While MMOGs originally started out as huge social experiences over time they were refined further and further into single player escapades that had multiplayer components thrown in here and there liberally, to the point that now the preferred method of progression is to just play the game alone. Most games these days heavily cater to that, requiring very little in the way of group activity as you level– you can get through the entirety of World of Warcraft, for example, solo, and any group quests or instance runs are completely optional. However, once you hit the level cap, the expectations of the game shift radically from solo-friendly to heavily dependent on raiding. For the solo player it's a startling change of perspective as the rug is pulled out underneath you, and for those players who don't want to raid the only content they have left comes down to recycling daily quests over and over, PvP arenas/battlegrounds, or chasing after vanity achievements.

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