Am I the only one who doesn't enjoy multiplayer games anymore?

[FakeSympathy]

Multiplayer games used to mean coming home after school, and play few matches with real-life friends online, yelling and laughing at each others' failures, pretending to high fiving each other when we won, and of course blaming the enemy for hacking and calling them fags (come on, we all did this)

However, as the current generation consoles rolled in 2013, something changed. Multiplayer games, while fun, were nowhere near the level of what it used to be.

Local multiplayer is almost none-existant anymore
Yes, I know there are couple of good games that lets you play with others in the living room, but when was the last time you saw this feature was used to the fullest? When was the last time you saw a game where you could gather three other people in the living room and share screen? Perhaps the biggest offender was Halo 5. I know performance would have been crap if full four players were playing a multiplayer match, but I think it would have been no lower than 30 fps, which is a standard norm for minimum framerate IMO. These days, two players seem to the furthest the publishers are allowing to go, probably just to sell extra copies of the game.

Somehow, even more toxicity
Remember when we used to joke about kids playing COD? How their squeaky little voices annoyed the shit out of everyone and claimed anyone who did better than them were hacking and they would be reported? Well, I can certainly say I haven't heard these kids on in-game chat anymore, but what I AM seeing is an increase in toxicity of online gamers. Seriously, few mistakes from them it's no big deal but when you make a mistake they act like you killed their dogs or something. Even a simple word or a single choice you make sends them into a rage mode. Games that I have experience to the fullest are League of Legends and Overwatch. Especially in overwatch, a simple hero choice can trigger some of the most toxic people you'll ever meet.

No one uses in-game chat anymore
I know I went over how kids were annoying in in-game chat, but I think in-game chats were more than that. I remember enjoy talking to random people, see what kind of background they came from, and even adding them to my friends list. Aside from High School, I remember in-game chats being the other way I would socialize with strangers. Nowadays, people don't talk that often on the in-game chat anymore. Whenever I join a game loby, it is dead silent other than people playing annoying music over their mic (at least that hasn't changed), but those people are rare. I know there are party chats, discord, skype, and other ways to connect with friends, but there are times when I feel like playing by myself and hopefully meet someone new.

Graphics over gameplay
This is an issue that I have been dealing with since I first started playing on my xbox 360, and when current get came around it became even worse. Everyone talks about Next-gen graphics, HDR enhancement, 4K resolution, etc, etc, etc. While I do admit games look pretty these days, I feel like it has brought down the sense of gaming for everyone. Sea of Thieves comes to mind when I think of multiplayer games committing this crime. SOT looks gorgeous, no one should deny that. But I think we can all agree its gameplay is shit. No Man's Sky is also guilty of this. And who can forget COD franchise, which tries to stay hip and relevant with its graphics but hasn't changed it's gameplay for god-knows-how long? Especially considering how the franchise has been recycling maps from old games to the newer entries, just with new skins

No one to play with
This is probaly the biggest reason why I don't enjoy the multiplayer games anymore; I can't find people to play with. I remember how we pretty much played Halo Reach, Minecraft, L4D2, and Black Ops 2 because everyone found them to me fun. Aside from everyone having their own schedule after graduating from High School, me and my buddies could never find a common ground. Our tastes began to differ, and some of us were enjoying games the rest hated. Now, some of us prefer Rainbow Six Siege while others prefer Battlefront 2 (Yes, I am serious). This has caused many of them to drift away from gaming. And we have been struggling to find the next game we can all agree on. Fortnite was the last straw we attempted to get in, only to divide us even further.

Now the singleplayer games are becoming more rarer. And I have pretty much played the shit out of most of the well-known ones out there. These days, I just end up browsing on the web, until I gather my thoughts to ***** at some forum about how much I don't enjoy multiplayer games anymore

 

[Elijin]

I find a lot of the people who make these complaints about MP and toxicity and lack of community boil down to one single notion:

You get out, what you put in.

So many people just want to walk into a room of strangers and have everyone else be super social and nice to them, and only give back once this happens. Toxicity is a thing. 1 of those 12 players has a high chance of being a dick. A world of once burned, now shy players instead sit in silence waiting for everyone else to be friendly. Here's a hint. That one player who played well, was respectful to everyone and just minded their own business. Send 'em a message. Stop sitting in your bubbles complaining about toxic people ruining the internet, waiting for pleasant interaction to come to you.

I've made some good online mates through this method in games which are renowned for being toxic, such as Overwatch and GTA:O.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Party Chat has had quite the negative effect on multiplayer games and playing by yourself has become not nearly as enjoyable because it's harder to make new friends and even play the game in a helpful way because you can't hear the strats or callouts of the people actually on mics. Then, every game has some kinda bullshit Skinner box stuff in it to make you grind for stuff that you should just have from the start. People play baseball or chess or bags or whatever because the game is fun and the dynamics for how it plays different every time. Whereas video games have lost touch with the core reason why people like playing a game over and over again and artificially turned it more into work. And the gameplay just isn't there anymore. If I'm going to play say an online shooter today, I'm not going to play any of them from current-gen because none of them are very good.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I'm sure it's not ALL bad, but the extreme uprising in new players over the years (And popularization of gaming in general over time) brought a lot of people into the scene that are just complete fuck nuggets. Granted, gaming has always had this issue. But I dunno, somehow with the increase of doxxing, swatting, online harassment, and all sorts of mess makes me really feel like it's worse than it's ever been in some cases. Maybe I'm just crazy, but the internet certainly doesn't feel as safe or welcoming as it used to, and that affects the gaming scene a fair bit.

Edit: 2k posts, woo!

 

[Hawki]

To be honest, I've found myself having gone in the opposite direction in the last half decade. Games are a huge time investment, so spending dozens of hours to complete a singleplayer game over a period of months isn't something I can do that much. In contrast, quick multiplayer sessions have become more appealing to me.

 

[Saelune]

Yeah, but only due to a lack of people to play with. If I want to play multiplayer, I usually have to endure games I am not too into, and getting my brother or our friends to play games I want to play is worse than pulling teeth, and I do not care for most MP games on PC, and the ones I do want to play are usually dead.

 

[I can't enter my old name]

That increase in toxicity is probably because most popular multiplayer games have become competitive games: 5v5, teamwork orientated, skill ceiling high enough for thousands of hours of practice, like a real sport. The problem is that unlike a real sport, you don't even know who your teammates are.

With matchmaking, you're forced to play people with equal skill level as you. Back then you could play against noobs or get stomped by that one guy you still hate to this day. Now, since nobody wants to lose progress, everyone's a tryhard. Fooling around and having fun will get you reported.

If you're not having fun, you can't leave like you could back in the dedicated server days, so you're stuck there for up to an hour and a half. No wonder there's so much toxicity.

The true solution is to bring back casual multiplayer games, where the worst thing people say is "this team sucks" at the end of every round.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Multiplayer games used to mean coming home after school, and play few matches with real-life friends online, yelling and laughing at each others' failures, pretending to high fiving each other when we won, and of course blaming the enemy for hacking and calling them fags (come on, we all did this)

However, as the current generation consoles rolled in 2013, something changed. Multiplayer games, while fun, were nowhere near the level of what it used to be.

Local multiplayer is almost none-existant anymore
Yes, I know there are couple of good games that lets you play with others in the living room, but when was the last time you saw this feature was used to the fullest? When was the last time you saw a game where you could gather three other people in the living room and share screen? Perhaps the biggest offender was Halo 5. I know performance would have been crap if full four players were playing a multiplayer match, but I think it would have been no lower than 30 fps, which is a standard norm for minimum framerate IMO. These days, two players seem to the furthest the publishers are allowing to go, probably just to sell extra copies of the game.

Somehow, even more toxicity
Remember when we used to joke about kids playing COD? How their squeaky little voices annoyed the shit out of everyone and claimed anyone who did better than them were hacking and they would be reported? Well, I can certainly say I haven't heard these kids on in-game chat anymore, but what I AM seeing is an increase in toxicity of online gamers. Seriously, few mistakes from them it's no big deal but when you make a mistake they act like you killed their dogs or something. Even a simple word or a single choice you make sends them into a rage mode. Games that I have experience to the fullest are League of Legends and Overwatch. Especially in overwatch, a simple hero choice can trigger some of the most toxic people you'll ever meet.

No one uses in-game chat anymore
I know I went over how kids were annoying in in-game chat, but I think in-game chats were more than that. I remember enjoy talking to random people, see what kind of background they came from, and even adding them to my friends list. Aside from High School, I remember in-game chats being the other way I would socialize with strangers. Nowadays, people don't talk that often on the in-game chat anymore. Whenever I join a game loby, it is dead silent other than people playing annoying music over their mic (at least that hasn't changed), but those people are rare. I know there are party chats, discord, skype, and other ways to connect with friends, but there are times when I feel like playing by myself and hopefully meet someone new.

Graphics over gameplay
This is an issue that I have been dealing with since I first started playing on my xbox 360, and when current get came around it became even worse. Everyone talks about Next-gen graphics, HDR enhancement, 4K resolution, etc, etc, etc. While I do admit games look pretty these days, I feel like it has brought down the sense of gaming for everyone. Sea of Thieves comes to mind when I think of multiplayer games committing this crime. SOT looks gorgeous, no one should deny that. But I think we can all agree its gameplay is shit. No Man's Sky is also guilty of this. And who can forget COD franchise, which tries to stay hip and relevant with its graphics but hasn't changed it's gameplay for god-knows-how long? Especially considering how the franchise has been recycling maps from old games to the newer entries, just with new skins

No one to play with
This is probaly the biggest reason why I don't enjoy the multiplayer games anymore; I can't find people to play with. I remember how we pretty much played Halo Reach, Minecraft, L4D2, and Black Ops 2 because everyone found them to me fun. Aside from everyone having their own schedule after graduating from High School, me and my buddies could never find a common ground. Our tastes began to differ, and some of us were enjoying games the rest hated. Now, some of us prefer Rainbow Six Siege while others prefer Battlefront 2 (Yes, I am serious). This has caused many of them to drift away from gaming. And we have been struggling to find the next game we can all agree on. Fortnite was the last straw we attempted to get in, only to divide us even further.

Now the singleplayer games are becoming more rarer. And I have pretty much played the shit out of most of the well-known ones out there. These days, I just end up browsing on the web, until I gather my thoughts to ***** at some forum about how much I don't enjoy multiplayer games anymore

Sign of the times, when both parents are usually working or the mother is too inept, afraid or overwhelmed to keep the kids inline. Somewhere along the line if society remains on its current course we?ll probably need to implement mandatory conditional sterilization efforts just to keep a lid on things.

 

[CaitSeith]

Never been a huge fan of multiplayer games, and their increasing toxicity wasn't exactly a selling point.

 

[Dalisclock]

I've tried to get into multi-player a few times but the closest I've come are CoOP for SoulsBorne games(and that was doing my best to avoid the PVE shit). The shitty nature of a lot of mutiplayer interactions is not a selling point for me.

Granted, the fact I don't have a lot of game time anymore and I've got a massive single player backlog is another factor that keeps me from playing multiplayer.

 

[Tony2077]

the only time i really enjoy mp is when i do that party stuff in ff14

 

[sXeth]

Local multiplayer is almost none-existant anymore

Graphics are actually the big killer for that. Rendering two completely divorced viewpoints is incredibly strenuous (also why your mirrors are often horribly rendered if at all in driving stuff).

Somehow, even more toxicity

Some of that's down to the games having competitive/ranked stuff (regardless of whether the game would ever vaguely qualify as an actual competitive title (Competitive matches sure as hell don't involve random assemblages of internet people as a big hint). But yeah, when the game is designed around chasing that rabbit at the next ladder rank or whatever rather then simply around presenting a fun experience for people to play organically, it pushes the toxicity up as they get frustrated with whatever stops them getting there. If you flip around to the co-op side of things, you see the same thing ith the ones that run timed events, or Destiny's dumb ass weekly progression gates. When it switches out of the take it as you will experience people start getting all atwist at not getting things done in the hyper-optimum fashion.

No one uses in-game chat anymore

Kind of on you? You can generally pick out people that seem amenable or unrushed to converse with. I stay in the Playstation party chat even when my buddies aren't just to avoid mic feedback and all that other stuff, but I'll still pop off a friend request or accept one or hatever with people who seem to be chill.

Graphics over gameplay

I mean, perhaps. Its kind of a case by case basis. There's been games that have had fresh gameplay and graphics. Graphics power could certainly be put into gameplay enhancements in a lot of cases, but those same enhancements also all need creative uses to merit their existence.

No one to play with
This is probaly the biggest reason why I don't enjoy the multiplayer games anymore; I can't find people to play with. I remember how we pretty much played Halo Reach, Minecraft, L4D2, and Black Ops 2 because everyone found them to me fun. Aside from everyone having their own schedule after graduating from High School, me and my buddies could never find a common ground. Our tastes began to differ, and some of us were enjoying games the rest hated. Now, some of us prefer Rainbow Six Siege while others prefer Battlefront 2 (Yes, I am serious). This has caused many of them to drift away from gaming. And we have been struggling to find the next game we can all agree on. Fortnite was the last straw we attempted to get in, only to divide us even further.

This is similar to a common thread with music. The digital age has basically brought about a drastic increase of the number of options available for consumption. Which has allowed everyone's taste to evolve into different niches. ITs not really a solvable problem, other then by finding new gaming buddies within whatever game you are playing.

 

[Trunkage]

I find a lot of the people who make these complaints about MP and toxicity and lack of community boil down to one single notion:

You get out, what you put in.

So many people just want to walk into a room of strangers and have everyone else be super social and nice to them, and only give back once this happens. Toxicity is a thing. 1 of those 12 players has a high chance of being a dick. A world of once burned, now shy players instead sit in silence waiting for everyone else to be friendly. Here's a hint. That one player who played well, was respectful to everyone and just minded their own business. Send 'em a message. Stop sitting in your bubbles complaining about toxic people ruining the internet, waiting for pleasant interaction to come to you.

I've made some good online mates through this method in games which are renowned for being toxic, such as Overwatch and GTA:O.

+1 to this. Saying GG or giving compilment stay seem like your just being polite. But it reinforces polite behaviour.

 

[Squilookle]

Yeah I'm kinda the opposite. Modern game singleplayer campaigns are short, spectacle ridden, and shit. Since I get to tell my own emergent stories in multiplayer, that's where I spend most of my time now.

 

[Xprimentyl]

My biggest gripe about multiplayer is the learning curves often make it not fun, and yes, I understand that is a subjective assessment. Games are supposed to be fun, so spending my first several sessions ?learning? by being killed repeatedly, isn?t fun, so I lose interest in favor of [story-driven/single-player/co-op] games that don?t gate competence off behind days of frustration.

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

I only ever really enjoyed multiplayer when the other players are someone in the room with me. Kind of always felt that online multiplayer was just a swamp of dicks

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I kinda feel you on this.

I used to be chatty and pleasant on overwatch voice comms, but ran into enough toxicity that I used my mic less and less until I just basically quit the game entirely, unless I notice a bunch of my friends are playing. As a Support/Tank main, I just reached a point where I decided I wasn't having fun anymore.

Not to mention the pressure of "oh no, I missed something and now I feel like it's my fault we all died...Oh look people are telling me to kill myself over voice chat, lovely" compounded by moments of "I did everything right, but our two snipers missed every single shot and started whining in all chat instead of playing" just killed my enjoyment of the game.

It also doesn't help that couch co-op is a rapidly dying breed. I miss it.

The changing tastes thing is also a factor. Like, I rarely get to meet up with most of my friends these days, and when we do, 90% of the time is spent going "oh my gosh there's this weird youtube video I gotta show you" over and over and over while almost half of us are bored out of our minds and start pulling out out phones or portables. It literally takes a huge effort on the part of me and one other friend to get us to switch over to video games and suddenly everyone is having a blast...And then we don't play games next time because "Hey guys watch, this video is soooo shit, lol!" x 50. *shrug* It's weird and I don't understand it.

That being said, I can't say multiplayer or online games are inherently becoming shit. I still do co-op once in a while with one particular friend, we're getting plenty of mileage out of Pocket Rumble and the new mario tennis, and we're both looking forward to Outward coming out to play together, and I'm still a big fan of Warframe despite literally none of my friends having the smallest spec of interest (Aside from that Larp buddy, but he's in Scotland, so the time difference makes playing together difficult).

...Actually on that note, I'm impressed that after almost 6 months, and 300 or so hours, that I've only ever run into a single toxic player in Warframe. Everyone else is either super friendly and helpful, silent-but-helpful, or at worst kinda annoying but still useful. It's so goddamn refreshing not to see two people bitching about "whose fault the imminent loss is" that just goes on for half a game.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I don't even understand why game makers create multiplayer games any more. On one hand, they want that sweet, sweet Esports money. But then they realize they can't even get that if their audience acts like they always want to act.

Overwatch, one of the biggest names around with the biggest group of developers needs to take time to figure out how to combat its toxicity above developing the game.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there's more toxic people than people who just want to have fun. If I'm learning a character or even a game... hell, I just don't want to do it any more. The second game I ever played in Evolve (I was one of those idiots who bought it day one), I tried the hunter. And the first thing I got on the mic was "You better know how to hunt."

I left the game. I bought this game for my enjoyment, not to fit into your ideas. This isn't a job. It's recreation. And I feel like I have to submit a resume to prove I should even load up the game at times.

I'll play Co-op. L4D has always been one of my favorite series. But with knowing how many people in this world are insufferable prats, I do not get why people want to deal with them on their off time.