exp, simply because it was a lot more fun.

So there's a lot of factors. Your class, your gear, your time available, your desire for efficiency or fun. People do still group.

[starkind]

The cool thing about being twinked is no one had to hold agro! Think 5 demonsionally.

[Jimjam]

The cool thing about being twinked is no one had to hold agro! Think 5 demonsionally.

In a group full of twinked melee the group has like 30 hp per second regen. It doesn’t need a healer. Pingponging aggro is a feature not a bug.

[Crede]

Antisocial?

I actually think the opposite. If you're incredibly social in game and this is your social outlet, I'd question what you're doing irl.

[eisley]

In a group full of twinked melee the group has like 30 hp per second regen. It doesn’t need a healer. Pingponging aggro is a feature not a bug.

The most fun I've had is playing my super twink necro (had epic, VP soul well staff, beads, etc. at 46.) grouping in KC, HS, or The Hole, or even Seb if I could get a pet from crypt. I'd use Staff of the Undead Legions or the ranger dagger from HS that procs 600 DD as pet weapons, along with Tola Robe, so the pet absolutely shredded. Along with that, I used Shadowbond and Pact of Shadow + Vexing Mordinia or Soul Well to be the group healer. I also pulled in some groups, since necros get undead lull as well. It's also easy to deal with Charm breaks, though Necro charm breaks are much rarer than Enc. Just FD, instantly stand and either ST or recharm. Pants clicky for haste. Root/ST for CC. Lots of fun. It's even better now with the slow proc shaman weapon from Chardok, I combo that with the 600 DD weapon and the pet is just insanity.

[loramin]

In the vast majority of cases soloing is just faster XP ... and that's not even counting the time lost trying to find a group.

Back when the Hole was the place to be I would bring my mage there hoping to get a group. It would often take hours to find one, if I could at all, and then it would take awhile more to actually get to that group. Once I finally did I often earned less XP (just depending on the location, group make-up, etc.) than I could solo ... and eventually I gave up on grouping.

[Gustoo]

The game is made to be grouped to make it easier.

But with top game knowledge, soloing competes or beats grouping for efficiency.

So people solo.

A good quality group doing good work in a high exp zone like lguk without other people fucking things up is a beautiful thing, no doubt. But creeping around as a cleric and breaking camps and fighting in a little hallway corner before repop works good too.

[Naethyn]

Its fun to show off an extremely well done twink.

[Chortles Snortles]

power bottom

[Mblake1981]

In the vast majority of cases soloing is just faster XP ... and that's not even counting the time lost trying to find a group.

Back when the Hole was the place to be I would bring my mage there hoping to get a group. It would often take hours to find one, if I could at all, and then it would take awhile more to actually get to that group. Once I finally did I often earned less XP (just depending on the location, group make-up, etc.) than I could solo ... and eventually I gave up on grouping.

Holes have broken many mens spirits.

[GardylooGubbins]

I'll echo what some others have said:

Real life just provides less reliable free time than it did when I was in my teens. On live I would group for hours on end, but now I might only get an hour or two to play during what are typically off-hours. And even then, I might have to leave for some household responsibility at a moment's notice.

What I would love is to have others who I know in real life to group with, but for anyone who never played back in the day, it's a hard sell to convince them to slog through a 20-year old game.

There's also the feeling of, "Well, I could join this group but I'm in such an unreliable place that I would probably be a hindrance rather than an asset."

[GardylooGubbins]

Maybe someone could form the "casual grouping" guild. Where every member was someone who was only ever on for a couple hours at a time, and always wanted to group. Want to group up? Just ask in guild chat. People have to leave soon? No problem because so do you.

[cd288]

This is a Massively Mulitplayer Online Role Playing. Why would spend a significant amount of time playing Muliplayer game all by yourself. If you want to play by yourself, why not just play a Single Player game? Like Skyrim, or Morrowind, or really any single player modern, or old game that will have a much better Single Player experience than a Mulitplayer game.

Why do groups min/max XP and not fill their empty slots? Maybe that's why some people are soloing

[starkind]

Even when I casually grouped with random people I ran into while solo.

I still struggled with it. There where some great 30 monute sessions and some great 6 hour ones I struggled with to keep up with and I felt really bad leaving around the 6 hour mark.

Back in 2013 I could literally poopsock everything with pals for 72 hrs almost straight sometimes.

That was bad. I probably hurt myself and others doing that.

All this said I have really fond memories of even the silliest least efficient pointless groups. And if you can afford to smell the roses or axe body wash and aftershave. It's always worth it. Just prioritize yourself and your family over the game and try to keep a regular exercise and sleep routine. Those are the first hull plates to go on my ship.

[conoutoftrol]

The ruleset incentivizes it. Doing content with less people is the most rewarding.

As for the second part it is the multiplayer economy.

[eisley]

Its fun to show off an extremely well done twink.

This is why it was so fun to level Chocomao. I think he was within the first 10 Bard epics in the game. At level 46. So any group I joined, people were like, wtf?

[Kohedron]

Last time I was in a group, two bucktoofed snaggletooths were bickering nonstop because the one guy wasn't assisting quickly enough

Uh yeah I don't really blame people for not wanting to deal with that

[Ooloo]

The shards of dalaya group xp bonuses and variable ZEM's based on how much time your char had personally spent in a zone are two of the very few things I think would actually improve a classic-in-spirit server, even though they would be wildly un-classic

[mycoolrausch]

I liked grouping when I was leveling so did it on my druid and wizard quite often. But 50+ or so you stop getting groups on those classes. Also grouping gets painfully slow. I was amazed to discover being in a decent trio with well geared melee was noticeably less xp than afk dotting rats in pom. The game isn't balanced well.

Green kind of killed newbie groups on blue also.

[Ooloo]

I still think the fundamental answer to the topheavy nature of the entire project is to just somehow retire existing characters. Otherwise every subsequent iteration will just be more and more subdivided.

Everyone who threatens that they'd quit if they couldn't raid vulak for the 1368th time on blue (or now green too basically) are by definition a small percentage of the actual total playerbase.

[Ooloo]

And I don't even believe them. They'd form some new coalition to dominate the new green, and we all know it.

[starkind]

Last time I was in a group, two bucktoofed snaggletooths were bickering nonstop because the one guy wasn't assisting quickly enough

Uh yeah I don't really blame people for not wanting to deal with that

You gotta take screenshots, or Fraps and make a game of it.

[eisley]

The shards of dalaya group xp bonuses and variable ZEM's based on how much time your char had personally spent in a zone are two of the very few things I think would actually improve a classic-in-spirit server, even though they would be wildly un-classic

SoD has a bajillion things p99 should've copied, Fomelo (https://shardsofdalaya.com/fomelo/fomelo.php?char=eisley) at the very least. (actually queries the database for gear, not manually edited)

Not to mention custom raid content. All we ever got was the Halloween event.

[Jimjam]

I still think the fundamental answer to the topheavy nature of the entire project is to just somehow retire existing characters. Otherwise every subsequent iteration will just be more and more subdivided.

Everyone who threatens that they'd quit if they couldn't raid vulak for the 1368th time on blue (or now green too basically) are by definition a small percentage of the actual total playerbase.

Pre-Luclin was 1999-2001 so I suggest characters get put into some kind of ‘ghost’ mode once they hit their third birthday (iksars only get two years).

It’s not classic to have multiple 10 year old BIS 60 toons each.

[Allishia]

Pre-Luclin was 1999-2001 so I suggest characters get put into some kind of ‘ghost’ mode once they hit their third birthday (iksars only get two years).

It’s not classic to have multiple 10 year old BIS 60 toons each.

No thank you. I love my alt army ! :)

[Kohedron]

The shards of dalaya group xp bonuses and variable ZEM's based on how much time your char had personally spent in a zone are two of the very few things I think would actually improve a classic-in-spirit server, even though they would be wildly un-classic
SOD is strictly better than P99 in every way imaginable, other than population

But screeching nerds need to cling on to history so hah oh well I guess

[eisley]

SOD is strictly better than P99 in every way imaginable, other than population

But screeching nerds need to cling on to history so hah oh well I guess

Absolutely. Most people would be amazed at whats Shards of Dalaya had.

14 tiers of raid content. Hundreds of custom raid bosses. 100% custom content and lore. Raid bosses that had actual tactics and strategy. 6, 12, 18 man raids. Reasons to exp after 60, basically forever, so your gear actually mattered outside of raids.

It was the most popular custom EQ game before p99, and my favorite game I've played.

[loramin]

I liked grouping when I was leveling so did it on my druid and wizard quite often. But 50+ or so you stop getting groups on those classes. Also grouping gets painfully slow. I was amazed to discover being in a decent trio with well geared melee was noticeably less xp than afk dotting rats in pom. The game isn't balanced well.

Green kind of killed newbie groups on blue also.

Or in other words, we all solo because the game works better that way ... ie. because Rogean and Nilbog want us to.

Now you can yell "but ... classic!" all you want; at the end of the day however, R&N have their finger on the dial of "classic environment" vs. "classic experience", and they've made other choices to prioritize classic experience before (eg. 25 mob AoE limits).

They could very easily up the group XP bonus and lower the overall XP given, effectively lowering the soloing XP rate ... but (again), it seems they want us soloing.

[Bardp1999]

1/2 the classes in EQ are irrelevant XP leeachers in most situations. In any high-end zone, even in a full group, the enchanter/necro is basically trioing with the cleric and puller and has 3 other shit bags taking his XP. After 20 years of EQ the secret is out and people want to maximize the grind (and its a long grind on P99) so you see a lot of solo/duo/trio

[eisley]

Grouping on a Druid is vastly superior to quadding. You need a duo partner. Go to Kedge, Plane of Fear, or Kael, and though it takes practice, it's a lot of fun. On my druid I duoed Fear with a Necro and the exp was comparable to being powerleveled. The break in can be a tad tricky, Necro helps there too. You want to get to the north wall, just north of the flame wall. He can rez you there.

In Kael, you want a lowest level dire wolf. On breaks, either have your partner save you or use lowest level Fear on breaks. You can smash arena. Prepare for dispels though. Clicky DS gloves help a lot. I duoed with a shaman a lot.

In Kedge, you want to get a good pet. One of the named, like Cauldronbubble or seahorse matriarch. These mobs are dramatically stronger than anything else. You can kill Phinny and Undertow a bunch. Kedge takes some getting used to though, like learning to cast against walls so you don't get push interrupted.

[eisley]

1/2 the classes in EQ are irrelevant XP leeachers in most situations. In any high-end zone, even in a full group, the enchanter/necro is basically trioing with the cleric and puller and has 3 other shit bags taking his XP. After 20 years of EQ the secret is out and people want to maximize the grind (and its a long grind on P99) so you see a lot of solo/duo/trio

A good necro is 90% of the damage, the healer, and the puller.

[Bardp1999]

A good necro is 90% of the damage, the healer, and the puller.

Yea, basically my entire point

[Chortles Snortles]

https://i.imgur.com/Ek6jgeF.png

[starkind]

Yea, basically my entire point

https://i.imgur.com/Rcky2e6.jpeg

[Fawqueue]

A lot those out there soloing will group, they just aren't seeking out the effort of organizing one. I'm getting way better XP soloing on my twinked Monk, so I'm not going to spend the time and energy finding five other players, get them all to one location, and fill in gaps as they come and go. If someone else does the work, then I'll take the slower XP just to hang for a bit and help out some players who don't have the easy solo XP luxury I do. It's also pretty fun to run into another equally twinked character and partner/trio up to wreck the area even harder.

[cd288]

Grouping on a Druid is vastly superior to quadding. You need a duo partner. Go to Kedge, Plane of Fear, or Kael, and though it takes practice, it's a lot of fun. On my druid I duoed Fear with a Necro and the exp was comparable to being powerleveled. The break in can be a tad tricky, Necro helps there too. You want to get to the north wall, just north of the flame wall. He can rez you there.

In Kael, you want a lowest level dire wolf. On breaks, either have your partner save you or use lowest level Fear on breaks. You can smash arena. Prepare for dispels though. Clicky DS gloves help a lot. I duoed with a shaman a lot.

In Kedge, you want to get a good pet. One of the named, like Cauldronbubble or seahorse matriarch. These mobs are dramatically stronger than anything else. You can kill Phinny and Undertow a bunch. Kedge takes some getting used to though, like learning to cast against walls so you don't get push interrupted.

I mean no. If you are quading 6:40 spawns your xp will be much faster than duoing

[cd288]

I still think the fundamental answer to the topheavy nature of the entire project is to just somehow retire existing characters. Otherwise every subsequent iteration will just be more and more subdivided.

Everyone who threatens that they'd quit if they couldn't raid vulak for the 1368th time on blue (or now green too basically) are by definition a small percentage of the actual total playerbase.

I mean this is the dumbest idea that’s been presented in awhile no offense.

One of the main reasons that makes P99 viable is the fact that it and your characters are always there along with relatively consistent player population. If I and others didn’t care if our characters later became basically meaningless then TLPs would be more popular (because every TLP server essentially dies which is basically the equivalent of erasing all the characters). If P99 erased the characters after each server iteration you’d have way less people playing. Has nothing to do with the big raid guild(s).

[eisley]

I mean no. If you are quading 6:40 spawns your xp will be much faster than duoing

As with all charm groups, the key lies in how good they are. A good PoFear duo is insane exp, it was faster than Chardok PL.

[Toxigen]

The very best (pure) xp group I ever had was on my 56 fungi / epic rogue. Slabs. Hole. Very weak docks group not doing shit / wiping / whatever.

High 50s fungi / epic / monk, high 50s epic bard. The monk had beads. The bard definitely had Froggy helm.

It was the most insanely efficient trio I've ever personally been a part of. A masterpiece of pure unadulterated dps, control, and zero need for any direct heals ever. Props to both of those guys before I stumbled across them, they were doing fine on their own. My rogue just added the boomstick they were looking for.

[mattydef]

I would obviously be against being forced to retire alts

[eadric]

A lot those out there soloing will group, they just aren't seeking out the effort of organizing one. I'm getting way better XP soloing on my twinked Monk, so I'm not going to spend the time and energy finding five other players, get them all to one location, and fill in gaps as they come and go. If someone else does the work, then I'll take the slower XP just to hang for a bit and help out some players who don't have the easy solo XP luxury I do. It's also pretty fun to run into another equally twinked character and partner/trio up to wreck the area even harder.

QFT

[Allishia]

QFT

Hi!

[enjchanter]

1/2 the classes in EQ are irrelevant XP leeachers in most situations. In any high-end zone, even in a full group, the enchanter/necro is basically trioing with the cleric and puller and has 3 other shit bags taking his XP. After 20 years of EQ the secret is out and people want to maximize the grind (and its a long grind on P99) so you see a lot of solo/duo/trio

This.

So few classes are relevant if you really think about.
Just having a charm pet is worth 2 dps and a tank.
Even clerics are largely just leeches when you can cycle charm pets or your group is twinked enough to not need hard healing. There's a tipping point where adding another person to the group is no longer adding to your speed / efficiency especially at camps farmed for plat. You want to roll against as few people as possible.

[myrddraal]

Because they have no friends

[cd288]

As with all charm groups, the key lies in how good they are. A good PoFear duo is insane exp, it was faster than Chardok PL.

Lmao at using duoing in PoF as a valid example. Smh

[Rethalis]

Sometimes it's nice to just chill by yourself. trying to herd cats gets tiresome. Especially when they are super twitchy adhd cats who can't sit still for two seconds.

[Ratchet51]

Because they have no friends

So the truth comes out...

[reznor_]

I am personally a big fan of PUGs, just because I get to meet and talk with new people. But I understand wanting to be efficient

[cd288]

I am personally a big fan of PUGs, just because I get to meet and talk with new people. But I understand wanting to be efficient

So few people talk on P99 anymore. You’ll get some groups where people will but oftentimes it’s few and far between. The puller is too busy chain pulling and everyone else is watching tv or something while clicking a couple buttons periodically every several seconds

[Gustoo]

Yeah that is the biggest bummer when you get in a group and wanna actually play the game and everyone is just in it for the lowest possible effort grind.

Its not always that way though!

[GardylooGubbins]

Still like the idea of a casual grouping guild. Just a bunch of people who want to group like they used to on live, but with the understanding that there will likely not be any sessions with the same group for more than an hour or two. Basically the entire guild is your LFG list.

[Insomnia]

I have a job and a full time single dad of 2 that are 13 and 7. Im all over the place, 10 months out of the year im doing some type of sport on the weekends for the better part of my Saturdays. Cooking, cleaning, yard stuff, laundry all that fun stuff. Im lucky to get 4-6hrs of exping in during the weekdays. I would love to be able to find a group, but would also feel useless being able to only stay for 2hrs max, I couldve got more exp solo.

[starkind]

/\

[Ooloo]

This topic like many always makes me all nostalgic about early eq. I once joined a PUG that was forming at ec tunnel, and once we were full (probably with like 3 tanks two wizards and a druid as healer or some totally random configuration) we *RAN* all the way through nro, oasis, sro, innothule and feerrott to get to CT, which only one person in the group even knew about yet and the whole idea was to show the rest of the group the zone and see if we could all level there.

[Chortles Snortles]

https://i.imgur.com/PqsihaR.png

[starkind]

This topic like many always makes me all nostalgic about early eq. I once joined a PUG that was forming at ec tunnel, and once we were full (probably with like 3 tanks two wizards and a druid as healer or some totally random configuration) we *RAN* all the way through nro, oasis, sro, innothule and feerrott to get to CT, which only one person in the group even knew about yet and the whole idea was to show the rest of the group the zone and see if we could all level there.

Good times 😌

[Ooloo]

Chortles appears to be physically made out of the internet

[mycoolrausch]

This topic like many always makes me all nostalgic about early eq. I once joined a PUG that was forming at ec tunnel, and once we were full (probably with like 3 tanks two wizards and a druid as healer or some totally random configuration) we *RAN* all the way through nro, oasis, sro, innothule and feerrott to get to CT, which only one person in the group even knew about yet and the whole idea was to show the rest of the group the zone and see if we could all level there.

I was in a group that took the boat from BB to TD to FV to finally make it to LOIO for some nice and crappy outdoor zone xp. There were 50+ other people in the zone camping every square inch of it lol

[WokeCat]

Trying to find a group can be hard. Even if you can get good experience, a lot of times it won't be worth the effort or trying to find one, or you'll wander across the universe to join a group that falls apart as soon as you get there. With solo'ing, not only is the experience consistent, it's usually more fun too. Some camps can be a real challenge to solo, and others will afford you a lot of AFK time.

But also, I typically make a lot more $$$ solo'ing than I do grouping. You gotta' remember your bags fill up in the first hour of joining a group, and you spend the next several hours not making money because of this. With solo'ing it's like you are constantly generating real money for the most part.

[WokeCat]

I always find it interesting when I see warriors say this. As someone who almost exclusively plays healers, I never had an issue with Warrior tanks because on my Shaman, if I don't root the mob before I slow it, it's going to be majorly annoying. So I typically root every mob, which unlocks root-tanking (something that doesn't exist on TLP).

And same with my Cleric. If I sit down and get aggro, I simply root the mob, or sometimes I just root the mob straight up to avoid the issue altogether.

I think a lot of Warrior groups under-utilize using root for the warrior to easily gain aggro.

[Castle2.0]

This guy thinks MMORPGs should be MM haha.

No one tell this guy the games is called EverQuest, but the primary means of progression is not questing...

And because of one Questing Legend™, a man of the people, a true hero, dared quest to the zenith of EverQuest... exp questing was banned for 30 days for all elves under the sun.

[Chortles Snortles]

imagine sharing XP
(lol)

[starkind]

Three warriors can make pretty good progress without support. And can help catch eachother up if they get desynced in levels.

Now obviously at a basic level...it really is more complex however this helps.

Problem 1)
Everyone demands an ideal group in an ideal spot
#2
They don't help lowbies and newbs into their own bracket and then complain

Anxiety and narcissism.

Share and compromise are the solutions to all your problems. Learn to play EQ like Jesus and you will not only find heaven on earth, also within EQ

Follow the 10 commandments in ur gaming sessions too.

/\

[eadric]

Hi!

Oh hi! you still play? I just came back.

[Allishia]

Oh hi! you still play? I just came back.

Rofl yes, welcome back! :)

[Ooloo]

Three warriors can make pretty good progress without support. And can help catch eachother up if they get desynced in levels.

Yeah that is true. My first real char that I leveled past 20 was a barbarian warrior, and I only grouped with a friend of mine who also played a barb warrior, and we basically just duo'ed everything and never really died unless there was more than 1 mob at a time haha. Downtime took forever but we didn't know any better and it was just really fun for some reason.

[Tunabros]

shut up baler

https://i.imgur.com/iBU2gw7.png

[Chortles Snortles]

https://i.imgur.com/Liqro6i.jpg

[Valik1016]

So many people solo because there aren't groups to join. People have time limits for playing, and they don't want to spend that time in general chat seeking people to group with, only to have almost no time left to play if and when they finally find a group. I know that ends up by saying that people don't group because people don't group, but it's true. I'm not sure when and how this became EQ culture, but it has been many years, on P99 and on live. One huge problem is that players create new characters and twink them until they are powerful enough that they don't need groupmates. The push to make items no drop and therefore not transferable that way was supposed to end this practice. Then there is multi-boxing, basically soloing while having a group at your disposal. This is supposedly not happening in P99, but I think it is known to be happening. So take it with a grain of salt when people post that they solo certain things, when they are soloing with 5 characters, not one. You wonder how people solo in an MMO game..they chat while they solo and convince themselves they are playing with other people and are part of the community. It sounds silly but it is understandable when you see how people nowadays live their lives. They maintain connection even in real life via SMS/texting. They refer to people they never even see but send messages to as their friends. They are very comfortable without actual contact, and it is no longer a requirement in forming and maintaining a relationship. Why would it be different in EQ? Actual grouping would necessitate observing certain norms of social interaction that they don't even have to observe in real life...why bother with that? So that all just barely scratches the surface of an answer to your question, and a more complete answer could turn into a PhD thesis, but you should get the idea.

[azxten]

People solo on P99 because the server is unclassic and allows it to be successful and in many ways better than grouping. Classic EQ was designed to force grouping but this is lost on P99 at the moment. Look no further than broken channeling for a major example of why soloing is easier than on live.

[Tunabros]

people make too many alts


that's the problem lol

[Chortles Snortles]

https://i.imgur.com/Liqro6i.jpg

[starkind]

people don't make enough alts


that's the problem lol

Ftfy

[Chortles Snortles]

https://i.imgur.com/JOEl648.gif

[DMN]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymN3-DjRimw

[Rager and Quitter]

This is a Massively Mulitplayer Online Role Playing. Why would spend a significant amount of time playing Muliplayer game all by yourself. If you want to play by yourself, why not just play a Single Player game? Like Skyrim, or Morrowind, or really any single player modern, or old game that will have a much better Single Player experience than a Mulitplayer game.

Imagine being confused as to why others can't sink 6-8 hours of gaming in per day. What a fulfilling life. Can't wait for the day when the server goes down permanently and the last decade of their life's dedication is gone in an instant.

[Nagoya]

I solo for xp.
Still happy to ask for a port, a SoW, a transfer to my 62nd alt to Arleigh or some shit.
The MM aspect of the MMORPG is still important and why I don't play Skyrim.
It's nice to be part of a world. This is the nostalgia kick.

But, we're 40+ with kids now lol, i can't maintain a friendlist and people to group with for 6 hours a day.

Also I've got like 250kpp worth of twink stuff easy to recycle.

this is not 1999, this is just project 1999.

[Naethyn]

Solo, because this game isn't like the others that play like a piano. While other games reward you for pressing buttons real fast, the best players on p99 are pressing as few as possible.

[mcoy]

Solo, because this game isn't like the others that play like a piano. While other games reward you for pressing buttons real fast, the best players on p99 are pressing as few as possible.

I'm going to gather up gems like this one day and publish a "Philosophers of EverQuest" collection.

-Mcoy

[Terrok]

This is a Massively Mulitplayer Online Role Playing. Why would spend a significant amount of time playing Muliplayer game all by yourself. If you want to play by yourself, why not just play a Single Player game? Like Skyrim, or Morrowind, or really any single player modern, or old game that will have a much better Single Player experience than a Mulitplayer game.

They do everyone thing solo, outside of eq, so its just easier for them.

[unsunghero]

Solo, because this game isn't like the others that play like a piano. While other games reward you for pressing buttons real fast, the best players on p99 are pressing as few as possible.

Yeah WoW got really bad during TBC/WotLk when they just kept adding new shit to classes. Especially if you wanted to be responsive at pvp, you needed not only everything hotkeyed, but also macros made as well

The worst ever was I had ~50 hotkeys. All the letters around wasd, all the letters up to 2 spots away from those (distance proportional to frequency of that hotkey use), then shift + all those then control + all those again. And I had to be fluid on it

EQ it’s so easy to have everything bound

[enjchanter]

Solo, because this game isn't like the others that play like a piano. While other games reward you for pressing buttons real fast, the best players on p99 are pressing as few as possible.

I'm not really sure what to make of that. Am I the best mage on the server because I use an assist and petattack 1 button maco ?

The game already sits at like 7 apm so like , what are these good players doing to go from 7 to 4

[Jimjam]

I'm not really sure what to make of that. Am I the best mage on the server because I use an assist and petattack 1 button maco ?

The game already sits at like 7 apm so like , what are these good players doing to go from 7 to 4

Best mage has their coth button set to F3. Target and summon a non anchor group member in a button press.

[eadric]

/LFG on

because life is boring without other people

even though sometimes other people suck

[Aeaolena]

The biggest difference is that many of us have families, kids, jobs and other responsibilities that prevent long gaming sessions that are required to find a good group to play with. Sometimes it’s just easier to solo for less than an hour or two.

Yep - doesn't mean that person doesn't enjoy 6 hour grouping sessions when they can, just means that in order to not fall behind with the friends they have made during those rare sessions - they have to take advantage of smaller windows of time to keep ground or catch up.

Also raids are a multiplayer experience, which require levels. Sometimes people want to get max level as soon as possible for that, so solo'ing is a means to an end that fits into their life.

[kawing168]

Yep - doesn't mean that person doesn't enjoy 6 hour grouping sessions when they can, just means that in order to not fall behind with the friends they have made during those rare sessions - they have to take advantage of smaller windows of time to keep ground or catch up.

Also raids are a multiplayer experience, which require levels. Sometimes people want to get max level as soon as possible for that, so solo'ing is a means to an end that fits into their life.

Yes:), and good to see you again Aeaolena

[Tunabros]

the whole point of eq is to level to 60 as quick as possible and team up with 80 people

to kill dragons

kek

[Jontheripper]

I have RL responsibilities so I rarely can sit and play for an hour without having to afk. This doesn't lend itself to grouping.

[tadkins]

Why would spend a significant amount of time playing Muliplayer game all by yourself.

I'm a wizard. You're free to invite me to a group, but I know not you or anyone else will.

[tobolamr]

Yeah, bottom line: I have a life. I game when I can. Sometimes that means I get 30 minutes, so I solo. Sometimes it means I have to leave unexpectedly. Sometimes it means I don't log in much for a few weeks, if at all. So for me, solo can be the only choice I really have.

[Bardp1999]

https://i.imgur.com/tVvz8ti.png

[Cecily]

Alone you only have to fight your own boredom.

[Chortles Snortles]

https://i.imgur.com/UJ1veEf.gif

[kawing168]

Yeah, bottom line: I have a life. I game when I can. Sometimes that means I get 30 minutes, so I solo. Sometimes it means I have to leave unexpectedly. Sometimes it means I don't log in much for a few weeks, if at all. So for me, solo can be the only choice I really have.


When I first played EQ on live server I used to spent ton of time in exploring/looking for group. This game is 22yrs old already, some of us already moved though different stages of our life.

[Jimjam]

There aren’t always other players available to share the content I would like to do at the time I would like to do so.