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Why do you play single player games?
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As someone else pointed out, asymmetrical gameplay poses lots of different challenges and experiences to players, but asymmetrical gameplay also is hard to model effectively in multiplayer. For example, it would be hard (i do miss star wars rebellion) to have a game where one side was a ragtag band of rebels, and the other an evil empire. Because the reason the rebels have a shot is partly narrative - it's fun to watch them win, and two, the empire is juggling lots of other concerns. In fact, the rebels may be playing an RTS game, but the behavior by the empire is best modeled by some sort of simcity game where fighting rebels is but one of many diverse concerns about economic expenditures, political expediency (entertaining military adventurism has lots of political costs - just ask LBJ or GWB), etc. By making the objective to beat the rebels, you strip out all the 'noise' and other concerns facing the empire that would make the game fair.
Similarly, I like strategy games like Hearts of Iron or Europa Universalis. HoI, a WW2 grand strategy game, is especially problematic to play with humans, because the capabilities and relative strengths of each party is very well known and also very disparate. The things that made it a compelling conflict in part relied on actors acting irrationally from the perspective of someone playing a video game (decision biases and hueristics that lead Stalin to disbelieve Hitler's impending attack, Hitler's hubris, the western allies' hesitancy to fight in 1936 or 38 because of the trauma of the first world war and the opacity of Hitler's intentions).
Yeah, after reading through the thread, I honestly think Faffel may just be wired differently. There's a big wide spectrum of ways that different people take in and respond to fiction, but to not derive any enjoyment at all from it? That's definitely out at one end of the bell curve.
That said, Mr. I-don't-understand-or-enjoy-fiction has an avatar/location FROM a work of fiction, which makes me wonder if this whole thing isn't just a very successful bit of trolling.
Co-op is, after all, allows the reliability and consistency of a single player to be shared by two people at the same time. It acknowledges that the social element of multiplayer can be combined with the more immersive, story-driven singleplayer.
this is why
I think I just appreciate it in a different way.. I've never felt a sense of fear, attachment, wrongness or dread from Lovecraft. But I enjoy the attempts at all of them. I can enjoy the effort for certain things, and if I try really really really hard I can sometimes get emotionally invested, but it just doesn't happen in games (except, again, SoTC.)
EDIT: I also haven't been reading this thread except for hitting last post since page 5... the mood that made me actually care about this passed. So, yeah. I think I've missed a lot here.
Also, the reason I'm using Herbert West, Re-animator stuff is because Stuart Gordon's adaption of it is the hardest I've ever laughed at anything in my life, I think. It was fantastic. And Jeffrey Coomb's is a sexy man.
And it really pisses me off when people do so, usually because they do it right after being a complete prick and use it as an excuse for their actions.
Now me, I've got an actual diagnosis, have been in therapy for problems that have arisen as a result of the condition(severe anxiety, depression, etc), and have even tried a support group. There's also an excellent Autism resource center in my area(and my wife even worked there for a time).
But that's neither here nor there. Sorry if I derailed the thread any(and several days later no less).
Getting back to the topic at hand...
...Multiplayer really only comes into its own if there is an actually synergy/bond present amongst the players. Unfortunately, over a digital medium such as Xbox live, and with more and more people hopping online every day, the likelihood of finding a quality group is greatly diminished when compared to, say, having a LAN party with friends. Even when I do play Xbox Live, I almost always make sure I have a friend either right next to me or in my party, as a sort of social buffer, to ensure there is at least one person I can have a meaningful/stressless interaction with.
I do like board games more than video games though, so maybe I'm just more driven by the social aspect.
The majority of the experiences that allow me to do that are solitary. BioShock, for example, would completely break down as a story in a co-op setting. Gears of War, however, is heightened by it.
I don't necessarily choose to play games based on whether it's single-player or multi or what. I do it based on what the experience I want from it is, and that can vary dramatically from game to game. What I will do, though, is play through a new game alone first, even if it has a co-op option, just so that I have control and so that I can immerse myself in it. Someone talking to me over a cutscene or skipping it is infuriating to me, even in something like Gears where the majority of people will be ignoring a story.
That isn't to say that I necessarily prefer single-player games. One of my most-played games is Halo, and the majority of that time has been spent in multiplayer. The same goes for Burnout Paradise, possibly my favourite game ever. But it really isn't necessarily me thinking about 'this game is a single-player game'. It's 'how can this game best tell its story to me?' Resident Evil 5, for example, would probably be a game I would play through in co-op first time through, if I were to play it. Halo 1 and 2 I played through in co-op with a friend, even though they're largely considered single-player experiences.
I'm struggling to make a point here, really. I think my main feeling is that it's nowhere near as cut-and-dried as the OP thinks.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
Anyways, the reason I have found lately that single player is important is because it brings us back into the true experience of playing the game. There's a story, there's bosses, there's items to be collected and task to be done, and most importantly it's finite. There will be an end.
Don't get me wrong, multiplayer is a blast and just as important in today's gaming world especially. Playing against other thinking humans is great especially when you get good at the game and have to use all of your skills to come out ahead. Plus with people, you never play the same game twice. Strategies are always changing, your always playing with a wide variety of skill levels, etc. But the problem is, for me at least, online gaming become a grind fest. You put tons of hours into the game only to get the Samurai Sword on your back, or the Gold Cross representing the highest rank and then what. You play until you are God and then when there's no one left to beat or when you've played every map 100 million times, you wait for the next game to come out and start the whole process all over again.
What I posted about yesterday was the fact that I recently got drawn back into single player games after a 2 month relapse on Call of Duty 4. I started playing Metal Gear Solid 3 and I realized how much I missed a good story and a kick ass boss fight in gaming. A good boss fight can make a game memorable and give you that need to play it again.
Even though your playing the limited thinking computer, it's still fun to get immersed into the experience. Also equally important you can play the game at your own pace and skill level. In multiplayer you have to bring your "A" game. Otherwise you run the risk of embarrassing yourself and being ridiculed by riddalin fueled, racist, potty mouthed kids and teenagers online. Not to say online I can't hold my own :-). I've dealt plenty of pain and ass whoopings to people against me on nearly every game I've played. But I've also been on the recieving end of getting my ass kicked too or being on the losing team that gets bombarded with shit talking and it sucks.
"Faster, Faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." -HST
That's pretty good.
I fucking love that show.