Thinking of buying WoW, need some advice...

[KingPenguin]

Howdy, this is my first post, and I was wondering if someone would help me out. I've played EQ for a while and loved it... untill it got to the point that if you wanted to progress in anything (getting new spells, items, lvls, ect) you had to do raids/mass groups. I enjoyed getting on and going solo or going out with a friend and that's it...

I guess my question is: how far can you go level wise by solo-ing or playing with one or two friends? Will the story line quests be mainly group oriented?

If anyone would fill me in, I would appreciate it.
Thanks!

[Mallstrop]

Solo play is the main way of leveling up to 70.

I normally do it all solo but have also done it with groups of 2 which worked quite well if your classes work well together.

[Marlous]

There are some quests that require you to go inside an instance, which can be a bother if you rather play solo. Especially some class and profession quests need you to go in there, so you might be faced with having to group up.

For the rest, you can do almost everything solo or with another person. I dare say you can even reach 70 that way, although I'm not entirely sure.

[Erinion]

You can easily reach lvl 70 as a solo player.

[Khab]

I solo a lot of the time but I do group for some quests if there happens to be people around. Find a good supportive guild when you've gotten a feel for the game.

[moopy]

Almost everyone starts off as a solo player, until they find people they enjoy playing with.

God, that sounded filthy.

Anyway, don't worry, there's always plenty to do, the game is huge, and as you level up, things like guilds happen, your friend list grows and so forth. While the multiplayer aspect is the most fun of all, there's plenty that you can do ungrouped, or with a friend or two.

[Tikki]

Hi KingP! Welcome to the boards!

Soloing is how most people do it! The majority of the quests are designed to be completed by one person. Occasionally you'll get a quest that requires a group, but those are few and far between. A lot of people (like myself), quest and level together with someone! That also works well with the structure of the game play.

Like the others said, you'll meet a lot of people inside the game. By meeting people you'll be able to experience different aspects of the game which often require more than one person- such as the dungeons. Low level dungeons can often be completed by one or two people who are much much higher than that dungeon. While it doesn't yield much experience (which is needed to level), it is a break from the regular questing play, offers you a chance to pick up some items to sell, and is super duper depooper fun!

All in all- WoW offers a game with multidimensional play. You can play alone, with another person, or in a group. You're the one that decides how you want to play! And no game play style takes away from leveling :)

And moopy...our sick minds are corrupting you!! Muuahahahahahaha!

[Zendarin]

I played EQ for several years and faced the same problem - grouping was mandatory from about lvl 40 on for me and with my odd hours it was hard finding a decent group. I started with the free trial for WOW after holding out for a long long time and I was hooked within the first hour - it was SOOOOOO much better.

I now have a lvl 55 mage almost ready to ding 56 and I have solo'ed the entire way except for 2 dungeons that I did between 20-30.

At lvl 55 soloing playing about 2-3 hours a night I typically gain a level every other day and that is with taking time out to work on professions/tradeskills.

Not only that but I VERY rarely ever die and if you do die there is NO experience loss. The worst that happens is you take some damage to your gear and have to pay for the repairs and lose maybe 10 minutes of play time. Paying the repair cost is negligible as you make that money back usually within a few minutes of game play.

The quest chains and story line are engaging and the game play is miles beyond EQ.

Welcome to WOW and to the forums - I am sure you are going to have a blast :)

[Jekk]

WoW is great for this, actually. You can solo, or play with a few people. It gives a lot of options, which is the reason it's one of the top online games. :D I recommend getting it.

[piscene]

Welcome to WoW!

I hit lvl 66 today, and I have spent a total of maybe 2 hours in that time playing with others. I prefer the solo play, and that's what I do. Others prefer playing in groups, and you can go through the whole game like that too.

[wowarr]

worst thing you will ever do. but i love the game

[thorleader]

Almost everyone starts off as a solo player, until they find people they enjoy playing with.

God, that sounded filthy.

Anyway, don't worry, there's always plenty to do, the game is huge, and as you level up, things like guilds happen, your friend list grows and so forth. While the multiplayer aspect is the most fun of all, there's plenty that you can do ungrouped, or with a friend or two.

you are filthy... jkjk
but yes the game was (i think im getting the essence of a designers quote but im not sure) so that you can start solo, and slowly get nudged into being social things, but it is made easy to get to the level cap by going solo

[wyren]

Play a warlock, druid or hunter and you can pretty much solo anywhere to level 70. WOW's greatest strength though is someone is always on. Even at 0400 in the morning there are people you can ask advice from or group with if you need the help. There is a server specific economy that you can participate in as actively as you want.

[thorleader]

your from dalas and you talk in 24 hour clock? and if it is 0400 do you still have to say in the morning (not a critisism! just curious)

[wyren]

6 years in the army, 2 as security officer and 3 as a nurse gets you in the habit. It helps when dealing with people who are not used to 24 hour clock to still say morning night even though it is redundant.

[thorleader]

thank you.

[Successful]

Questing
Most of the quests that you do will be solo. There might be a few quests that will require 2 - 3 but you can easily try soloing them or abandoning them. Most of the quests that require groups can easily be soloed with a hunter. Once you get into the 70s you might find some quests that will require 5 people in a group. Most of the time, you WILL have to find a group for these quests. BUT! if you really hate grouping with other people you can just "Abandon" the quest. I don't think you will find more then 20 grouping quests throughout the game.

Instances
Instances are Dungeons where you and a group of 4 other people run for new gear/weapons. You are not required to do instances in the game. Though instances are perfect if you do not have a lot of money for new armor/weapons. Some quests might require you to go into specific dungeon to kill something. You can easily avoid these quests but I wouldn't recommend it. They usually give good XP and sometimes a new piece of armor.

Raids or PVP
Once you hit 70 and play for a while you will notice to get bored because there is nothing left to do. You have two choices to pick from.

Choice 1 -RAIDING-)
This is similar to EQ. Though raiding does not give you new skills. Raiding is for people who dislike PVP(Player vs Player) but prefer PVE(Player vs Environment).

Choice 2 -PVP/ARENA-
PVP
Gear can also be obtained by playing PVP. Every Kill/Win/Capture you will get honor points. If you get a specific amount of honor points you will be able to buy gear with it. PVP requires team work to win but most of the people don't work as a team anyway.
Arena
Playing Arena will give you better gear but will take longer to get. You will have to find people to fill the spots depending on which arena team you create (2v2, 3v3, 5v5). Once you have enough people in your Arena team you queue up and go against another team. You keep doing that until you get enough Arena points for a certain armor piece/weapon. This takes a lot of skills and tactics to win.

Overall, there will be a lot of solo play until 70. When you get to 70 you will probably be forced to play with groups.