Poll: Do You Care About Multiplayer?

[BFG10K]

I did a lot of LAN gaming back in the day but I basically never got into online gaming. I'm especially adverse to subscription games like MMOs which I consider just as dangerous as gambling.

These days I'm exclusive single player and don't care about multiplayer. No DRM and all multiplayer stripped out is the best, like the GOG version of Tomb Raider 2013 which even had multiplayer achievements removed.

 

[Fenixgoon]

almost 100% exclusively single player. there are a few multiplayer games i play. but for the most part, it's just too much effort to be reasonably good at so many different games. so i have like ~3 multiplayer games, where i'm probably average at best, and i'm ok with that.

everything else? single player.

 

[Zenoth]

Depends on the game itself.

I played Diablo 2 offline for about 3 years and a half, originally (around 2001 or so when I started it). Then went B.Net / Online for another 3 years. Then something like Natural Selection (Half-Life mod) was about 90% multiplayer, did some occasional offline sessions with Bots. If I go back to maybe early PC gaming in general it was maybe half and half. I played a bunch of Battlefield 1942, Desert Combat (the original mod) and then Battlefield 2; all of which were also about 90% online (and again, I think I did play some offline with bots). If I think of something like Command & Conquer 2 (Tiberian Sun + expansion) it was half and half, same with Red Alert 2.

Something like Unreal Tournament 2004 was about 50/50 for me, I played a bunch of Mutators and Invasion mods both offline with bots and online on specific servers. I'm skipping a lot, but I'll jump right to something like Mass Effect 3, which I played the campaign of only one single time (was more than enough, actually it was too much) but I ended up playing about 2000+ hours of its MP mode. Some years before ME3 was all the rage with Team Fortress 2, that one I played about 100% online, similarly so with the first Left 4 Dead (although I did play some offline sessions with bots here and there).

Right now I play Heroes of the Storm regularly, only online (well I mean sure, we need to be online to play it; although we can play it solo with and against bots, but I do play it with people Versus bots). I also started the Iceborne expansion for Monster Hunter World back in last December, and even though initially I played it solo (offline sessions) for the main campaign quests I'm now splitting my time with it equally between offline and online sessions, and I sometimes join SOS flares (joining someone else's match to help them) or ask for help when I need it.

Even if I go back to my first ventures with 'Online Gaming' in late 2000 on my Dreamcast, I played the games that did have online about 50/50 with offline too (Quake 3 Arena and Phantasy Star Online for example were two of those). But if I go with say... Dragon Age Inquisition (which had a multiplayer mode) then I skipped MP entirely and exclusively just played the campaign offline.

So ultimately yeah, depends on the game, and overall I'd say it's about 50/50. And I skip a game's MP mode(s) if I just happen not to care for it (it does happen here and there).

 

[DeathReborn]

I used to be big on MP but that was 15+ years ago, now it's about 90% SP & 10% MP/Co-op. I think the last time I spent a lot of time on MP was way back on Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis. Gamespy was still a thing back then, skins/hats etc were just a figment of a bean counters wet dreams.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Multiplayer however I’ve lost interest in shooters.
I do like co-op multiplayer games or strategy games like Civ with friends.

 

[mikeymikec]

I play StarCraft 2 co-op games online, it's good for a quick half-hour blast. Otherwise I try to avoid MMOs because I worry that my time will get sucked into it on the game's terms rather than mine.

 

[CP5670]

I play online occasionally, but only niche games with people I've known for a long time (mainly Overload and Star Wars Squadrons). I was much more into it 20 years ago when it was something new and exciting, and was active in Freespace 2, Descent 2/3, UT99, C&C games, Tribes 2, etc. I was never interested in any of the F2P or MMO games.

Multiplayer works better if you play just a few games a lot and focus on getting good at them. Singleplayer games have more of a clear ending, so you can have fun with it and then move on to another game. I have a huge number of games now and limited gaming time, and would rather play something new in my list of unplayed games.

 

[Igo69]

I am a single player guy and don't care about multiplayer but the only multiplayer I play is Counter-Strike GO.

 

[ultimatebob]

I play mostly single player now, mostly because I don't enjoy getting repeatedly killed by some 13 year old punk with an aimbot.

 

[Stuka87]

I love 100% single player games. I don't like tacked on multiplayer to them.

However, I also really enjoy multiplayer only games.

 

[Oyeve]

SP all the way. The only MP game I play is Overwatch and SW battlefield 2.

 

[DigDog]

i used to abhor MP because i was bad at games. When i lern2quaek which is leetspeak for "learned how to play quake" i flipped and went MP exclusively because, i still think today, there are very few, very rare games that can give me the challenge that a human opponent can.
Still, it depends on the game. SP FPS is dumb, but MP arcade games are still garbage.

 

[nakedfrog]

I only do local multiplayer, with the exception that I play Tabletop Simulator with my friends back in the Midwest.
I voted "single player exclusive" since I expect you mean online multiplayer.

 

[Borealis7]

Well...i play Path of Exile which is an online ARPG. the game itself can be played completely as single player, but there is a trading aspect and grouping if you want to. so i'd mark it as a single player game.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I care about MP insofar as couch co-op so I can game with my kids. Otherwise everything I play is exclusively single player.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I love a good single-player game but I also enjoy co-op games. Every Friday and Saturday night I game with a couple of buddies. We have been doing these game nights for years now and so co-op is super important to us.

 

[Captante]

2. Mostly single player, a little multiplayer.


And by the above I mean 90% single-player only.

 

[MrSquished]

Mostly multiplayer. I love shooters and the best opponents are other humans to play with and against. I was really good in my twenties and early thirties but old age reflexes slowly started kicking in and are really catching up to me in my mid forties.

When my reflexes get too much worse I'll play less games overall but the ones I play will be more co-op or SP vs multiplayer shooters. Probably another 5 years or so.

 

[biostud]

Every Tuesday is co-op gaming with a couple of friends from high school. Always PvE.
Otherwise I've mostly played World of Tanks, which is only multi player. And the rest only single player.

So pretty mixed.

 

[Captante]

Every Tuesday is co-op gaming with a couple of friends from high school. Always PvE.
Otherwise I've mostly played World of Tanks, which is only multi player. And the rest only single player.

So pretty mixed.

I used to do mostly MMOG/RPG's like Star Wars Galaxies and City of Hero's.

More recently I also got into Star Wars: The Old Republic for awhile but lately it seems like all these game companies are doing is pumping out crap-tons of generic FPS's but online because its easier for them and generates ongoing revenue. (all "Battle Royale" is, is glorified Quake /Unreal death-match which got boring nearly 20 YEARS ago IMO)

Doesn't make me optimistic for the future of big open-world SP games like Skyrim/Elder Scrolls.

 

[Captante]

When my reflexes get too much worse I'll play less games overall but the ones I play will be more co-op or SP vs multiplayer shooters. Probably another 5 years or so.

I'm "older" but after 45 minutes or so of "warmup" in a Quake III bot-deathmatch on "nightmare" mode I can still usually wipe the floor with the non-cheaters in a MP online shooter.

Obviously my mad skillz (lol) have degraded a bit since the late 90's/early 2000's but I can still hold my own.

 

[biostud]

I used to do mostly MMOG/RPG's like Star Wars Galaxies and City of Hero's.

More recently I also got into Star Wars: The Old Republic for awhile but lately it seems like all these game companies are doing is pumping out crap-tons of generic FPS's but online because its easier for them and generates ongoing revenue. (all "Battle Royale" is, is glorified Quake /Unreal death-match which got boring nearly 20 YEARS ago IMO)

Doesn't make me optimistic for the future of big open-world SP games like Skyrim/Elder Scrolls.

Currently I have 2-3 hours of gaming/week so there will be plenty of games to choose from, once I get more time.

 

[MrSquished]

I'm "older" but after 45 minutes or so of "warmup" in a Quake III bot-deathmatch on "nightmare" mode I can still usually wipe the floor with the non-cheaters in a MP online shooter.

Obviously my mad skillz (lol) have degraded a bit since the late 90's/early 2000's but I can still hold my own.

Indeed. Us older fogies can still have plenty of moments.

Halo and Apex are the two games I play the most of and I can find myself owning a match and lobby sometimes. Also can find myself getting destroyed by a 16 year old kid from Korea too. Enough great rounds to make me want more though.

 

[CP5670]

The toughest games are those old games that still have an active community, like UT99 or Descent 3. The people have been playing the whole time since then and are absurdly good.

 

[BFG10K]

I'm "older" but after 45 minutes or so of "warmup" in a Quake III bot-deathmatch on "nightmare" mode I can still usually wipe the floor with the non-cheaters in a MP online shooter.

Yeah, I still regularly play Quake 3 nightmare botmatches to prevent my twitch skills from atrophying.

That bot AI was programmed in 1999 for a Pentium 266MHz minimum so it's amazing how well it continues to hold up.