[QUOTE=I'm my own MILF;2789487] Being in a party should also make life easier than soloing, and faster too, but I'm simply arguing - as others seem to be - that soloing should be possible even if it isn't the most efficient.

Total agreement. This is where FFXI is now, though I think the solo opportunities could still be far more robust. I'm happy as long as it's not the sole option. You could argue that in WoW you have a choice to party, but the mere option of soloing all of your levels makes it the default choice and nearly eradicates party play from the game.

However, I don't agree that because someone likes to solo, they should play games other than MMO. I can't think of terribly many games I enjoy as much as playing WoW, even alone. I like going out into the wilds and yadda yadda explore, but when I come back into a city I like to see it alive. I like to see people coming and going and etc.
I can respect that. I was just saying that you could save yourself some money, but I enjoyed playing WoW solo (or duo with my wife) quite a bit and I like the fact that it's a living breathing world with people coming and going.

I'm not saying stay away from MMOs altogether, but that I hope (selfishly) that FFXIV doesn't cater to your type. There will be other MMOs (almost all of them) that will. I hope that FFXIV maintains some uniqueness while learning from the mistakes of FFXI. What FFXI did right above all was being individual. Virtually every MMO in existence is a WoW clone. Change the formula I say.

When I'd had my fill with FFXI and was disgusted with it, I moved to WoW and loved it. Other than the problems I've already mentioned, community is very different in a game like WoW. In FFXI you might have partied with someone in the Dunes only to see them big and grown up later. You forge longer relationship with the entirety of the community. People all interact in a much bigger way than in WoW and this really gives a different scope.

Through word of mouth you know the top tier crafters. You know the people famous for leading certain linkshells. There is literal awe when certain people walk by... it's not because of their Tier X epics. It's because of their name. Likewise, people become notorious. People know to avoid them. As much as the endgame of FFXI is stupid (camping HNM pops) you get to know all of the top players that way. You're actually there going against them and watching them.

It's really akin to someone on your WoW server getting a Legendary item, but on a much larger scale with many more people. All these years later I can still tell you who are some of the top Goldsmiths, Clothcrafters and Bonecrafters. I can tell you many of the small handful of people who have fully upgraded relics. You can tell me a job class and I can probably tell you details about the top person in that job on the server or many anecdotes about different people of that class as I went.

In WoW, my knowledge was mostly within my guild. We knew of the other guilds. We talked with them, but it was less intimate. The guild was an island in the game and largely self contained. There is something to be said for that, but in the long run it didn't lead to the same types of memories.