He who plays solo.

[SotekOne]

I was wondering, how do you people perceive the role of the solo-man in Xsyon? IS there a place for the solo-player in this game?

My plan as a solo-player was to find a piece of land high up in the mountains or deep in the forest, far away from the big tribes. There I would do my thing, and once in a while wander into a village to trade my products. I have tried this the last week, and it does not work. Why?
- there are no secluded far away pieces of land... the map is not that big, and you run into campfires and tents everywhere. I wonder what will happen at launch, if more people join. Could become crowded?
- junk piles. You can't live without them. There are quite a few big ones, and the big tribes have gathered around them. I have found only 2 or 3 little junkpiles in the wild where a soloplayer could feed from.
- you could argue that the pvp would be a problem too. After all, a single juicy target with no tribe to back him up sounds like a perfect target. Could be...

So, the way I envisioned soloing is near impossible. Now I wonder how you guys think about the art of soloing in Xsyon. Can it be done? Should it be done? Will it be done?

[Larsa]

I was wondering, how do you people perceive the role of the solo-man in Xsyon? IS there a place for the solo-player in this game?

My plan as a solo-player was to find a piece of land high up in the mountains or deep in the forest, far away from the big tribes. There I would do my thing, and once in a while wander into a village to trade my products. I have tried this the last week, and it does not work. Why?
- there are no secluded far away pieces of land... the map is not that big, and you run into campfires and tents everywhere. I wonder what will happen at launch, if more people join. Could become crowded?
- junk piles. You can't live without them. There are quite a few big ones, and the big tribes have gathered around them. I have found only 2 or 3 little junkpiles in the wild where a soloplayer could feed from.
- you could argue that the pvp would be a problem too. After all, a single juicy target with no tribe to back him up sounds like a perfect target. Could be...

So, the way I envisioned soloing is near impossible. Now I wonder how you guys think about the art of soloing in Xsyon. Can it be done? Should it be done? Will it be done?People will try, but realistically, soloing as good or neutral player is no option in Xsyon. I believe there are mainly two reasons for that:

1. You'll spend most of your time outside your safe zone. There are a lot of players that will kill every player-controlled pixel whenever they can.
2. There's nothing in the mountains that the people at the junk piles need. Therefore you have nothing that could be used to trade against stuff made from junk piles.

You can have some modest success as solo or small-squad player killer though. Go around and kill gatherers or crafters and loot them dry as much as you can carry. When you're encumbered you attack someone and let him kill you. Sure, you might lose a bit of what you got in the other fights but with the rest of what you gained you get an instant free ride back to your home base.

[neestas]

1. You'll spend most of your time outside your safe zone. There are a lot of players that will kill every player-controlled pixel whenever they can.

Doesn't make game unplayable solo. Challenging? Yes. And quite fun at that.


2. There's nothing in the mountains that the people at the junk piles need. Therefore you have nothing that could be used to trade against stuff made from junk piles.

Obsidian, for example.
There are some remote scrap piles as well, or at least scrap piles located where medium-large tribes will not settle due to ammount of land available. Admitedly those are rare and hence have quite a few soloers moving onto them. Which in return causes some fights and usually ends up in small coops or even small tribes.

[Phayz]

Additionally most of the animals will be in the hills so to speak, bones and hides will be in demand, chalk, and who knows what lies in the furture
I intend to solo myself, but not terribly far away from civilization, to trade etc...

should be fun, a achallenge for sure, but worth a shot, if it doesn't work out, I am sure there will be a tribe somewhere for me

[Trigun]

i don't understand... why play a mmo if u wanna play in solo? just play in a singleplayer game offline and u solved all problem...

[Phayz]

Just because you choose to play as a soloer, does not mean you do not interact with the community for trade, alliances etc..If i wanted to play a single player game I would. I want to play in this particular MMO as a solo survivalist, not really unreasonable, and as I said, community interaction is still important.

I know it's hard to understand, but don;t worry, it's my dime

[SpeechMan]

I'm hoping that by the moment junk piles get exhausted there will be mining implemented. This would mean that the areas around the lake lose their value and mountain areas with lots of ore available become the new "junk piles". This will be a very interesting scenario, since the big tribes have already put a lot of effort into building their towns near junk piles. Maybe there will be some tribes splitted into lowland and highland branches, or maybe some interesting alliances.

Personally, I play solo near the lake, I managed to get a nice enough spot for my homestead on some unclaimed junk piles. True, gathering was and will be exiting and dangerous, having to constantly look around for PKers and be ready to run back to safety. Time will tell what I'll do after the junk piles are exhausted, maybe I'll pack up my stuff and head to the mountains.

[Jasdemi]

i don't understand... why play a mmo if u wanna play in solo? just play in a singleplayer game offline and u solved all problem...
Sorry for not playing a sandbox MMORPG not like you.

[Risk]

HAHAHA...looks at your join dates...

Whats the new term? Hermit? Prefered Loner....

Whats wrong with this...I just hit Suppior in Leather....aye were gunna get wiped but I;ll still out beat ya on the list...

[Bridger]

I would say that the lone player might not be viable early on in the game. But we know that 'the world' will be expanding as The Green receeds. As that happens, 'the rugged individualist' might become more viable. The large, established tribes probably won't want to pick up and move - not once they've begun to establish their infrastructure. (Some will, but I doubt all.) So that will leave all that new, unoccupied territory open to a new generation of Mountain Men - solo-ists who can easily pack up and move once civilization begins to encroach. Just as it happened in the real world.

[Africanus]

I am much of a mind as the OP. Solo play in a secluded area appeals to me, with the option, as I see fit, to trade/socialize with the outside world as needs dictate.
The game in its current form does not cater to this niche.

How to resolve the situation?

Increase the map size in proportion to cater for all playstyles. Big enough so that the hermits can remove themselves to an area/s that is far enough removed to make the PvP crowd (or Pk'ers) think twice before making and epic(ish) trek for little reward?
Big enough that tribes can remove themselves to an area where their direct neighbour is not in plain line of sight or just over the hill.

Workable enough that PvP'ers have reasonable access to others of like mind?

[Bridger]

Africanus - the map will be expanding. Eventually. That's already been stated. If you run out to the edge of The Green - before you get to the point where it becomes too dense and opaque to see in more than a few feet - you can see there's already lots more map out there already.

Perhaps part of the intention of Prelude is to get the civilization anchor established as a base for folks to strike out from into newly revealed territory once it becomes available?

[mgilbrtsn]

Don't worry about how much land space there is currently. They plan on expanding it. Should be pretty good for solo'ers. Most of the tribes will be established, and won't wanna move. This way there should be a nice frontier for the solo player to have his relatively isolated camp.

[BigCountry]

You can play solo but it will not be easy. Just make sure you realize what your getting into.

[SotekOne]

i don't understand... why play a mmo if u wanna play in solo? just play in a singleplayer game offline and u solved all problem...

I prefer to be flexible and independent. IF i would join a tribe, it would be as a scout/messenger/explorer/hunter/trader-type. And there is not a lot of demand for those at the moment.

[Chevron]

I disagree with op that the world is to small and that you cannot find a secluded spot...even with a junk pile.

Explore more because i have mapped several spots with no tribe in the vicinity wait out in the boonies of the forest with small junk piles there for the taking. It did take roughly 6 hours of running around to find these spots and i have not even dented the "Hermit Areas" yet.

On my own i have managed to set up my baskets...build camp fire and place a tepee along with crafting a set of weak armor. I am working on the walls.

[blackzilla]

Playing solo is perfectly fine in this game.

[SotekOne]

I disagree with op that the world is to small and that you cannot find a secluded spot...even with a junk pile.

Explore more because i have mapped several spots with no tribe in the vicinity wait out in the boonies of the forest with small junk piles there for the taking. It did take roughly 6 hours of running around to find these spots and i have not even dented the "Hermit Areas" yet.


Could be I am just unlucky. In all my hours of exploring out in the mountains (+/- 15) I have not seen a bear either, for example. But judging by the number of people I have seen deep in the wilderness and on the edges of the map, I really think the current map is pretty busy. And after the 15th, when all the positive feedback about the game goes out and hordes of new players come storming in...

[Ashfield212]

I fail to understand why soloing, currently, is considered by the majority as hard. Since I pre-ordered Xyson, all I've done is solo - I don't know any different and I wouldn't have it any other way.

When I establish a place to call home, I'm sure to note down surrounding tribes/communities, if I'm in dire need of a tool for example, I'll put the word out I'm looking to trade. I don't distance myself too far away from existing tribes, I just choose not to be part of one.

There seems to be a stigma attached to soloing, like it's not beneficial or productive in some way, personally I don't believe this to be the case.

[Asmodeous]

I think it's primarily due to the fact that it's very hard to get initial establishment, especially in comparison to a handful of people (and by handful I really mean enough to have each set of starter tools). That's the only place it's hard, though. Once you get enough needed goods (especially obsidian and chalk, for instance) to trade for the tools you need to really get started, though, the extended difficulty curve is levelled out abruptly, since you have much smaller resource consumption need than a group.

I think they did a pretty good job balancing it out in my short time of playing the prelude. (I've only been back for a week or so, so I could be wrong).

[Trigun]

bah i think solo can't be done in a world after an apocalipse...
when i see this game i see a lot of the genesis of shannara ^^
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armageddon%27s_Children
a world destroyed by wars with a few people and a lot of mutant/monster where the survivors make fortress for survive vs enemy and people alone can't survive a long time
a world with no tecnology but with a lot of "old items" like cars / electrics weapon etc (but 99% of this don't works :P)

[Ashanti]

Greetings Homesteaders,

Recently The Nomads have had a number of potential homesteaders PM me regarding their "solo" concerns. Knowing that The Nomads are free-spirit wanderers who are perfectly suited to the "solo" and "casual" play style because " we do what we want, whenever we want, and however we want, they contacted us to get more information.

I've sent this reply to several, and I would like to copy/paste it here in hopes that it will appeal to some of you with similar concerns. If reading this sparks your interest, you can read more about The Nomads in the Tribal Recruitment section of this website. A few of you have already joined us, and we would like to extend an invitation to the rest of you. If ultimately you find that The Nomads fit your needs, please register by posting into our Nomad Recruitment thread at www.nomadsofxsyon.com. Hope to see you there :)

"The Nomads are a neutral tribe who aims to be friendly to all people who do not wish us harm or ill will. We welcome homesteaders who wish to settle near us and affiliate with the the Nomad Empire. Having said that, you
are right to be concerned about roaming the dangerous land of Xsyon without totem protection.

I don't know if you've read our tribe recruitment post, but many in the Nomad tribe are just like you. Players
with a tendency to want to go at it alone. The Nomads are a tribe that is perfectly suited for the solo and casual play style. Everything that would be available to you as a homesteader, is available to you as a Nomad, and more!

Our vision is to give every Nomad their own strip of land where they can build their home and do with it as they wish. Furthermore, you can stay in your strip and be left alone to do what you want, when you want, and however you want to do it. Obviously, that will not happen over night. We have to build our foundation first, meaning grow our empire, before we can gain these wonderful benefits. But make no mistake about it, it will happen, and wouldn't it be satisfying to know that you were a part of making it happen from the very beginning?

In short, we do not place restrictions, or pigeon-hole our membership into doing things they don't want to do. Although we will welcome you as a Nomad affiliate, we would love to have you join us as we strive to build a great Nomad empire. Go in peace and see you in world soon"

Ashanti
Creed Guardian
Nomads of Xsyon

[bruisie159]

It is possible to solo, you will need to trade with others or, like someone else said steal maybe. I have been playing solo most of the time and intend to after launch. You can follow the story here - http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/2843-The-begining-or-the-end
I will write the story based on real events daily as they happen after final final wipe.

[shukes]

i don't understand... why play a mmo if u wanna play in solo? just play in a singleplayer game offline and u solved all problem...

If you need to ask this question friend then there is no point answering....simple fact is you will just never get it :)

[MrKrueak]

If you need to ask this question friend then there is no point answering....simple fact is you will just never get it :)

but but but i don't understand why he don't understand.

argh

man i'm so confused!

[ifireallymust]

It is really difficult to get established, as someone already said (especially if you don't take the easy, cheater way out). But once you're set up with basic tools and storage, you can leave your area. If you want to stand a good chance against the pesky solo pvpers, you can stick around one spot awhile longer and get some armor, maybe a good offhand weapon.

After that, you're free to die however you happen to die out in the cold, cruel world, as long as you never carry anything on you that you can't replace. Now you can explore, find chalk, obsidian, flint, basalt, travel around and trade, secure in the knowledge that if you do fall prey to a pker, you can quickly regather and remake what you need. But those first days, maybe even a week or so, depending on time played and luck of the recipe rng, are tough and require some serious patience!

[FabricSoftener]

It is really difficult to get established, as someone already said (especially if you don't take the easy, cheater way out). But once you're set up with basic tools and storage, you can leave your area. If you want to stand a good chance against the pesky solo pvpers, you can stick around one spot awhile longer and get some armor, maybe a good offhand weapon.

After that, you're free to die however you happen to die out in the cold, cruel world, as long as you never carry anything on you that you can't replace. Now you can explore, find chalk, obsidian, flint, basalt, travel around and trade, secure in the knowledge that if you do fall prey to a pker, you can quickly regather and remake what you need. But those first days, maybe even a week or so, depending on time played and luck of the recipe rng, are tough and require some serious patience!

you can have a hidden basket at every junk yard and trading center.
I like the idea, I am very tempted to play that way myself but I decided to go the 'team player' route and help build a village. I very well might go loner for a few months though if I play long term

[Dontaze_Mebro]

Playing solo in a sandbox is basically playing the game on "Hard" mode.

[jumpshot]

2. There's nothing in the mountains that the people at the junk piles need. Therefore you have nothing that could be used to trade against stuff made from junk piles.



I believe finding wildlife will be easier for people who aren't filthy zergers. So maybe that'll come into play.

[ifireallymust]

you can have a hidden basket at every junk yard and trading center.
I like the idea, I am very tempted to play that way myself but I decided to go the 'team player' route and help build a village. I very well might go loner for a few months though if I play long term

I kind of like the idea of being a travelling merchant, I figure at first I'll just be easy PKer bait, but after awhile all that running should build up some skills, and some speed. And if mounts/carts/pack mules and such are ever introduced, that could be really fun for a trader to figure out the best way to go about it.