If I could have had a SP version of Anthem I'd have pre-ordered the priciest version they offered and likely bought whatever DLC came later. As it is, I bought the regular version after liking the demo enough to support BW with a purchase, but I'll play on Private as much as I can, and probably not spend any more money on it after this.
This thread is full of many sentiments I share but I really wish this game had a single player mode.
Segregate our characters offline/online to avoid save file tampering. Let us decide if we want to play online or not and give us the choice to play the game on our own. There is not a single thing I saw in the demo that couldn't work just fine for a single player experience, maybe requiring a slight balance tweak for Strongholds.
I feel like Bioware are chasing the multiplayer GaaS model to try and garner increased player retention to support recurrent consumer spending. I wish them the best of luck here, they need it, but I wish they would have provided a choice to play offline single player if we wanted to.
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I love the responses on this thread because they're all true, and it is unfortunate that Anthem is appearing more and more incompatible with this type of game-style... Especially considering that it is coming from BioWare who used to embrace solo play.
One of the biggest mysteries of multiplayer for me is the constant mad rush. Always gogogogogogo and when anyone gets too slow to take in the view, the atmosphere becomes a bit hostile and unforgiving.
In all honesty, I think the better question is why people prefer to play multiplayer.
While there are a lot of overlapping reasons given, I think folks have done a pretty good job of explaining "why not."
And the reasons "why not" are quite varied.
Some … like lack of strong story in MP … I think BioWare hoped to overcome. We'll see soon how well they succeeded.
But others … not wanting to play in a group, not wanting to be hurried, not wanting to have to interact with others …
Those are attributes of a MP game, no matter how good the story and is going to prevent certain folks from coming along.
I didn't take the question as finger pointing, I took it more as trying to see if there was something they could do (better).
Other than a fulsome telling of a story, my takeaway is no … there are good reasons for MP, there are good reasons for SP.
Some of those reasons work in opposition to each other … you really can't "square the circle."
The question assumed that they could square the circle, which is obtuse.
Thus, knowing they are not actually obtuse, it seems passive aggressive. The assumption is that they could please all the people all the time, if we could just tell them the special sauce.
There is no special sauce. There is no Special Ross. There is just SP and MP, and why ever the twain should meet is beyond me and just greedy desires of the overlords who do not understand our hobby.
All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my hand.
Pretty much every one that has responded to this thread have summed up my reasons. I would prefer to play at my own pace than someone else's when I am engaged in my own personal downtime. I play games for escapism and immersion and multiplayer games just don't offer that in the same way a single player game does. A good single player game can transplant me into another world for me to experience at the pace I want to experience it whether it be a space station or an ancient ruin I literally feel like I am there and I can experience it fully without worrying about other players killing the immersion.
If I could have had a SP version of Anthem I'd have pre-ordered the priciest version they offered and likely bought whatever DLC came later. As it is, I bought the regular version after liking the demo enough to support BW with a purchase, but I'll play on Private as much as I can, and probably not spend any more money on it after this.
This thread is full of many sentiments I share but I really wish this game had a single player mode.
Segregate our characters offline/online to avoid save file tampering. Let us decide if we want to play online or not and give us the choice to play the game on our own. There is not a single thing I saw in the demo that couldn't work just fine for a single player experience, maybe requiring a slight balance tweak for Strongholds.
I feel like Bioware are chasing the multiplayer GaaS model to try and garner increased player retention to support recurrent consumer spending. I wish them the best of luck here, they need it, but I wish they would have provided a choice to play offline single player if we wanted to.
Sure, the "always online" thing is a bugger, but for most of the other stuff if you want the "single player" experience you can have it. All the story missions, NPC arcs, etc can be done in a private or friends-only lobby. The only things that you need to have other people for are the free-play (which will be so large and largely lacking in narrative that it shouldn't really be a problem) and Strongholds. I think you had said something earlier about other people on your free-play server causing lag and leaving the lobby, kicking people out, but I was under the impression that there wasn't a "lobby leader" (unless you specifically join someone's instance) and that servers were dedicated, not peer-to-peer. However that could all be wrong or I don't quite understand what that so means, so take that as you will. Maybe you were taking about story missions or Strongholds, in which case I'm not actually sure what happens if someone leaves part way through. Never had an issue in my 40+ hours over both weekends, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen to others of course.
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Story I want to do at my own pace, not be punished if I feel like exploring, and get the dialogue so I know why I'm killing or saving some guys. I use games to escape from the world, and anythign reminding me of that world is off-putting.
Strongholds are better suited for multi, and I don't mind it there. But that's only because you go with the express purpose of doing something difficult (and fun) with other humans.
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Sure, the "always online" thing is a bugger, but for most of the other stuff if you want the "single player" experience you can have it. All the story missions, NPC arcs, etc can be done in a private or friends-only lobby. The only things that you need to have other people for are the free-play (which will be so large and largely lacking in narrative that it shouldn't really be a problem) and Strongholds. I think you had said something earlier about other people on your free-play server causing lag and leaving the lobby, kicking people out, but I was under the impression that there wasn't a "lobby leader" (unless you specifically join someone's instance) and that servers were dedicated, not peer-to-peer. However that could all be wrong or I don't quite understand what that so means, so take that as you will. Maybe you were taking about story missions or Strongholds, in which case I'm not actually sure what happens if someone leaves part way through. Never had an issue in my 40+ hours over both weekends, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen to others of course.
Conections are via server there is no p2p happpening. That is the whole reason behind the "our world" thing.
Yeah Anthem showed to me it is perfectly possible to complete quests alone and strongholds seems like fun with a good group of random players, so i am not worried about the online aspect of the game.
What a question. Others have already answered it, so I won't bother.
But that this question is even being asked shows how disconnected at least some of BioWare's employees are with their original fan base. BioWare used to be known for epic single player roleplaying games, so it's only to be expected that most of their fans would have a preference for that.
Then they make Anthem. A game that, while allowing the player to set their privacy preference to "private", immediately tells them that s/he made the lesser choice. And when you actually want to play, that setting only works for the three non-repeatable story missions - if you want to do anything else, the game tells you that your choice was wrong and that it is going to correct it for you.
Essentially, Anthem actively refuses players the opportunity to safely familiarize themselves with the game in a pressure free private environment, a chance to try out the flight mechanics, the javelin and the gear they chose before taking the plunge into multiplayer. This makes it harder for people who prefer a single player experience to finally dip their toes into multiplayer.
And then this question comes up. I don't even...
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Sure, the "always online" thing is a bugger, but for most of the other stuff if you want the "single player" experience you can have it. All the story missions, NPC arcs, etc can be done in a private or friends-only lobby. The only things that you need to have other people for are the free-play (which will be so large and largely lacking in narrative that it shouldn't really be a problem) and Strongholds. I think you had said something earlier about other people on your free-play server causing lag and leaving the lobby, kicking people out, but I was under the impression that there wasn't a "lobby leader" (unless you specifically join someone's instance) and that servers were dedicated, not peer-to-peer. However that could all be wrong or I don't quite understand what that so means, so take that as you will. Maybe you were taking about story missions or Strongholds, in which case I'm not actually sure what happens if someone leaves part way through. Never had an issue in my 40+ hours over both weekends, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen to others of course.
Conections are via server there is no p2p happpening. That is the whole reason behind the "our world" thing.
Yeah Anthem showed to me it is perfectly possible to complete quests alone and strongholds seems like fun with a good group of random players, so i am not worried about the online aspect of the game.
Why do I get the Fort Tarsis Expedition Complete screen when someone else in the lobby leaves Freeplay?
I think the servers just matchmake.
EDIT: Just read a response of yours in another thread ... maybe, hopefully, it is just a bug. It happened to me very frequently in the demo though. It always made me wonder when my freeplay session was just going to end.
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This tweet is well worth a discussion. What do you reckon?
Emily (aka Domino) Taylor pentapod Dear computer game players who prefer to play solo, not co-op/multiplayer ... why do you prefer to play alone? What prevents you from trying multiplayer games? (As someone who's gameplay has been very MMO-focused, I'm curious!)
amazingly most folks dont like the script kiddies or the pay to win crowd... this means the majority of games are unplayable due to them and the only way not to have your game time ruined is to stick to solo games..
ive tried several mmo's and many multiplayer games, so far the only games I actually liked long term were ruined by cheaters if not immediately then at least over time
any idiot can use a cheat program but to actually win at playing a game that takes effort and skill, its such an endemic problem even so called professionals are getting mired in controversy over cheating....
me I mostly gave up on the majority of supposedly fun games because theres zero fun in getting ganked over and over, especially when your being camped or when the guy(s) doing it are seriously lower level than you and clearly using cheats then claiming you should L2P... rather just not waste my time and effort if thats all thats going to happen especially when I can actually have some enjoyment from something else, like I enjoyed me3mp after playing a dozen different games all of which were mired in problems (hell during its early beta stages Tabula Rasa looked amazing, but the neverending hackfest got cancelled, crisis online was left without support due to "too many hackers", in the start of TESO it was a non stop gankfest , and its no fun when you loose gear everytime someone does that stuff too you) then theres the problem that the majority of co-op games are the same way due to the pvp aspects of them, in fact I havent played a single mmo in the last 6 years that didnt have massive problems with folks cheating or utterly trash game mechanics (like loosing your inventory when you died) or theres the daddies wallet crowd buying epic gear and thinking there the leetzors when without that special gear they couldn't get out of hte starter zone on their own skills...
honestly I'd rather read a book than waste my time in such games, on the flip side there are games that avoid most of these problems through a combination of not providing the impetus to do it, having strong game support teams or just straight up not providing any actual benefit for doing it....
As far as the story elements of the missions is concerned, there's no question I prefer solo because I want to take the mission at my own pace. I want to wait to hear and absorb the messages from the NPCs and understand what I'm doing and how it relates to the story. If there's a riddle I want to take the time to solve it myself. I don't want to be trailing behind a bunch of people who already know what they're doing, don't care about the dialogue or the plot and, already know how to solve the riddles and just storm through the game with me barely registering what the mission was about.
With the Stronghold (and similar content in other games) I just feel too much pressure to perform well and not let the side down. Basically because I'm not very good
I panic when the group goes rushing ahead of me leaving me bouncing off mountains or getting lost or getting pinned down by the bad guys that the others managed to evade. I'm embarrassed if I get killed and have to be brought back by other players. I'm annoyed if the group runs off and wipes leaving me the sole survivor because I didn't keep up and it's particularly galling if I pick up things that I'm supposed to put somewhere and can't find where to put them, thereby holding up the whole team!
I tried the Stronghold once but we kept wiping because the group went rushing on ahead while I was still trying to take out the first turret. Occasionally I managed it but soon after I ended up getting overwhelmed and found out I was the last one alive and the team had wiped. After the 7th wipe I gave up. It wasn't a pleasant experience and I know from other games (WOW, Destiny, SWTOR) that it's never going to be my thing. Too much responsibility and stress and requirement to be competent!
Having said that, I really enjoyed the Freeplay and Quickplay missions (after I'd already solo'd them myself). I didn't need to follow the story and I was just extra help rather than an integral part of the team. I could take things on myself even without backup so there was much less pressure to perform. I was just an extra helping hand if I teamed up rather than an essential cog in the wheel like in a stronghold.
You wrote absolutely every words i could have written if my English was good enough
I play games for escapism and immersion and multiplayer games just don't offer that in the same way a single player game does.
All the history of the DnD\table-top party games strongly objects. Multiplayer is not the flip-side of the immersion when done right. Hell, I've seen people roleplaying during the WoW raids. But it gets much worse when random group and grind come to play, yeah..
that setting only works for the three non-repeatable story missions - if you want to do anything else, the game tells you that your choice was wrong and that it is going to correct it for you.
Part of me still hopes that this was a demo-exclusive design, that they remove the freeplay restrictions once the release hits. I mean, I get it. They had to make sure that queue times are short (and people had to see the nature of the in-game MP content).
SP games also don't need to make concessions to online. That includes save games, multiple playthroughs / restarts, modding, difficulty settings, cheating etc.
I am a little surprised as well that they would even ask such a thing
for me it is the same as for everyone else in this thread:
doing stuff at my own pace
no pressure
time: I want to start/stop to play whenever I like - my gaming time is fairly limited so I kinda "need" this independency
the online friends I do have, play at different times so it is rather difficult to team up
I am also surprised that they kinda didn't look more closely at SWTOR and how solo vs. group is handled there: a) story is story and supposed to be played alone, then there is b ) "small" group content (flashpoints), that can be played in 3 different modes (story/solo, veteran or master (the latter to require 4 players)) and then there are c) operations that are for 8-16 players and cannot be played solo SWTOR in general is far from perfect but I rather like that concept of definite story, chunks that can be done solo or in a group and the pure MP group content (raids) - so it is something for everyone
in Anthem it feels like everything should be done with "friends" so that you are coersed to public lobbies and even where private is possible (story missions) you get a pop up warning: ARE YOU SURE??? REALLY??? BUT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO PLAY WITH FRIENDS!!!! DON'T YOU HAVE FRIENDS???? LOOOOSER ... ok, sorry, got carried away
I am a little surprised as well that they would even ask such a thing
Just to get some insight I guess, it didn't look like an 'official' inquiry.
People like different things, and that applies as much to single-player/multiplayer preferences.
I'm in an odd situation because I reversed from SP only to adoring MEMP.
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There is room for bort mp and sp. Co-op has been part of rpg life for 40 years. Running underground, incursions etc in The Division for instance in groups can be just crazy rewarding. But, there is always the risk of IRL intruding.
When in purely SP offline playing I can just save and exit if I need to.
Roleplaying in group can be just as immersive as a SP solo game but that generally requires a more or less fixed squad of like minds.
I play games for escapism and immersion and multiplayer games just don't offer that in the same way a single player game does.
All the history of the DnD\table-top party games strongly objects.
Sorry, but this is not something that can be put in the same level. Its completely different a group of people around a table trowing dices in the same room and people playng a videogame behind a screen.
First thing first: tabletop games are about being lucky with dices (and having a magnanimous master) so the competitive part, the "not being good enought" anxiety is not there. People can't have toxic behaviour because are in public: none of the dicks who actively are disgusting online can act the same way in RL. There is no screen to hide behind. No anonimity, no way to escape either a beating or a report to the police. Relaxed behaviour: there are no timers, and no need for reflex. An actual group of friends is needed, not completely strangers.
I play quite a bit of Ars Magica with my group of friends, I've even been Master a few times: there is nothing even slight similar to play a multiplayer videogame.
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The only online MP I ever tried (before Anthem) was ME3MP which I loved. To my GREAT surprise. Back in 2012 I played with a bunch of Germans from BSN. Good times. Later when they all left, I played with pugs which was less fun. And I only bought one month of XBox Live a year for my annual "fix". Then recently I started playing ME3MP again with co-workers and had a blast again.
I still have no intentions to ever play PvP games. That's where the most awful annoying kids congregate. I'm too old to put up with getting insulted by ten year old brats.
Multiplayer can be fun with friends. And I've come to enjoy playing co-op with my partner. But even in co-op stories, it DOES get annoying when the other person talks over game dialogue. This would also be a HUGE problem in Anthem.
At the core I'm the kind of introverted gamer who like everyone else in this thread likes to get totally sucked into a game's world. To escape. Gaming was always a very private intimate thing for me. Connecting with the story and characters. I'm also the kind of person who plays one game start to finish almost every evening. Obssesively. I never play several games at the same time. Nor do I start reading five different books. I can only focus on one thing.
I too am surrounded by lots of people at work. When I get home I'm drained. I recharge my batteries by playing games by myself or watching a TV series. Even when playing with friends, it's exhausting. If we play for several days a week, I feel it. I also get sensory overload a lot, which then makes me lie awake at night. So Anthem's insane special effects and screen shake, coupled with the social aspect is not something I'd want to do all day. I can spend an entire Sunday just building bases in FO4 or NMS but MP sessions I last maybe 3 hours. And afterwards I feel like I got run over by a bus.
I was hoping Anthem could be the new ME3MP fun house with my coworkers. But neither of us thinks the game is even half as fun. One even outright refuses to try Anthem because it looks so much like Andromeda (which is very true).
The story missions in Anthem's demo perfectly presents the problem for me. The cutscenes and the story were quite cool, but when I got to the missions themselves, all I did was following the marker and shooting stuff with a full disconnection from the story established in Fort Tarsis because I was busy doing everything quickly, contributing to the team, reviving squadmates etc., instead of following the story. I straight away forgot why I was where I was and only once I returned to Fort-Tarsis I remembered why I went on the mission. I can't take things at my own pace, I can't explore, I can't connect to the story if we have to keep tight as a group, this isn't the way to tell a story, sry. I need to play alone or with someone patient as me to experience the story fully.
You gotta rise up, like a phoenix through, some mother f***ing flame!
I...have a hard time making new contacts with people as it is
forums are alright, but anything further then that...yeah...no
Though my main reason for playing alone is...well, the way that online games generally work
for example, say that you play...World of Warcraft, first you buy an expensive game then they charge you to keep playing it monthly
and for me that's not even the worst part!
For me it's the fact that you can't quit an online game without being left out on lots of content
online games constantly update and change in order to stay interesting, so if you dare to stop for a certain amount of time, when you return the entire game world has changed without you, and you'll be lucky if you can catch up with some of the content before the next patch is released
When I play a single player game it doesn't matter how long I take a break, I come back, look at my journal and map and continue playing
and if I really feel like I no longer understand what's going on I start a new game
there's also the part with guilds in online games, while I understand that this is part of an online gaming community I always feel like your somewhat forced to join one or be left out of a lot of content (never mind that some guilds are quite aggressive in their approach)
there are certain games that if you want to play a dungeon or raid you have to form a party, what if I don't want to form a party of just have a small group of friends that don't play regularly?
and if you do join a guild, you'll be lucky if you happen to have stumbled upon a guild that suits you as a person
I've joined guilds in the past that were kind, some that were outright rude
and there's always that nagging feeling for me that you constantly have to perform a certain way or be left in the dust
for example, the last time I played WoW I was part of a guild who raided as a form of fun, so naturally I went along with them on several raids to help out
one time we were short on healers, and me being a class(druid at the time) that could be specced as a healer and was asked to be a healer for the sake of the raiding party
never mind that I had never played a healer before in an online game, and then one of the guild members blamed me for the party being wiped
also he/she kept nagging that my dps (which is what my druid was specced as at the time) was to low to be beneficial for the raid *sighs*
*coughs* ...forgive my rambling
long story short, online gaming just isn't for me...I'm comfortable with doing some local multiplayer, such as the ME3 one that I played quite a bit in the past with a good friend of mine
but I much prefer single player games because I can play the way I want, restart whenever I want and take as long as I want to finish it without anyone being annoyed with me being slow or a completionist
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