I was initially optimistic about the advantages of playing as a hunter in Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO), but I soon began to realize that the very aspects that had been so tempting as a solo player were beginning to hurt my gameplay experience. I was too proud and impatient to consider joining others, and I soon ran out of quest content for my level. I kept dying more and more often, and it seemed that joining up with others was becoming inevitable.

While MMOs are often meant to be social experiences, my favorite MMOs are those that provide plenty of solo content for when your favorite buddies aren't around. The developers of LotRO took this into account, and each level seems to have a fair number of solo quests. However, the solo content is more limited at the higher levels (around level 35 and higher). When I played with friends, this balance felt great. Most quests could easily be completed with two players, and we could afford to wait on or skip the quests that required a larger party. As a hunter, I ran into problems, as I was constantly completing quests above my level in an attempt to avoid the fellowship quests. This system worked well for awhile, until I entered higher-level areas like the Misty Mountains and Angmar. I soon found myself running out of solo quests, leaving me frustrated. My attempts to complete lower-level fellowship quests often failed, due to the swarms of enemies in many of those quests. Hunters are ill-equipped to handle large crowds, as they are best at ranged attacks, they wear light or medium armor, and they have few AOE attacks.

Perhaps it was my own stubborn desire to avoid grouping that led to my downfall as a solo hunter. I was so determined not to be tied down to a group that I tried to find other ways to become a better hunter. A good friend helped me reorder my abilities to develop a battle strategy. A large part of my strategy included taking the time to set traps before I attacked, which may seem simple to some, but it was not for me. I was too spoiled by the hunter's powerful ranged attacks; I became impatient. I was convinced that I could do more damage by running into fights and dying half of the time. My friend was patient enough to show me how traps could actually save me time, and I began the slow process of unlearning my impulsive attack habit.

Sadly, an improved strategy could not help me. At the suggestion of that same friend (who had a hunter as an alt), I began to attack more enemies as I traveled so I would level up more efficiently. This helped, but my search for quests caused me to fast travel from location to location, missing out on enemies between the areas. I became restless, feeling like the enemies weren't providing enough experience for the time I spent killing them. I wanted more quests, but I had burned through the content earlier.

Solo questing in LotRO was no longer fun. I lost interest in my hunter, and realized that I would learn more and find a more satisfying experience playing in a group as my main, a lore-master. After all, I didn't want to become like the hunter in our fellowship, who had very little understanding of his role in a group. After so many hours of solo questing, he failed to understand his role in the group. While our tank worked tirelessly to pull aggro in one particular boss fight, this hunter carelessly used a powerful skill that immediately pulled aggro and got him killed in a matter of seconds. That was clearly the type of hunter that I was becoming, and his mistake made me realize that I didn't want to devote my time to solo play.

I haven't played as my hunter for some time, instead indulging in some fantastic single-player games. It's nice to explore other types of games again. My obsession with LotRO is far from over, but I think my experiences will be contained to group questing. I had been lured by the temptations of a hunter to take shortcuts - ensared in the hunter's trap. I am glad that I have friends to help me see how I lost my interest in solo questing as a hunter – not because of the faults of the game, but because of my own impatience.