Why Online Multiplayer Isn't That Important

cyrus_zuo writes "GameTunnel has published an article on why they believe online multiplayer is over-rated. Specifically, author Russell Carrol feels that multi-player is only at its best when you have an emotional connection to the people you're playing against. In his words: 'Multiplayer gaming is awesome, don't get me wrong, but I don't think that online multiplayer modes are all that great. Unless I'm playing in the same room as the person I'm playing against, I lose the emotional and physical connection that makes multiplayer games fun. .. It's like going to a party where you drink and dance by yourself in your living room, and connect to everyone else through headsets, video cameras and HD TVs. No matter how you look at it, the end result is a lame party.'"

Comments

the key is good communication

[no_opinion]

From personal experience, I'd say that you can have a fantastic time with complete strangers if everyone is playing with the same objective and attitude, and communicating well enough that the team can coordinate its strategy. There's nothing more satisfying (in the game context, of course) than a coordinated and simultaneously executed diversion, attack, and defense to win the game.

Re:Pfft.

[Red Flayer]

Funny, but it strikes me that he's the opposite of a n00b (what would that be, a b11n?)

Frankly, in a get-off-my-lawn kind of way, I can't stand talking on the cell phone in public, text messaging all the time, etc. Maybe it's my old (relatively) age, but it seems to me that someone who grew up without purely digital relationships will be uncomfortable with them their whole life.

I suspect that younger gamers have developed an aptitude for making emotional connections online that older gamers have not -- and this is the root of Russell's problem.