Feel like its often been some reoccurring theme in discussion that diablo is supposedly multiplayer and you should play it as such. Why don’t you is there something wrong with you? So thought I would list some reason I don’t usually like to in the thread but also leave option for others to list or discuss their reasons.
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Is there personal loot? I heard there is supposedly personal loot in diablo IV opposed to Diablo II resurrected, its sometimes deal breaker for me if there isn’t less I play with friends or just join for leveling. Why? because it just feels to unenjoyable to scout ground contently and having the the speedy click content over the items which drop, even more so if some make use of unfair external means to do this quicker than others.
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Toxic players. Not really sure how much it really needs explaining, but usually players who are extremely difficult to be around. The ME ME ME’s, the unwanted backseating expert coaching, players who generally have a really foul mouth when saying anything during the session etc…
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Friends over PUGs. Usually at least for me it feels natural to want to play with people you know foremost, mainly because it often lead to better experiences, where you could exchange item other doesn’t need between you with no problems, have a very laid back experience without the uncertainty that comes with playing with people you don’t know.
For some it may not be any big deal but if you’re example Neurodivergent for some it can be exhausting at times to deal with complete strangers, which I personally am myself. That is of course not anyone else fault, except if you’re being very toxic and attribute to that.
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Sometimes just nice to be alone. Playing by yourself not really having to worry about anything or delivering any unwritten expectations, not feeling like you’re the host or being the guest at some happening.
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Teleport. Feel like in diablo II it makes playing together really sporadic if everyone or portion uses it to move as a group, not sure if its going to be an issue in Diablo IV or not.
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I’m not generally opposed to playing with other people, but I end up playing solo in nearly all games. I do like seeing others in the world though, and having the option of interacting with people.
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I tend to hyperfocus and not talk very much when I’m trying to do something in a game (eg. leveling, boss fight, etc.). So I feel awkward (and sometimes bad) in groups, or even with one other person, because I’m not super sociable during those times and feel pressure to be speaking more, or something.
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Given I end up mainly solo, I don’t really come across toxic players. And on the rare occasion I do, I just stop talking to them and move on with life.
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Very rarely do I have friends who play the same games I do. Or, if they do, they don’t play as much or as fast as I do. So, sadly, unless I get friends who want to play the same game, and we all decide to go at the same pace, I end up soloing.
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There is personal loot in D4, so at least there’s that, and if you do group up, you won’t be fighting for drops.
I’m neurodivergent as well as introverted. So between expending energy when around more than one person, being unable to vocalize responses in a timely manner when a bunch of people are talking (leads to vocal ticks and commenting on topics like 5 minutes after others have moved on, because my mind is still holding onto it), and feeling ‘obligated’ to participate; it can be very draining. And it’s the primary reason I tend to not join guilds/clans.
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I have some friends from my old WoW guild that I would play with again if they decide to get the game but honestly so many randoms you meet in games end up being racist or homophobic or just awful that I have shied away from accepting friend requests from people I encounter in other games. I am just very tired of that sort of thing so prefer to play alone and tune people out. I do like games having some sort of chat or with other people around though.
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Dungeon crawlers are ideally coop multiplayer games but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they have to be played multiplayer.
I think the shared open-world is a good compromise though because it makes it easier to find people for the people that do want multiplayer. However, you can also just ignore other people and go do your own thing if that’s your desire. The game should encourage or facilitate multiplayer without making it absolutely mandatory for the people that prefer to play alone. Even multiplayer players prefer to play alone sometimes.
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IRL demands make me a very bad coop player to group with, so I play solo 99.9 % of the time. Enjoyed the zone event a lot because it was spontaneous multiplayer.
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I don’t like grouping with random people and none of my friends IRL have similar tastes in games.
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Don’t like forced grouping to tackle content, none of that in D4 though it seems, will play with friends every now and then but mostly solo, unless they add SSF mode… then that’s where I will be. 
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Oh yeah that is another thing. Not so much because of IRL demands but more so I am the type of person who likes to just suddenly take a break to stretch my legs, get a snack, go for a walk around my garden etc. Also I really hate wearing a headset. I’ve tried different models and even got a really nice one but they always end up hurting my ears if I wear them a long time.
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You nailed almost every single reason that I also have. I myself also prefer to play on my own pace etc. because it is draining for me to try to keep up to other people’s pace and expectations etc. I do like playing with my real life friend in game but in general feel the most relaxed when playing solo.
Also this very much.
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If they followed where I’m going and gradually kill stuff I’d not mind it, BUT, that never happens, whoever gets “in party” just skips everything and does (likely the main elites in the place) at the other side of the dungeon, don’t like that…
I know the games usually tend to be designed that way but don’t like people playing exclusively for loot, IDK but there’s something about it that really turns me off
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I don’t mind playing with others especially for exp buffs but if no matching mechanism in game I tend to not actively look for people.
I don’t enjoy orhers on my screen. Too much stuff going on. I play with my wife but we don’t really group up. My playstyle and hers isn’t complimentary, as is mine and most others. I also don’t have a need to share gaming experiences with other players in games that are SP. MP/team based games are different in that regard and Diablo has always been a SP game that you can group up with others if you want. No time, outside of DI, has Diablo ever required players to group up.
With that, I am fine with the random passerby, local events, and world bosses having other players in the same area.
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Because, that’s what my mother used to tell me over and over. You remember? Why, because, why, because…
At 71 I take frequent breaks, so I like to come and go as required.
Most of you younger folks will understand as you get older and creakier!
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It breaks down to the game I’m playing. They are different reasons entirely. Take Blizzard games:
WoW: Love grouping. Lead pugs all the time when I played. WoW from the beginning was an amazing multiplayer experience. Though got pretty toxic around late WOTLK era (original).
Diablo 3: Hate grouping. Reason: Bots and leeches. Run public bounties for 8 hours and youll find yourself at some point with bots/leeches and end up leaving.
For Diablo 4: Hate multiplayer. 1) Multiplayer layer lag. 2) No Point to it and its forced. Take the multiplayer lag: The methods they are using are not clean like WoW. In WoW, theres alot of smoothing going on you cant see with your eyes which allows players to smoothly enter your layer without lagging your experience whether its frame rate or network latency. If you multibox WoW, you can see some of the smoothing in action on mid-latency servers.
I think the problem is in wow, you are in a layer and never leave that layer outside of zone transfers(elwynn to westfall) which is why WoW is smooth. Where in D4 you are running around in single player, and when you run into the radius of an event, your character seems to get transferred to a multiplayer layer(or a new layer) causing a small hiccup and b/c they are not smoothing the transition, on top of every other player that transfers in, you have to process their entry as well. Some people may not detect any of this lag, but if your a cracked out FPS player or have played MMOs at a high level, you notice the slightest hiccup!
Without multiplayer, D4 would run butter smooth. In areas without multiplayer, Im pegged at 144FPS(nvidia control panel locked there) near events I’ll be 144 until a player has to load and it will drop under 100 for a split second to load them in. Its a flawed system.
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It takes a strong person to read these forums and think “Yeah, playing with these people sounds fun.”
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While I enjoy chatting with others, not really into fighting with others. I like facing challenges alone. Other people just mess up the flow of combat, might trigger objectives while I’m not in exact area etc so it makes it feel like I missed something important (even if it’s a trivial thing).
I want to experience things, and not get rushed along.
As for randoms on my screen, I like to see others that aren’t AI. Don’t want them interfering with my combat, loot, or objectives though.
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People play solo because they want to play theway they want to in the pace they want to. There are times when I play for myself as well and simply need a breake from the people I normaly play with and do stuff on my own and chillax.
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Another big one for me is the thought always in my head that I might be playing with bots.
I stay at home and play games because I dislike going places where there are other people. Why would I want to purposely have to interact with other people in the activity I choose in order to not have to interact with other people?
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I used to enjoy playing with random people.
But then the internet became tool for people to spread disinformation and hatred, and for people to think that they know more and/or are better than everyone else.
This has bred a generations of toxicity.
I also don’t have any IRL gamer friends in this timezone because i moved half way across the world.
So I have to make new online friends, and most end up disappointing as soon as we get in to voice chat, because several years ago someone pathed the way for people to openly share their sexist, racist, homophobic, and other views as if what they believe is fact.
Not only do i not want to hear any of that stuff when I’m trying to play games, it tells me that i don’t want to play games with those people.
This is the main reason that i stopped playing wow, because after 6 years of raiding 1 toxic person got the ear of the gm and got me benched for “not being meta” without any discussion, and every group or guild i tried to get in to was similarly toxic.
So i just play solo, help people that look like they need help in the open worlds, and if i make a new friend along the way, great. But if not, I’m quite content going it alone.
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