Anyone else hate single player games?

[Shadowdancer]

Multiplayer focus is a cheap cop-out in many cases. Get some guns off an asset store or from previous projects, slap together some maps, instant game. I'll go out on a limb and say 90% of the big-ticket multiplayer titles operate on that principle. You don't need writers (yes, Bioware, you do need those), are lighter on graphics assets, voice acting can be restricted to a bunch of grunts and swears.

Producing a good singleplayer experience, especially a story- or exploration-driven one, is hard and resource-heavy, or at least you have to invest a lot more effort into rules and interactions. Of course some studios are working around that problem "elegantly" by shipping threadbare products in the hope that hordes of modders will fill them with life or in some cases even fix egregious bugs (I don't want to say Bethesda but oh yes). Adding working cooperative multiplayer to one of those makes things harder still, and antagonistic interactions all the way through would be on an entirely different level which is why it's often a afterthought, segregated into a separate game produced by the above principle. Something like a Wing Commander, Freespace, Heroes RPG, Psychonauts, Witcher, Blackwell, Monkey Island, Firewatch, Soma, Ultima, or Bayonetta (to name only a few) would be worse off for being a multiplayer title; Dark Souls with its institutionalised griefing definitely is.

 

[Asp Explorer]

Dark Souls with its institutionalised griefing definitely is.

Singleplayer multiplayer coop griefing can be a work of art though.


Decades ago - I remember a multiplayer Baldur's Gate run where everyone annoyed everyone else at the first opportunity, and it quickly escalated into a chunking match. Gameplay-wise it was absolutely terrible - but from a multiplayer perspective and the sheer amount of lulz generated - it has never been bettered

 

[Shinji Ikari]

[h=2]Anyone else hate single player games?[/h]

No, "hate" is too strong of a negative adjetive in this case.

 

[Mole HD]

Like quite a few of the folk replying...I used to play a lot of competitive multiplayer stuff in the 90's...Tribes 2, Quake Arena, Unreal Tourney, Team Fortress even XvT in it's heyday. To date, the Battlefield series was my thing as a team focussed FPS online shooter until I got mightily bored with the little imagination required to either produce or play those type of games.

In more recent times on both Xbox and PC, I gave the seemingly dominant adversarial focus of most game titles a body swerve out of preference and with a sense of resignation...I really can't be doing with babysitting other folks foul mouthed brats online during my gaming time.

Multiplayer, or rather competitive multiplayer, certainly isn't what it used to be with a decent dose of healthy attitudes...toxic nonsense seems to have replaced healthy competition in online in gaming these days and I'm well rid of it.

On the other hand, I still play a few titles still suited to a co-op style of gameplay...Tom Clancy stuff, ARMA or E-D in the main, I'm not anti multiplayer since I'm a social gamer and enjoy the company of friends when I play...just can't abide the purely adversarial, predominantly antisocial and competitive guff advertised as the gaming norm...not where I come from it isn't

 

[AJW]

Firstly there are perfectly good reasons for preferring singleplayer to multiplayer that have little to do with the games themselves: poor internet connection, having to be able to stop to deal with the real world, etc. And as far as I'm concerned, often the issue with multiplayer isn't so much the games as the behaviour of people who play them. For a thirteen-year-old, being able to swear incessantly without getting a clip round the ear may be a novelty, but when you get to sixty-one it gets rather tiresome. On the whole though, I think games should be judged on their own merits, rather than on the basis of a single factor. The market for video games is huge, and there is no reason whatsoever why one or the other need dominate. If you like a game, play it. If you don't, don't. And stop worrying about how other people get their enjoyment: if it doesn't affect you, and doesn't harm anyone else, it is none of your business.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

It depends on the game, and I like both. I think Elite is perfect as it is, I just wish instancing wasn't that limiting. However, I think games in general have become too multiplayer biased.

For example, in GTA IV we had the right balance:
- Big SP content and multiple story-driven DLCs
- MP was just the right amount of fun, easy to pick up and be engaged, entertained

Now with GTA V the tide has turned:
- Even though SP campaign was great, the maps and setting just cries out for more SP content that will never because of MP
- MP is too slow, complicated and lost the hilariousness of GTA IV, gave way to the cancer of P2W microtransactions. and in general more difficult to get engaged and have fun

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Both, equally. Competition is great, but at the same time the epic story in a JRPG is great.

 

[Chris Simon]

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 hate multiplayer games. Well, better said, I don't like the trend the game industry is showing.
I play games to take a break from other people

 

[Chris Simon]

I understand that, and It makes sense.

I have been playing Video games since the original Pacman.

But much more involved since around 1990. I never played a solo game until 3 years ago(Fallout 4). Which maybe my all time favorite game

I had always thought that multiplayer was much more fun. The added element of humans made for a much more challenging experience.

But. The world has become a much more toxic place, and this has affected online living- in all respects. Just look at the average news forum.

I prefer multiplayer, yet I understand people not wanting to subject themselves to unwanted experiences.

Likewise, I do see the appeal of MP games. And I do engage in them, sometimes. But it is almost exclusively with people I know IRL. Or in case of Elite, with people I know from here. I play Destiny 2, now, for example. Almost exclusively alone and with two R/L friend during the weekends. It's definitely fun, but it's a different kind of fun. For example I enjoy slower pace. Looking around, setting up a sniper nest or just listen to the dialog and enjoy the story - things that can't really be enjoyed with two other people breathing on your neck.

I did play the hell out of the ME3 multiplayer, though, clocking over 800 hours in the MP alone and I think I approached that number with Andromeda as well. SoI'm not totally against it. I just don't prefer it.

 

[Necronaught]

Single player? Yes I vaguely remember the concept. Just like black and white photography it has it's charm I suppose.

 

[Gun Star]

ED is the only Multiplayer game I play. Most of the time I play single player games. I have to deal with stupid people with work, so I usually want game time void of them.

 

[Eriseley]

I like multiplayer as an idea, but often hate the communities. I think I ultimately like the idea of mutliplayer coop versus a really interesting AI (doesn't really exist yet). I liked Mass Effect 3 multiplayer for example. I am okay about competitive MP but it can get really tiresome sometimes too, and I'm getting worse and worse at keeping up so...guess I'd like to age into MP coop, hehe.

 

[Old Duck]

I would just like to point out that most GOTY nominations on consoles in recent years are either single-player or have a very strong single-player campaign / story mode, where other studios have or are getting serious heat for omitting a single-player campaign. The obvious exception is Fortnite, which has been flipping the gaming world upside-down lately, but even with Fortnite's success, games like the most recent GoW continue to do exceptionally well.

BTW, one of my favorite multiplayer games of all time was MAG, back in the days of PS3. Anyone remember that game? It was never as popular as Battlefield or COD, but man it was epic fun IMO.

 

[DukeIronHand]

Single player is best for me.
I believe the whole MMO thing is just “laziness” on the part of developers as it is much easier to do then solid single player content.

ED is the only Multiplayer game I play. Most of the time I play single player games. I have to deal with stupid people with work, so I usually want game time void of them.

Truly spoken.

 

[lysan]

Hate is a strong word, but I mostly play SP games because of my time schedule and because I like games with a good story.
MP can be good but need to have a good group to play with, and time to get together at the same time.

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

and yes, thats always been misinterpreted, PvP can only be played in OPEN, but, this does not mean all playing OPEN are playing PvP, therefore any statistic not taking this in count is just wrong to me, black and white painting so to say

Many people consider aspects of the BGS and Powerplay PVP, even if there is no combat involved.
I've seen that more often from the self described PVE crowd, oddly.

I think that's a murky distinction at best, and deliberate obfuscation in some cases and cult like sycophant-ism in yet others.

 

[lokvette]

Nope the best games ive played have all been single player.

To add:

I have and do play MMO's the current one being Inquisitor Martyr, and allthough its an MMO I will only play coop with the wife, but its nice to know that our actions however small will have an effect on the overall game.

Oh and as said Half life, F.E.A.R Dead Space, Bio Shock, hell even Monkey island all single player games and some of the best storys.

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

To answer the OP, I play both.

 

[Threeofseven]

Seems I am way way in the minority. I was talking to my uncle today. He has been a PC gamer since the early 80s, he actually got me into PC gaming in the early 90s. He also said he prefers single player.

Ive always been into flight Sims and space sims. One of the first games I got hooked on was Wing Commander. Probably around 97 I discovered a multiplayer flight sim called Air Warriors on AOL, then I moved to a multiplayer game service called Gamestorm. From about that point I just lost interest in games where I was only competing against the AI.

I guess today I've learned that maybe I'm a bit odd lol

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Seems I am way way in the minority. I was talking to my uncle today. He has been a PC gamer since the early 80s, he actually got me into PC gaming in the early 90s. He also said he prefers single player.

Ive always been into flight Sims and space sims. One of the first games I got hooked on was Wing Commander. Probably around 97 I discovered a multiplayer flight sim called Air Warriors on AOL, then I moved to a multiplayer game service called Gamestorm. From about that point I just lost interest in games where I was only competing against the AI.

I guess today I've learned that maybe I'm a bit odd lol

I think that might be your issue - SP isn't always about "competing" with the AI.