Topic: Multiplayer Schmultiplayer.

[Quemaqua]

Cool editorial over at GameTunnel.

[TheOtherBelmont]

That's pretty much my view on it, almost all of my experiences with playing with people online are mediocre or bad, I remember when I lived with W7RE in Phoenix and he bought Capcom Vs SNK for XBox, I thought "Hooray! A fighting game online!", but low and behold I had to deal with dipshits that would disconnect right before they were going to lose a fight, it got to the point where playing online with people just wasn't any fun.  I just view online multiplayer as a neat add-on, nothing extremely necessary.  When I get my PS3 I probably won't be doing a lot of online gaming even though it's free.

[Xessive]

To me multiplayer is only really fun when it's cooperative. I'll enjoy a versus match from time to time, but the real joy comes from working together to achieve a certain goal.

Coming across jackasses in online gaming is inevitable. I've learned to accept it as a part of the multiplayer experience. Either way, I agree with Tet (Belmont!), multiplayer is just a feature to me and not the main event.

[Cobra951]

That article sums up my attitudes on online multiplayer fairly well.  But I wonder how many of those Virtual Console games sold because there is so little else to play on the Wii right now.

[iPPi]

I didn't read it, but I'm starting to dislike how so many developers seem to focus on the MP component as opposed to making a good SP component.  Take a look at the latest batch of 360 games... Lost Planet, GRAW2, etc... they all have a pitiful single player component that's really short.  Then the rest of the game is MP. 

[idolminds]

Until I get broadband, multiplayer has really lost its charm. A few years ago devs would at least still support dialup, now they just use netcode for broadband and leave it at that. Which is a shame since there isnt a whole hell of a lot that I've seen that would require broadband.

Also, most people online are asshats.

Only time I like playing online now is when its with you guys.

[poomcgoo]

As far as I'm concerned online multiplayer is almost always required.  The only game I've bought recently without online play is Oblivion, and it's the only game where I really don't miss it.  Online play is the best thing to happen to games, and at least for my 360, it's the only thing I play.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, I couldn't care less about MP 95% of the time, and when you get down to it, I only really enjoy it when I get to play with friends (idol, pyro, sy).  Then it's a blast.  And it's still cool to do some DM now and again, but the main advantage of live opponents over bots is that you get to hear people whine about stuff when you beat their asses really hard (or you get to try to whine your way out of an embarrassing loss).  For the most part, online multiplayer doesn't interest me at all.

[gpw11]

That article sums up my attitudes on online multiplayer fairly well.  But I wonder how many of those Virtual Console games sold because there is so little else to play on the Wii right now.

I'd say a large part of it is also nostalgia.  I've come across quite a few articles, bloggs, and posts on digg basically warning people of the dangers of dropping large chunks of money on games you used to like only to delete them out of disapointment.  You don't get that with a lot of the more original (or at least lesser known) content you come across on Xbox Live Arcade. 

It's brilliant on Nintendo's part, but I've got to wonder who the fuck is shelling out money for some of these games.

[Cobra951]

Right.  If it's nostalgia, doesn't that imply that the games have already been played, and bought and paid for?  I don't get the appeal of buying old games again at all. 

[iPPi]

Not to mention that there are chances that you still own the old games anyway. 

[Cobra951]

Yep, sure do.  I still have about 20 NES carts and 50 SNES carts.   

Edit:  Oh, and about 50 N64 carts too.  How far does the arcade thing go?  16-bit?

[idolminds]

Wiis Virtual Console also has N64 games.

[MysterD]

My problem w/ a lot of MP games is this: the MP is often meaningless to me.

Here's why. When you play many MP games, you are often doing what is a "skirmish" mode. You basically are playing against other players and bots. Then, you're done. Next time you come back, you feel like you're starting all over again. There's no feeling of any continuation nor is there a feeling of much of a purpose.

What is lacking? Often, it's a campaign. This is where I think MMO's like Guild Wars succeed -- they give the multiplayer gamers more than just skirmishes. Guild Wars gives you a campaign and storyline to go through, like when you do a campaign in a single player game experience. Doing a campaign w/ other fellows gamers can be a great, fun thing. That's what I love about Guild Wars -- I feel like I have the best of SP world, which would be a campaign; and the best of the MP world, which would be playing with other gamers.

This is where I think The Crossing might succeed online where many MP's have often failed me -- the fact it's based around some sort of storyline and campaign might give me plenty of reason to play. It's just a matter of this -- will The Crossing implement this well or not??? I think Arkane's on the right track. Though, given Arkane's track record w/ bugs and performance issues, I think The Crossing will probably succeed, after a few patches are actually implemented.

Don't get me wrong. I like MP, but it just often feels to redundant and routine. CTF, DM, blah blah blah. Only so much of that I can take.

[Jedi]

Don't get me wrong. I like MP, but it just often feels to redundant and routine. CTF, DM, blah blah blah. Only so much of that I can take.

I identify with this, UT and Q3 are the games I entered into MP with (I played one game for ages then moved to the other) and they were a blast! DM was great and CTF was better (in my mind it was just DM with a different objective).
But I never played the MPs of any other FPS game they never appealed to me. Que UT 2K3 that was fun too still loved CTF and DM but once the next version came out (was it called UT 2K4 or 5? I don't remember) I dropped out. The new game types seemed silly or needlessly complicated, and by this stage I'd played my fill of CTF and DM to this day I'll only play MP with friends.
I need more from my MP experince than just killing the most or getting that flag, I tend to look for games that I can play the campaign with like Gears of War and turning the difficulty up!