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The Lone Wolf : A Dying Breed?

S

StevePharma

Member
2qjge29.png


GAF,

I’m not autistic. I like socializing with other people. Hanging out, sporting, watching a movie together, and partying through the night. I don’t like socializing with people on a digital level. I don’t care about people tweeting me how many fecal trips they made during the day, or how many goatse-sites they liked on a generic social profiling page used for marketing purposes. You can almost smell the irony coming from me, a GAF-member, contradicting himself. But let me explain.

I love videogames. I have loved them for as long as I can remember. They’ve become as much a part of my journey through life as music and literature have. They helped me get through tough times and made me feel sad, happy, frustrated and anxious. Escapism was a huge part of it, immersing yourself in fantasy worlds and abstract concepts. In short, even though games were made for a broad audience, they were catering to ME.

Perhaps this egocentrical look on the hobby made me a bitter person, but that’s the way it is. As an only child, experiencing videogames during my upbringing was a sole experience. The only time I was exposed to multiplayer endeavors was during holiday trips, in a sweaty arcade enjoying some Street Fighter or Final Fight, but I usually went for the single player cabinets such as After Burner and Daytona.

When I was old enough to have friends who were into gaming as well, I was getting into local multiplayer a bit. I loved local Mario Kart, GoldenEye and Street Fighter matches. Playing Diablo 2 online with my new internet connection was a revelation, but it never clicked in a way that single player experiences did. When I think about my fondest memories concerning videogames, 9 out of 10 are single player related.

Fast forwarding to the current generation. This generation certainly has its fair share of ‘lone wolf’ single player experiences, but I have the feeling the industry is shifting towards multiplayer centric experiences. While this does not have to be a bad thing, inclusions of tacked on multiplayer modes and other multiplayer-related features in games worries me. Why bother to spend all those assets and man-hours into a component which will be barren 6 months after release if you’re not a triple A title or free to play?

I do play “online” though, but I’m starting to get tired of it. Playing with anonymous douchebags around the globe is not doing it for me. The only thing that seems to be worth my time is playing with friends and GAF members.

Although I consider myself a lone wolf, I DO like to discuss single player experiences afterwards with friends or like-minded people. That’s why I joined GAF. I just get the feeling these kind of experiences will be of a lesser focus in the upcoming years, but hopefully I’m wrong.

The reason why I decided to write this emo-rant was the unveiling of thatgamecompany’s new game Journey. Jenova’s description of multiplayer just clicked with me. The strange hybrid of single- and multiplayer interaction could just be the thing that makes me enjoy multiplayer again.

So GAF, do you consider yourselves lone wolves and feel the same way as I do, or do you think I should stop whining and enjoy the medium and how it’s evolving?

EDIT : so people didn't really dug my MS Paint OP. You can still watch it here in all its glory :D I edited it to satisfy the hive-mind.
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I thought this was going to be about Lone Wolf and Cub. Needless to say, I'm very disappointed.
 
J

John

Member
The notion that single-player games will die out is goofy. You're thinking too hard about nothing
 
S

Speevy

Banned
Yeah I feel the same way. There's nothing like a single player experience that was built from the ground up to be self-contained.

The fact that PS2 games were almost always forced to include a decent single player mode is why last generation was so much better than this one.
 
F

farnham

Banned
I almost never play online (with the exception of RTS games on the PC) even though i enjoy me some multiplayer games
 
D

Danielsan

Member
Go check out Demon's Souls if you like Journey's single player meets multiplayer concept.

I don't care much for most multiplayer games either.
I used to be a big UT2003/2004 online player, then I slowly started to become a console (PS2/Gamecube) only gamer. I've played some of this gen's online games but only a few of them have had me heavily invested. Too bad one of them (Uncharted 2) lost me because the devs tweaked it to shit.
 
J

JaxJag

Banned
Speevy said:
Yeah I feel the same way. There's nothing like a single player experience that was built from the ground up to be self-contained.

The fact that PS2 games were almost always forced to include a decent single player mode is why last generation was so much better than this one.
Click to expand...
No, last-gen really wasn't better.

Not at all.
 
M

Mutanthands

Member
Reasonable concern, but solo gaming as we know it will always have a place. Many players and designers are still married to the narrative potential of single player games, which is much tougher to pull off in the multiplayer arena. And for the time being, the portable space will remain mostly single player, with Monster Hunter type games being the exception rather than the rule in Western markets.

OT: Why in the hell would you GIF your post? Don't want anyone quoting you? Wanted to use your inspirational poster template?
 
S

spats

Member
Why is this an image?

I do kinda agree though. Too many games put too much focus on multiplayer. I have friends who still play, but we don't really play shooters or anything the way we used to.

10-15-hour singleplayer-only games are still the bee's knees.

edit: I'm starting to think that the op is an elaborate tag fishing post.
 
S

Speevy

Banned
JaxJag said:
No, last-gen really wasn't better.

Not at all.
Click to expand...


Yeah, it really was. More variety, more genre coverage, higher quality releases, more creativity, more developers, no DLC.
 
P

PeakPointMatrix

Member
Err.. they don't seem to be going anywhere... single player games that is. I've been pretty satisfied with the PS3's offering this gen, maybe even more than last gen. Maybe. Handhelds have some interesting singleplayer games too. I seldom dive into multiplayer type things, and this gen has still offered a lot to me, more than I have money for. I do like me some Fat Princess online though...
 
B

Baloonatic

Member
Hey, that sounds like me. Er, except the socialising part.

I really don't think single player games will ever vanish, but for someone who doesn't play all that much multiplayer it's kind of a drag that so much money and time is put into it instead of making better single player campaigns.

But that's probably a selfish way of thinking as so many people do enjoy that aspect.
 
J

JaxJag

Banned
Speevy said:
Yeah, it really was. More variety, more genre coverage, higher quality releases, more creativity, more developers, no DLC.
Click to expand...
With the downloadable services there is more variety now than ever.

I don't see how you can honestly say otherwise.
 
D

Dead Man

Member
Bizarre that you made a pic, but I agree with the statement, I think. Most MP does not interest me at all. The only time I play online is with a few people I know from school or work.
 
L

Lard

Banned
The problem is that most game companies are jumping on the social networking bandwagon because of stuff like Farmville. Eventually they'll realise people will tire of that crap and hopefully start making good single player games again.

I'm tired of seeing games get a good review because it has a crummy, half-assed single player mode and a "good" online mode.
 
M

macewank

Member
i don't have kids.. but i totally just printed this post and hung it on my fridge.. i give you a B+ for arts and crafts
 
S

Speevy

Banned
JaxJag said:
With the downloadable services there is more variety now than ever.

I don't see how you can honestly say otherwise.
Click to expand...


As someone who owns more downloadable games than most people on this board, I can say it very easily.

The content that isn't recycled from past generations is by and large so sparse that it would hardly qualify as a full release. It excuses them from including a campaign, quest, adventure, tour, career, or what have you. In place you get chances to buy your character's hair style with real money.

No, not even close. I know what's on offer and it's not even close.
 
A

Azure Dream

Member
The image behind it is a shot from Journey, I think a few people missed that. Still, quick way to distract people from the actual content of your post.
 
Alex

Alex

Member
I think you should just relax. You don't have to enjoy it how it's evolving, because you have a great deal of selection now across the platforms. Stop trying to play the things the gaming press get held up on when you clearly have a different standard than the gaming press. One thing that we did NOT have back in the 90s was the variety we have now. There are just fucking loads of games for every experience, every genre, every manner across consoles, handhelds and PC. I'm amazed when people say they can't find something, which usually just results in them having one platform or simply looking up past the IGN-esque hype lists.

For me, I don't really enjoy much competitive gaming anymore, League of Legends and L4D2 Versus on PC, Uncharted 2 was really fun on consoles, other than that it's too samey or squady for me.

But co-op though, I only play with close friends, so there's no anonmity for me, but also I can't schedule my week around gaming sessions, that's hard to do as an adult, so I need that online co-op.

The only problem with co-op is that it's often just a tack on, like in your average shooter, because they're afraid of alienating the single player crowd like say, RE5 did because the entire game is custom built around two friends working closely together, co-managing an inventory, etc. For more of those types of mechanics and experiences, I'll happily throw the single player only crowd under the train. :p
 
N

Narag

Member
For whatever reason, I read his post with the voice of a stereotypical southern gentleman lawyer in my head.
 
A

arstal

Whine Whine FADC Troll
Maybe he can unlock Goose Howard.

Seriously, there are plenty of games that might suit your bill- like TBS games such as Civ IV/GalCiv II/Elemental.

Maybe some RPGs? There are plenty of games where you don't need the MP component- though one bad thing about this gen is poor AI, due to the reasons you mentioned.
 
L

Lard

Banned
Speevy said:
Yeah, it really was. More variety, more genre coverage, higher quality releases, more creativity, more developers, no DLC.
Click to expand...

This. 100% this.

This gen is so full of greed, laziness and fail, it's unbelievable.
 
D

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
I would care slightly more if your OP wasn't an image.

I spent 30 minutes making this somewhat poor gif, I am just going to post this.

fwni94.gif
 
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