The Soloist
Back when I started playing World of Warcraft, leaving Final Fantasy XI and all that I knew behind, I did a lot of things solo. My first character was a Hunter and it helped quite a bit during my time of leveling alone. I wanted to solo because in FFXI, I couldn’t do much by myself. However, as I played I eventually made friends and by the time my Hunter got close to 60, I was doing quite a bit of dungeon runs with them.
Fast forward to the release of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. By this time the friendships I made were cemented. I did a lot of things with my friends, mainly more dungeon runs and especially in heroic mode. As the latest expansion matured, my friends and I continued to do quite a bit of stuff and I had focused solely on my Warrior (my Hunter was decommissioned just as The Burning Crusade expansion launched). Now, as I play my Paladin more, I haven’t had the opportunity to do many of the higher end dungeons with him due to my change in play schedule. So, now there’s a great departure between what I do with my Warrior, who sees far more instance runs (and some raid content) and my Paladin, who is mainly involved in rep farming and player versus player.
The big difference between the two are, of course, the gear discrepancy. I have had a far easier time doing PvP (focused on Battlegrounds) with my Warrior because he was raid geared. I do miss grouping with friends, but there’s something serene and free with soloing. I’m guessing the experience is softened by the fact I need to do dailies with my Paladin to raise rep levels so obtaining gold is a non-issue, which has allowed me to acquire a few smattering of gear and help me with my character’s profession.
All in all, this recent experience further justifies my switch from other MMORPGs and my continued return to WoW because it is quite accessible for all types of play.
