I hate multiplayer games

[Bob_McMillan]

I can relate, although not because I have FOMO. It's quite the opposite. I see all this "content" that is being offered now by live services, and all I feel is a big old "meh". I don't give half a shit about skins or exclusive animations or banners or whatever useless crap they're peddling. Sure, the updates include a new gun, or a new map, or a new playable character sometimes. But it's such a slow drip feed of content, I lose interest so quickly. I still have tons of fun playing with my friends when I do, but I would never just play on my own.

I know the season pass model had it's problems, but I find myself missing it compared to what we have now. At least with a season pass, you're more or less assured that content will come, and that it will come on time. Look at Battlefield V and now Battlefield 2042. Both went the route of being funded by cosmetics or other microtransactions. Battlefield V ended support after a few measly drops of content, while 2042 looks dead in the water before they've even dropped any major content.

I honestly think there's nothing wrong at all with a game sticking around for two or three years, then dying so a we can all play the sequel. I don't want to play Warzone for 5 years, or Halo Infinite for a decade. Designing a game to last for so long is basically ensuring that on launch, you won't be getting a full, finished product.

 

[BrawlMan]

I suck at gaming, much as I love playing. I feel like I'm dragging down any team I'm with online. I almost only play single player.

Best online experience I've ever had is with Titanfall. Very playable even for me.

Worst? Battlefield 1 (and now, likely 5). My avatar walks out of a hut only to be repeatedly sniped before taking 2 steps.

Best Co-Op?

Green Lantern. Stupid fun but horrifyingly repetitive. Green Lantern himself repeatedly says something to the effect of, "Oh no, not these guys again" as if point out its repetitive nature makes it more acceptable.

Batman: The Brave And The Bold (Wii) has better brawling co-op. Or level variety and every new chapter you start, player number two will always be a different DC hero. It's only flaw that it's too easy.

 

[SckizoBoy]

I'm colour blind, have obsessive compulsive personality disorder, a horrid twitch reflex, terrible attention span and a plethora of other issues, so I generally don't like multiplayer games either. The one MMO game I do play (World of Warships, though haven't fired it up for a while because my laptop doesn't really 'agree' with it) has a co-operative (& mission, though it's too restricted to play as an individual) mode (though I really wish they had slightly better AI, it encourages too much yolo play, or an 'outnumbered' mode) in which you can just sail around shooting the crap out of stuff which is all I want out of it, ultimately.

Otherwise, I play single-player games only and avoid MP like the plague. For me, there's too much additional BS on MP games (skins, special equipment, event crap... WoWS isn't immune to it either, but it's easier to ignore owing to said non-competitive game mode) to either wade into or take seriously as a game I might destress or even just enjoy.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I've never really played much multiplayer because what I hate is paying a monthly fee for the ability to do it.

 

[laggyteabag]

I can relate, although not because I have FOMO. It's quite the opposite. I see all this "content" that is being offered now by live services, and all I feel is a big old "meh". I don't give half a shit about skins or exclusive animations or banners or whatever useless crap they're peddling. Sure, the updates include a new gun, or a new map, or a new playable character sometimes. But it's such a slow drip feed of content, I lose interest so quickly. I still have tons of fun playing with my friends when I do, but I would never just play on my own.

I know the season pass model had it's problems, but I find myself missing it compared to what we have now. At least with a season pass, you're more or less assured that content will come, and that it will come on time. Look at Battlefield V and now Battlefield 2042. Both went the route of being funded by cosmetics or other microtransactions. Battlefield V ended support after a few measly drops of content, while 2042 looks dead in the water before they've even dropped any major content.

I honestly think there's nothing wrong at all with a game sticking around for two or three years, then dying so a we can all play the sequel. I don't want to play Warzone for 5 years, or Halo Infinite for a decade. Designing a game to last for so long is basically ensuring that on launch, you won't be getting a full, finished product.

Paid map packs were definitely a double-edged sword.

On one hand, the additional content was almost always meaningful, and high quality.

On the other hand, map pack content generally disappeared from the regular rotation after the launch period.

Though with that said, a game that I enjoyed could more easily squeeze £10 from me for a handful of additional maps, than for a character skin or two.

You are also right about the cadence of the content. Map packs generally packed in 3 or 4 maps at a time. These days, they usually come one at a time, but normally at the same pace as the whole packs used to.

Its ironic, because games that were made to only last 1-3 years generally kept my interest for longer, and were generally supported better from a content perspective, than those that are supposed to last 10 years.

 

[Gordon_4]

I miss LAN parties... especially the ones where you could get on the piss.

Stop, please, or my heart will collapse upon itself in loving memory of LANfests

 

[wings012]

Most of my MCC unlocks came from just playing the game coop with friends and when I felt like playing matchmaking. I've basically unlocked jack shit. Most of my hours on MCC though came from just playing stupid custom games with my friends.

I do feel like I'm basically playing 3-4 games of Halo Infinite just to level up my pass. And there's the odd week where the reward looks cool or there's an event so I'll play more. Which can suck cause sometimes not being able to get some of the shittier challenges will trigger me. Like having to get Killing Sprees and whatnot. Makes me enjoy the game less when I'm trying to gun for challenges.

At the moment H:I is still very incomplete when it comes to custom games. I'd like to play it like I did MCC, be able to pick from a wide array of maps, dabble in Forge a bit, mess with the game modes/rules to create something silly. One of our favourite customs is called John Wick. It's basically just Halo Reach, no shields, high damage resistance, magnums only and rolling. So it's a lot of rolling about trying to headshot the other party. I'd like to replicate this in Infinite, but since there's no rolling we'd have to replace it with Grappleshot or Thrusters. But there isn't even an option to alter starting equipment, you can only pick up equipment from the map itself and you can't alter what spawns on the map. I'm also often going at this alone since a lot of my gamer friends have gotten married and have kids and stuff, while I'm still being very single with plenty of spare time.

But anyway I digress. My multiplayer 'diet' essentially has shifted from games with only matchmaking, unlocks and whatnot to smaller coop games or stuff with private lobbies. After leaving Overwatch behind, me and my group have kinda shifted around a bunch of other titles. Tricky Towers is a fun game if you have a 4-man group. We played a fair bit of World War Z when it was free on the EGS. Now I'm playing GTFO with some close friends. We picked up EDF5 at some point and had a blast.

Basically, just enjoying time with close buddies and not caring about live service, or having to cooperate iwth or fight with strangers.

Once Halo Infinite shapes up and gets its shit together regarding Customs and Forge, I'll probably play it more often and it'd just be private custom games with around 4 players.

 

[Dalisclock]

I've rarely had much interest in multiplayer but I have gotten so some enjoyment playing co-op in Souls games. Not only because it makes some bosses much more manageable(if not outright required, like the Fucking Yarhem gank squad) but also because it's interesting watching someone else approach the same battle and trying to work with them despite not being able to talk to them.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I love multiplayer, and I don't give a rats ass about cosmetics.

I've been playing Halo Infinite and have literally zero interest in any of the unlocks. If the gameplay loop is good it's going to keep my attention and I'll keep playing. If the gameplay loop isn't good then getting to put cat ears on my character isn't going to make me want to play the game.

That's why I find it silly when people complain the monetization of skins and cosmetics, and loot boxes. If they're a ripoff then don't get them, they literally don't matter. If they don't change the balance of the game they don't matter and you don't need them. It's very easy to just not care and play the game without them.

Maybe it's because I'm a 90s kid, and multiplayer games didn't used to have unlockable skins and outfits. You just played on the red team and the other side was the blue team and that was it, and there was nothing to hold your attention other than the actual gameplay, and I've just never gotten rid of that mindset. Cosmetic unlocks aren't a meaningful reward for me that in any way affects whether I want to play a game or not.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

These days, unless it's some co-op with a few of my nephews, I generally avoid multiplayer. Just doesn't interest me.

Even way back when I did MP a bit, it was mostly to test out custom skins and models I'd created.