On Multiplayer

[Gigano]

Those are the exact reasons I don't play online (except the game critic thing, of course). Unless a game is marketed to and specifically designed for online play (in which case it shouldn't have a weak single player campaign tacked on), the primary focus should be on the single player expirience. A game like Cod: MW1 had strong singleplayer and from what I hear was also an online timesink as a bonus, but MW2 just phoned in the story and coherence, and relied on the multiplayer to sell the game. It was an Unreal Tournament in Half-life clothes...

 

[Kushin]

I'm going to have to say a big 'Fuck You' to Yahtzee here. I agree that a story should have a strong multiplayer but only when that is the intended product.

A game like Team Fortress 2, with no singleplayer whatsoever unless you are the sad type of person who plays a private match and then doesn't invite any friends, is absolutely brilliant and has not got a storyline to think of beyond the obvious 'Those guys are a different colour to us, lets kill them'.

 

[WafflesToo]

The genious of Team Fortress was that ANYONE can just drop in and play and at least have some fun with it.

Of course, when I'm in the mood to play a computer or console game it AIN'T because I'm feeling sociable. If I want to go interact with other people I'll go rig up my sailing dingy and hang around the lake, crash someone's dinner party, or invite my mates out to go drinking. I DON'T fire up an electronic gizmo (and no, my GPS doesn't count).

I suppose I'm alot like Yahtzee in what I expect to get out of a game; what's over the next hill, immersion in the subject matter, etc.

Christ almighty, I see something of Yahtzee in myself. I should seek psychiatric help.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

I hate online multiplayer with a passion I reserve for Youtube commentors and paedophiles.

Any game which sells itself on the multiplayer will get no love from me. If I do happen to have a stroke or something and actually buy one, or some idiot gets me one for christmas or birthday, then it gets one playthrough, to test the single player campaign, and then gets thrown in a box and never played again, or resold so I can buy a much better game.

So yeah, I agree with Yahtzee on this one, single player should be the selling point, with multiplayer a distant fourth behind graphics and gameplay. And whether it's in disk format, and whether it's got a nice box, and whether it's reasonably priced.

 

[Vlane]

snip

Huh. I thought that was perhaps the weakest of the five points he provided. I've met seriously decent people online. Yahtzee's cynicism seems to extend far beyond my own. I can't really say I'm surprised though.

And was it just me or was the article conspicuously lacking in any discussion of non-online multiplayer?

Lucky you. I haven't met a decent/nice person online. Just people yelling [add any "insult"]

You have to play on some CS:S servers I play on. A lot of nice people there. Sure we insult each other but everybody knows we aren't serious. When I say "Skittles come here you asshole/retard/fag/[insult]." (Skittles is a real person I've met on a jail break server) I'm kidding. We both laugh and stab each other with our knifes.

 

[Vlane]

'Those guys are a different colour to us, lets kill them'.

That sounds so racist if somebody doesn't know what you are talking about.

But yeah why didn't Yahtzee talk about Team Fortress 2 or Left 4 Dead (if you play it alone you are a sad, sad person)?

 

[Warstratigier]

Not all people are shit, they just simply need to prove they aren't. However with that said, if the chance to prove one's self is simply thrown out the window by the judged well then yes, they deserve to be called that.

 

[gim73]

Yep, it really comes down to a good single player experience. Does it tell a coherent story and actually have a reason for all the weapons in the game or is it just a convienient pile of crap tacked on after a multiplayer slugfest was created. It seems that many games do have a good single player portion, but that portion is really short. Usually these games have four difficulty settings: retard, normal person, fps veteran and uber ninja able to dodge the 100 percent accuracy headshots coming in at you from every direction.

But what if a game is 100 percent multiplayer? Then it's a MMORPGER! Seriously though, looking at WoW, you can actually play it as a single player game all the way up through end game content. You don't need to make any groups or run any dungeons. Any elites you can just ignore. PvP is entirely voluntary on all the decent servers. If you look at other MMORPGERS like FFXI, you have pretty much a 110 percent multiplayer game. You are stuck in a party for every leveling excursion. Any new area you are going into will be with five of your pals. Everyone needs to be in their top end gear and spells for every encounter, buffed up with the right food and a balanced party. While you might be able to solo areas quite a bit lower level than you and farm items for gold by yourself, most everything you do will be in a group. Is the grind FUN? It's a pretty fun game with a very different pacing than WoW. I enjoy it, and come back to it from time to time. But I still like that human interaction is entirely optional for most of WoW. And I LOVE that you can turn off channels of chat (I'm looking at you barrens chat!).

You totally got it wrong when you said buying a game with multiplayer and not playing the multiplayer was like buying the orange box and not playing portal. More like not playing team fortress 2. Portal is the short (but fun) single player distraction in the orange box. Personally, I never bothered playing TF2, because I don't really give a damn about the multiplayer. I bought the orange box for HL2 and it's episodes, and portal was a bonus. And I love each of those games. It really does make the orange box a good value. I'm sure some people bought the orange box for TF2 and ignored the rest of the awesome games in it.

 

[dietpeachsnapple]

I must contend on point number three.

Though not true for some, I do not have the luxury of taking on each new game on 'the pile.' You see, the pile is very expensive and I am a graduate student who likes to eat from time to time.

As for how one replays the same game to such extents: There is something comfortable about playing a game that you are familiar with. When one is looking for that warm, safe feeling that comes from playing a well known game, demonstrating great finesse and skill with apparent ease, an 'old favorite' never fails to please. This may seem distasteful, or out of the 'gaming spirit,' but it is a perspective that seems to work for me (and my wallet).

I love your segment and your extra punctuation as always. Keep up the good work.

 

[Doug]

I'm a believer of Penny Arcade's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory: "Ordinary person + audience + anonymity = fuckwad." I would suggest a few alterations, though, such as removing the "+ anonymity" part. And the "+ audience" part. The default state of all human beings is fuckwad. The only reason they don't always act like fuckwads is because they're afraid of getting punched. So they're not just fuckwads, they're cowardly fuckwads.

This bit is so true. This was a great read because multiplayer should never be the first priority.[/quote]

Yeah...thats not bitter at all. Ok, I agree with "Ordinary person + audience + anonymity = fuckwad.", and even "Ordinary person + audience = fuckwad."

But just "Ordinary person = fuckwad."? No, not much.

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

The last point smells a bit misanthropic.

Yahtzee? Being misanthropic. My mind, it is blown.

Yahtzee seems to be sharing the mindset of philosopher Thomas Hobbes. To paraphrase:

Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Whereas our resident Australian misanthrope's observation on people appears to be thus:

People (especially gamers) are lonely, cowardly, opinionated and stupid.

 

[PlasticTree]

I'm really glad you have your own text-based column now. The ZP-videos are still fun, but I noticed I like your columns better. They might not be as original and ground-breaking and all, but still.

 

[persona J]

hail yatzee. good job u didnt play the multiplayer anyway it just proves that everyone is an idiot since the multiplayer is complete crap. it just perpetuates idiocy.

 

[Neshel]

The only thing about post that I don't quite understand is how reaching the endgame content in WoW means there's nothing more to see. I happen to love raiding, although I understand why some people, and especially Yahtzee, wouldn't (with the wrong group it can be hellishly frustrating) but unless you're in a top-end guild that has breezed their way through all of the content, there's almost always more to see, new bosses to figure out how to conquer and new spectacles to explore. I suppose this is why I've always enjoyed progression guilds and why I hate that at the moment you can pretty much skip the early end-game content and go straight to the newer dungeons, but I digress.

 

[Truly-A-Lie]

I'd probably have more respect for MW2 if it just came out as a multiplayer only game at a reasonable price (not the increased one Activision tried to give it), but people calling it a masterpiece annoy me to death when they won't acknowledge the fact that it has a completely retarded single player campaign that lasts about as long as my patience for 3 year olds. If a game pretends to be a full experience and isn't, then it has flaws, which most people (that I know) seem to be ignoring.

 

[Octorok]

"You didn't try the online multiplayer portion of modern warfare 2????? Seriously????? THAT'S LIKE TRYING ORANGE BOX AND SKIPPING OVER THE SILLY PORTAL GAME."
-Matt, via email

Give me this mans address.

I don't care how many times I have to do something unspeakable to Yahtzee to get it, I just want to choke the stupid out of this guy.

Just round up and kill everybody named "Matt, Matthew, Matty" etc. You'll have to kill him some day.

 

[Newo]

You made some good points but when it got to around the 3rd one i realised you tipped over the edge. Say what you will but games like TF2 and Bordrlands are still a lot of fun and thats what its about for me, fun.

 

[Tears of Blood]

Down with multiplayer!

... Not really. But I do generally dislike playing online and find it annoying.

 

[twm1709]

You see, there are various different kinds of gamer, defined by the reasons they play games. Some do it to test their skills, some to find all the secrets, and some people like to see things brought to a conclusion.
Well, how about those who do it as a means to spend time with friends or sharing a common interest with new people?

People get a lot more value for their money with multiplayer heavy titles because
1) It usually extends the length of the game until they've finally gotten bored of it (not many people like playing the same Single player campaign more than once)
2) It gives people a chance to share a common interest, and eventually, that very idea tramples the game itself.
The concept of friendly competition and teamwork is what makes a multiplayer game stand out. Take games like pokemon 10 years ago. It was a multiplayer phenomena for years and it wouldn't have lasted a week without that game boy link cable.

For example, I wouldn't have been caught dead playing the RE5 campaign on my own. It was the idea of sharing the entertainment with a friend that did it for me.

I remember my biggest multiplayer craze came with Diablo 2. On reflection, the game did allow me to move forward without help for the most part but I could always find someone to do a certain quest, duel or just go treasure hunting. Plus beating the hell out of a big baddie with 8 players, each using their own gameplay style, while the screen filled with all sort of special effects was rather awesome.

I really don't get people who can play end-game content and games like Counter-Strike over and over and over again. Nothing ever changes and nothing is ever achieved. And you're taking your own time away that you could be using to get to grips with the wonders of the unexplored worlds in the next game on the pile.

I think entertainment by repetition is as valid as anything else. Just look at tetris. Besides, not everyone can afford a new game every two weeks. I think it's a mistake critics (movie ones too) frequently make. Just because it's not an enlighting experience doesn't mean you can't entertain yourself by doing it. And just what is gaming if not entertainment?

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

5. Because people are shit.

Without wanting to sound like a fanboy, this, basically.