Comments on: The Trouble With Other People

By: AlexTaldren

AlexTaldren — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:35:16 +0000

I find it hilarious that the author is arguing that because people might get mad at or put pressure on him, he doesn’t want to play teamwork-related games. Seems like someone is a bit to sensitive to what other people say/think about him.

This idea that someone should expect to be “left alone” when logging into a multiplayer game is idiotic. There are plenty of single-player games out there for you. If you still prefer playing multiplayer games with a solo attitude, then man up, expect people to yell at you sometimes, and get over it.

By: Miradan

Miradan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:09:40 +0000

No one will write a counter blog to this because he is absolutely right and there is no grounds for disagreement. I have decided this and so it is true… so long as those despicable ‘other people’ stay out of things. :-P

By: TheGabe

TheGabe — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:13:09 +0000

I totally agree. Other people ruin games for me.
Co-op is fine, but I haven’t played an MMO for years.
I have to say though, Bioware the mightiest at the RPG??
Bethesda dude, that’s all I’m sayin

By: Schwerpunk

Schwerpunk — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:46:50 +0000

Completely agree with the article. In fact, this more or less mirrors my own psyche. I play MMOs quite a bit, and never, ever team up. Not in the last few years, anyhow.
The only exceptions are when I’m trying out a new trial version, and join into a fellowship by accident, then don’t know how to politely bow out; so I play along for a bit, but it’s absolutely fun-killing for me, and I can’t wait for the first opportunity to split ways.

Here’s a question for others of the same ilk: do you think it’s a fault of the games, themselves, that we don’t enjoy teaming up (in what are supposed to be social, or team-based games), or is it just a personality quirk, that can’t be mitigated by even the most subtle gameplay design?

I remain hopeful.

By: ugottoknowme2

ugottoknowme2 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:34:35 +0000

This is the reason I prefer playing with plp I know in rl, or guildies, those I can trust will not scream at me if im wrong but simply accept it. And yes I play monk in GW (guild wars) and I enjoy the responsibilty. (I love having power over plp ;P)

By: Komaru

Komaru — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:31:37 +0000

I have to keep this brief, and I wasn’t able to read the whole list of comments, but here goes:

I love single-player games. I prefer to play them with headphones and away from other people. A single player experience is a private matter.

I love multiplayer. I play on AOF (Angry Old Farts) servers whenever I can, because they play for fun and and you don’t get any swearing 13 year olds.

John, after reading your article, my first reaction is to try tell you that “We’re not all that bad.” and defend MMOs and their players. But I can’t honestly. I’ve never enjoyed MMORPGs for long because there’s no RPG. All it is is a glorified math simulator so people can determine the downright best way to do things. And then that’s all anyone ever does. I assume you enjoyed Oblivion? There’s a mod out that lets a few players play in the same world. Perhaps you’d enjoy something like that, since you’d never NEED to meet anyone.

But I’m rambling now. You are entitled to your opinion. I just want you to know that Multi-player CAN be fun. It all depends on the players.

By: busby seo test

busby seo test — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:10:45 +0000

be sports in any game we play…tnx

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:42:57 +0000

I never play multiplayer games (cooperatively) unless there’s somebody I know playing it with me. Once there are none left, I quit. It was like that in Planetside, it’s like that in TF2, and it’s the secret sauce of console gaming. I don’t mind competitive-only play against strangers, provided that the only interaction required or minimally expected is that of the game itself – if, in short, aside from the occasional “thanks” or “good game” we are all just bots to each other.

If the only thing I have in common with a person is that we’re both playing the same game at the same time, I don’t want to meet that person. The odds are terrible.

By: Melf_Himself

Melf_Himself — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:32:31 +0000

You’d like Guild Wars. It has a henchmen system where you can obtain a full party of 8 without having to interact with another soul. This includes 3 ‘heroes’ whose stats and gear you can customize to your liking. PvE deliciousness.

Um, ignore what jonfitt said about the grind. It takes maybe a day to get to max level, a couple more days to get the max items in the game. After that, all grind works towards non-essential stuff, ie.

a) Better looking items, with the same stats

b) Cool titles or emotes

c) Unlocking new builds for your character to try

By: Tei

Tei — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:48:51 +0000

What MP say.
My favorite stuff from Morrowind is that I am greeted by all NPC’s, I feel warm on my interior to *really* be know and loved as a hero after *YEARS* playing, killing foes, saving people. Morrowind is more a alternate universe, than a videogame. MMORPG games hare becomming lobbys +grindboxes. If you don’t want the lobby part (you don’t want people) theres only teh grindbox. As a RPG, most (reads: all) MORPG suck. Singleplayer RPG’s like Mass Effect, The Witcher, Morrowind or Baldurs Gate, have much better RPG and sould be played insted… And If you like grindboxes anyway, then play some korean free RPG, like Atlantica Online, AION (will be grindintense?), Shaiya Online, Perfect World , Maginobi, Hello Kitty, or other stuff.. IMHO.

By: M.P.

M.P. — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:42:33 +0000

They did – it was called Morrowind :p

Seriously, I really get what makes soloing enjoyable, I’ve done it myself not infrequently, but I always thought of it as a relaxing break from grouping, or, at worst, as a last resort when I was playing at some ungodly hour and there was no-one else around. The thought that there’s millions of people there who PREFER to play solo except when necessity dictates otherwise, using an MMO that cost tens of millions of $$$$ to make as a glorified IRC client is mind-boggling!

By: Rhade

Rhade — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 04:07:16 +0000

Brilliant article.

The thing that made it possible to make MMO’s last so long, is the huge amount of people that pay you the money you need to develop that amount of content. MMO’s have several downsides though. When you’re making a game that lasts so long, you can’t make it so that every moment you play is fun. In a single player type game, having timesinks that aren’t fun is usually frowned upon, while in an MMO most people figure the time spent is worth the reward. Also, an MMO includes The Other People. A lot of them. You can’t do anything you want when The Other People rely on you and you rely on The Other People. Well, you can, but The Other People would probably not like you much more than you would like The Other People if they did something completely wrong when you relied on them. Anyway, this can take away a lot of freedom, and so take away a lot of the fun for many people. This is your problem with the game, I guess.

To some people, those sacrifices in freedom to do what you want isn’t worth it, while others enjoy using teamwork to overcome a challenge. The former would be the people like you, who doesn’t think the lack of freedom to play the way you want to play when you’re responsible for other peoples enjoyment, is preferable to the freedom to explore everything the game has to offer, without people calling you a noob for it. The latter would be the people that are patient enough to accept the lack of freedom and the mistakes and/or failures of you and everyone else you play with until the challenge is overcome.

It’s pretty obvious that there is a market for the people who want a game that lasts as long as an MMO, lacks The Other People, and is as fun as a classic Single Player/coop game. But is it possible to make a successful game this way, I wonder?