In most modern MMOs there's a clear line that separates solo content from group content, with almost all open world levelling content being solo friendy, and groups only being required for instanced dungeons. Sometimes there are zones where groups are recommended, like the hazard zones in City of Heroes where I racked up so many defeats on Time Raider last month, but these can usually be navigated with caution by a soloist, or avoided.
There's good and bad to the solofication of MMOs, and I'm not fully on one side or the other. I used to be very pro-solo, but over the years as various games have actually shifted in that direction I've found that I'm less enthusiastic about the reality of it – at least how it has been implemented – than I was about the idea of it. Some MMOs – World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic immediately come to mind – have become a lot less interesting now that anyone can do anything.
When every location is balanced to be doable by a single character what's lost is the sense of danger, challenge, risk vs reward. The game world also feels less real when no location is more or less dangerous than any other.
By that measure the world of Fallen Earth feels very real.
There were quite a few locations back in Sector One where it was recommended you didn't go in alone – most of which I bypassed on this run, and a few of which (New Toro and the ATV quest in Murphy) where I racked up a number of deaths before overcoming them. These quests were usually placed as a finale, to a town story arc or other long quest arc.
There's a few exceptions to this rule. The bunker above Needle Eye is the location for a number of short quests unconnected to the main story for that town, and there's a small settlement overrun by Throwbacks deep in the south of the zone which is extremely dangerous compared to anything else in the area.
In Sector Two the exception is the rule. No doubt it's exacerbated by my having passed by the faction towns altogether, but right now I have three locations on my to-do list that have all, fairly effortlessly, killed me at least a couple of times already. One of them being Aesterly, which I was first sent to at level 19 and which is still a tough nut to crack five levels later.
Not as tough though. I've made some progress, and between improved gear, improved weapons and my respec I don't doubt I'll crack them all in time. That said, it's time to start looking at acquiring additional combat skills, though I'm still letting the mutant abilities slide for now.
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