DNF: Why This Geezer Plays Offline

[Kanobi]

Golden Eye on the NES 64 (4 players/offline split screen) > Any FPS multi-player online (or offline) today

[Kanobi]

Contra on the NES (two players/same screen) > anything since

[Seahawk76]

I'm a geezer, too. Some of friends are gamers but none of them are sports gamers so most of my online gaming has been in pickup games with random people. Needless to say, my bad experiences have far exceeded my good experiences.

The main problem I have with online sports gaming is that the gameplay seldom resembles how the real game is actually played. I can approximate the real game much closer offline playing against the A.I. and make it challenging for my skill level through slider adjustments.

If the right game came along that mitigated some of those factors I could get into online gaming but so far I haven't seen it.

[JalenTigh]

Right there with ya. I have tried a few sports games online, and between the exploiters, quitters, and fact I just suck... it left me with a bad taste. I admit it, I'm old... the console controllers I grew up with had two buttons... I just do not have the reaction time that most online gamers do and I get my butt kicked normally by even the most honest of people online usually. So, I gave up on it... besides, my thing with sports games (non-fighting) has always been franchise mode, and I am perfectly happy playing that alone, with the proper sliders and such, I find it enough of a challenge for me.

[hurdinator]

This is definately an age thing. The average age of a gamer (according to the most recent poll) is 34 years. I'm 37, married with an 11 year old daughter. I'm a teacher and my students love that I'm a gamer. Problem is they want to play online with me I dont; I hear them all day as it is! Your priorities change and you want more down time/me time as you get older. Gaming is an escape for me. I control the parameters. It seems that the average gaming age supports the findings of the online poll. As the average gamer age is sure to rise over time I wonder if online gaming will ever get much more popular than it is now....

[8iron]

I echo the rest of the elderly population in that I don't much care for online play in general, for all the reasons listed. Like others, my main exception is a shooter such as COD or BF series, since they are really only playable that way. As much as I always loved the "idea" of PC MMOs like WoW, I also could never embrace the forced grouping/guilding there either.

For me there is a glaring exception though, which is the innovation which EA has introduced most effectively in NFS:Hot Pursuit. I LOVE the speedwall. I think the idea is terrific and the implementation is unbelievably well done. Even the traditional multiplayer in that game was far more enjoyable, since there was really no opportunity for "cheese" or griefing (contrast to the horror which is NASCAR 2011 online). I also like the Tiger Woods online tournaments for the same reason. All the interaction is self contained, you can see how you measure up with the competition without directly witnessing the cheesy tactics used by those "better" than you, or listening to the verbal abuse over the headset.

[DaSmerg]

Interesting topic with an interesting PoV (shared by many other commentators it seems). Myself, I would guess I fall into the "older gamer" crowd these days.

My PoV is that you simply can not have an online component to your game being basically or totally unmoderated. Also there seems to be an almost complete unwillingness on the side of virtually every games company and their console partners to institute any kind of policy of risk-reward...meaning...if you're willing to risk being an internet idiot on one game, you risk being banned from all of that company's titles and, for the most egregious offenders, being banned from online play period (Punkbuster anyone?). I know that technology plays a part in this dilemma in that there is no fool proof means of shutting the idiots out.

I've been gaming online in all sorts of games since the 90's. What used to happen is that communities would form around those online games and virtual club houses would form. For the great and better places to play (never mind communities to become involved in), there would be various levels of moderation to keep the 10% crowd out (more than 2 decades of experience with the social dynamic that 2% of the population is going to misbehave no matter any consequence...the anonymity of the internets IMHO amplifies this effect x's 5) unwelcome/booted out.

Sadly we're in for more of this it seems as one of the new buzz words I'm hearing more and more is "cloud gaming". Kind of funny to this gamer because I've been "cloud gaming" for nearly a decade a half already.

BTW, I don't watch much tv really. For this guy, gaming has been my major form of entertainment for more than two decades. I'd sooner sit in front of a screen and be engaged and involved in what's going on on the screen.

[buzzguy]

No time for me to get involved in franchise modes in 3 or 4 sports games. Online play with friends (who I actually know) is tops at my house.