[POLL] Is non-MMO Online Multiplayer PC Gaming Dead?

[evident]

i never understood people playing RTS's single player

 

[nakedfrog]

I have no interest in playing an RTS with other people.
The vast majority of my gaming is single-player, but I play some WolfET and COD4 online.

 

[GullyFoyle]

I used to play single-player RTS & FPS about evenly. Have never played MMO's (I'm too cheap, mostly).

Since moving most of my playing on-line, I mostly stick to FPS's, and now play FPS's almost exclusivly. The few times I tried RTS's online, I got my @ss handed to me. Imagine opponents quitting in disgust in the middle of the game, because I was providing no competition... :disgust:

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: evident
i never understood people playing RTS's single player

I can't understand why people enjoy playing against silly AI when real opponents are readily available. You'll enjoy a much greater sense of accomplishment by taking down a real opponent who doesn't have his arms tied behind his back. Yes, that does mean having to learn the online game and having to learn how to be a competitive player, but that is part of the fun and the challenge.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: WhipperSnapper

Originally posted by: evident
i never understood people playing RTS's single player

I can't understand why people enjoy playing against silly AI when real opponents are readily available. You'll enjoy a much greater sense of accomplishment by taking down a real opponent who doesn't have his arms tied behind his back. Yes, that does mean having to learn the online game and having to learn how to be a competitive player, but that is part of the fun and the challenge.

:shrug;
I enjoy myself plenty in single player mode. I also have the freedom to save the game and go off and do something at a moment's notice.

 

[Martimus]

I play FPS and RTS games via LAN, or in single player. I do not play either over the internet. You should add a LAN option, as that is very different from both Intenet gaming or single player.

EDIT: As for why I don't play multiplayer online, it is simple. I got tired of the high percentage of highly immature behavior of the players I played with online. Also, it isn't nearly as fun playing with people you have never met before, and the anonymity makes it almost like you are playing a less predictable AI, as it takes away the flavor of playing against another human being.

 

[Koudelka]

Originally posted by: WhipperSnapper

Much to my chagrin, it seems like 99% of the people who purchased the game Sins of a Solar Empire only play it in single multiplayer even though it's an excellent game and great for online multiplayer. Is it just me, or does it seem like online multiplayer non-MMO PC gaming is dying? Is it dying for RTS only and not FPS or RPG?

If you don't play your games in online multiplayer, why not?

The problem is that there hasnt been a RTS, FPS, or RPG (with good multiplayer gameplay) thats been released in a long time besides a select few.

I can barely recall a RPG for PC that hasnt sucked ass besides BG2 and NWN and had some form of multiplayer to begin with. Nobody likes to make solid RPG's anymore.

Only RTS i've actually enjoyed playing online in the last couple years was DoWII.

Cant think of a single FPS that was fun to play online in a long time...

I think its a lack of good multiplayer gameplay.. not exactly a dieing interest.

EDIT: Last FPS i got hooked on besides CS was Quake 3 Arena. I still miss that game. Played the living hell out of the game.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: WhipperSnapper

Originally posted by: Glitchny
well part of the problem with sins of a Solar Empire is that games can take a very long time.

That's part of the problem, but most online Sins games, at least the locked teams games on single star maps, don't last more than 2 hours. It's possible that most single player people just aren't aware of that, which is sad because the game is so much more challenging and interesting when you have real human opponents and allies (and not the silly AI). I would agree that overall, Sins has a number of problems in the online multiplayer area (no auto-download for custom maps and mods, stability of Ironclad Online, desyncs, minidumps, some jerkwads, etc.). However, still you'd think such a great game could sustain having 1000 people online during North American prime time. (Instead it's only about 120.)

Are pathetically low player counts only a problem for Sins or is it the same with other online multiplayer RTS games? Didn't Age of Empires die out as well?

2 hours on 1 game in the same "map"? that IS the problem.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Nov. 23 Update and thread bump.

Is Dragon Age's lack of online multiplayer support a sign that developers are disdaining PC online multiplayer?

Is Arena style online multiplayer FPS dead? Over the past four years, what arena style online multiplayer FPS titles have been released?

What recent non-MMO titles have well-designed online multiplayer functionality? Are developers just concluding that it isn't worth it to spend 33% of the development budget on a feature that perhaps only 5% of the purchasers will ever use?

 

[exar333]

:shrug;
I enjoy myself plenty in single player mode. I also have the freedom to save the game and go off and do something at a moment's notice.

Online RTS games generally degenerate into the same formula after a while anyway. Take SC for example, after playing that crap out of that game, I got tired of the same build formulas you pretty much had to do in order to survive/win.

Sometimes it is fun to play a single-player RTS and just have fun. Build units that you don't normally use, and just explore the game. Sometimes you find that you really are missing out of a large portion of the game by only using the select few units that are the most efficient.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

There is more to gaming than multiplayer. A large segment of the gaming population (myself included) enjoy single player exponentially more than multiplayer. In this thread and another one about Dragon Age lacking multiplayer, the OP tries to blame the "death" of PC gaming on "lackluster" multiplayer PC games and the "consolization" of PC games (which is ironic considering that console games have increasingly been expanding their multiplayer offerings this generation).

It's not all about multiplayer. If bad multiplayer is indeed a reason why PC gaming is "dying", then it is a very small and wholly insignificant reason compared to the bigger problems that exist in PC gaming.

 

[exar333]

There is more to gaming than multiplayer. A large segment of the gaming population (myself included) enjoy single player exponentially more than multiplayer. In this thread and another one about Dragon Age lacking multiplayer, the OP tries to blame the "death" of PC gaming on "lackluster" multiplayer PC games and the "consolization" of PC games (which is ironic considering that console games have increasingly been expanding their multiplayer offerings this generation).

It's not all about multiplayer. If bad multiplayer is indeed a reason why PC gaming is "dying", then it is a very small and wholly insignificant reason compared to the bigger problems that exist in PC gaming.

QFT.

Sometimes multiplayer isn't the best; I remember dragging my entire maching to a friend's house in 1993(?) to setup a null-modem connection for Doom. It was a lot of work to just see the other guy in the game.

 

[Lonyo]

Deus Ex (2000): No multiplayer (originally)
Morrowind (2002): No multiplayer.
KoToR (2003): No multiplayer.
Mass Effect (2008): No multiplayer.

A few random games, all arguably PC focused, all lacking multiplayer. All RPGs.

 

[Zebo]

I thought most things were moving to MMO after other devolpers saw the 100 million+ a month Blizzard rakes in - then they realized there can be only one "killer app" in each genra so many are spending their time devolping a good SP franchise instead.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

So the general consensus is that non-MMO PC online multiplayer is dying?

 

[Maximilian]

So the general consensus is that non-MMO PC online multiplayer is dying?

Not really no

Plenty of people on CSS
Plenty of people on HL2 Deathmatch
Plenty of people on L4D2
Plenty of people on CoH
Still people on Red alert 2, not hard to get a game there
Plenty of people on Starcraft
Plenty of people apparently playing CODMW2, the boycotters are anyways

Plus thats just the games i play (except MW2, im getting that soon though) theres tons more. A good chunk of MMO players are soft casual gamer types that would be eaten alive in a real game like CSS or CoH.

 

[Zensal]

This has been touched on a couple times in this thread, but I'll make it expand on it a little more, and hopefully then you'll understand why people don't play multiplayer more.

It all started for me with a game called Planetside. It was/is the one and only MMOFPS in the truest sense. A game that is just a massive battle that wages persistently day and night. An entire world of strategic PvP.

Now, just like in any other FPS, somebody is always getting their trash kicked. Someone has to be the bottom rung of the ladder on which everyone else's K/D counter is building on. One day this guy says, "Why do I log on day after day just to have my backside handed to me?" Then he quits and goes to find another simpler/easier game to play. Then someone else becomes that bottom rung. And the vicious cycle continues on from the bad players, to the moderate players, and finally only the good players are left saying "Where did everyone go?" The cycle in Planetside was accelerated because you actually had to pay monthly to get your trash handed to you.

That was an FPS, which is much simpler in execution then a RTS. To become even a moderate player in just about any RTS takes a lot of dedication and study to find a good build that works for you. You also have to be able to adapt to your opponents strategy. And that is only if you want to be a moderate player. Good players have even more issues with making sure you get the most clicks per minute and making sure everything is always working, building or fighting. This requires an enormous commitment of time and brain power to become good at a game.

So the question is "Why?" Why should I invest all that time and humiliation, losing match after match,trying to finally get good enough to start winning matches? And then what if people abandon the game? Or a new game in the series comes out and no one plays the old one anymore? The you have to take the time to learn everything over again.

I simply do not have the time or dedication. I would much rather have a good co-op FPS/RPG that I can play with my friends.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Nah. There are a ton of people who play defense games online (ex. DotA, League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth). There are also a ton of people who play FPS online (ex. TF2, CoD4, CoD6). RTS will make a comeback when Starcraft 2 comes out, and Diablo 3 will be massive for the hack & slash co-op. Borderlands just came out and has a much-loved online component.

I think PC online is just moving away from dedicated servers, which is a controversial issue. I don't particularly care, as I just play randomly for fun and pretty much always find a good match without lag. I think it pisses off the more hardcore people who take a game very seriously.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Thank you for sharing your sentiments Zensal. I think that it does reveal the need for some sort of a CD-Key based matching player skill matching system, especially in RTS. BTW, have you looked at the game Sins of a Solar Empire? It's like a 4x-RTS but designed to dramatically reduce the amount of micromanagement clicking.

 

[Zensal]

I have looked at it, but just do not have the time commitment to play it right now. Long games don't work with my full-time job, school and family.