Why I Have Not Made the Leap To Online

[TarHeelPhenom]

Awesome article my friend. I definitely play offline more so than online. I will say that my gaming experience varies. For example, I have two people I play with more than anyone else: my cousin and my best friend. My cousin and I prefer to play in Franchises and Dynasty modes together while controlling our own teams. We play our games against the CPU opponents and the only time we go head up is if we are on each others schedules. We do this for the sheer enjoyment of recruiting against one another, chasing the national championship or building our franchises into winners while doing it together. My best friend and I also like to play Dynasty mode and Franchise modes together. However, we prefer to play head up. I will play as his opponent and vice versa and we try and emulate the teams as real as we can.

I've found both ways to be very rewarding and exciting if sometimes nerve racking. My cousin and I were both in the Big 12 one year. he was Texas A&M and I was Nebraska. He beat me in the regular season match-up and again in the Big 12 title game on a last second FG. That was an awesome yet heart wrenching experience. On the flipside my best friend and I have had epic battles over the course of time; anywhere from going 7 games in the NBA playoffs to winning a National Championship against him in Coach K to losing in the NFC Championship as SF to Green Bay. You talk about competition. Imagine how tough it is to win 6 games in a row in the NCAA Tourney to an opponent on a mission to deny you that elusive trophy.

At the end of the day it's about what you want out of your gaming experience. I'm content to play both ways or just enjoy playing the game alone against CPU competition. Either way my experience is enjoyable.

[DonRSD]

all you need to do is find good SIM league to play in where the requirements are ONE game per week.
from there you can network and meet other sim gamers to add to your friends list

[mwjr]

Quote: Originally Posted by rsnomar05

I'm going to offer some constructive criticism, but first I'd like to point out that articles like this are the reason people say, "The old OS was better." This has nothing to do with accusations of the site being in bed with EA or anything scandalous, instead it deals solely with the fact that in the past, articles had a purpose, a point. Here, all we have is a person saying that he does not have time to play online. He lists points against online, then lists counter points for online, then simply admits "I do not have time." There is no hook to the article, nothing to interest readers. Why would people care whether or not the writer has time? In fact, the article could have been shortened to one sentence: "Regardless of the positives (online leagues, sim gamers) and negatives (cheesers, players quitting), I simply do not have time to play video games online." However simple that last sentence may seem, that is all the article says. I could write an article about how I don't want to go to the mall. They mall has great selection and some killer sales, but I would also have to pay for gas and deal with traffic. In the end, any argument for or against going to the mall becomes irrelevant and pointless, because I do not have the time to go to the mall. Do you see what the problem with the article is? Saying "I do not have the time" makes every other argument useless, because they do not factor in at all. You have an article about someone who can't play online arguing why he won't play online. Here is how to make the article better: Turn it into an editorial that answers the question: Does single or multi-player give the better gaming experience? Leave out any personal issues like time constraints, or, better yet, leave them in. Mention that playing online against friends means you have to set a specific time and date. Even mention that if you do not have much time during the week to play games, playing online is more difficult. But this time come to an argumentative conclusion, a thesis if you will. Don't take one point (the time constraints) and use it to invalidate everything you have written before. Take it from the third person prospective of both casual and hard-core gamers, with insertions of first person opinion. I hope this criticism helped. I was an English major, so this is supposed to be what I'm good at.

"Good at?"

And you're an English major?

[nolan273]

I agree completely with this post. I do play online occasionally, but this has only developed within the past few weeks.

I'm also in my mid 30s with a family, and gaming for me is a relaxation method. I don't enjoy the whole 'world interaction' theme of online gaming. For me, gaming is a bit more personal. It's 'me time', so to speak. I host a weekly gaming session on Sunday afternoons with my friends at my home, so that's all the social gaming I feel that I need for the week.

Besides, what can be more fun for a sports fan that running a franchise, anyway? I love taking a weak NBA team or NFL team and turning them into champions. While I know that many games are now offering online franchises, I'm not sure if franchises with strangers would give me the same satisfaction as offline franchises. Plus, I'm married with children. I can't really commit to playing 3 or 4 games per week. I have other things to do.

So, with all that being said, until next time, MAKE MINE OFFLINE!!!!

[jeetaa6]

Quote: Originally Posted by rsnomar05

I'm going to offer some constructive criticism, but first I'd like to point out that articles like this are the reason people say, "The old OS was better." This has nothing to do with accusations of the site being in bed with EA or anything scandalous, instead it deals solely with the fact that in the past, articles had a purpose, a point. Here, all we have is a person saying that he does not have time to play online. He lists points against online, then lists counter points for online, then simply admits "I do not have time." There is no hook to the article, nothing to interest readers. Why would people care whether or not the writer has time? In fact, the article could have been shortened to one sentence: "Regardless of the positives (online leagues, sim gamers) and negatives (cheesers, players quitting), I simply do not have time to play video games online." However simple that last sentence may seem, that is all the article says. I could write an article about how I don't want to go to the mall. They mall has great selection and some killer sales, but I would also have to pay for gas and deal with traffic. In the end, any argument for or against going to the mall becomes irrelevant and pointless, because I do not have the time to go to the mall. Do you see what the problem with the article is? Saying "I do not have the time" makes every other argument useless, because they do not factor in at all. You have an article about someone who can't play online arguing why he won't play online. Here is how to make the article better: Turn it into an editorial that answers the question: Does single or multi-player give the better gaming experience? Leave out any personal issues like time constraints, or, better yet, leave them in. Mention that playing online against friends means you have to set a specific time and date. Even mention that if you do not have much time during the week to play games, playing online is more difficult. But this time come to an argumentative conclusion, a thesis if you will. Don't take one point (the time constraints) and use it to invalidate everything you have written before. Take it from the third person prospective of both casual and hard-core gamers, with insertions of first person opinion. I hope this criticism helped. I was an English major, so this is supposed to be what I'm good at.

You've got to be kidding us. Reviewing an OS article from an "English major" point of view?? Relax, please.

[LReload]

For me I never was one to complete games sports or otherwise then i met my a friend of mine who got me into the mindset of playing (sports games at least) seasons whether it be basketball or football. We play co-op 2 man seasons we tried to get others involved but the majority of the time we were the only ones who really tried to play a season on the same team. It started back with NFL 2K, just straight up 2K, and we've tried many different games since, always on the hardest difficulty right off the bat no matter how long it had been since we played the game. It was just more fun to have somebody to strategize and go along into the season with, both of us being on the same page became very difficult to do. When Madden got the exclusive rights to football games we knew that it was going to be difficult to switch from 2K which we had been playing for years. I hated it cuz he always wanted to play on All Madden, when I played by myself I would play on All-Pro, just because the helluva cheating going on All Madden was ridiculous. Well we played and quit many seasons and he has this thing about being one of the worst teams so it would be the a "challenge" if we ever won the super bowl. I kept playing by "his" guidelines because I loved to play co-op so much I didn't care if we repeatedly quit 4 games into a season because we got smashed repeatedly. Then in April on Madden '08 we played a co-op season with the Bengals and not only got further into any season than we ever had before, but we actually Won the Super Bowl! Something I thought would never happen, we had quit every season started since playing games co-op starting in '99. Online to me was always the I'll do it when I'm real good, then after trying a couple times every time I get a new sports game I can't stand the people who don't play a somewhat realistic style of play, so I have never made the jump. My friend and I have more fun playing the CPU, than we ever have had online or even a head to head matchup. I feel what your saying about the game is designed for you to play the CPU, and thats most likely how I will keep it.

[867-5309]

First off, good article, even though I play more online than I used to.

Quote: Originally Posted by rsnomar05

I'm going to offer some constructive criticism, but first I'd like to point out that articles like this are the reason people say, "The old OS was better." ... I hope this criticism helped. I was an English major, so this is supposed to be what I'm good at.

Most English majors are generally wise enough to understand the difference between, "One mans opinion and speaking on behalf of a group."

Here is an example of how it should have been worded. Some people might say, "The old OS was better because you be made (Asshat of the month) for posting tripe like this."

[Methlab]

I love some online games a lot. For example, Call Of Duty is an incredibly fun game to play online. Factor in the with the Fall update, we will be able to ignore the chatter of everyone but our group of friends and form our own rooms to talk in while playing, and you have a really nice experience void of children who say N and F every 3 seconds because Mommy is not home.

Also, let me add that a major issue with an online sports game is the duration. This is why I believe FIFA soccer will only get more popular if the playablity gets better. It is not a long investment of time to get a game in.

Madden and NBA games are LONG. If you have a cheeser on the other end, you have just locked yourself into committing possibly an hour to playing this person.

I realized this last night when I got Soul Caliber. What a great game for online!! It's maybe the best online game possible because it's just like when you were a kid at the arcade. Some random guy steps up and plays you and the loser sits back in line. Plus, a fight takes 5 minutes or so. It's a minimum commitmentl. A PERFECT game for online. Not much cheese at all, if any, and a ranking system that is addictive and keeps you wanting just one more game.

I upset a level 3 guy my second game and it gave me extra points and got me fired up. Things like that keep me online.