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[FunkMiller]

Story is everything for me.

 

[Aenima]

MP games was fun when i played them with some friends i know in real life. Playing with strangers can either be a good experience or a bad one.

So now i usually just play single player games as i value more games with a story that i can play at my own pace without having strangers ruining the fun.

 

[Deerock71]

If anything having 3 kids is why I know play more online games (quick short bursts, 20-30 minute sessions when they’re in bed). Starting a new single player campaign now feels like a huge time commitment for me. I’ll actively seek out shorter single player games.

When I was single I could play single player games for days though.

I've gone in the exact opposite direction and love features like the sleep button on the Switch and quick resume on the Series S. I never feel like I can pause a multiplayer game, so I never feel comfortable playing one.

 

[Neff]

I don't think they really care whether that fun is being had with AI or with other humans.

I care. In a single player game, every decision being sent to the game, and the outcome of that decision, is mine, and attributable to me.

In multiplayer games, people want to do different things. You're never going to have full control of a game in a multiplayer experience, which is why it's less appealing to me. I enjoy many multiplayer games, but I will always prefer predictable, learnable and exploitable AI routines over human randomness when it comes to investing myself with a game in the long term, simply because it's a more reliable way to spend my time.

I'll always have time for Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Splatoon, Street Fighter, Tekken etc online, but with the kind of adventure title you're pointing to as an opportunity for online gaming, I want it to progress based on what I want, not what other players do or don't want.

I don't really know how to put it any simpler than that.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Basically all the poll options. I mostly game to unwind and get immersed in a world, not fuck around with leaderboards and hearing some 13 year old UK twat talk about fucking my mom when I gank him harder than his uncle on the weekend. MMOs also take way too much time, coordination and money for something I'd have more fun doing by myself at my own pace.

 

[Efren is G.O.A.T.]

The amount of toxicity in online games are really a huge turn off. I also have no interest in playing with teenagers screaming all the time.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I will always prefer predictable, learnable and exploitable AI routines over human randomness when it comes to investing myself with a game in the long term, simply because it's a more reliable way to spend my time.

Do you prefer platformers, where AI, performs extremely simple behavior (Goombas move in one direction until they hit a wall) over games with more intelligent AI such as Halo, MGSV, F.E.A.R. etc?

Do you gravitate towards puzzle games where predictability and reliable mechanics play the most prominent roles over games where AI can sometimes surprise you?

 

[Guilty_AI]

Comparing MP games with SP ones is like comparing sports with reading books. Complete different interests targeted at different people.

Some people like going to a sports court to play with others, others like holing up in their room and reading.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Comparing MP games with SP ones is like comparing sports with reading books. Complete different interests targeted at different people.

Some people like going to a sports court to play with others, others like holing up in their room and reading.

This was true.

It's not true moving forward.

 

[Guilty_AI]

This was true.

It's not true moving forward.

and by that you mean...?

 

[balls of snow]

Story over gameplay. Sorry not sorry.

 

[Y0ssarian]

I don't find multiplayer fulfilling and I don't enjoy the social aspect

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

and by that you mean...?

Old multiplayer vs new multiplayer.

Old multiplayer was overwhelmingly 1 v 1, 5 v 5, 8 v 8 etc. round based gameplay. Think Street Fighter, Goldeneye, League of Legends, Halo, Rocket League, Overwatch... You just put a small number of people on a small map together and tell people Go for 10 minutes. That's analogous to sports.

New multiplayer is open world, persistent online with longer narrative arcs. Think DayZ, Rust, Ark, Battle Royale etc...The player participates in the narrative formula called "The Heroes Journey" that's frequently found in film, books, and single player games.

Player starts weak, finds resources, builds shelter, crafts weapons, makes alliances, participates in big battles, becomes King. The Heroes Journey lends itself to asymmetrical gameplay (Orcs, Elves, Hobbits, Nasgul etc...) which means players who prefer specific playstyles (I prefer playing at my own pace) are more likely to be catered to.

Multiplayer is no longer just sports. It's now pursuing the people who like holding up in their room and reading.

 

[AutumnLeaves]

While people waste hundreds of hours in their favorite MP and achieve what? I don't know the answer and I'm not sure if I even want to know it

To have fun? What a completely bizarre statement. So playing a single player game is not wasting time but a multi-player is?

To this day I play UT 99, UT 2004, Quake 3. Sometimes online, sometimes single player with the bots. Loads and loads of fun that is not provided in any other game.

I also love playing single player games too. Yes, for the story, but also because of the fun factor. Because that is the ultimate deciding factor for me to continue to keep playing. If it is not enjoyable to play, no matter how good the story is, it's not worth playing.

 

[Kabelly]

because I'm anti social

 

[Bulletbrain]

Several reasons. (1) in any game I like to take my time and play at my own pace. Something very difficult to do in multiplayer; (2) I like a good story, dialog systems, again pretty rare in multiplayer; (3) I play games to relax and not to compete. After a tough days work, stressing about performing is not an enticing proposition at all.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Old multiplayer vs new multiplayer.

Old multiplayer was overwhelmingly 1 v 1, 5 v 5, 8 v 8 etc. round based gameplay. Think Street Fighter, Goldeneye, League of Legends, Halo, Rocket League, Overwatch... You just put a small number of people on a small map together and tell people Go for 10 minutes. That's analogous to sports.

New multiplayer is open world, persistent online with longer narrative arcs. Think DayZ, Rust, Ark, Battle Royale etc...The player participates in the narrative formula called "The Heroes Journey" that's frequently found in film, books, and single player games.

Player starts weak, finds resources, builds shelter, crafts weapons, makes alliances, participates in big battles, becomes King. The Heroes Journey lends itself to asymmetrical gameplay (Orcs, Elves, Hobbits, Nasgul etc...) which means players who prefer specific playstyles (I prefer playing at my own pace) are more likely to be catered to.

Multiplayer is no longer just sports. It's now pursuing the people who like holding up in their room and reading.

This is more akin to a paintball game or a RPG session than reading.
Not to mention you're basically describing MMOs which have existed for a long time already, and have, too, a separate audience and appeal from competitive and offline single player.

You aren't gonna convince anyone who likes playing visual novels or jrpgs to instead play these types of multiplayer game just because you can make some vague analogy to the monomyth. Its like telling a person who wants to read Neuromancer to drop the book and go watch star wars just because "its all sci fi anyway so you can like that instead".

 

[Filben]

Because of sweats and tryhards and toxic teammates. I can mute the latter, but if you don't spend hours and hours per week on complex games (and they're getting more and more complex than let's say at Quake and Unreal times) you get wrecked by people playing the same game for years.

 

[AV]

I just don't enjoy spending all my gaming time playing the same game/handful of games in order to get to a point where I'm even remotely capable of competing.

You will almost always be fighting sweatlords that play nothing but that game all the time and it's just impossible for me to enjoy that.

This is why the "DOTA gets fun after 200 hours!" meme exists.

 

[FoundryMusic]

• I despise Earthlings
• Don't want to have to talk online or hear others talk
• Not into FPS
• Not got the greatest internet connection
• ...or gaming skills
• Not being able to pause things to go for a slash
• That's about it

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

I have a feeling some people don't understand why the rest of the world is not just like them.

People have preferences, and game for different reasons. You cannot and will not be able to make a game that fits everyone's tastes. And that is not a problem that needs fixing, that is just reality of humans being different.

Nintendo try their best to make games that appeal to everyone, but that heavily restricts what games they make. Splitting games into different types is the way to go, and any attempt to make the "perfect game" that encompass the whole human race would simply fail.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Definitely single player for me. To me they just have more depth and enjoyment for me. Storylines, exploration, character development, play at my own pace, more interesting level designs, immerse myself in worlds without anyone bothering me. more variety in gameplay typically, etc.

I don’t know, most multiplayer games to me generally feel kind of shallow and get repetitive pretty fast. Not to mention, it seems like most people seemingly eat, breath and sleep online games 24/7 now and that can make them way more stressful than a single player game especially if you are a casual or not too skilled.

Yet, for some reason I’ll play fighting games online. Can you imagine if you sucked at fighting games or shooters and all you could do is play online and there are mostly professionals, lag switchers, spammers and cheaters online? What fun would that be if you lose all the time? Also, do most people want to or have time to invest hundreds of hours into a game to get competent or competitive at it?

 

[NeonGhost]

I hate the fomo from always having to check in every day commit to challenges that are time sensitive to get gear that you will never be able to get again

 

[SeraphJan]

Definitely single player for me. To me they just has more depth and enjoyment for me. Storylines, exploration, character development, play at my own pace, more interesting level designs, more variety in gameplay typically, etc.

I don’t know, most multiplayer games to me generally feel kind of shallow and get repetitive pretty fast. Not to mention, it seems like most people seemingly eat, breath and sleep online games 24/7 now and that can make them way more stressful than a single player game.

Yet, for some reason I’ll play fighting games online. Can you imagine if you sucked st fighting games or shooters and all you could do is play online and there are mostly professionals, lag switchers, spammers and cheaters online? What fun would that be if you lose all the time?

Exactly that.

The only multiplayer I will ever accept is offline couch, or LAN party type of multiplayer, where all the problem above such as latency issue, toxic strangers, and cheating are all gone.

 

[Fare thee well]

Some people see players as content, and my experience has been, more often than not, that players ruin content.

 

[RPSleon]

I can finish a sp game. My time is limited and i want to have different experiences that i can feel have been complete. It feels richer and less like wasted time.

I have spent so much time over the years playijg multiplayer games and remember a handful of those experiences.

 

[kikkis]

Despite being autist-tier socially, I prefer multiplayer games in principle. However only PvP game I enjoy is Cod, and last PvE I have enjoyed is L4D almost 15 years ago.

Because amazing multiplayer games are so rare, I am stuck playing singleplayer games so that I have even something to play.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

From a single player gamers perspective: It's more interesting to see to see the behaviors of real people rather than AI.

Maybe I don't care for other player behavior. I just want to sit down and play a game.

If I am to do multiplayer it will be couch coop and/or competitive... Online is just lame

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Generally I prefer single player because it's what I mostly grew up with and is more immersive. Ideally my favorite stuff would have co op and vs modes but 7th gen showed how that's not always a good idea. Also with single player games I can preserve ROMs/ISOs of my favorite games which helps make them feel not disposable.

When I do have multiplayer urges it's not as consistent of a gameplay experience. Sometimes I get in kills, sometimes I get killed, purely because of factors like internet connection hiccups for example. Saps the fun out of what's supposed to be a fun hobby

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Coop is a blend of MP and SP games and is now my preferred way of playing.

Competitive shooters have to be casual friendly and really good (Halo Infinite/ Gears 5 to name a few) to be enjoyable for me.

Else am playing coop or SP games mostly.

 

[JCK75]

None of those really apply
At home I play multiplayer almost exclusively
When I get free time at work I pay single player.. because I need to be able to drop the game in an instant to help someone.

 

[Winter John]

Last game online game I played a lot of was Overwatch. I used to have a lot of fun with it but these days it's a real poor experience. I don't know what they did to it but whenever I've logged in over the last year or so it's been a shit show. I had high hopes for BF2042 right up until the free trial, that thing got deleted fast. I like Red Dead Online but I never see anyone on there.

 

[Södy]

Nowadays I only play online with friends. Rarely solo queue in Halo and regret it immediately after one match.

 

[Duchess]

I always hated being invaded in the Souls games.

When I got the notification, I would literally do this: run back to the nearest bonfire, and then, if possible, hurl myself off a cliff, to my death. I would then respawn and collect my souls.

If suicide wasn't possible, I'd simply stand by the bonfire and let the invader kill me. It was funny to sometimes see the bafflement from the other player, as I didn't retaliate. They were probably wondering if I'd been desynced or something.

(fun fact - the more you were killed in Souls when being invaded, the less you would end up being invaded)

 

[Ovek]

Multiplayer games are fucking boring slogs. It's just the same shit over and over and over again. And then you have the dreaded word "meta" because fuck you if you want to play it the way you want.... oh no no you need to play it this very specific way with these very specific weapons or your just meat for the grinder.

 

[Griffon]

I like MP games when you have an actual place to hang out and meet new people (i.e. MMOs or Dedicated Servers).

But nowadays the majority of games are using lobby matchmaking, and it's a toxic pit where you'll never get the same teammates for more than a single session. Why give a shit about being nice when you know you'll never meet again?
To try to make it fun you have to premake a group with friends you already know and willing to play that particular game and... yeah good luck with that...

I found FFXIV great because it's both an excellent single player story and a nice coop game with a friendly persistent community.

 

[zaanan]

Only multiplayer I like is local.

Online co-op can be good, like in Borderlands.

 

[Denton]

Between 2000 and 2006 I spent thousands of hours in Counterstrike 1.1 - 1.6. Even went to some tournaments.

It healed me of multiplayer cravings for good. In 2008 I started working and since then only have interest in singleplayer storydriven games.

 

[AJUMP23]

I want to play the game how and when I want to play it. I want to enjoy the game. I also have kids so I want a pause button. Online games carry a lot of baggage. Single player the only baggage is what you bring.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

People have preferences, and game for different reasons. You cannot and will not be able to make a game that fits everyone's tastes. And that is not a problem that needs fixing, that is just reality of humans being.

It's only a problem that needs fixing if you want to make mountains of money.

If you look at the OP, I think you'll agree that gamers do run into those particular roadblocks when it comes to multiplayer games. The more those roadblocks get removed, the wider your potential market becomes.

The inventor of the automobile didn't say "Everyone who owns horses will buy my car." Instead, automobile manufacturers slowly removed roadblocks for horse owners.

"They're too slow. My horse can run nearly 40 mph!"

Automobile manufacturers: "Let's get to work."

"They're too expensive. My horse is much cheaper to own."

Automobile manufacturers: "Let's get to work."

"They break down too often. My horse has been healthy for all its life."

Automobile manufacturers: "Let's get to work."


In this thread we have people saying "I like to explore and go at my own pace."

What do you think game manufacturers are saying?

 

[Sub_Level]

Don't have a preference. I can thoroughly enjoy singleplayer, cooperative, or competitive multiplayer. I just like videogames man.

 

[AV]

car analogy

You also can't have a car that is affordable, reliable, super fast, sturdy, flashy and holds 6 people. If you could I'm sure it would be the best selling car on the planet, but it can't exist.

IMO The closest we get in games is MMOs that can also be played as single player games like WoW and FF14 (as far as I know on the latter). You can spend hundreds of hours doing all the WoW quests in single-player mode if you want, you can work together with people to conquer PVE, you can do PVP solo or as a team, or you can do everything I just listed. But even MMOs have their niche and still can't appeal to everyone.

 

[poppabk]

I like some multiplayer games, but it is increasingly difficult to get in to most games due to excessive grind to get weapons etc, plus changing meta as things get balanced or added etc. It is definitely not conducive to family life as well, I really only play when I know I am not going to be interrupted.
And yeah teammates are often psychotic.
Bad Company 2 was pretty much the apex for me for FPS, everything has been downhill from there.

 

[Stuart360]

I play both, but i prefer single player overall.
I'd say one of the big reasons for that is i like story's in games, and you are more likel;y to get a good story in a SP game than a MP game. And with a SP game you can play at your own pace, without having to worry about other players, and team objectives etc.

 

[VeganElduderino]

I'm not a competitive guy and i don't like the repetitive aspect of online multiplayer games , plus in real life i'm easily social (when i want too ) i don't want to be social when i play videogames, i prefer single player games cause it's mostly my alone time and oh! do i love my ME time !

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

You also can't have a car that is affordable, reliable, super fast, sturdy, flashy and holds 6 people.

Horse owners would disagree.

 

[AMC124c41]

In my case it is rather simple. No matter how good the MP game is, I get eventually bored and have 0 interest in going back. I prefer getting lost in a SP game instead and enjoy myself at my own pace following along with hopefully a good story. I am fully aware that one size does not fit all and a lot of people are bored by SP stuff and that's fine as long as developers cater to all of us with different experiences.

 

[Neff]

Do you prefer platformers, where AI, performs extremely simple behavior (Goombas move in one direction until they hit a wall) over games with more intelligent AI such as Halo, MGSV, F.E.A.R. etc?

AI is less of a deciding factor in the types of games I play, there are times when sophisticated AI pays off, just as there are ones where simple AI is best.

Clever, complex level design is my jam, which is something developers tend to avoid in the modern era, even more so when developing online games.

 

[Laptop1991]

Like others here i prefer escapism, immersed in stories although i'll admit the stories are not that great now in some games, and iv'e never been a fan of MP games against other people, they just turn into Deathmatch, which i've never enjoyed.

 

[Caffeine]

it's a lot of stuff depending on the game. First and foremost I like story and when mp tries to add some kind of lore or story it generally is face value shit that is just to sell skins in the current season. Every BR i've played on pc almost 7/10 matches has someone aimbotting across the map its not great a huge turn off. general cod mp has gotten boring to me so its whatever. I recently hopped on street fighter and most of my matches were laggy as fuck or the other guy dropped out even though my connection is fine. It was not a fun experience. the last time i played a souls game with an invader the guy was basically teleporting.
I have had no good experiences online lol outside of a mmo.

its pretty crazy to think that decades ago I had better online experiences in the respect of quake 3/unreal 2004/ cs source/half-life 2 death match.