Soloing vs. grouping, once and for all

[Noselacri]

Well, your personal preferences for grouping are fairly irrelevant. I'm not interested in anecdotal nonsense, and I think it's safe to say that anyone who knows how to solo efficiently can verify that the exp is quite a bit faster than grouping if you can find a place that offers enough mobs to avoid having to wait for respawns. What I'm looking for is believable reports of whether or not this was the case in the era we are trying to emulate, to the extent that is currently evident.