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[shadowstew]

People generally prefer offline versus to online versus because the unknown factor of lag in a fighter sucks.

I feel like the statement "People don't buy fighting games for single player" is heavily exaggerated on both sides of the argument.
People do appreciate when a fighting game has good single player content.
People also appreciate when a fighting game has good online (and offline) multiplayer.

It's only when the question is "would you rather have development be more focused on single player content or multiplayer content?" is where the animosity begins.

It's perfectly okay to value single player over multiplayer in a fighter.
But, it's even better when a fighting game is a complete single/multiplayer package.

Spoiler

Also, a well-put together training mode is the most underappreciated single player mode that both sides ignore in this argument. Any competent fighting game player knows that's the real truth.

 

[HMD]

I like single player modes in fighters, I hate online modes, they're usually laggy and I end up getting destroyed most of the time.

 

[Santar]

I just have very little interest in fighting other people online in fighting games.
It's not because I don't want to get got at them or anything like that, I just don't have that built in strong need to be better than other people at games that so many seem to have.

That competitive aspect is not something I crave, I know lots of folks do because of the popularity of games like Overwatch, mobas, player Unknown and the like but I just don't.

Local multiplayer with friends and family is fun though but part from that I'm mainly a single player guy. I play fighting games for the fun of beating folks up in a satisfying way, not to beat somebody else.

 

[Mr. Smiley]

I got a lot of this shit when I expressed disappointment Smash 4's single player modes.

 

[Ferrio]

I think more games in general should have options for local online multiplayer (like in your city), to minimize running into insane skill level players. Then expand voice chat so you can maybe make some irl friends. You know, talk about stuff happening in your city locally and such.

Active player base just isn't that high for that, unless people like waiting forever in queue.

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

As someone who currently loves playing sfv online, i love single player co tent in fighters. Just doing the combos and stuff is fun single player modes are a stress free way to enjoy the gameplay. Mk is great at this. SF is not. However i can even spend an hour or two just learn stuff in training mode.

Bring on the single player content for all fighters. Its great fun.

 

[JusDoIt]

This is the truth, but it's a sad truth.

 

[PfantzyPantz]

Had a lot of fun with Soul Calibur 2's modes; wish more fighters had RPG-esque singleplayer content though I haven't really looked as of late.

 

[BuckRobotron]

I only buy them for single-player. Was once a major consumer of these games especially during the Dreamcast era, but now it is just a bit of SCV (a series I enjoy), KOFXIII, or more likely DOA5:LR on PS4.

Loved Tech Romancer, Project Justice, SC1, SFA3 (have that on PSP as well along with Darkstalkers), both SFIIIs (loved the animation and style even if I was never that good at it), etc back when.

 

[KDC720]

This is me. I'm way too intimidated to play most fighting games online, so I usually just stick to solo stuff or playing with friends.

It's why I appreciated fighters that have a lot of good single player options.

 

[Syril]

deserves a mention everytime this is discussed

SP content CAN help you learn a game and AI is only truly worthless if the developers aren't trying.

VF4Evo quest mode where there are a bunch of different AIs for each character with different strengths and weaknesses that you have to figure out as you fight is the is the only AI mode I've ever seen that actually has a similar feeling to playing against random people in an arcade setting.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Had a lot of fun with Soul Calibur 2's modes; wish more fighters had RPG-esque singleplayer content though I haven't really looked as of late.

Guilty Gear and BlazBlue both have really fun RPG-esque modes. I especially love GG's.

Neither are close to Soul Calibur or SFA3's modes, but they're the best we've got these days.

I only buy them for single-player. Was once a major consumer of these games especially during the Dreamcast era, but now it is just a bit of SCV (a series I enjoy), KOFXIII, or more likely DOA5:LR on PS4.

Loved Tech Romancer, Project Justice, SC1, SFA3 (have that on PSP as well along with Darkstalkers), both SFIIIs (loved the animation and style even if I was never that good at it), etc back when.

Yep, this is me right here. I had all those DC games you listed (though I only had Third Strike of the SF3s), plus KOF '98 and '99, Garou, Last Blade 2, CVS, CVS2 (imported) and Guilty Gear X (also imported). The DC was so amazing for fighters.

 

[LordKasual]

Too bad the games don't track casual online matches and just ranked ones

yeah, this makes the online match data virtually worthless

 

[jwhit28]

Whether it was included from launch or not, SFV single player stuff is awful and I only played it because the reward was basically a free DLC character. I much rather have SFV's launch situation than SFIV's where getting all the characters required beating arcade mode with everyone. Most fighting game single player experiences feel like garbage I have to sift through to unlock some good stuff. Tekken does it well and MK has good ideas but the execution usually falls short.

 

[fhqwhgads]

I don't think fighting game junkies realise how hard to can be for casuals to get into online. "Look at the tutorials" isn't interesting for some, "Losing is better than winning" doesn't change the demoralising factor and "Play as X character" won't help someone who wants to play as their personal favourite. Right now playing online in a fighting game is only for the hardcore and until there's an active attempt to try getting newbies into playing seriously it won't change anytime soon.

 

[Crankshaft]

I very much like single player fighting modes. One of my favorite games is Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max. I think the SF5 team has a lot they could gleam from that game.

 

[BronsonLee]

Sales of Mortal Kombat vs everyone else should give you a good idea

 

[jdstorm]

This all makes sense until you read the 100th post about how XYZ poster doesn't want to:

Learn Frame Data
Sit in Practice Mode
Deal with OP Character
Learn how to fight XYZ strategy


What I see is people complaining that they don't want to put in the work of learning a fighting game, period. What you've requested might not exist, but lots of fighters out now have amazing tutorials that don't get played because people just want to be good at fighting games without putting in the work. That's why, imo, it's more important to make it feel gratifying to play rather than put resources into tutorials that aren't going to benefit many players.

I'd rather capture tons of casual players so that my games get supported rather than put effort into tutorials that most people won't care about. Like King Awesome said, the perception is that you are either a casual or a pro, and those casuals think the only way you can take a game seriously is by being the next EVO champ, and so they avoid every mode that has anything to do with getting better.

Why should playing a game be work? Its meant to be fun right?

I get what you are saying. However this is a problem that has been solved numerous times already by "Gameifying" the work. We have games that teach typing, math, history, geography, science, spelling, foreign languages, musical instruments and many other skills that typically earned through hard work.

Some fighting games do this better then others, but in general most are still short of where they could be. Besides all players benefit from practice modes and teaching modes. Professional musicians don't stop having to do scales once they reach the top of their feild. Surgeons dont get to sit back and stop practicing dexterity exercises after they finish medical school. Similarly Elite FGC players would benefit just as much from interesting practice modes as a novice. (Although difficulty requirements would obviously be different)

 

[Seraphis Cain]

yeah, this makes the online match data virtually worthless

Again, for certain games. Yes, the ASW games and KOF only track Ranked (at least in any way relevant to this thread), but SF, MKX, and DOA track any online play.

 

[freethoughtbubble]

Gotta have that SP content. I get that and I enjoy it too. But man the fact that so many never even try to compete online is just bonkers to me. Is it fear? Do the majority of people hate losing that much?

Edit: I wonder what the numbers are for the Smash games. Or for FPSs and other competitive genres. Is it a traditional FG problem?

 

[jwhit28]

I don't think fighting game junkies realise how hard to can be for casuals to get into online. "Look at the tutorials" isn't interesting for some, "Losing is better than winning" doesn't change the demoralising factor and "Play as X character" won't help someone who wants to play as their personal favourite. Right now playing online in a fighting game is only for the hardcore and until there's an active attempt to try getting newbies into playing seriously it won't change anytime soon.

This is true of any competitive online experience. It doesn't seem to hurt MOBA or FPS. Puyo Puyo Tetris is a cutesy game with tons of tutorials and handicaps but it's online mode might be the most demoralizing thing I ever played.

 

[DR2K]

Anyone that tells you people in general don't play for single player are full of shit. Capcom made a huge mistake with SFV, even they admit it, and even they're making sure not to fuck up with future fighters.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

"People don't buy fighting games for single player", said nobody. SFV died mostly due to lack of SP.

 

[Crayon]

Numbers look pretty consistent between games.

 

[Skilletor]

Why should playing a game be work? Its meant to be fun right?

I get what you are saying. However this is a problem that has been solved numerous times already by "Gameifying" the work. We have games that teach typing, math, history, geography, science, spelling, foreign languages, musical instruments and many other skills that typically earned through hard work.

Some fighting games do this better then others, but in general most are still short of where they could be. Besides all players benefit from practice modes and teaching modes. Professional musicians don't stop having to do scales once they reach the top of their feild. Surgeons dont get to sit back and stop practicing dexterity exercises after they finish medical school. Similarly Elite FGC players would benefit just as much from interesting practice modes as a novice. (Although difficulty requirements would obviously be different)

Sure. I just don't think there is a significant number of people out there thinking they'd want to spend time learning a fighter, no matter how you prepare the package.

It doesn't matter how you parse it.

That's my opinion.

All of those examples you've listed would have one thing in common: People would want to go out of their way to learn how to do said activity. I don't see that in fighters. People don't want to learn how to play fighters, generally. They want instant gratification.

 

[Bizazedo]

"People don't buy fighting games for single player", said nobody. SFV died mostly due to lack of SP.

I WISH it was true that people got the game for multiplayer, but it's just not. People don't like losing without a way to blame someone else if they do lose OR to have small "victories" in their loss (i.e., team games, you may lose, but you got one sweet kill! etc).

In a way, it shows how weak most of us are /nod.

 

[low-G]

"People don't buy fighting games for single player", said nobody. SFV died mostly due to lack of SP.

Well Capcom said it.

 

[meppi]

Funny about that is that I still haven't bought SFV despite ti being around €15.
Capcom certainly fucked up.

deserves a mention everytime this is discussed

SP content CAN help you learn a game and AI is only truly worthless if the developers aren't trying.

This game was perfection on all accounts.

I buy a ton of fighting games, even import ones that don't reach EU shores, yet I never play online.
I used to have a couple of friends locally who loved playing fighting games together, but they either moved away or dropped out when getting older.
So yeah, fun and entertaining single player content would certainly help me to pick up new games on release day instead of waiting till they drop in price a bit.

Most of all, I want Virtua Fighter 6 Evolution.

 

[BuckRobotron]

Yep, this is me right here. I had all those DC games you listed (though I only had Third Strike of the SF3s), plus KOF '98 and '99, Garou, Last Blade 2, CVS, CVS2 (imported) and Guilty Gear X (also imported). The DC was so amazing for fighters.

Oh yeah, my "etc" includes 98, Garou, The Last Blade 2, CVS. Enjoyed all of them. Been considering The Last Blade 2 on PS4 recently.

 

[udivision]

95% of my playtime on SF4 was doing arcade mode with all the characters. It was also the game that taught me not to bother with online in fighters.

 

[LoveCake]

I do, I am not that good at fighting games so always lose when online

 

[Kadey]

It should be competitive players don't buy fighting games for single player. Casuals obviously do otherwise NRS games wouldn't sell like hotcakes.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I think more games in general should have options for local online multiplayer (like in your city), to minimize running into insane skill level players. Then expand voice chat so you can maybe make some irl friends. You know, talk about stuff happening in your city locally and such.

What about all the people who don't live in cities, though?

Obviously I understand the appeal and concept of what you're saying, but in countries like the United States, millions of people live in vehicular communities with populations that might not be high enough to sustain consistent matchmaking.

It could have some regional benefit, absolutely, but this feature would be useless and probably inoperational for me in Southern Maine!

 

[Alex_Mexico]

I suspect most people just don't bother with online achivements. I know i never do.


Edit, and for fighting games i expect many to give up completely after a few online matches getting their ass kicked.

One thing is to never bother with online achievements and other is to never get a Trophy that's named "play one online match" or "win one online match". You don't have to go out of your way to get those achievements. You only have to play online and you'll get them naturally. If you ever got into that mode.

I'm with OP. As a casual fighting game fan I'm all for robust single player content. After getting burned from MvsC3's lack of single player other than an Arcade Mode I'm cautiously optimistic about MvsCI hoping Capcom might've learned a thing or two from Mortal Kombat....

 

[Fraeon]

I WISH it was true that people got the game for multiplayer, but it's just not. People don't like losing without a way to blame someone else if they do lose OR to have small "victories" in their loss (i.e., team games, you may lose, but you got one sweet kill! etc).

In a way, it shows how weak most of us are /nod.

That's like the opposite of how I tick.

I'm a very self-conscious guy when it comes to failure but losing against an anonymous dude online registers on the same scale as dying in pretty much any SP game. It's 1v1 so there's really nothing to prove there.

I avoid team games, though, because my performance also affects other people. Or I get pissed when someone else obviously plays subpar and is affecting others.

 

[Professor Beef]

It should be competitive players don't buy fighting games for single player. Casuals obviously do otherwise NRS games wouldn't sell like hotcakes.

^

you have people in this very thread talking about how they get destroyed and drop online or dont even bother with it, so clearly they aren't competitive by nature.

 

[Arttemis]

MK9 is my favorite fighting game entirely because of its single player content. The best campaign story, a much bigger challenge tower, and much better challenges within the tower than MKX. The PSN hack and multi-week outage coincided with its release, so I had tons of time to play and replay all of its content.

I would buy a HD remake or current-gen port of MK9 immediately upon release.

 

[Bizazedo]

That's like the opposite of how I tick.

I'm a very self-conscious guy when it comes to failure but losing against an anonymous dude online registers on the same scale as dying in pretty much any SP game. It's 1v1 so there's really nothing to prove there.

I avoid team games, though, because my performance also affects other people. Or I get pissed when someone else obviously plays subpar and is affecting others.

Yeah, there's no way what I typed is blanket for everyone. Obviously there's a "letting down the team factor" there that could prevent someone from DOTA / BF 4 / CoD etc. versus the one on one situaion of a fighter.

I do think the majority is the 1 on 1 factor and no small victories, though.

 

[Dysun]

I play fighting games solo or with a few people locally. Almost never online

Don't find it worth the effort to get good enough to not be curbstomped

 

[Basketball]

You bitches better buy Tekken 7 June 2nd

cause that shit is full of Unlockables and Story mode
character customization etc
Solo treasure mode , vr shit
Life bar, panel, music customization

 

[Kai Dracon]

This is true of any competitive online experience. It doesn't seem to hurt MOBA or FPS. Puyo Puyo Tetris is a cutesy game with tons of tutorials and handicaps but it's online mode might be the most demoralizing thing I ever played.

As an observation on this point, a MOBA and FPS you can go online with a group in a rolling lobby or your friends and feel like you're in a party (literally and figuratively). Your individual performance can be secondary to the experience of being among a large number of like-minded people engaged in a group effort.

Fighting games have a tough time cracking this problem thanks to their 1v1 nature (in most games). Lobbies help but being queued up to get beat down by a single superior player in the lobby can also be discouraging for new players. Another problem is that in current fighters, group lobbies are usually disconnected from whatever meta-game there is like ranking points, experience, rewards, unlocks, and progression systems. Because the game maker doesn't want people "cheating" to earn all-important virtual widgets by going into a lobby with their friends.

Other genres simply have the better all-around experience for the average player compared to fighting games. Team games can more easily evoke the good old days of the LAN party. In the offline world, 1v1 fighters can offer a rich experience - a convention, tournament, arcade, friends house. Sitting at a game console alone in the bedroom, 1v1 blind and random ranked play all day every day, can be a lonely, cold experience that loses out on much of what it is like to play games with other people.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

That's like the opposite of how I tick.

I'm a very self-conscious guy when it comes to failure but losing against an anonymous dude online registers on the same scale as dying in pretty much any SP game. It's 1v1 so there's really nothing to prove there.

I avoid team games, though, because my performance also affects other people. Or I get pissed when someone else obviously plays subpar and is affecting others.

See this is interesting to me, because I'm the complete opposite. I can lose to friends all day long and still have a great time. Hell, even people on GAF I barely know. But a completely anonymous person online? That absolutely destroys me.

 

[Thud]

I buy fighting games, including Super Smash Bros, exclusively for singleplayer content. I don't play multiplayer games very often, and when I do, it's never with friends. Lots of fond memories of Soulcalibur II on summer afternoons playing storymode with every single character.

I played a lot of SP in Smash 3DS, but in Wii U it was mostly online.
Soul Calibur II weapon master mode is still one of the highlights in the genre for me as well.

 

[FindMyFarms]

People run through single player stuff to unlock content.

A better data analysis would be time spent in non training mode single player vs multiplayer.

The results will be obvious. Muliplayer is what most enthusiasts spend time on.

 

[Hellshingu]

See this is interesting to me, because I'm the complete opposite. I can lose to friends all day long and still have a great time. Hell, even people on GAF I barely know. But a completely anonymous person online? That absolutely destroys me.

Having a community of players that can play locally or online are essential to fighting games. Without them fighting games would have died out long ago. This is all IMO though as I am sure AAA games like the current NRS output would still sell decently.

You bitches better buy Tekken 7 June 2nd

cause that shit is full of Unlockables and Story mode
character customization etc
Solo treasure mode , vr shit
Life bar, panel, music customization

I buy each and every fighting game that comes out usually. Even if I only play it for a few days.

 

[meppi]

You bitches better buy Tekken 7 June 2nd

cause that shit is full of Unlockables and Story mode
character customization etc
Solo treasure mode , vr shit
Life bar, panel, music customization

But will we be getting the NJPW content in the west?
That's what I want to know. Otherwise I'm better of importing later on.

 

[Professor Beef]

But will we be getting the NJPW content in the west?
That's what I want to know. Otherwise I'm better of importing later on.

Apparently it was confirmed that we are.

 

[DryEyeRelief]

.
Especially because I've seen this false dichotomy bandied around in these kinds of threads where you're either a person who plays arcade mode or someone trying to win EVO. Some people believe that everyone who plays online has the goal of being a pro which is ridiculous.

Are you really that daft? Do you think they mean pro in the literal sense? Especially when FGC personalities don't even use the term pro correctly?

 

[A Pretty Panda]

I play the single player to unlock shit. Like most people that play it they'll never touch it again after a play through.

Using the trophy data is scewered

 

[Kyrios]

I'm one of them. I think the last fighting game I've played online was Persona 4: Ultimax when it first came out.

I've been playing every Guilty Gear and BlazBlue purely against the CPU since then.