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how important is the multiplayer aspect of the Souls series to you?
- Thread starter FloatOn
- Start date
depths20XX
Member
Barely important. I've played a bit with friends but the games is mostly a solo affair for me.
epeternally
Member
I did play more-or-less all of them offline, which I guess answers the question. Dark Souls PvP just isn't my thing. If I was forced into playing PvP (huzzah for firewalls!), I'd stop buying the games. Never used the coop features either and probably never will. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that these things exist, they just aren't for me.
I like it a lot. I don't know if it's VITAL, but it's definitely a value add. People like to say that you're not playing these games if you ever summon, but I say you're not really playing these games if you never risk getting invaded. If I had to choose another feature to jettison, I would rather they get rid of these ambiguous barely functional covenants than the multiplayer stuff.
That being said, I wish they could get the death phantoms to work a bit better. They could be a great way of hinting at stuff in the game but they never seem to work quite right.
That being said, I wish they could get the death phantoms to work a bit better. They could be a great way of hinting at stuff in the game but they never seem to work quite right.
KnightimeX_Legacy
Banned
Honestly I think online mp ruined the game.
I entered dark souls expecting a full on single player experience with some online notes here and there.
Not so much about the invaders but the game could have been better if the need for balancing wasn't so strict due to it.
I entered dark souls expecting a full on single player experience with some online notes here and there.
Not so much about the invaders but the game could have been better if the need for balancing wasn't so strict due to it.
I might be biased since I consider Demons Souls one of my best experiences last gen but I feel like it's fundamental. The connectivity brought me into the series and I loved everything from the messages, to coop and brawls. I feel like Souls will lose a big part of itself it the online component goes.
Joelstinton14
Member
Personally, the PVP aspect i couldn't care less for, but the gameplay mechanics of the online mode i do.
The messages and the threat on invasion, or the requesting of help i think are integral to the game design, well a part of it at least.
I can see why people would want co-op or Dark souls fight club, but it isn't really for me. Not that much of a social person when it comes to online gaming and i very much see the souls series as a single player game. The whole series is designed with isolation in mind and i like that.
The messages and the threat on invasion, or the requesting of help i think are integral to the game design, well a part of it at least.
I can see why people would want co-op or Dark souls fight club, but it isn't really for me. Not that much of a social person when it comes to online gaming and i very much see the souls series as a single player game. The whole series is designed with isolation in mind and i like that.
I dread invasion, but at the same time, provided that connection is good on both ends, I do quite like those moments when I get invaded and a wrench is tossed into my plan. It's also a way for people struggling to progress to... progress.
Even as a non-PvP lonely player, I can say multiplayer is an essential part of the Souls game, and I wouldn't do without.
Even as a non-PvP lonely player, I can say multiplayer is an essential part of the Souls game, and I wouldn't do without.
the multiplayer aspect is an important part of the souls series for me but not for summoning players to help me kill bosses. This is how I have always played:
- never played offline
- enjoy reading the soapstone messages left by others (illusory walls, secret ahead, etc and of course the funny ones are great too).
- enjoy leaving messages where I think people might need help, but also in hidden areas where I think the player might appreciate seeing it. For example, dark souls 3 in the swamp place with the dead giant mushroom enemies from the first game I placed a message that expressed grief or sadness for them. The rates I got on that message was a small interaction with other players who understood the reference I was making.
- bloodstains are great hints too and pretty funny in some situations
- seeing other players as ghosts adds to the atmosphere and sometimes helps with exploration too (or just hinting some cool armor and weapons to find in future)
- Never summoned others to beat a boss, I've always solo'd the bosses but...
- I enjoyed being summoned to help others (normally would do this a couple of times after beating the boss and it was also my way to farm humanity/embers when i needed them). even without communication and only being able to use emotes, a lot of my favourite co-op experiences have been from this series.
- enjoyed pvp. Was such a unique concept to me in demons souls where you get invaded just as your making progress. The tension was amazing.
- The covenants are also great fun too when they work
- Using the chameleon spell in pvp to mess with players is always fun. a little prop hunt never hurt
- new game+ I start focusing more on co-op and pvp functionality than i did on my first play through so it changes my experience dramatically
Melchiah
Member
I haven't played DS3 with my friend, but the co-op system could certainly have worked better in BB. I remember waiting for ages in the Ihyll chalice, when I tried to summon help for the bosses, and it took a while as well when my friend summoned me to help him beat Orphan of Kos and Laurence.
Everything except the player notes is essential to the experience imo. Player notes however could die a slow death as far as Im concerned. The novelty has long worn off, they only serve to spoil the secrets and intrincacies of a level when you first vist them, or are lame attempts at humor or misdirection. Ok maybe one in 100 is actually funny. Plus they look ugly as hell littered about Souls beautiful worlds.
I dread invasion, because I suck at the game.
That said, I can't imagine a Souls game without multiplayer. To me, that dread is part of the fun, the game would become stale on subsequent runs without the random elements. Also, struggling players wouldn't be able to rely on co-op to progress.
That said, I can't imagine a Souls game without multiplayer. To me, that dread is part of the fun, the game would become stale on subsequent runs without the random elements. Also, struggling players wouldn't be able to rely on co-op to progress.
Melchiah
Member
Personally, I'd like if co-op and PVP were separated, so you could opt out from the latter but still be able to summon players for help. The same goes for being able to set the player notes off. More options are always better than less.
Oh the co-op system is pretty trash in DS3, you have to clear everything twice, for both players. Recommended to clear the area solo and just summon for boss, so you only have to fight the boss twice..
Melchiah
Member
Yeah, I used the wrong item when I tried to summon help for the Nameless King, and ended up being summoned myself. Luckily, I managed to help the player to beat him, eventhough I hadn't beat him myself at the time. =D
It would also be better, if you could continue with your co-op partner after beating the boss.
RetroGameAudio
Neo Member
That's how it is in all Soulsbourne games, as progress is only made in the world of the host.
The matchmaking is particularly bad in the Chalice Dungeons, especially when trying to pair via the Short Root Ritual Chalice. Long waits there are very common. I'm not sure what the cause of that is, matchmaking usually works pretty decently elsewhere.
I've never timed it, but it still seems like Demon's Souls had some of the fastest and most reliable matchmaking. Kind of weird how they nailed that the first time. Maybe a smaller playerbase was to thank for that?
Dark Souls 2 also had super solid matchmaking, asides from the Soul Memory system being annoying and unlikable. But if a partner was in range, you could expect to see their summon sign within 30 seconds almost always, sometimes maybe taking up to a minute. Very rarely did it fail.
The only *really* bad one is Dark Souls 1. Despite being very ambitious with online features, the matchmaking process is just the absolute worst in the series.
Oh I was under the impression of Bloodborne being exception in this, I haven't done co-op in BB, but I helped my friend out a bit in ds3 and he said it worked different in BB, guess he was wrong then.
It accounts for about 50% of my overall enjoyment of the game. Don't care much about coop as I really appreciate the challenge that bosses present and I always try to solo them.
Fight clubs and pvp are one of the reasons I love the franchise, and any DS game would lose a ton in my eyes if the online part were to be abandoned.
Fight clubs and pvp are one of the reasons I love the franchise, and any DS game would lose a ton in my eyes if the online part were to be abandoned.
Melchiah
Member
Perhaps there's a very limited amount of players roaming the chalices?
Come to think of it, I tried to summon help for Rom and Abhorrent Beast in the chalices as well, but ended up beating them by myself as I never found anyone. Although, I cheesed AB with poison knives.
I never played Dark Souls 1+2, and Demon's Souls only briefly, so I have no idea how it worked there.
Relatively important. Although I'd love to say it's the boss/story/world design being way above all that other stuff, in reality multiplayer just meshes right in there as to why I love the Souls titles.
I can't even begin to talk about the amount of shenanigans I experienced thanks to MP. It's part of what makes Souls... well, Souls to me.
I can't even begin to talk about the amount of shenanigans I experienced thanks to MP. It's part of what makes Souls... well, Souls to me.
DaciaJC
Gold Member
From what I remember, Demon's Souls and later Dark Souls II used dedicated servers for matchmaking (actual multiplayer was P2P), while Dark Souls did not.
RetroGameAudio
Neo Member
The issue there though is you can be searching for someone while you have a friend who is hosting (who you know meets all the matching requirements), and it can take a very long time to find them. So it's not just slow for finding random activity, it's slow even when you know for sure someone is available.
InsaneFandom
Member
Not at all tbh
I've played Demon's & DS1 online (temporarily chose to go offline in Dark Souls due to repeated invasions) but I played DS2 SOTFS completely offline since I didn't have plus at the time and the experience wasn't diminished imo.
I hate invasions & never summon other players. Seeing messages & bloodstains is cool though
I've played Demon's & DS1 online (temporarily chose to go offline in Dark Souls due to repeated invasions) but I played DS2 SOTFS completely offline since I didn't have plus at the time and the experience wasn't diminished imo.
I hate invasions & never summon other players. Seeing messages & bloodstains is cool though
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