It is not multi player creep when the game is designed to played as a multi player experience. This isn't like the incredibly short after thought mw3 campaign that mostly serves as a multi player tutorial. The assumption that if you have to jump into this game with random douche bags is just plain wrong. It just takes a few google searches to find websites dedicated to getting like minded gamers together. Often I agree with yahtzee but this time I think his stubborn insistence on judging games solely as a single player experience is getting in the way of his enjoyment.
Hating Multiplayer Creep
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
Considering the majority of gamers don't go on-line, having a critic/reviewer/whatever focus like a laser-beam on the single player aspect of the game fills an important niche in game discussion. I've seen quite a few critics give high scores to games which they admit don't have very good single player campaigns, just because they're fans of the multi-player aspect... and that's perfectly acceptable A critic's job is to express his opinion and his reasoning, not to have the "right" opinion.Richard Rosenthal said:
The point I (and others) seem to be making is that Borderlands 2 is as much a single player game as Skyrim is. It has a nice, meaty campaign which doesn't skimp on story which many have enjoyed playing solo and I like how it's managed to take a bunch of fun elements from MMOs and transport them to a single-player/co-op game.
I understand why it's not to Yahtzee's taste (it's really just a big dumb shooter in RPG clothing), but I don't think multi-player creep is the reason why.
One of my friends got me into LoL a while back. It was the first game I attempted to play online with other people and it was kind of addictive for a while but after a couple of bad experiences with complete morons capped off with some dumbass berating me endlessly the first time I tried PvP I removed the game from my computer and have never tried anything online again. Its just not fun. Frankly I don't get the attraction, but then I do have a social disorder and am very introverted. I don't want to socialize when I'm playing video games. If I want to socialize I'll leave the house...get some coffee...go to the movies or something.
Multiplayer isn't the problem, it's a symptom. The problem is that game companies are obsessed with anti-piracy. The most proven method for preventing piracy is force the player to log in their central server every time they load the game. Players tend to resent this sort of thing (Diablo 3, anyone?) unless there is something tangible to be gained from it. Then the marketing guys come over and say "Well heck, let's just add multiplayer mode so that they'll all be happy to log into our central server!" And in the boardroom there was much rejoicing.
But then they noticed an unsettling trend: The pirates simply didn't give a crap about multiplayer and simply ignored the whole central server thing that was so essential in stopping piracy. They shrugged at the impotent multiplayer content that no one was going miss anyway and just played the game entirely offline. Soon afterward the developers decided to just take their ball and go home. Instead of multiplayer being something tacked on to the side it was now the core of the game. Ha ha, take that, pirates! Now there is nothing left to our game but a multiplayer mode that you can't access because you're a filthy pirate!
Nevermind that they were chasing off paying customers faster than the freeloading pirates. A pyrrhic victory was still a victory in their eyes. And so it became that the banner of anti-piracy became the depressing path of making games with flimsy cores that were held up by nothing more than cheap multiplayer spackle to force server log-ins, because having that strong anti-piracy system is far more important than having any actual game content worth paying for.
But then they noticed an unsettling trend: The pirates simply didn't give a crap about multiplayer and simply ignored the whole central server thing that was so essential in stopping piracy. They shrugged at the impotent multiplayer content that no one was going miss anyway and just played the game entirely offline. Soon afterward the developers decided to just take their ball and go home. Instead of multiplayer being something tacked on to the side it was now the core of the game. Ha ha, take that, pirates! Now there is nothing left to our game but a multiplayer mode that you can't access because you're a filthy pirate!
Nevermind that they were chasing off paying customers faster than the freeloading pirates. A pyrrhic victory was still a victory in their eyes. And so it became that the banner of anti-piracy became the depressing path of making games with flimsy cores that were held up by nothing more than cheap multiplayer spackle to force server log-ins, because having that strong anti-piracy system is far more important than having any actual game content worth paying for.
It gets interesting being an introvert with extrovert friends. You can be hanging out with 2-3 buddies and having a wonderful close chummy time, but if they get invited to a party or something you can either be the 'loner', with all its random-shooting connotations, or mill about and nibble snap-peas for a couple hours while they drink and dance.
Can't see what's so wrong about preferring a handful of close confidants to a roomful of acquaintances, myself. But the only people who seem okay with that mindset are the other sods that live by it.
Can't see what's so wrong about preferring a handful of close confidants to a roomful of acquaintances, myself. But the only people who seem okay with that mindset are the other sods that live by it.