Misanthropy
June 14th, 2009This is more of a thought than a post, but a Benjamin Quintero post on why he prefers single-player to multiplayer games struck a nerve given the comments on Left 4 Dead 2 earlier on this blog. I loved L4D but played it a lot less than many other games in part because it was multiplayer, which meant that it was less convenient. If I wanted to play with friends, which generally I find much preferable to strangers for a whole host of reasons (they won’t drop out of pique, I trust that they won’t spray the airwaves with racist profanity, and I know how good they are, among others).
But given that it’s harder to to set up and play - you need to make sure friends are online, that they’re interested in playing, that they’re at the same level of proficiency in the game as you - which are all very difficult to ensure if you’re not as dedicated as they are to the game as they are, I much prefer a game I can pick up and play whenever I have a spare moment. I appreciate the additional dimensions that a game like CoD4 and L4D can bring to a console game, but the busier I get, the more I value single player experiences.
Posted in Etc, Geoff, Industry |
June 14th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
I’m the same way. The multiplayer aspects of most games have little or no value to me. I only have a few people I would game with on line and generally we’re not available at the same time to form a group. The best I’m usually able to do is get one other person from time to time. Because of that I have interest in coop campaigns, which, it seems is getting more popular which is nice. I still REALLY appreciate a game with lots of single player content though.
On a side note, I actually really enjoy “playing against the computer”. One of the aspects I’ve always loved is analyzing A.I. routines/scripts, etc. I love watching computer controlled characters and testing their reactions and deconstructing the A.I. Part of it is because then I get immense enjoyment at the exploitation of it, but also because I find it really interesting to see how they are programmed. I like to move “in” and “out” of the predicted gameplay scenarios such that I can see the A.I. function and/or fail. It’s not so much about whether the A.I. is easy or difficult, smart or dumb but rather, just what it does, what things it appears to have anticipated and what things it didn’t. I don’t know why I like it but I do, which makes me enjoy single player games all the more.