On Multiplayer
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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Down with multiplayer!
... Not really. But I do generally dislike playing online and find it annoying.
... Not really. But I do generally dislike playing online and find it annoying.
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?
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?
5. Because people are shit.
When you play online with someone, you're not a human being to them. You're just another little mewling voice in the magic box of secrets. If you're not in the same actual room, poised to punch them in the face, only their entertainment matters. You might as well just be an AI bot that swears. Surely playing against an actual AI bot would be preferable. They might not speak and get stuck in corners a lot, but at least they'll never ragequit, and you can program them not to shoot you, and you don't have to pay broadband internet fees for the privilege.
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.
Amen. I have 3 roommates and they all have XBOX 360's while I have my Golden Child, the Gamecube. All 3 own MW2 and its like my apartments full of Samuel L. Jackson impersonators. It's pathetic guys can't we be nice to people? I spit on multiplayer and XBOX live b/c its full of racist, immature, and cowardly douchebags. Little punk white boys calling black players the N-word and people just using the F-word every chance they get. "Hey, smash that f*ckin' box." "Don't shoot mother f*cker!" "Shut the f*ck up, mother f*cker!"
When you play online with someone, you're not a human being to them. You're just another little mewling voice in the magic box of secrets. If you're not in the same actual room, poised to punch them in the face, only their entertainment matters. You might as well just be an AI bot that swears. Surely playing against an actual AI bot would be preferable. They might not speak and get stuck in corners a lot, but at least they'll never ragequit, and you can program them not to shoot you, and you don't have to pay broadband internet fees for the privilege.
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.
Amen. I have 3 roommates and they all have XBOX 360's while I have my Golden Child, the Gamecube. All 3 own MW2 and its like my apartments full of Samuel L. Jackson impersonators. It's pathetic guys can't we be nice to people? I spit on multiplayer and XBOX live b/c its full of racist, immature, and cowardly douchebags. Little punk white boys calling black players the N-word and people just using the F-word every chance they get. "Hey, smash that f*ckin' box." "Don't shoot mother f*cker!" "Shut the f*ck up, mother f*cker!"
Well, I see your points. And I can't help but agree with some of them, but ultimately you're just justifying something that nobody has either the power or the will to change. I don't play much multiplayer. I leave that to my little brother and his worryingly good K/D spread on TF2. I'll play a bit of L4D2 every now and then, But I've clocked much more time on torchlight, a game worth half as much and with half the fancy software behind it. But some people do enjoy getting the highscore in a round of slayer, and that's cool also.
Of Unreal tournament and Battlefield I don't know, but otherwise I have to disagree with you. Was multiplayer Borderlands' MAIN and PRIMARY selling point? No. It was "guns, guns and more guns". Was multiplayer TF2's major selling point? Yes, you could say that since the game was built strictly for multiplayer and features no single player mode at all. Was multiplayer L4D's major selling point? Yes, but it was only one of them. How I've come to understand the main selling point was "guns and zombies. What else d'ya need?"JeanLuc761 said:
And all ou who say TF2 is the best multiplayer game ever created: I totally agree with you. I've had to take a break from it since my eyes start getting bloodshot when I play it too much. It's amazing how by simply adding classes the game is much more varied.
Well, I was all set and ready to tear into his reasoning, disappointingly, it's rather convincing and well put together.
EDIT: In retrospect, the one fault in his explanation (As many have pointed out), is that a game must stand alone on it's campaign. This is a bit short sighted as the whole purpose of a game is to provide maximum entertainment, for most people, this will me a strong multiplayer.
EDIT: In retrospect, the one fault in his explanation (As many have pointed out), is that a game must stand alone on it's campaign. This is a bit short sighted as the whole purpose of a game is to provide maximum entertainment, for most people, this will me a strong multiplayer.
Well, Yahtzee definitely had valid points for not wanting to play multiplayer.
The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory argument was one I certainly expected and can understand. It's less prevalent on the PC, but even there it's visible in spades. I hadn't considered the Australia connectivity issues, but I can certainly understand, considering that The Escapist's TF2 servers are in the UK and I'm in Canada. I also agree that a game which has a single player mode should be judged on that mode (if they don't want to put the effort into the single player, then it shouldn't even be there).
But I will vehemently insist that a game like Modern Warfare 2 should have it's multiplayer judged. Though the single player game is there, and also needs to be reviewed, the multiplayer is really the focus of the game and certainly accounts for its longevity. In many ways, the single player is just a big tutorial for the multiplayer game.
That's not to say Yahtzee needs to review it. After all, despite doing reviews, Yahtzee is largely a comedian and entertainer. If you want a thorough, unbiased review, look elsewhere.
But I do think it would be worth your while, Yahtzee, to try out the multiplayer. Sure, you'll have to deal with assholes, but if you use the typical level of asshole as a baseline, you can at least judge how much fun the multiplayer can be despite assholes, or for people who are used to assholes. In fact, a big argument with the whole "no dedicated servers" debacle is the players' ability to deal with assholes. It would certainly be worthwhile to see how this holds up in MW2, especially compared to the original CoD4:MW.
The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory argument was one I certainly expected and can understand. It's less prevalent on the PC, but even there it's visible in spades. I hadn't considered the Australia connectivity issues, but I can certainly understand, considering that The Escapist's TF2 servers are in the UK and I'm in Canada. I also agree that a game which has a single player mode should be judged on that mode (if they don't want to put the effort into the single player, then it shouldn't even be there).
But I will vehemently insist that a game like Modern Warfare 2 should have it's multiplayer judged. Though the single player game is there, and also needs to be reviewed, the multiplayer is really the focus of the game and certainly accounts for its longevity. In many ways, the single player is just a big tutorial for the multiplayer game.
That's not to say Yahtzee needs to review it. After all, despite doing reviews, Yahtzee is largely a comedian and entertainer. If you want a thorough, unbiased review, look elsewhere.
But I do think it would be worth your while, Yahtzee, to try out the multiplayer. Sure, you'll have to deal with assholes, but if you use the typical level of asshole as a baseline, you can at least judge how much fun the multiplayer can be despite assholes, or for people who are used to assholes. In fact, a big argument with the whole "no dedicated servers" debacle is the players' ability to deal with assholes. It would certainly be worthwhile to see how this holds up in MW2, especially compared to the original CoD4:MW.
Rofl. Some people don't like multiplayer. I happen to be one. Obviously, each of our own experiences will to a great extent shape our opinions-- of anything, not just of videogaming.
Yes, I've met some really cool people online, including people I now count among my dearest friends. However, my own experiences are more commonly this [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/11/7/]. It sounds as if Yahtzee's experiences are/were similar. Feel free to disagree with his stance, but you can't really invalidate it just because your anectodal evidence disagrees with his.
Read the article and use it to understand why Yahtzee chooses not to consider multiplayer when judging a game. That was the whole purpose, after all. If you're reading it as some kind of authoritative statement about videogames (and society, evidently) instead of just one man's hyperbolic thoughts on them, well then, as they say: You're Doing It Wrong.
Yes, I've met some really cool people online, including people I now count among my dearest friends. However, my own experiences are more commonly this [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/11/7/]. It sounds as if Yahtzee's experiences are/were similar. Feel free to disagree with his stance, but you can't really invalidate it just because your anectodal evidence disagrees with his.
Read the article and use it to understand why Yahtzee chooses not to consider multiplayer when judging a game. That was the whole purpose, after all. If you're reading it as some kind of authoritative statement about videogames (and society, evidently) instead of just one man's hyperbolic thoughts on them, well then, as they say: You're Doing It Wrong.
I agree with everything but the part about people being shit, for the most part the guys and girls (who are secretly guys) who act like douchebags are just having a little mean spirited fun, there is a very small minority that can be genuinely called sociopaths, but, that's true of every population.
"If the multiplayer ever becomes the main selling point, then something's gone wrong."
Wasn't this Team Fortress 2? Although yes, it came with Half Life and Portal, but TF2 is a whole game in itself, so it can't really be 'that extra bonus tacked on'.
Wasn't this Team Fortress 2? Although yes, it came with Half Life and Portal, but TF2 is a whole game in itself, so it can't really be 'that extra bonus tacked on'.