The annoying aspect of multiplayer in RPG games

[Kaori]

while I certainly enjoy RPG's it can be quite annoying if the game makes you HAVE to play with others just because of some lousy reason(my wizard is weak against mobs, my warrior can't heal himself etc.), I'm not even fond of multiplayer, I thought the whole point of the RPG was to immerse YOURself, not fight for your life because of flukes regarding class, PK's, advancement of quests... I mean who was the idiot that thought of this concept anyway?

[Kuukai]

Did you just make one of the better arguments against a .hack MMO?

[VirusCoreS]

@Kaori
that's not very true, MMORPG is fun when you have friend to watch your back and you you watch his/hers. MMORPG is one of greatest invention in human history!

But of course, it sucks big time if you friend list is empty, and general players tend to be a douchebag or trolling n00b. You have to grind.... grind.... grind.... alone in vast area filled with annoying kill-stealing players.... return to base/town and meet bad-mouthed beggar asking for money/equip.... and PKs too... such painful drama without friend....

*forever alone face

[Kaori]

Oh shut up Viruscores!

nah, I don't mind MMO's, its just that I don't it can be annoying if an RPG has a single player function yet forces you to HAVE to go with parties because of lousy reasons, "your class always/most of the time needs assistance, or because doing quests with others will net you rewards you won't get playing alone, or even the fact that your mage is nothing more than a support class meant for online play".

[VirusCoreS]

which game is that? as far as I know, no game 'forces' you to play with other. I even go solo as Super Novice in RO.

[Kaori]

I even go solo as Super Novice in RO.

Exactly!

I almost bought Ragnarok Odyssey for Vita when I decided to borrow a friend's copy to try it out, she told me not to pick the mage class so I took it as a challenge, turns out its because you won't even survive alone for a minute(not to mention that other classes are still lacking without the help of another class), I simply gave it back and decided not to buy it after all, I like RPG's but the idea of adding a party based multiplayer function is a subtle sign that online play is inevitable or of more importance than the singleplayer mode, if you add a multiplayer mode in an RPG just turn it into an online game rather than making it a disaster as it is!

[VirusCoreS]

...it just bad game design then?

never play ROdyssey, so I can't really talk about it. But you can ask your friend to protect you, at least until you're mid level?

[Kaori]

But you can ask your friend to protect you, at least until you're mid level?

NO, no matter how high you go you will ALWAYS need support.

its games like that that ruin an RPG, why can't it just be the simple one where you you can play on your own rather than having to constantly/mostly rely for help.

[Tsuki-44]

Hmm. I agree with VirusCoreS, I like the aspect of playing with another in an MMORPG. If you're forced into a party, thats different. But if you have a choice to solo or be in a team, my personal opinion is that it's nice to play with others. I mean, its a MMO, so with that many players, it could take the MMO out of the game if you go solo. With that many people, making a few new friends is never a bad thing...As for the classes thing, yeah, unless you can buy potions or whatnot then it can be a pain, but i think thats where player skill comes in. It all depends on the game really.^^;;;
Hmm. And if its just a standard RPG where you need a team mate, i dont mind, cause im a character growth fanatic. So having more than one person in a group will help further that, so i dont mind necessarily.

^^''

[Kaori]

Hmm. I agree with VirusCoreS, I like the aspect of playing with another in an MMORPG. If you're forced into a party, thats different. But if you have a choice to solo or be in a team, my personal opinion is that it's nice to play with others. I mean, its a MMO, so with that many players, it could take the MMO out of the game if you go solo. With that many people, making a few new friends is never a bad thing...As for the classes thing, yeah, unless you can buy potions or whatnot then it can be a pain, but i think thats where player skill comes in. It all depends on the game really.^^;;;
Hmm. And if its just a standard RPG where you need a team mate, i dont mind, cause im a character growth fanatic. So having more than one person in a group will help further that, so i dont mind necessarily.

^^''

I also don't mind playing with others but I do so on a lesser extent, but what I'm referring to aren't MMORPG's but RPG's with an "optional" multiplayer function that you're forced to rely on to the point that the singleplayer value is diminished, it also doesn't help that these types of games are incredibly repetitive in missions and have a storyline bad enough that I might have even wrote it, I also don't mind making friends online but it doesn't help when said friend might one day be your enemy.

[VirusCoreS]

I also don't mind making friends online but it doesn't help when said friend might one day be your enemy.

THIS!!! *gazing to distant horizon with hatred-filled-sadness eyes "That backstabbing bastard! I gave you everything!!"

I remember the key to play solo 'mage-type' in RO is to equip item called Under a Cast Clip (I forgot which card it is, is it Bathory?) anyway, that will prevent cast-cancel by enemy's attack. so playing solo will rely heavily on item, equip and potion.

either rely on items, or rely on real-life friends you trust, I think.
Or...oh well, Kaori, you can always ditch the game.

[WolfHacker]

Am I only one who is having flash backs reading Kaori post?

I swear I am reliving my Linage 2 days, back when you couldn't do crap without a team! Oh yeah we can take a mage...You dye and you some of your armor drops off as loot and your team leaves you and takes your loot!!! *eye twitch* Or how about when the team is half stupid and everyone dies cause they can't follow orders! *smacks self* Sorry! Had a flash back there. It could be worse you could be part of a great guild and it sadly falls away due to real life...*sniff* RIP WanderLust *blows nose* I will always remember my naked nuking days in the Void killing the Kittin with you guys!

I need a cookie now.

[VirusCoreS]

Am I only one who is having flash backs reading Kaori post?

you, me, both, buddy.

I need a cookie now.

Here, have digital cookies and milk.

[TheSorrow]

It could be worse you could be part of a great guild and it sadly falls away due to real life...*sniff* RIP WanderLust *blows nose*

Real life.
The hardest boss that has ever existed in the history of MMO's. Unavoidable fight no matter which game you're playing, gets more difficult as time passes, almost no one can survive against it...and those who do end up losing themselves.
...

But anyways o3o
I don't play MMO's at all. And by that, i mean i try to avoid every game that features any kind of adventure or quest mode where i must travel alongside a team and do stuffz, even if those games feature a normal single player/offline function (last one i played was Red Dead Redemption...but eh, the MMO aspect was like 15% and you could always just jump right into Deathmatches). It's not that i don't like them or don't know about them...i have traveled through the realms of Runescape, Ragnarok Online, a little of World of Warcraft and the slighest of Mabinogi, it's just that they require you to spend a SHITLOAD of time, playing CONSTANTLY through MONTHS because that's just how the game is and you'll fall behind badly if you don't play like that. And well, i have lost the boss battle against real life so there's just no way i can dedicate so much time and effort to a single game...and even when i had plenty of free time, there were still other things i wanted to do and other games i wanted to play, not just get stuck doing the same endless thing until my connection went lost, if ever. And sure, you can have plenty of fun playing and building your character, and you can meet alot of awesome people too...but well, the actual "fun" only lasts for a few weeks, after that you'll just get trapped into the game and play mostly because you feel you "must" do it. As of the awesome people, sure, they're out there...but unless you've met them prior to playing the game, you'll probably never meet them and instead you'll just find "forced friendships", people who play the game alot and seem really cool and all, but you "have" to play the game everyday and you "have" to keep constant communication with them to keep such friendship...and if you must stop playing for a few days or weeks for any sort of reason, you'll fall behind badly and it'll be difficult to even talk to them again, let alone keep playing with them. And still, depending of the MMO, around 90% of the people you meet will be either wierd people who never talk and you probably believe they're bots (and who will kill you if the game allows it), or large groups of people with insanely high levels that don't seem to do anything except play every single day and won't talk to anyone or help anyone who isn't part of their insane group (and who will also kill you). Unless you've been playing the MMO for like over a year non-stop, in which case you're most surely part of that 90%.

So, with all that said, i completely agree with Kaori. Though i know several people who believe that games that don't let you play with other people aren't worth it, and the only reason why they play games is to jump right into the online modes and never play them if it isn't with several other people, and that's awesome for them...but i'm definetly not one of those people. Sure, i love some online games and all...but all i play are competitive games, where i don't have to spend more than 10 minutes if i want to, i can come back 3 weeks later and it's all the same, and they're usually a test of skill, a skill that you can practice on usually without even an internet connection. And again in MMO's, you can spend like 6 hours in a dungeon raid thing, if you don't log in for a week you're suddenly so far behind, and your skill is fully dependant on all the stuff you've acquired (which again, takes months) and how smart and organized your team is (which can also take months). Not trying to hate on all the people who really love MMO's and dedicate THAT much time and effort to them...but really, you must either have AWESOME friends who ALWAYS play it (and with you ALWAYS playing it too), or really have NOTHING else to do D8 And if a game forces me to be that way...to never stop playing it and always be in groups with people who never stop playing either, then i simply won't play it.

[VirusCoreS]

TheSorrow said it all well, I don't really need to add something. That's how I feel, exactly.

There's only one game though, that I don't really paying much attention to level, equip, stuffs like that, even party member. That's Perfect Worlds Online. I only login to enjoy the beautiful scenery and flying. I never moved from level 15 and never got far, do I care? no. Until the graphic burnt into my eyes and made me nearly vomit. After that, never play it again :p

It would be great if MMORPG developer make a game that fix problems TheSorrow said before. Maybe, a game that don't mind the level, only skill point, and has beautiful graphics so we don't really feel like forever alone when grinding solo. Something like The World and ALO (without excessive PKs--- for both game).

But maybe, some people consider it 'boring'. especially those brats who goes ROFLROFLN00BI'LLF*CKINPKU :p
so hard to please everyone. And I nearly forget that most online game developers are money sucker :p

To sum up gaming fee I've spent on RO, RF Online, Seal, Idol Street, DOMO,Perfect World, Point Blank, etc etc, maybe enough to buy small house in rural town. OTL (damn I'm pathetic)

[Kaori]

It would be great if MMORPG developer make a game that fix problems TheSorrow said before. Maybe, a game that don't mind the level, only skill point, and has beautiful graphics so we don't really feel like forever alone when grinding solo. Something like The World and ALO.

You know what the problem is? That^
MMORPG's have rather minimalistic plots, and most of it is just background lore to begin with, You can play your MMORPG's for all I care but don't implement it on an RPG with a story, people like you ruin the feel of an RPG, all you think about is getting into groups, fighting monsters together, doing quests together, getting better equipment, adjusting stats, well guess what? Its not! The RPG is supposed to be an experience, unique for each one of us, we can all live out ourselves in an RPG, express ourselves in ways we normally can't, but now RPG's are turning into forced social gatherings rather than an experience.

I'm pathetic

quite obvious judging how much you spent on an online game.

@Sorrow Co-op is fine by me(as long as its only optional) and a little competition doesn't hurt either.

Although back on topic my problems aren't with MMORPG's but RPG's that force you into teaming up with others despite the fact that there is a singleplayer mode, come on its supposed to be an RPG not some multiplayer farce masquerading as one, I may sound antisocial but thats just me, I have had enough of "hey lets do some repetitive quests so we can level up and advance to even more repetitive quests!" to the point that the singleplayer experience becomes nothing more than a tutorial for multiplayer!

[VirusCoreS]

I'm pathetic

quite obvious judging how much you spent on an online game.

You're so mean... OTL

MMORPG's have rather minimalistic plots, and most of it is just background lore to begin with, You can play your MMORPG's for all I care but don't implement it on an RPG with a story, people like you ruin the feel of an RPG, all you think about is getting into groups, fighting monsters together, doing quests together, getting better equipment, adjusting stats, well guess what? Its not! The RPG is supposed to be an experience, unique for each one of us, we can all live out ourselves in an RPG, express ourselves in ways we normally can't, but now RPG's are turning into forced social gatherings rather than an experience.

Although back on topic my problems aren't with MMORPG's but RPG's that force you into teaming up with others despite the fact that there is a singleplayer mode, come on its supposed to be an RPG not some multiplayer farce masquerading as one, I may sound antisocial but thats just me, I have had enough of "hey lets do some repetitive quests so we can level up and advance to even more repetitive quests!" to the point that the singleplayer experience becomes nothing more than a tutorial for multiplayer!

there there *pat Kaori in back (I know how dangerous it is for me to do this, but I can't resist)

no, you don't sound like anti-social, it's quite understandable to me.
Getting back to old days of RPG is not a bad idea. (PS2-PS1 era)

[Erranty]

My issue with MMOs is mainly the Grinding and lack of skill needed for MOST of them. People can set up skill macros and run a program that'll do the exact same stuff they would, and let it run for days to level up...

[Kaori]

My issue with MMOs is mainly the Grinding and lack of skill needed for MOST of them. People can set up skill macros and run a program that'll do the exact same stuff they would, and let it run for days to level up...

My main problem is with RPG's with a multiplayer function, not MMORPG's that you HAVE to play alongside other people, it already has multiplayer on its name! My main source of grief is when you get an RPG game that allows you to play singleplayer yet it not so subtly implies you need a party! Examples:
"My mage's spells take time to cast while I'm being surrounded!(Another grip of mine is how these people turn almighty mage's into impotent circus elephants that need time to cast their spells)", "I need a party to go hunting with me so I can get certain materials I need", "a storyline quest needs me to team up with somebody so I can advance!", "hey lets do roleplay in this game!", and my biggest problem with it is when the singleplayer had so much potential yet it was eschewed in favor of getting together on a screen.

[AZURE-KITE]

It would be great if MMORPG developer make a game that fix problems TheSorrow said before. Maybe, a game that don't mind the level, only skill point, and has beautiful graphics so we don't really feel like forever alone when grinding solo. Something like The World and ALO.

You know what the problem is? That^
MMORPG's have rather minimalistic plots, and most of it is just background lore to begin with, You can play your MMORPG's for all I care but don't implement it on an RPG with a story, people like you ruin the feel of an RPG, all you think about is getting into groups, fighting monsters together, doing quests together, getting better equipment, adjusting stats, well guess what? Its not! The RPG is supposed to be an experience, unique for each one of us, we can all live out ourselves in an RPG, express ourselves in ways we normally can't, but now RPG's are turning into forced social gatherings rather than an experience.

Exactly, most -if not all- MMO have no storyline(And if it has one, it's not so good.... very little the MMOs that have a good storyline, and is even smaller the number of players that pay any atention at ALL to the story) and plus, for players who like to solo like me that can't go without a mage....

and well....

My issue with MMOs is mainly the Grinding and lack of skill needed for MOST of them. People can set up skill macros and run a program that'll do the exact same stuff they would, and let it run for days to level up...

My main problem is with RPG's with a multiplayer function, not MMORPG's that you HAVE to play alongside other people, it already has multiplayer on its name! My main source of grief is when you get an RPG game that allows you to play singleplayer yet it not so subtly implies you need a party! Examples:
"My mage's spells take time to cast while I'm being surrounded!(Another grip of mine is how these people turn almighty mage's into impotent circus elephants that need time to cast their spells)", "I need a party to go hunting with me so I can get certain materials I need", "a storyline quest needs me to team up with somebody so I can advance!", "hey lets do roleplay in this game!", and my biggest problem with it is when the singleplayer had so much potential yet it was eschewed in favor of getting together on a screen.

RPGs are meant to be played alone, if they have a multiplayer option well... As long as its optional there shouldnt be any 'bonuses' or anything you need to do in co-op, well, sure it is EASIER but you still can finish it alone, if it forces you to go multiplayer (As everyone said before) then its not an RPG anymore....