Is the Internet killing video games? (MMOs/Multiplayer)

[shammypie]

Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy to name a few. What these titles all share is that no one I know plays them anymore even though they all started out great. As developers put more work into online/multiplayer content the original game suffers. Not only this but you don't get to be the hero anymore. Your just a soldier fighting with a bunch of other dudes. I have to give props to Destiny for realizing this and coming back to the hero saga despite being completely designed for multiplayer. Don't get me wrong a lot of these are quite enjoyable but they leave you wanting. The only form of progress you have is better stats and achievements for the bored. Call me a snowflake if you want but they made a bunch of good games for my generation.

[Tiwack]

Well old-school tabletop-games are making a comeback so I guess average consumers can't be bothered with many of the complexities or endless buy-ins found in online gaming nowadays.

[Kathandira]

Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy to name a few. What these titles all share is that no one I know plays them anymore even though they all started out great. As developers put more work into online/multiplayer content the original game suffers. Not only this but you don't get to be the hero anymore. Your just a soldier fighting with a bunch of other dudes. I have to give props to Destiny for realizing this and coming back to the hero saga despite being completely designed for multiplayer. Don't get me wrong a lot of these are quite enjoyable but they leave you wanting. The only form of progress you have is better stats and achievements for the bored. Call me a snowflake if you want but they made a bunch of good games for my generation.

Mass Effect - I played through it, enjoyed it, and shelved it.

Elder Scrolls - Played Skyrim on 3 different consoles. I enjoyed the hell out of it, but I have worn it out. I also played Elder Scrolls online, but someone I was playing with became a stalker, so I stopped playing.

Final Fantasy - Haven't played one since 10, I just got bored of the series.

[onesBronson]

Access to wikis and forums with nerds with way too much free time, who run simulations and spreadsheets to find the optimal way to reach the end game in games is what is ruining games. Games have become about the destination rather than the journey.

I remember when journeying through pokemon with a precious team of animal friends to be the very best like no one ever was. Now we endlessly breed them to have the best stats possible for competitive battles.

[dope_danny]

Games are made by and large for 'wider market appeal' which means marketing and designing not just for people that like videogames but the post "year of darkness" 2007 crowd that went from calling them 'gross nerd shit' to being the 'im such a geek xDDDD' watercooler badge of honour post facebook and shit like the big bang theory. They dont want the heroic adventure. They want tv with perk unlocks and micropay freebuys.

I forgot who but someone wrote a few articles a while back that the new audience and the devs that cater to them took such umbrage with the traditional idea of heroes and villains because for the 'trophy for participation generation' it has the connotation of some doing better than others through singular talent and ability that they will tell you IS??NOT???OKAY??AND??NEEDS????TO???STOP??? so a lot of developers ended up fighting this trend by sympathising with the villains. So we got things like Big Boss being portrayed as a heroic figure in the last two metal gears when he is basically diet coke hitler in the early games. Not just in games but even in comics the big sellers in Marvel and DC were former villains as the heroes were all broken in some fashion or replaced with the hip newer models that killed sales.

The internet just gives everyone a voice regardless of intent or intention to buy a product and games have suffered deeply from modern outrage culture in design terms. So publishers go for the safe bet which nowadays is a sandbox with multiplayer elements and microtransactions to milk whales.

Just buy the good shit, sure its harder to find but thats the same for the core videogame audience in the sea of modern polygon era softboys wanting movies as a service to replace traditional game formats.

[Mistame]

"Is the Internet killing video games? (MMOs/Multiplayer)"

In a way, but not how you think.

Access to wikis and forums with nerds with way too much free time, who run simulations and spreadsheets to find the optimal way to reach the end game in games is what is ruining games. Games have become about the destination rather than the journey.

So true. Every time I've tried to get back into WoW, it doesn't take long before I'm back to min/maxing and it basically ruins the experience for me. When I came back after Legion launched, it was fun until the Broken Isles. Then I was like, "Yeah, no. I'm done again." I'm only keeping my subscription active to maintain my add-ons (which basically pays for the subscription).

Honestly, I've found that I actually prefer single player games (sans a few co-op games) as MMO devs tend to cater more to end-game and whatever's "trending". Give me more long-lasting, original content. I mean, WoW has been rehashed so many times that they've even reused the same zones. Fuck WoW, give me Warcraft 4 with optional co-op!

[PACOX]

Twitch culture. Games arent "good" if a ton of people arent watching it on twitch/youtube. A game only lives until the next twitch hit of the week. People feel obligated to play certain games and ignore others because of it.

[crakerjack]

Times change. More people enjoy online/multiplayer/coop games than they do single player games. I don't have an issue with single player games if done right, but that's not where the money is. It's not the internets fault, it's greediness.

[stellvia]

FF14 story quests also take a really long time to progress through. Came back after quitting with 2.2 and it took us like 6 weeks straight just to make it to 3.3 story content. Not even up to Stormblood yet.

[Felaris Stormrage]

As a society, we're becoming more and more impatient.

Technology has made a plethora of things easily-accessible. So, we're used to being able to figure something out, or completing something in a short period of time. And, the younger you're the worse this has plagued you, because you've never really experienced the struggle to find information, complete a level, or do something difficult, without the internet being right there and at your disposal.

Video game companies inevitably followed the trail of money and develop games that provide spurts of self-gratification for little to no work. A lot of people would rather spend 45$ to be 10% more powerful, then complete the story and do difficult things in-game. Thus, the birth of many pay to win featured games. In a way, this is the internet's fault, but it was inevitable.

[Allybeboba]

Twitch culture. Games arent "good" if a ton of people arent watching it on twitch/youtube. A game only lives until the next twitch hit of the week. People feel obligated to play certain games and ignore others because of it.

Just don’t get the appeal of watching someone else play a video game.
To each their own I suppose.

[Gaexion Ramza Beoulve]

Are Millennials killing the Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Game industry?

[Asteremia]

Are Millennials killing the Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Game industry?

But they are into MOBA and FPS isn't?

[Super Kami Dende]

Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy to name a few. What these titles all share is that no one I know plays them anymore even though they all started out great. As developers put more work into online/multiplayer content the original game suffers. Not only this but you don't get to be the hero anymore. Your just a soldier fighting with a bunch of other dudes. I have to give props to Destiny for realizing this and coming back to the hero saga despite being completely designed for multiplayer. Don't get me wrong a lot of these are quite enjoyable but they leave you wanting. The only form of progress you have is better stats and achievements for the bored. Call me a snowflake if you want but they made a bunch of good games for my generation.

I know lots of people that play the Elder Scrolls and Final Fantasy single player games still.

Mass Effects failure because he was a horrible piece of shit had nothing to do with MMO's/Multiplayer.

- - - Updated - - -

FF14 story quests also take a really long time to progress through. Came back after quitting with 2.2 and it took us like 6 weeks straight just to make it to 3.3 story content. Not even up to Stormblood yet.

I went from new character to Stormblood in 5 weeks :/ watching all cinematics fully.

[vixien]

Just don’t get the appeal of watching someone else play a video game.
To each their own I suppose.

I enjoy watching dota games similiar to a sport. I know the rules and characters but I just cant play at a level to those on twitch.

[GreenJesus]

Only game I have played the last year that is strictly single player was probably Witcher 3 and it is amazing.

[kail]

No, just permanently changing it. Obviously the online scene with gaming as taken an exponential leap since the first XBox so naturally single player games take up far less percentage of existing games. This doesn't mean an end for great story based games, Witcher 3 and other titles recently have proven such a claim wrong.

[stellvia]

One of the ironic cases where it really is Millenials ruining something. You're right. Zero patience nor enthusiasm to master something or face adversity and be rewarded.

Case in point: Jungle Inferno update came out for Team Fortress 2 with a bunch of new Contracts (basically achievements) to complete. You literally get half or entire servers just sitting around as carebears underhand pitching to each other to complete stuff instead of actually earning it while playing the game normally. For something they have 4 months to complete as well.

[Rotted]

In a sense,

on occasion up at my place I lose the internet, which I then go on steam offline mode and play my single player games.

9 times out of 10 I can promise you I'll go to boot up any of my single player games and theres always a fucking update, new game old game, there's always something.

[unfilteredJW]

When in doubt, blame millennials.

You guys need a new tune.