can i treat this game like a single player game?

title says it all

For the most part yes

For the most part yes.There will be some areas of the game that are more difficult without other players (for example, completing some hero challenges for hero points)

There is some content you will miss out on if you dont wish to play with others (such as raids, fractals, and pvp) but there is definitely a ton of content you can do from a solo player perspective.

Most of the core game, yes. Sadly, HoT and PoF would screw this up. You can still do about 60-70%ish of them solo, depending on what map you're in, but much of the interesting stuff is gated behind achivements, metas, and bounties, and other things that force (or at the very least push one towards) grouping. The LS maps are nicer about this, but again, it varies on the map.

For most of the PvE stuff, you just need enough people to do it - they don't need to form an actual group of squad. I often participate in metas without joining a squad. For HoT, people will often just shout out on the map chat of 'Need help with X hero point', and others will show up to help out.There is some content (dungeons, fractals, raids, strikes) which you do need to form an actual group to play. But you don't actually need to play those game modes.

Yes you can for big parts, but it's not a single player game so naturally you will find spots where that shows and complaining about those spots is a moot point because you choose to play a MASSIV MULTIPLAYER online rpg as a single player game.

Some things like certain hero points, getting certain mounts (Griffon) and the latest story release are aimed at groups, although skill level will determine whether you can over those obstacles

Open world is shared coop so it can be solo played for the most part, but group stuff will exist. Rest of story is aimed at the solo player

Dungeons, fractals, raids, strikes are for groups

The game is per definition an open world MMO. So you can never decide to play alone. You will meet people and they will do the same thing. But you are not forced to interact with them and you do not need others for most of the content.

I think it depends on how strict you want to be about that. You absolutely can play most of PvE without joining a party or squad or directly working together with other players and certainly without speaking to them. But if you want to do as much as possible genuinely solo, without other people helping, then it's going to be much harder; not just because a lot of the fights are designed for multiple people but because this game has no kill or loot stealing so there's no reason for players not to join in and most will do it without asking first.

But as long as you're ok with the fact that there usually will be other people around, often doing the same things you are at the same time you can play most of the game solo.

you get busy and you just log to chill or maybe get daily.

all your friends and guildmates don't play gw2 anymore or log once after 6 months.

generation gap and no time to mingle with plebs.

therefore, yes, you can play this as a single player game.

For open world PvE yes this game can easily be played solo. Obviously since it’s an MMO you will usually be around other people most of the time, but it’s pretty easy to be able to do your own things without needing to rely on working with other people. Even in those cases in the open world, it’s usually just ungrouped people completing events. For the larger meta events that take place across entire maps (Dragon Stand, Drizzlewood, Tangled Depths, Auric Basin, etc), those usually involve partially organized groups (at least be in a squad and follow the tag around).

People mention about things like hero points or other difficult events being solo-unfriendly (such as events that end with needing to kill a champion level mob, for example), which while it is usually easier killing it in a group there are builds for all the classes that let you have extreme amounts of soloing capabilities to let you beat those events by yourself. Various places such as build sites or YouTube have build guides for people who do that type of content. A YouTuber called Lord Hizen is someone who has such videos for ~7 of the classes right now. Using these types of builds give a real “Monster Hunter” type vibe of people soloing large difficult champions that are typically done as a group, such as Legendary Bounties.

For things like instances PvE (Fractals, Strikes, Raids) and PvP and WvW, being in a group is mandatory to complete that type of content. The only exception would be in WvW doing solo roaming which is possible to do by yourself, but will still involve other people in some way (enemy and friendly players).

Could be better about allowing solo play. Could be much, much worse about enforcing it on the unwilling.

I THINK you should play the free version to see if how it works solo is what you are looking for ... most of that is Core and most of core can be done solo.

Why don’t play a single player game? This is an MMO.

thanks for all the responses

@Obtena.7952 said:I THINK you should play the free version to see if how it works solo is what you are looking for ... most of that is Core and most of core can be done solo.

Free accounts can't post on this forum, so the OP has already bought the game. They might have just the core game because it is still possible to find that version in some places, but they will have already bought something.

@Danikat.8537 said:

@Obtena.7952 said:I THINK you should play the free version to see if how it works solo is what you are looking for ... most of that is Core and most of core can be done solo.

OH .. that makes the original inquiry a little strange then ... if the OP has the game and they want to see if it works solo for them, they should just play it and see.

I'd try the main story, for free, as single player. Do keep in mind the expansions are really different from central Tyria in multiple not-so-fun ways. Then, I'd try PoF single, and then I'd skip HoT altogether, since it's an insufferable map with insufferable mobs, few people to help for the story mission and overall tedious difficulty for someone who's just now starting the game. The game does get incredibly grindy as it progresses, and it also doesn't teach you much, so be prepared for spending dozens upon dozens of hours grinding for not a lot of progress if you're playing solo on the expansion maps (unless you've been playing for a long time and are one of those who "can go through the tangled depths with a low -level character, because it's not so hard really, all you need is 2-5 years of practice and meticulosly stidying every mob you're facing in this map, you noob").

Long story short, you have to be prepared for:

• Watching hours and hours of youtube and reading a whole bunch of tutorials, because the game won't teach you what you need to know to progress. This is an undeniable fact, not even an exaggeration.

• Getting used to needing to be helped by older players and having them teach you what the game doesn't bother to, which is nice of them, but you do get tired of _constantly _needing to find someone who's played the game for years in order to do things you could easily figure out in central Tyria. It should not be that way, it ain't fun for anyone. I've seen a big percentage of these long time players being annoyed by noobs, and I don't blame them, but hell, I could never blame the noob: the game isn't helpful for a new player.

  You'll find most of the people who defend the grindy maps are the people who have been used to it for years, so, I'd make sure I would enjoy this level of grind beforehand. And, if you already bought the expansions, best of luck in the jungle maps and stories.

@yoni.7015 said:Why don’t play a single player game? This is an MMO.

Maybe because they saw an ad or a promo somewhere and were interested in the story and wanted to play the game. Not everyone likes to watch someone play the game.

Maybe they don't have much time they can guarantee they can be around for enough time to do group content so wants to make sure that most of the game can be done alone so that if he has to leave in the middle of something then he is only inconveniencing himself and not others as well.

@Seera.5916 said:

@yoni.7015 said:Why don’t play a single player game? This is an MMO.

That's my situation. I like playing with other people when I can, and seeing (and talking to) other people even when we're not playing together, but my free time is very erratic. I can't commit to being online at the same time every day (or even every week) to go through everything with a regular group and when I am online I don't always know how long I'll have so I'm reluctant to do too much with PUGs because I might have to leave before we've finished, which would annoy everyone else.

So most of the time I play solo, although if I see a group doing something on the map I'll often join in, and then when I need a group for something I wait until I know I'll have enough time to complete it. Even then it might get cancelled a few times. I was going to do Dragon's Stand last weekend but other stuff came up and I was barely online at all.

The OP has probably been answered enough but I'll answer based on my experience as a primarily solo player (at the moment).

This game is definitely solo friendly although depending on the content happening in area it is beneficial to have other people cooperating around you (not necessarily in a party but doing the same event etc). If I'm stumped on something on a map and want to ask a simple question, people in the area always chime in with a helpful reply and I've seen numerous people ask for help with a particular HP etc and people always raise their hand to help out (I've even joined in for two despite being quite horrid - although I also needed both the HPs and we managed to smash them easily enough).

There are some HPs etc that are not soloable (no matter how awesome you are - but people in the area are generally good about jumping in to help out with those if you ask in map chat).

Regardless of any of it though, I love the game and I never feel like I NEED to be playing with other people.