The death of the solo server?

[Kingly_Krab]

Originally Posted by atrayas

The problem with all the solo server I've played on is that they all give you to much in the beginning, be it starter gear, insta epics, free buffs, it makes the server to easy.

The idea of a true solo server should be no bots, no boxing, progression based with real rewards..you want your epic 2.0, do the actual quest, not a dumbed down grind fest. Want underfoot loot, then you need to level to 85 while progressing through previous tiers of content to get there.

If you give people real rewards for playing on a solo server vs instant gratification you would retain more players overtime imo.

The downside of a solo server is the social aspect...there isn't much. People log in, do there own thing and log off with the occasional high end player coming down a few tiers and steamrolling the content for someone else, and in essence defeating the purpose of the server.

These ideas may sound attractive as a player, to you, but as a developer you have to look at what is attractive to more than a select group of individuals, which usually involves absolute majority.

[atrayas]

Originally Posted by Kingly_Krab

These ideas may sound attractive as a player, to you, but as a developer you have to look at what is attractive to more than a select group of individuals, which usually involves absolute majority.

It actually is not attractive to me but in order for a solo server to achieve longevity these are what would have to happen. You cant retain a playerbase when all of your players max out in a matter of weeks and become bored. You must give them something to strive for.

Me as a player, yes I like to be powerful as quickly as possible but at the same time I don't want to be bored...this bodes a problem to me as a player, as I can either play a solo server that offers all the buffs, bots, and gear I could ever want but in a couple of weeks I'll be bored, or I can choose a server that while it I a solo server I'd have to invest real time to achive my ultimate goals.

Alakamim is a good example of a decent semi-solo server. It has 70 tiers of progression, any race/class/god combo all with unique perks. A ton of content to keep any player busy but at the same time doesn't require the work of a guild to accomplish anything, so the working man/woman can log in, play a couple hours and log off feeling satisfied. Although this server isn't technically solo (has bots, buffer, certain gear can be bought for a price) it is still somewhat challenging and takes time to attain your goals.

A bad example of a solo server is webbes, peqzone enabled, mq2 allowed including warping, and mob balancing is horrendous ( HoT raid mobs have around 8-12k hp).

The vengeful Soloist just recently went through a complete wipe and I have yet to log back into it but from what I can see Furniture is going the route of a true solo server. The x5 stats idea is unique and allows for true solo without bots or boxing once you start to get gear. The only problem with his setup is getting started, the first 20 levels are horrible, but once you get past that it becomes more manageable. ( I know this from his last incarnation of the server)