RPG's: The single player vs. the mmo

[insectoid]

Easily single player for me. I tend to steer away from online play in any situation, and in an immersive world, such as those in RPG's (generally anyway), I just enjoy getting lost in the environment, lore and story - that I can not do in an MMO.

[small]That and subscription fees...[/small]

 

[Carnagath]

If you have no job, no friends and no life, MMO's are a wonderful alternative to suicide. And before you rip me apart, let me clarify, this means that in my opinion the only way to truly enjoy and experience a good MMO is to get completely lost in it. I did it for a couple of years, so did millions of other people, but really, you can't keep this up forever, you start to feel pretty terrible about yourself. So I will not be getting into any more MMO's personally after this. Single player RPG's on the other hand are quite enjoyable as well and can be experienced at your own pace without it being detrimental to your enjoyment. In my opinion, yes, MMO's are certainly more fun and engrossing, but the price is too high.

 

[Jonesy911]

I love single player WRPGs and JRPGs because the focus tends to be on story rather than combat, I loves me a good story

 

[Beefjerky]

Singleplayer RPG's will always beat MMORPG's in my book.

 

[luas_dublin]

Man, I hate TLRers ...jesus , did the last book you read have a puppy on the front, a word count of 20 and chewable non toxic pages ? Someone takes the time to write something something with a bit of content , you READ the fucker ok

 

[luas_dublin]

Balls , managed to delete my last feckin post .
Pretty much agreeing with the OP though
Single player RPGs -grinding for story, you're the centre of the story/world and the chosen one etc.
MMORPGs - grinding for loot (with mates or random interwebs strangers), lewt=prestige, bragging rights ,whatever.MMO's have to be static (so that you share the same world with everyone else) and it's hard to tell a story when you cant really change much.(in WoW Onyixa/Illidan/and shortly Arthas have been defeated , but they're still paradoxically around.)
I dont see one medium as being better than the other though.

 

[lenneth]

MMO's arent too bad but Single player RPG's have Disgaea on their side which means MMO's lose

 

[Susano]

Most MMOs aren't even really RPGs. Just because a game has stats doesn't mean it's an RPG. Games like WoW have more in common with Facebook games than real RPGs.

I completely agree with you. To me they are a spreadsheet with graphics that you can manipulate. Think about it, in a MMO you click on something and wait for it to die. You have assorted powers that can help you make it die quicker but still its just a matter of who has the better stats. This is the bare bones of the game so to be fair there is quite a bit more depth when you factor in everything else that the community brings to the table.

TLR? There is no comparing single player RPGS to MMOs. They are completely different. The only thing that puts them together is that you level up in both of them.

But isn't that exactly what MOST games are? Granted sometimes "Stats" is replaced with "Swords" or "Guns" or "Units" but it's still the same principle, just in first person/birds eye view/whatever.

 

[Woem]

1. You'll Never Roam Alone. Even if you're solo questing, you can almost always be assured there are other people around if you get in a serious bind. When you have trouble taking on the hordes of zombies or pack of wolves between you and your treasure, you can often ask around and in a few minutes on the outside, find at least one other person who'd be willing to help you out. You also get the chance to meet people and, if you've got a good imagination, develop a unique background for yourself to roleplay with. Guilds, clans, brotherhoods, whatever the particular "group" term for a given MMO might be are often great ways to be able to organize efforts and meet people who can help you and who you can help.

Do note that some games allow you to play the single player campaign in co-op mode either online or on LAN. I played Baldur's Gate 2 both with a friend over LAN, as over Gamespy with random people.

 

[RanD00M]

You can´t just class down RPG's as a single genre.There are so many sub-genre's in RPG's.So it all depends what kind of RPG you play.

 

[Twad]

MMO ; you get hordes of people in town standing by, trying to sell stuff. You get countless newbs asking stuff like "how do i mine for fish?" wich doesnt help immersion.. and in all MMOs, you have to grind grind grind to make progress, since most MMOs were based on a monthly fee to play.
Bieng multiplayer, you cant rely on people to help you when you need it, since most of the time they play on thier own, even when in a team. But there is always a gem of a teamplayer here and there.
I played stuff like Ultima Online, WoW (a bit), and ragnarok online. All had their moments of cool, especially UO in my case, when we got a nice little team going (and we even had a tower saturated with valuable loot too! Including "stolen" pieces of the scenery like 500 pound statues) but after a while it just get stale, slow, and repetitive. And in the end, the average joes were all trying to infiltrate out tower and steal our stuff. And when you lose everything.. takes ages to get it back.
I dont play MMOs anymore.

For singleplayer, well, its all by our lonesome. Not fun for long. If games like oblivion included some way to play in COOP with a few friends, then the game would rock.

 

[likalaruku]

RPGs are pretty much the only kind of game I play. I could enjoy shooters if it werent' for that dopamine deficiency thing.... Anyway, I like the fantasy ones too. I actually really hate sci-fi & avoid the space/robot kind.

1) My MMOs of choice are Trickster, Maple Story, Holic, & Ghost Hunter, because I like the 2D & I can easily avoid human contact, disable the chat boxes, & I don't have to push & shove my way thogh a town doing the wear-&-tear on my graphics card. If I wanted to interact with real people, I'd go outside. If I want to type & chat to like-minded people, I will go to a forum. I refuse to talk to other players or join guilds. I only join parties in Trickster when there's a quest that involves both digging & slaying for items or when I am feeling exceptionally giving & feel like helping lover levelers level faster.

I prefur the company of mindless NPC companions, especialy the ones that argue with eachother; It's ammusing. I only play the MMOs for about a week every year, as the repetitive grinding gets boring fast. I don't think I'd make a good team player...in RPGs, I'm compelled to steal anything not nailed to the ground, including from team-mates. & if something moving outside of a town that's not part of my mindless NPC entourage crosses my path, I feel compelled to attack it.

2) That's what user mods are for. You run out of paid expansions & modders provide free maps & content that adds to the replayability. I'm an exceptionally nostolgic person with a short attention span who remembers the early 90s better than yesterday, so I can immidiately replay a game after finishing & not suffer the been-there-done-thats. Except with MMOs, which seem to drag on in one place for an eternity while you grind away at repetitive tasks.

3) You've lost me.

Do MMOs even have a plot? Do they dangle it in your face like a carrot & tell you that you can only have it if you stick around for a few months?

 

[seizon]

My Humble Opinion.

Single Player RPG(I.e. FF Series,Chrono Trigger, Fallout 1,2,3, yes, MGS, etc): Are Great. Sometimes you want to play through a story. You are the hero. You are that one
person that can save everything. Even when you control multiple people, it is you in control. You move forward because, like any book, you want to know what happens next.
The minus is, much like any good thing, it must come to an end.

PnP(I.e. DnD, Adnd, Shadowrun, Rifts, , etc): Once again, great. You and your
friends are the story. Even if your "characters" hate each other, each of you has
to figure out a way to work together long enough too reach your goal. Well, sometimes
you end up in a game where you are pitted against some of the other players(Please
tell me I am not the only one that had a DM/GM do this too) but in the end, you are
the story. Sometimes, you could even be the story, when you and the rest of the
people playing, were not the heroes(Can not remember the name of the book but
FASA put out a module detailing runs where you played as the background characters)
The minus is you have to buy the books, and find people to play with you.

MMO(I.e. WoW, Warhammer, Everquest, Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima Online, etc): This
is where I get very bitter. I started with Ultima Online. I had no intentions of being
that heroic adventurer. I was happy being a Blacksmith. I spent so many days mining,
building up my craft so people would trust me to repair their equipment. Sometimes,
even making something that they would use in combat. Sometimes, in UO, and SWG, people
would come back to me after killing something, and tell me, "You know if it wasn't
for that "Insert item name here" you made, we would all have been dead.
On the flip side. You could be the hero, along with the rest of heros. Much
like PnP. You had to go out and slay the big evil bad guy, then you return, show off
what you did, and thanked the people that made it possible.
Honestly, that is where i think MMORpg lost track, and became MMO. Sure your
playing with alot of people. Sure there is some satisfaction in doing the new
raid boss. But that is all it is now. Better PvE gear, better PvP gear. I know
I am biased because I actually liked being a crafter that could make things people
would actually use for more then ten minutes, but that's my opinion.
MMORpg's had such great potential , and it has been lost.


k, now that the rant is over. my vote goes with PnP. That way you can honestly do
what you want. That and screwing the DM/GM over is always a bonus.