Multiplayer

[Hiatus]

Some video games, if not all, allows us to play with other players in multiplayer. Few games allow us to go online for this, permitting us to have matches with just about anybody around the world. In others, we're limited only to local. Meaning, we're not able to use Internet to play against others; in order to do so, they must be somewhere near us physically. Some games give us chance to access both modes.

So, what are our thoughts on multiplayer, everyone? Do we enjoy it? Which mode do we find ourselves preferring more--local or online--and why so? If we're siding with both, then which game do we believe feels better if played against other people offline, and which is more fun to play via Internet?

Myself--it varies, really. In some video games--Call of Duty, for example--unless whoever I'm playing with has microphone so that I could hear their reactions, I find it much, much more entertaining to be going through it while they're sitting right next to me. Other titles, it doesn't precisely matter; I'm fine by both modes.

 

[GreenFlame]

Multiplayer in general is a good feature; it allows you to build teamwork and co-operation skills (in most games), and is usually much more fun than Singleplayer.

I prefer the compatibility for both Local and Online multiplayer, since you can play with friends when they're in the same room as you or across different houses. You can also play with randoms if you have no friends, or if you have busy friends.

Multiplayer is one of the best features of gaming, and I'm so glad it exists. That's not to say there's no fun solo games of course.

 

[machomuu]

Few games allow us to go online for this, permitting us to have matches with just about anybody around the world. In others, we're limited only to local. Meaning, we're not able to use Internet to play against others; in order to do so, they must be somewhere near us physically. Some games give us chance to access both modes.

I feel that this is backwards, especially nowadays. It seems like there's a lot of emphasis on online gaming and less and less integration of local multiplayer and local cooperative play. It's a shame, because I much prefer playing with my friends when they're close by than online. I mean, the extra screen space is nice, but it feels more personal to be playing from the same couch space. Nowadays it seems like every game has online multiplayer, even when it's added superfluously, and when they don't feel that they can manage online sometimes they just don't add multiplayer at all.

---

For me, multiplayer has never been a dealbreaker or a choice maker. There are some games whose is only realized through multiplayer, like Dokapon Kingdom and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (which only had online added semi-recently), but oftentimes I come to a game for what the game is. If the game is appealing enough, I'll buy it. I think that goes without saying, really, because it's a simple concept, and as a result it really does seem like I prefer Single Player, but the main reason it does is because that's generally where the meat, heart, and most of the appeal of the game is. There are a good deal of games that I have that I have either played a good deal of or completed but never touched the multiplayer. Mass Effect 3? Never touched it. Saints Row IV? Nope. J-Stars Victory VS? Never gone online.

This is more the case for online than for local because for Local and Single Player, it's probably what I booted up the game for, but with online it's more something I have to go out of my way for. It seems extra, really. And playing with random people can be good fun if you want a variable challenge, since you won't know how they play, I'll say that much. That said, I don't much care for voice chat with randoms, because it tends to be annoying, especially on the Xbox 360 and PS4 (since those two systems have the same fanbases).

 

[Dustmop]

I feel that this is backwards, especially nowadays. It seems like there's a lot of emphasis on online gaming and less and less integration of local multiplayer and local cooperative play. It's a shame, because I much prefer playing with my friends when they're close by than online. I mean, the extra screen space is nice, but it feels more personal to be playing from the same couch space. Nowadays it seems like every game has online multiplayer, even when it's added superfluously, and when they don't feel that they can manage online sometimes they just don't add multiplayer at all.

All of this.

I far prefer local co-op because the two people I want to game with most -- my father and my boyfriend :P -- are both here. Games with online co-op are nice sometimes, too, and in some cases it's preferred, but I'll always vastly prefer just buying one copy of a game and cuddling up on the couch with Boyfriend, lol.



It's never really been a make/break point for me, personally, either. I don't often buy games specifically for the multiplayer as it's not a big thing for me, I honestly prefer a solo experience with most of my games. So when I do consider a game for its multiplayer features, I usually have a certain person in mind to play it, and that's the biggest factor in whether I buy it; their location.

With my father, for example, we've been playing Resident Evil titles "together" since the first, so the fact that Revelations was a single-player experience didn't really make us reconsider it. With or without co-op, we still bought it, we still enjoyed playing it together. Same for Operation Raccoon City, which was only online co-op, even on consoles. We still bought it and played 'together.' :)
But with, say, my ex who lives out on the other end of the country, I certainly couldn't buy the Lego games to play with him as they're limited to local co-op (on PC anyway, not sure about consoles).

 

[Klippy]

Multiplayer is a great addition to many games, where appropriate. Games like Smash and Mario Kart were ripe for online play and Mario Kart is one of my favorite series to adopt it (thanks to Mario Kart 8). It's a blast racing with friends and with others online.

I don't feel multiplayer needs to be shoehorned into every game though. Many should focus on single player and quit forcing their titles to have cheap, underdeveloped or weak online play. It just sits there on the menu and I never click it.

 

[Judge Mandolore Shepard]

When it comes to multiplayer, I find that it is a good feature. I seem to find myself online more than local. Course some of my favorite multiplayer game types are Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch, Regicide, and Infected. Course when it comes to team based game types, it is best that every one on the team has mikes so you can coordinate your strategy. Plus sometimes multiplayer can have an impact on the single player (example: Mass Effect 3's multiplayer can increase galactic readiness and multiplayer characters can be promoted to the single player as a war asset.)

 

[Alfieri]

Local multiplayer or bust. Though now I'm reduced to online multiplayer with my friend, only because I live further away so she can't visit that often. x.x

 

[Auticorn]

I don't really use it, so I can't say what I think. I've never been into the multiplayer functions because I don't have friends to do it with either. As for internet multiplayer, I use it quite a bit with online friends, especially in pokemon games now. I don't really have any opinions about it since I rarely use the options and what not.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

I have 2 stances on this topic.
MP achievements/trophies - HELL NO! I hate this feature... If for some reason you cannot use online feature or the servers close, you have unobtainable 100%/Platinum.

MP overall - it's a fun feature if you play with friends just for fun. I do prefer single player but I admit that it is sometimes fun to play with other people. I prefer co-op to PvP, though. But as I said, if you cannot use it, it's a bit annoying feature.

 

[pkmin3033]

MP achievements/trophies - HELL NO! I hate this feature... If for some reason you cannot use online feature or the servers close, you have unobtainable 100%/Platinum.

This. Freakin' hell, I HATE multiplayer trophies. It makes getting those trophies if you come to the game late either impossible or an absolute hell. I like to get the Platinum for games I buy where I can, and if a game has multiplayer trophies, it puts me right off buying it, no matter how good it might be. Most multiplayer trophies are ridiculously annoying and contrived as well, requiring you to do stupid things in matches that are nigh-on impossible to do unless you have the co-operation of other players, which isn't always attainable if you have to play random public matches.

That said, a lot of the games I play don't have multiplayer, which suits me perfectly fine: I'm more of a solo gamer, I like going at my own pace. I don't think multiplayer modes are really a bad thing unless they're forced on you, through things such as online-related trophies etc. They're better as optional extras; ways to increase the life of the game after the main campaign/story mode/whatever, and not as an integral part of the game you absolutely MUST play if you want to finish it.

I've always liked co-op, though. Playing with another competent player is always fun, and there is something very satisfying about being the mentor, as well - I used to host multiplayer sessions on Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii for low-level players and help them farm gear, or help them tackle more aggravating monsters (Alatreon) with my fully upgraded gear. I might do so again on the Wii U version at some point. Soul Sacrifice Delta has an amazing MP community as well. Mission-based co-op gameplay is great a lot of the time.

I dislike multiplayer communities for a lot of games, but that is more down to the individuals playing the games than it is the games themselves, so I won't go into a great amount of detail. It's difficult to really punish ragequitting or hacking efficiently anyway, unfortunately. Losing to someone on the DS Yu-Gi-Oh! games because their deck consisted only of the five cards of Exodia was VERY frustrating, though, and one time I had the World #2 player disconnect on me after I backed him into a corner with a very nasty RFG deck I used to run...experiences like those really spoiled it.

 

[acatfrommars]

Good multiplayer makes or breaks a game for me. A game, like Uncharted or The Last of Us, can have the best storyline, graphics and gameplay out there but if I can't see myself playing a game for a long time then I won't buy it. Most of the time this has to do with the multipalyer of the game, if it seems really addicting and appealing then I will play the game. That is why I normally play and purchase games with emphasis on good multiplayer, and teamwork skills. This is why I like like living in a dorm, if I want to play a game with friends I can do it whenever I want (most of the time this happens at 3 or 4 in the morning). This is why I still play games like Super Smash Bros Melee and Goldeneye frequently to this day.

The options of playing with friends are why indie games such as Sports Fiends and Resogun do so well. I also think this may be why they added 8 player matches in the new Smash Bros., more than ever players want to play games where they can paly with their friends. That is why my roommate did not keep Destiny, there was no local multiplayer and that is why I beat The Last of Us in 4 days and stopped playing.

 

[Yukari]

While multiplayer can be really fun, I feel like it's shoehorned into a lot of game nowadays since the internet has become so big. Games like Super Smash Bros benifit from having good Multiplayer, while some games just don't need it. And typically I find myself sticking to single player in games.

Anyway, I like local multiplayer far more then Online, because I typically know who I'm playing with, and I like that more then random Online matches. And I probably don't need to explain why playing online can be a bitch.

So yeah, those are my thoughts on Multiplayer.

 

[Lusus]

I usually prefer to play singleplayer... Unless i get a bunch of friends together and we voice chat over team speak or something, then it's unimaginable fun that singleplayer doesn't even come close too.

The reason i usually prefer singleplayer is because some people are just immature kids and i rather not play with them.

 

[ShadyCicada]

I usually prefer local when it isn't a split screen type (smash bros, arcade beat em ups, etc). I still don't mind split screen, but I find those games a bit more enjoyable online.