[Jeryko]

I am writing a research paper on PC Multiplayer games..and my professor said it would be okay to ask people on message boards what they think (in fact she thought it was a great idea.)  

So anyway, I have 6 questions I would like to ask you all.   Please don't hold back on answers, I'd like as much info as possible.

1.   What is your favorite "non-massive" multiplayer game genre?
2.   What about this genre is more appealing than others?
3.   What things don’t you like about other genres(that are not             hinted at above)?
******
4.   Do you play MMO’s?
5.   If so, name the game(s) and why you play them.
6.      What feature of MMO's do you like over traditional                           multiplayer games?


Please don't comment on the quality of these questions


Forgot to say.  Everyone will be properly cited at the end of the paper.

[Rictor]

1. First Person Shooter/Third Person Shooter. If you can get away with it, just say "Action", because I rank action/adventure platformers pretty high also. Some of my favourites within this group are those that can successfully implement certain elements from other genres, like for example Deus Ex had RPG elements.

2. I play for storylines. That's why I mostly stay away from multiplayer games: they're offer no incentive to progress other than the sheer hell of it, and to compete. That's just not my thing, I don't like competition when playing games. The thing that really makes or breaks a game for me is the storyline, no less than the gameplay itself.

3. I have nothing against most game genres, except sports games, racing games and highly technical simulators (mostly flight simulators). Like I said, anything with a story can potentially appeal to me, from graphic adventure games (some of my favourites fall into this genre) to RTS games. Anything that's just sheer progression, with no plot, like sports games or driving games, isn't my thing.

4. Not really. I tried one or two for various lengths of time, notably Dark Age of Camelot a few years ago and recently World of Warcraft, which I played for maybe 3 months total. But these games need to be played socially in order to make it a rewarding experience, and I like to play solo. Which is why I prefer single-player games. Being in a good guild/clan helps, but eventually the treadmill becomes repetitive. If the game is designed well, it can mask the repetitive nature of the gameplay a bit, which WoW does pretty well, but in the end you're still doing the same 3 tasks over and over again.

5. See Question 4. I played WoW for a few months about a year ago and re-activated by account maybe three months ago, though I only played for about a month then just stopped.

6. There are some redeeming features. First of all, that the world is persistent. Also, I really like that you can customize you appearance, which is rarer in singleplayer games. You get invested in your character, since he evolves the more you play. Better equipment, better skills and so on. That's the aspect, I think, that appeals to me. Character development.

edit: please cite my name as Hugh Jass.

[achtung]

1.  FPS!!

2. First person shooters are just easier to imagine being multiplayer due to the fact you are actually able to interact with a world in the first person like you do daily, Flight Sims usually don't last long enough, and imagine a puzzle like game being multiplayer (shrugs)

3. Puzzle games can be fun but can get monotonus if it has no purpose, such as being story driven.  MMORPG's can be monotonus if not done properly, I'm mainly just trying to get at the limited player control in MMORPG's.

4. No

5. N/A

6. N/A

[phreak]

1) Team based FPS games.  Onslaught on UT2k4 and TFC for HL1 are my favorites
2) I can just jump in and play.  also dont need to use my brain, which is nice after a hard day at school/work
3) Other generes tend to have orcs, elves and trolls.
4&5) The only MMO i play is EVE: Online.  and that sucks up my time like mad.
6) Character Progression and you could do whatever the hell you want.

[CP5670]

1: FPS, although I only play one or two games online regularly (UT2004 at the moment)
2: Let's see... I'm much better at them than other types of games, I generally like fast paced stuff, you can enter or leave a game at any time (unlike many RTSs for example) and there are no good space sims these days (very few people play FS2 anymore).
3: Vague question; they don't have the characteristics listed above. Only applies to multiplayer games.
4: No, I don't like monthly fees.

What class is this for?

[Jeryko]

Originally posted by Rictor
edit: please cite my name as Hugh Jass.

You got it

And this is for English class.  She let us choose any topic.

[Mongoose]

1) 3D action 6DOF space shooters...which basically means Descent It's pretty much the only game type I've ever played reguarly online.  If you're talking about consoles, then I'd include any fun party-type game like SSBM or Mario Kart.

2) It's mostly the freedom and fast-paced combat that 6DOF allows for.   Everything seems to happen much more quickly than in any other game I've played.  There's also the high learning curve; I've been playing this series for over five years, and I'm just at a level that could be considered mediocre compared to some of the true veterans out there.  At a more basic level, this game gives me a bigger adrenaline rush than anything else I do on a daily basis.

3) Every time I've played a groundpounder (traditional FPS), I've always been incredibly frustrated by the lack of freedom; I guess Descent has spoiled me to that.  I've never played any sort of RPG, so I don't have much to base an opinion of MMOs on, but I just dislike the fundamental idea of having to pay every month for a game.  It seems to be the short road to blowing a lot of cash in a short period of time, and the fact that you never really accomplish anything except for leveling up doesn't really make it seem worth the money.  The only real RTSes I've played are Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds and Age of Mythology, and those were both in singleplayer campaign mode; with the latter, especially, I was really only playing for the story.  Like Rictor, I'm far more of an SP fan than MP.  I can't really think of any other major MP genres out there; I definitely haven't had any experience with anything that is out there.

4) No; 5 and 6 don't apply

I doubt this really helps you, since I probably have the most narrow comfort zone regarding multiplayer games of anyone on the planet, but good luck with your paper.  I only wish I had been able to pick a topic like that at some point.

[kasperl]

Originally posted by Jeryko
I am writing a research paper on PC Multiplayer games..and my professor said it would be okay to ask people on message boards what they think (in fact she thought it was a great idea.)  

So anyway, I have 6 questions I would like to ask you all.   Please don't hold back on answers, I'd like as much info as possible.

1.   What is your favorite "non-massive" multiplayer game genre?
2.   What about this genre is more appealing than others?
3.   What things don’t you like about other genres(that are not             hinted at above)?
******
4.   Do you play MMO’s?
5.   If so, name the game(s) and why you play them.
6.      What feature of MMO's do you like over traditional                           multiplayer games?


Please don't comment on the quality of these questions


Forgot to say.  Everyone will be properly cited at the end of the paper.

1. FPS
2. Action, the feeling of being better/quicker then others.
3. RPG's can be too much work before you can achieve anything, less focus on skill,more on time put in the game.

4. No
5. n/a
6. n/a

If you need  my real name for the citation, PM me.

[pyro-manic]

About the only multiplayer games I've played of any kind was Counterstrike (for a couple of days, then it got very very dull), and Call of Duty, which was fun, but I was no good at it. Much much better than CS though.

I'm really not into the whole MMO thing - it just doesn't appeal to me. It's either about direct competition (which usually devolves into a slanging match of the "my cock is much bigger than yours" variety, given the maturity of your average online game-player) or it involves frittering away days of your life on "levelling-up", possibly the most ridiculous waste of time ever...

PS: And yes, I have been listening to far too much System Of A Down recently...

[TrashMan]

1. Best genre?

Hm..hard to chose .. I prefer  RPG's and tactical strategy games (empire bulding, team/fleet tactics), but allos atmospheric FPS/3rdps with a hint of tactics - games like Master of Orion 2, Birth of hte Federation, Jagged Alliance 2, Baldurs Gate 2, SWAT, System Shock2, Outcast, freespace2, etc..

I prefer the immersion of RPGs and the charachter development, the tactical considerqations of small squad combat games and the big strategic picture of empire/fleet games.

That said FPS offer instant action and eye candy more than others abd I play a few now and then.

2. I really don't play much MMO's, due to their shallownes, really bad balancing (not the kind I like) and on-line time requirements. I did play Diablo 2, Battlefield and Counterstike for a while and was thinking of getting a faster connection and maby play some real MMO but never got around to it really

[Col. Fishguts]

1. Team based FPS (Enemy Territory to be exact)
2. Instant action with enough strategic depth to set it apart from simple deatchmatch shooters
3. Most good single player games aren't that great in multiplayer as one might think at first, but it's mainly the lack of time which holds me back from playing more online.

4. No. A friend of mine played DAOC, SWG and now WoW, and I'm watching it from time to time. But ignoring for the moment that all those games are basically the exact same thing, I find it mind-boggling boring, as it's very repetitive and sometimes plain not fun (I'm no frined of round-based combat)

5./6. N/A

[Jeryko]

Thank you all for your replies.  This will definetely help a lot.  Instead of PM'ing each of you separetley, could each of you please either PM me or post eith your real names?  Unless you'd like me to use your forum name...