Cav's Place

Since MMORPGs have recently been brought back to my attention and I usually tend to have some sort of plan for a game running through my mind, I went back to trying to find a solution for one of my pet peeves, namely that you can’t play such a game (mostly) by yourself. Sure, many would be quick to point out that they’re not supposed to be played like that and that the whole point is to be in groups, but I deal with gaming just like I deal with the vast majority of other things as well, which is to say that I do it alone or not at all. And since I’m the one thinking about this issue now, it means I’ll try to figure out a solution for this, so people who desire a similar style of playing would find a place for themselves in such games as well, if they’d care to try playing them.
The nice part is that my solution would add another layer of complexity, allowing for far more interesting quests, dungeons and game events. It would also add actual heroes, since currently all those characters who need each other’s help in order to accomplish anything meaningful are reduced to nothing but common soldiers. The bad part is that it would require quite a bit of additional work from game developers and players alike, as such characters would need to be approached quite differently and would require a lot of time and effort to develop successfully. But they’re only meant for a certain kind of players after all, and I imagine the feeling of accomplishment would be quite powerful when you’d finally manage to get it right.

What makes regular character classes require groups is the fact that they’re far too specialized and don’t really have “survival” skills, by which I mean the skills that’d allow them to make it through lengthy battles, whether against one very strong foe or multiple weaker ones. That means that solitary classes should have a greater variety of skills and also a separate skill set which’d make them capable of making it through such long battles by themselves. To even things out, such classes would gain access to powerful skills much later than regular classes, plus that those “survival” skills could perhaps be gained in a more difficult and time-consuming manner, such as through quests. That’d mean that such characters would become extremely powerful at very high levels, but that it’d take a lot of time and effort to get them there and that any strength they might have earlier than that would depend on the player’s ability to effectively combine all their different skills and not on raw power.
I went through various options and eventually settled on one which’d double the level cap for such classes and also offer them that separate skill set I mentioned above, but make it so they could only advance through it by doing quests, with some of those quests giving them the choice of what to train next and others training a certain ability directly, therefore forcing them to be very careful when choosing what quests to accept. That’d mean they’d eventually have much higher stats than regular characters and also a double number of regular skills plus yet another, separate, skill set. The downside would be that they’d also gain access to skills at twice the level that regular classes gain access to them, so they’d advance slowly and constantly need to make full use of all their different skills, including the “survival” ones, because they’d be fighting enemies that have more raw power than they do.
Still, if you also add all the equipment that their much higher level would eventually allow them to use, you’ll realize that such characters would be truly formidable and therefore need to be kept out of groups, because otherwise you’d just end up with groups formed entirely of these characters and everyone would forget all about the regular classes. My solution for that problem is to make them truly be solitary characters, eventually completely unable to join others. They could be able to join very small groups early on, then only be able to join one other character, then only one other character that’s also of a solitary class (to prevent pairings which would combine a regular character’s raw power and a solitary character’s “survival” skills) and eventually, as I said, they’d end up being unable to join others at all. On top of that, while they’re still able to join others, there could be a timer which would have a certain amount added to it at the start of each day and tick down whenever such a character is in a group. Once that timer reaches zero, the solitary character would start suffering severe penalties, which would get worse and worse until eventually they’d automatically leave the group.
Another level of both interest and difficulty could be added by having such characters start the game in remote areas and requiring them to wander all over to receive their quests, and even giving quests to themselves at times by having entries appear in the quest log as if the characters are reminding themselves of things that they have to do or musing about what they could attempt. It’d make perfect sense to keep such characters in remote areas more often than not and rarely send them to cities or other “populated” areas.

The added complexity would come from the fact that such characters would be the actual heroes and therefore, on top of their own specific quests, there’d be tasks tailored specifically for them inside dungeons. That’d mean that both regular and solitary characters would be required for raids, instances, runs or whatever other name such games use for such activities. The regular characters would form a group and fight the regular enemies while advancing through the area, while the solitary characters would carry out specific tasks by themselves, everything needing to be coordinated properly for success to be possible. An “association” system would need to be used in order to allow a solitary character to take part in the same quest a group takes part in, without actually being in the group.
For example, let’s assume one potential group quest requires the capture of a general. That general is inside a fortress that can receive reinforcements from two nearby villages. The fortress is also defended by some ancient force, such as a monster or spirits, that only answers to the general. To complete this quest, you’d need a group of regular characters and three solitary characters, specifically a ranger, a sorcerer and an assassin. The ranger and the sorcerer would need to make their way through the forest, the ranger finding and moving certain markings to ensure that the sorcerer won’t run into patrols on the way back, in order to reach the entrance of the tunnel used by the guards from one village to reach the fortress. Upon reaching it, the sorcerer would remove the magic lock placed on it, allow the ranger in, lock it again in a different way so the reinforcements won’t be able to get in behind the ranger and then get back to the group. At the same time, the assassin would have to sneak to the gate and, either by treachery or by climbing the walls, get inside the towers placed on either side and kill the guards. Then he’d need to keep going further, killing any guards on the way and reaching the exit of the tunnel the ranger’s in before the ranger would reach that point so there won’t be any guards who could trap and kill the ranger as soon as he’d come out. After that location would be secure, the assassin would have to get back to the gate and open it, allowing the group and the sorcerer to storm inside. As soon as they’d be in, he’d get out and place as many traps as possible before the reinforcements from the second village would get close, then he’d need to get back in, close and hold the gate against them until the group would capture the general. On the other side of the fortress, the ranger would have a similar task, holding off the reinforcements from the first village as they’d attempt to climb the treacherous slope, seeing as they couldn’t use the tunnel anymore. Inside the fortress, the sorcerer would make his way down some ancient tunnel or find some way to draw the ancient force to him, constantly keeping it occupied. This would allow the group to advance inside the fortress, battling the soldiers and other lesser creatures currently stationed there, until they’d reach and capture the general, commanding him to order the ancient force to back off and let the players take him away.