Not that I don't like the new direction everything has taken since the launch of 4.0, but I can't help but wonder if we should still be playing this as an MMO and not as it really plays; and honestly that's a single player game with additional online content. I've been playing on Harbinger a long time, before that, it was Drooga's Pleasure Barge, and before that, I cannot even remember the server name when it was initial 1.0 release. I have heard all the comments and a prevailing argument since beta has been that the game would have or could have been better as a single player release. After all, BioWare ended up turning it free to play -- for the most part -- and I see a lot of aspects to the game now that could have been executed as DLC to a main game.

I know that there was probably more money in it as an MMORPG, but perhaps not. Take, for instance, that most of the game centers around an overarching story that spans 65 levels and over 100 hours of game play. Now take into account that it has now been streamlined to zip players through this mode in less time with extra XP per story mission, increased "commendation rewards" and little need to find a group for instances due to [solo] modes for them.

Please don't misunderstand me when I say I wish this game was single player with multiplayer options. It simply comes from a play style of mine that is a bit, admittedly, antisocial in nature. I love this game, and I would not change it one bit. I loved it pre 4.0 and I love it post expansion, but aspects of it have me questioning why BioWare simply hasn't put out a pricing that would enable us to experience the fullness of the main experience at a lump sum equal to that of a AAA title, and then charging micro transactions for access to optional, online content.

I have been a subscriber since the beginning only because the cost of unlocking item access, character slots, and other trivial parts of the game that should be included in the base experience price, is too high compared to the money I pay for the months I subscribe. For context, I spend a maximum of three months before I unsubscribe for whatever reason, and the cost to maintain the number of characters I have on my server is over $100. This new expansion is great, but I plan on unsubscribing to play Fallout 4 next month. It would be nice to turn the game on after my time in the wasteland is over and not have to spend another $15 just to maintain my single player endeavors I have already spent hundreds of dollars up-keeping over the coarse of the game's lifespan. I suppose the argument could be cast for the fact that I could have spent a lump sum over $100 to unlock everything for life, but I just have never had that much free money to spend all at once -- I am not rich, and I am a working class adult who lives paycheck to paycheck under the poverty line.

My argument is merely a normative, "what-if" statement that suggests the game could have been released as a single player game with ongoing DLC based on my experiences with it. I solo a lot to level my characters, and have had very little end game experience. I group on occasion, but the occasions are sparse. I don't have much free money to spend on gaming, and I am in no way singling out this game; in fact, I think all future MMOs should revert to a time when online play was optional, and we hosted our own servers for online play -- like in the days of Freelancer and Diablo 2. I think the underlying problem is the genre of RPG has become thus that the only ones that garner enough attention and capital are persistently online, or first person shooters or actions games with RPG elements.

The days of true single player RPGs are part of a bygone era of gaming, and anyone who makes them anymore can either afford the loss or couches them in another genre for effect. This game is a single player game with optional, online content -- it just doesn't know it yet.