Why solo when party play is clearly more beneficial?

Party play rewards faster exp rate and better drops, making solo not rewarding at all, imo.

so who is gonna make the post "FFA loot makes this game single player only."

I think the general theme is, whatever GGG does people will assume the extreme. Relax, I play mostly solo and I do just fine but people who enjoy partying get the benefits that come along with it. Both seem pretty good atm.

That's just you doing fine, not me.

Why I usually play solo:

Better framerate, less desync, more drops per player (and no fighting about who gets them), not much less xp with the new system and being able to go at my own pace compensates for it anyway, more rewarding when you know you did it yourself and no one carried you through.

There are pros and cons for both, I just stated those to give the other side.

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Dakaa wrote:

that's just you doing fine, not me.

If you make a good build and play it right, it will do just fine. If it doesn't do just fine unless you have someone else to carry you, then tbh that's an argument in favor of solo play, as it evidently helped show you the weak points in your build (which you might not have noticed with other people around to save you).

gotta say i find this extremely close minded. one of the reasons i was attracted to this game is the "play it your way" vibe i get from all the players. doing something outside the norm is encouraged and supported by not just the players, but the devs.

to say that someone else is playing the game WRONG is just a really sad thing to see.

There are multiple reasons that I don't like to group. I have a small child to look after, I'm on-call pretty much 24/7, and I take frequent smoke breaks - all of which lead to me being AFK about half the time.

Not that FFA loot bothers me, because it doesn't affect me since I don't group. I generally like to drive myself into a coma when I have the chance and just kill hordes of monsters at my own pace while reading the forums and chatting in general.

Having played MMOs since text-based MUDs I've come to find that not everything is about min/maxing - when I was playing like that I enjoyed games less and found myself coming home only to have to work a second job in calculations and keeping up with everyone else.

Regardless of how people play, as long as they have fun then that's all that matters.

Not only do I play odd and irregular hours, but I play at a rather slow pace. Between the inevitable looting hassles and rush pace of pugs (pickup up groups - public teams - whatever) its just not for me. If the game ever becomes such that party play is neigh mandatory due to being far superior (or even required for some storyline maps) I'll be first among those headed elsewhere.

In the end though, its my choice. I'm somewhat of an anti-social introvert by nature and life has taught me to not give out my trust easily. So psychologically, solo play is far more satisfying, fun, and relaxing for me.

Soloing works for me as I read/listen to the quest/mission events. Gives me the freedom
to get something done around the house in between completed events. I also care for a
few pets and, like children, require their parent.

I will try PUGs in hope of meeting a couple other laid back gamers and make a couple friends.
Else I'll just rely on the few guild members who plan to play and hang out with them.

I disagree. Soloing is very rewarding for some people. Playing at your own pace and getting any and all of the good loot that drops is awesome. If you think that you can't get a lot of good loot solo then I don't think you have ever maximized your rarity/quantity before.

Experience gain per player is identical in groups, loot drops per player are inferior in groups, total loot drops per area are superior in groups.

Other factors (killspeed, loot use efficiency, aggro division etc) are situational and cant be claimed to be outright better for either.