http://vnboards.ign.com/EQ2_General_Board/b22210/79931942/p1/
This is a really well-debated thread on the subject of soloing - and lots of other related stuff. I was very impressed by it.
Another thing that impressed me was that it went on for a whole, long page before someone broke down, got rude and flamed. Something we could learn here ("we" includes me - I'm guilty of being thin-skinned myself). I sure hope we can debate things here more maturely. In case you don't understand what I'm talking about, let me outline it here. Poster one says, "Gosh, I find myself having to solo more and more, but it's getting harder and is such a grind. Why doesn't Sony fix this?" Flamer comes on and says, "Gee, maybe becasue Sony built this mmo to be a GROUP game (they said so a million times) - after all why would anyone play an mmo and just solo - you do know what mmo means, right?" Or something like that. See, if we were arguing face to face, a person would never flame me like that. Why? Cuz I'd pop them in your mouth so hard they'd be poopin out teeth the next six months. But here, in the anonymous world of internet posting, our chickens*** nature tends to come out - and too many of us (me too sometimes - I'm as guilty as anyone) - like to play the snivelling little "ambush your neighbor game" (hey, there's no pvp in eq2, so we do it here w/ flames...?). Well, imo a mature and caring person would respond to someone carping about soloing problems with "Have you mastered the basics of soloing - there are some tricks to it - here they are. And if that doesn't work for you, maybe give WoW a try - it's made for soloing. I'm sorry for you that eQ2 isn't a great soloing game. I know it's so appealing in other ways. Best of luck figuring this out." Well, I guess I'm asking for too much here. I fully expect to be flamed for being an idiot even positing this (let's see, is it gonna be: (a) "gee you must not have a life if you rant like this in Alla" (b) "are you telling me other threads are better than our threads? Why don't you quit here and go THERE you jerk?" (c) "Why are you still talking about soloing in any way, shape or form, whiner - eq2 is not a soloing game, so get over it!" or (d) "all of the above?" Oh, or will I be ripped a new one for some issue of grammar or spelling? Sigh.
Well, the soloing issues as stated on that thread are, again, very well done imo. I hope people will read it - and I hope it will elevate our debate on the subject here. Those guys have made points I've been trying to make, only they hit the nail on the head in a way that's been eluding my limited abilities. Thanks much.