Of a weekend, I like to potter about the various MMOs I have on the go. The regular week nights are good for progress and camaraderie, but I like to wander about solo sometimes too, and flitting about at weekends is a good time for that kind of thing. City of Heroes is a bit trickier than most for solitary meanderings though, and has a very peculiar...well, problem isn't quite the word, but out of all the MMOs I've ever played it perhaps the most difficult one in which to solo.

By that, I don't mean the usual gripe of enforced group content making the game unplayable for loners, although grinding out radio missions over and over can be a bit of a chore. No, I meant that in City of Heroes, I actually find it very difficult to not be in a group. Literally; remaining alone in that game takes quite an effort of will. I have no idea if I accidentally picked a very in-demand Archetype and Powersets, or what. I doubt very much that anyone outside the regular weekly group knows who I am or indeed, should especially care if they did, but for some reason I just keep getting random, unsolicited, group invites in that game. On average, I'd guess at one every twenty minutes or so; just sudden lines of yellow tell text; Bloop! "LFT?", Bloop! "Want to join mish?", Bloop! "Looking for farm?"

Its more or less unprecedented in my experience, but as long as I can remember playing CoX at all, its been happening, and I'm sure its not just to me. I'd filled in a line of text to describe my powersets in the Team Search window, but habitually have the thing set to 'Not Looking For Team', mostly because I'm either rampaging with the Thursday Group in a big team already, or genuinely trying to take some time to actually see Paragon City, alone. (There's a lot you miss with Travel Powers in full flight, such as the entire of Dark Astoria!) Its the non-committal 'not fussed either way' setting by the looks of it, and I'd have to set myself to the big red 'Not Accepting Invites' state if I really wanted to project a 'Go Away Vibe', but that seems a bit mean.

It did used to happen to me in World of Warcraft, toward the very end of my stay, but as a Level 59-60 Pre-TBC Warrior, I suspect those people only wanted me for my shield. Perhaps its similar in CoX? Tankers are the...er...tanks of the show, but CoX is far less picky about that kind of thing and unlike WoW, large groups off pretty much any composition can get things done, as far as I can see.

Why shouldn't I want to play with others? Its the old 'Why R U Play MMO To Solo?!' problem again and this weekend I was poking about the Ouroboros a bit on my own when the invite happened. Next thing I know, I'd caved in and signed up for a pick-up task-force.(The Mender Lazarus Task Force) We didn't make it as it turned out, not having nearly enough DPS to overwhelm Nosferatu's insane regeneration, but it was a fun half hour none the less.

I don't know why I signed up though. I distrust strangers, and everyone knows how bad all PUGS are. I think mostly the constant unasked-for friendliness, (or at least frank admission of need) wears me down. But being a player in about the only game where this seems to happen at all, (to me anyway), I'll be damned if I'm going to be the curmudgeon of the piece! I wonder why it so rarely happens anywhere else? Poor search tools? Inflexible group composition requirements? Good old fashioned cantankerousness? Who knows?