The Death of Solo Play

The Death of Solo Play

Please critique this and let me know if any of it makes sense.

Dungeons and raids are not my thing anymore. And yes, I was a strong participant in dungeon and raid guilds for many successful years that go back to the original Molten Core. So I've been around a long time. I hung up my raiding spikes not long after Mists of Pandaria came out. I was burned out.

I am primarily a solo player now. I love to level characters, work on my professions, take part in world quests, and the many other ways to play the game. That is what I love about Warcraft - there are as many ways to play the game as there are people playing it.

So it saddens me when I'm told that I am not allowed to do something that I should in this amazing world. Specifically, in the Legion expansion, Blizzard laid down rules that force players into dungeons in order complete content or be forced to abandon content that cannot be completed without dungeon runs. Blizzard bluntly states, "Run dungeons or you will never finish your professions or fly in Legion". Why would Blizzard alienate so many players this way?

Rather than just complain, I'd like to offer a suggestion that I hope Blizzard will consider seriously. First, did you know that Blizzard already has two types of solo dungeon play?

(1) "Proving Grounds" were an idea developed in the Pandaria expansion. They were described as "a solo PVE instanced area where players will be able to challenge themselves to accomplish role specific objectives."  Essentially, one real player with four non-player allies go against a dungeon. Would that work as is? Not alone, but at least there's a framework in place.

(2) How about something more recent? My druid, Sista, recently opened the staged quest "Cleansing the Mother Tree." Sista and four non-player characters (each of which have roles mirroring real players) battle evil in three stages. Turn "stages" to rooms, halls, etc, and we are looking at a single player dungeon.

(3) What about the loot in single player mode? Most of us solo players would be happy accepting lesser gear and goodies from a single player dungeon. We aren't after your loot, we just want to be able to complete our solo objectives. By allowing this, regular dungeons will remain exactly as they are.

(4) Here's the kicker. Developing single player dungeons is doable, if that is what it takes. But really, that isn't even the issue.

The Real Issue: Eliminate the stupid rules mandating dungeon runs and this whole thing just blows away. 

And that is what I hope for in the next patch.