Anyone else hate single player games?

[Agony_Aunt]

I'm cool with both single player and multiplayer. Depends a bit on the genre though.

Strategy games for example i prefer single player, as i prefer slower paced ones, and due to real life, its all too often i have to AFK in the middle of a game, which isn't something you can really get away with in a strategy game. I've been getting enough evil eye from the missus for not immediately jumping when she needs something while playing missions in Fortnite.

Multiplayer FPS are ok, fights are usually over fairly quicky and FPS is generally better multiplayer than single player, at least arena modes (story modes of course single player or coop... especially if its Serious Sam coop).

Racing games - both fine single player or multiplayer. Singleplayer i'm just against the clock instead of players.

RPGs - hmmm, not a big fan of MMOs to be honest, prefer to have a nice single player story, although the option for coop is welcome. This is why i liked games like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. Can do the story with coop.

I think actually looking at what I wrote, in general, slower paces or more thinking games i want single player or coop. Fast paced games though can be ok or good multiplayer.

Probably the main reason why in ED i enjoy solo or coop play, because i just want to chill while playing it.

 

[Frank]

I wish Elite: Dangerous had a real single player mode.

I used to play a text-based Multi User Dungeon a few decades back. When the version I was playing had to shut down, we were all moved to the London version. It was full of people who had chosen immersion breaking names completely unsuitable for the atmosphere of the game.

I do like multiplayer games, but the best experience is when you are sitting next to your opponent. I've got a couple of spare computers for my friends so that when they come we can play LAN-based Unreal Tournament. Internet multiplayer is okay, but it's not great.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

I wish Elite: Dangerous had a real single player mode.

I used to play a text-based Multi User Dungeon a few decades back. When the version I was playing had to shut down, we were all moved to the London version. It was full of people who had chosen immersion breaking names completely unsuitable for the atmosphere of the game.

I do like multiplayer games, but the best experience is when you are sitting next to your opponent. I've got a couple of spare computers for my friends so that when they come we can play LAN-based Unreal Tournament. Internet multiplayer is okay, but it's not great.

London based MUD? Hosted at Imperial College by any chance? In the early 90s?

 

[Jezzah]

I love a good game...any good game. What I hate is not having time to play them properly.

Single player games eat up my time. I love them especially the like of witcher series, recent ones like PREY, Metro series. They demand time though to appreciate properly.

Multiplayer games I can binge on for an hour or so are nowadays more what I do. The recent BF1 was my goto game since it's release. I can get into them quickly play a few rounds and if I have to leave for life reasons then i don't feel so cut up about it. Irritated but not overly so.

I miss single player gaming like i used to in my 20s. 40s now and much of the time too busy to play SP games like I'd want.

 

[Iskariot]

To me single player is extremely boring and shallow.

I can understand the "boring" if you are into multiplayer, but in my experience multiplayer games are more frequently "shallow" than single player games. In most cases they rely much more on social interaction than on 'deep' content.

Personally I strongly prefer single player games, but that is because my social wiring is broken.
There are many multiplayer only games that intrigue me, but I will never play them simply because I am disgusted by multiplayer interaction in general.

 

[hairychris]

I play games to get away from people, so am totally the opposite.

However I'm old, and the first gaming platform that I used - ZX Spectrum - wasn't capable of multiplayer (minus split-screen or turn-based strategy, both of which required another player in the room).

I suppose that I did a bit of MUD-ing in the early 90s at university, but I still tended to play multiplayer with IRL people. RPGs and board games with a pencil-case full of assorted dice!

EDIT: I definitely think that age is a factor, or rather, what your gaming history is. If you are in your mid-20s you will never remember the Internet not being a thing, and only since the 00s when subscriber lines took over from modem for home use was multiplayer in the way that we know it now practical.

 

[JonnyC0mbat]

I’m more of a single player person myself. I find other people tend to ruin the experience, unless it’s a group of friends.

 

[Para Handy]

Anyone else hate single player games?

Not here.

Much prefer single-player stuff.

 

[Manticore]

That depends entirely on what game I'm playing.........

 

[khaos526]

I play games to get away from people, so am totally the opposite.

EDIT: I definitely think that age is a factor, or rather, what your gaming history is. If you are in your mid-20s you will never remember the Internet not being a thing, and only since the 00s when subscriber lines took over from modem for home use was multiplayer in the way that we know it now practical.

Yep the last thing I want to do is be around others when playing any computer game when I'm around people all day long. Maybe it is age, I know I grew up in the day when multi-player meant having 2 sets of 2 paddles so 4 people could play pong. Or your friend brought over their joystick to plug it into your C-64 so you could both play one vs one at games like Spy vs Spy or Archon or M.U.L.E., etc.

As for today, everything seems to be catered to these MMO type things and I never could understand it. The age thing makes sense, we got our interactions as kids from real people playing outside, while today's youth is pretty much all about their phones and computers and maybe that's why the younger generation seem to cry out for interactions with others.

Either way Elite Dangerous tapped into the best market, those of us that have no desire to play with other people we don't know, aren't forced to in order to enjoy ED. Those that want to, can. They did the best of both worlds, and that's why I invested into this game for that reason. Otherwise if it was just multi-player only, I never would have bought it years back...

 

[Ralph Vargr]

I was under the impression that the majority of players preferred multiplayer games, but I saw a poll where something like 60% of respondents said they prefer single player. I was quite shocked by that. To me single player is extremely boring and shallow. There are a lot of good space games out there, but most are single player and therefore I have no interest in them. No man's sky is one example but I hear they are adding more multiplayer activities, and even PVP, so I will probably give it a second look.

It appears that I am in the minority, but is there anyone else here that just cannot force themselves to play, even a good, game if it's single player only?

All of my dead friends want multi-player. Those still living prefer to meet, face-to-face.

One just had a successful liver transplant. While he was out, he reported the forums on The Other Side were full of rage that they could not get fresh content fast enough.

 

[ZeroAi]

I was under the impression that the majority of players preferred multiplayer games, but I saw a poll where something like 60% of respondents said they prefer single player. I was quite shocked by that. To me single player is extremely boring and shallow. There are a lot of good space games out there, but most are single player and therefore I have no interest in them. No man's sky is one example but I hear they are adding more multiplayer activities, and even PVP, so I will probably give it a second look.

It appears that I am in the minority, but is there anyone else here that just cannot force themselves to play, even a good, game if it's single player only?

I don't hate single player games, however I much prefer co-op multiplayer games as it's a lot of fun hanging out with friends.

 

[damon8r351]

Multiplayer games require reliable internet. Single player games only require reliable electricity. Still to this day, there are rural areas (in the US no less) without stable internet sufficient enough for online gaming.

I'm overseas on a military deployment in Bahrain, and games are what I use after work to decompress. I still play Elite even with the shaky internet here. Every once in awhile, the Bahraini military cuts off the internet for up to 48 hours at a time with no advance notice. Why? Eff you, that's why. Being able to play a game after work is one of the few things that motivates me enough to slog through yet another mind numbing Groundhog Day on deployment. So it's nice to know that if the internet gives out, I have Skyrim and The Witcher III on hand to pick up.

 

[Mengy]

I would say I like well designed games, rather than say I prefer single player over multiplayer or vice versa.

For example, I love all of the Elder Scrolls games. They are designed from the ground up to be expansive single player experiences and they succeed superbly at this. Same with the Civilization games, I’ve played the lot of them happily for thousands of hours by myself over the years. Single player games don’t need a story to be fun (ie: Minecraft), as long as the mechanics are engaging and diverse. I do enjoy single player games greatly, they can be more relaxing and meditative than multiplayer games. And sometimes it’s just great to be able to hit the pause button too!

But then I also played World of Warcraft for years, literally thousands of hours, both cooperatively in dungeoning, questing, and raiding, but also competitively in battlegrounds and world PvP too. And I’ve played tons of Starcraft ladder matches against opponents, but then I’ve also played a lot of Starcraft co-op matches vs the AI too, this can sometimes just be mindless dumb fun. One of my first online games was Phantasy Star Online for the Sega Dreamcast, which was solely a cooperative multiplayer game, but I sunk hundreds of hours into it with a huge smile on my face. And Rocket League is tons of fun with other people.

It really depends on the game and how it has been designed by the developers. Is it a single player game with multiplayer tacked on for a marketing point? Or is it a focused multiplayer only game with great mechanics? Does this single player game keep me interested and engaged, or does it feel empty and boring?

It all depends on how the game has been developed, no matter whether it’s single or multi player.


This is where Elite’s design often falters for me. Content is regularly designed for either single or multi player, but it rarely includes both playstyles in its feature development. Wings are multiplayer but there aren’t any NPC wings available for solo. Multicrew is multiplayer but there aren’t any NPC crews available at all. Many missions are solo only and can’t be done multiplayer, but then now we have new wing only missions which weren’t designed with solo players in mind either. SLFs can be used in multiplayer but SRVs cannot. CQC is multiplayer only and does not have bots for solo players, yet there aren’t any in game ways to organize players together to do it. Ship rebuys are expensive yet participating in PvP will make you spend huge amounts of money doing it, almost to the point of making it impractical. The design is lacking focus and it’s all over the map, and the end result is a segregated game divided into sections which feels lost in its direction at times. This lack of focus detracts from the game experience no matter which style you play, solo or multiplayer.

I like to play Elite as a single player game, but this excludes a lot of its features from me. I also like to play it cooperatively with others, but many of the game’s features can’t be done like this. And I find CQC fun, but I can’t find matches anymore due to a lack of players and there is no way to do it solo at all. I wish Elite’s design had more focus and did more to mesh single and multi player together rather than split them apart so often.

 

[rootsrat]

I don't mind multiplayer, but I definitely prefer single player games with a good story. Kind of like an interactive book.

 

[Chris Simon]

I don't mind multiplayer, but I definitely prefer single player games with a good story. Kind of like an interactive book.

LMAO. Can you imagine a "multiplayer book"? Where people would randomly come and rewrite and change parts of the book as you're reading it.

 

[Mu77ley]

Personally, I tend to find multiplayer games boring and shallow.

They almost always descend to the lowest common denominator of gaming, aka killing other players for no good reason. *yawn*

The only types of multiplayer games I consistently enjoy are board games and tabletop role-playing games, where socialising is a very strong component.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

I like some single player and multiplayer games. Not too keen on PvP only games though, I find them boring after a while.

 

[Mengy]

Not too keen on PvP only games though, I find them boring after a while.

I honestly enjoy a good PvP game, as long as the game is designed to encourage and accommodate it. Starcraft II is a good example, not only are the mechanics balanced to encourage a wide variety of tactics, but the UI, matchmaking, and ladder system are built to pit you against players of equal footing, and if you improve then you climb to play vs better players, but if you get worse then you rank down similarly. The game makes PvP a fun, and more importantly, a challenging experience.

Elite isn't like that. It allows PvP but it's core mechanics punish death so much that they discourage PvP, and even after the revamped C&P there is still a huge imbalance in risk vs reward between the victims and the killers. Not to mention the huge mismatch between ships outfitted for different roles which only serves to make it even less fun. I wouldn't mind PvP in Elite if the game didn't actively make it unappealing.

 

[Darkfyre99]

I was under the impression that the majority of players preferred multiplayer games, but I saw a poll where something like 60% of respondents said they prefer single player. I was quite shocked by that. To me single player is extremely boring and shallow. There are a lot of good space games out there, but most are single player and therefore I have no interest in them. No man's sky is one example but I hear they are adding more multiplayer activities, and even PVP, so I will probably give it a second look.

It appears that I am in the minority, but is there anyone else here that just cannot force themselves to play, even a good, game if it's single player only?

Nope. I much prefer single player games over multi-player games. I will play multi-player games if they have the features I find appealing, but even then I tend to play them solo.