@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_AlanG @ZOS_TristanK @ZOS_UlyssesW @ZOS_CarolusS @ZOS_AmeliaR @‌ZOS_GaryA

(Disclaimer! I am not a true solo player, as I enjoy a doing dungeons and raids and have been in a few top progression guilds in my time. With that said, I do prefer to solo normal quests. I don't want to waste my time or somebody else's trying to find a group, making the group wait when one of us has to go back to town, or generally just getting in each other's way. In other words, I like to be able to login and just have some fun. As anyone who has ever organized a raid knows how hard it can be to work around everyone's schedule and find a few hours that's good for everyone to get together. Trying to do that kind of scheduling with something that's going to take days, weeks, or even months like leveling does is insane, and that time will only increase as more group quests content is added.)

I want to start off by listing some of the most common reasons people give against more solo play. Note I will not be going into the one about how many people came from the elder scrolls single player games, as it's pretty self-explanatory and has been talked to death.

1.) It's an MMO: Okay sure it's an MMO, but what does that mean? This one is a weak argument because it means something different to everyone who uses the phrase. The only thing people can agree on is that it means lots of people can occupy the same game space. So at the end of the day, it's really a non-argument, and if we want to have a real discussion this one needs to be dropped by both sides.

2.) Why don't you just go play a single player game: This argument shows me how people can become lost in their own minds. There are many people who play these games solely for the social interaction, and I can only assume the people who make this argument are among that group. Sometimes in order to understand the other side we have to try to understand their motives and not our own. Single player games tend to end at some point, normally within a window of about 8 to 50 hours of gameplay. MMO's on the other hand, just keep going. So long as people keep paying their subscriptions, the company keeps pumping out new content. Seeing as how people will pay $15-$20 to get just a few extra hours of gameplay from the DLC on their single player games, it suddenly starts to make a lot of sense why solo players would be attracted to MMO's. Their adventures never have to end!
3.) If you don't like it just quit: This argument isn't good for anyone! The more people who quit the less money ZOS makes, the less money ZOS makes the slower content comes out, the slower content comes out more people leave, more people leave ZOS makes less money, ZOS makes less money….. I think you guys see where this is going. Now I'm not being all doom and gloom with this, I'm not saying the games going free to play tomorrow, what I am saying is that if people just start leaving, without new ones taking their place it will begin the slow burn process that I've seen in many MMO's. An MMO is a capitalist endeavor and it needs to make money to survive.

Now that we have seen some of the reasons people use against solo content why don't we take a look at some of the reasons why people want solo content.

1.) The adventure never ends: As I said before pretty much any solo game has an ending. Maybe the game has multiple paths so they can go back and replay it, but they are really just replaying the same game. In the MMO model however the developers are constantly pumping out new content. Your hero story is never over!

2.) Solo players pay the bills: I don't know how true this is. I haven't seen statistics on what percentage of the player base are Solo and what percentage are Raiders and what percentage are PVPer, so I can't really say that solo players are pumping the most amount of money and the game. With that said they do pay part of it, every player you see posting on the forms asking for solo content is putting money into the game so there's no reason that they shouldn't have a voice. As to how big of a voice will that's kind of up to ZOS. Maybe one day they'll release the statistics for us and we will be able to know for sure. Until then, however, this should be a non-argument because we just don't have the numbers, but solo players, or for that matter any player who is paying their subscription should have a voice.

3.) I just don't have the time: As I said before in my disclaimer it can be difficult and time-consuming to organize groups. Some of the people who play this game have full-time jobs and families so they just don't have the time to play for hours. What time they do have they want to be able to enjoy themselves and have something to do. I see absolutely no reason that there shouldn't be something for these people to do. A way of progressing, obviously at a much lower rate than those who played more often, but nonetheless they shouldn't have to spend all their time forming a group just have to log off. After all, they are paying for the game to.

So how do we solve all this, what’s the answer? Will fortunately we don't have to look too far, MMO's have been working towards a reasonable answer that seems to work for years now. Bit by bit game by game we've seen more solo type content come in, as well as ways to work it with the current model of raiding, and PVP.

1.) The first step is daily. Dailies, are great way for solo players to continue to progress. Whereas raiding and PVP give gear, dailies tend to give the most gold. Furthermore in a game like ESO having scaled dailies for people in VR would allow them an alternative to leveling by group content. I know dailies aren't the most interesting thing, but thankfully most solo players are really just looking for way to be able to progress, and it wouldn't bother them too much doing the same quest every day if it meant they could level solo.

2.) The second step is buying and selling end game gear: There are a few games that have started to do this on one level or another. For instance, in Star Wars the Old Republic Raiders have the ability to learn how to craft end game gear that they can then sell to anyone. This actually makes for a more realistic marketplace. The Raiders go into their raids and gear up their team, then once everyone has what they need they start selling the extra, the guys who do dailies and have all the gold by them so they can progress their gear. Right around the time the market starts to become saturated with end game gear a new raid comes out, and the process starts all over again. By doing this Raiders get to make money and solo players are able to progress their gear. It's a win-win.

Anyway I hope this helps people see why someone would want more solo play as well as hopefully being helpful and way to solve the issue. Thanks for taking the time to read this.