DNF: Why This Geezer Plays Offline

[RaychelSnr]

Recently OS had a poll about how often our community plays online. The results -- surprising to some -- were that more than half "rarely" do. However, I didn’t raise a brow, because I’m one of them.

Here’s why.

I missed out on being in the social-media generation by a few years -- I know there is no official demarcation for this sort of thing, but while people two years younger than I are all plugged in, I’m still trying to figure out if the official term is tweeting or twittering. So I am what you would call a very "old school" offline gamer. Single player, franchise mode and the occasional exhibition game with a visiting friend. My game world is in the very same room I am, and it does not venture anywhere beyond it.

Read More - DNF: Why This Geezer Plays Offline

[Dazraz]

I have never been attracted to the online game phenomenon. Give me a few guys with a few beers under the same roof anyday. That's multiplaying for me.

[illmatic04]

welcome to the 1980s, online play is overrated? yeah ok.

[noonan2112]

Agree with this article 100%. If I showed this to my friends with out showing who wrote the article, they would assume I was the author.

[Eski33]

I agree to a point. Because you may not know anyone online doesn't mean people should limit themselves. I have met a lot of awesome gamers online who have the same interests as I do when it comes to gaming -- Competitiveness is a must but gamesmanship is the most important.

I feel those that refrain from the online experience are missing out. I agree that there are a lot of people out there who cheese, quit early or are just zero fun to play against because they can't put together an entire sentence without dropping the F bomb.

I also find online a very convenient way of hooking up with the people I do know well. NCAA 11's online dynasty is a great mode to be shared with friends who don't live in the same city. And with gas prices, why would I want to drive 25 - 30 minutes to a friend's house to play a game that I can enjoy from the comfort of my couch and still drop some verbal assaults?

In short, don't let the small fraction of people who have zero class ruin the entire experience for you. Online is, again, a great way to meet some awesome gamers.

[JerseySuave4]

i agree 100%. This describes me as well. Only game i play online is Call of Duty because its what you buy that game for and i play with a group of friends. Other than that, purely offline for sports games.

[Yankees_CT]

I agree with this in its entirety. I am an offline gamer and a single player gamer unless an old friend drops by. But I have no problem with online gamers either. Without a doubt this is a to each their own category.

[hurricanefootball4]

You are definitely not alone.

NCAA Football actually did a poll on Facebook and Offline Dynasty was the winner about 4 to 1 for which game mode you play the most.

[mirrored32]

Madden, NCAA football, MMA. All EAsports Titles. i prefer 'multiplayer' games because i like the 'friendship' that these games allow. online, distance, feels less commited and more 'newspaper' then 'actual word of mouth' if you will. giving a hi5 virtually is not the same as IRL (in real life). yeah i prefer offline. there are some games i feel a great for online but in the end, i feel life is short, and spending quality time with friends IRL is more important.

[choadler]

If i had loads of time to become proficient at some of these online games I would do it. But I don't. The time that I do have to play I would like to be quality gaming and I know I can get that with playing only single player games. I don't have to worry that I don't know the map or that I don't know any of the exploits that will hlep me be at least somewhat competitive.

[DaveDQ]

You make a good point about how it's not just "cheesers" but also the guys that have a hard time losing. That's the root of it all (when it comes to exploits and quitting). Most of the participants are highly immature and can not properly deal with losing.

I think though that a strong case can be made for getting together with friends across the country and just having a good time with a preferred game. From when the Dreamcast introduced online console gaming, I have about 5 guys that I routinely game with online. There's something to be said for that.

[BigSho31]

I 100% agree with everything in this article. I'm a 30 year old husband, father of a two year old, with a professional career. I remember when I was in high school, all we ever did was play madden, ncaa (basketball and football), and mortal kombat like it was our job. I then went to college and i dominated madden and ncaa. I remember buying all the preseason college magazines and taking a week or so to name all the players. Then online came about and you could either get a memory card that somebody else did and then all you had to do was download it from someone else. That is the ONLY way I use online gaming. I don't have time in my life to invest in an online gaming culture that's so far beyond what I'm trying to do which is sit down, relax, NOT HAVE TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW, and play for an hour or so. I've tried online dynasty for the last couple years and I've yet to play a game where it doesn't have significant lag.

For those of us with new priorities and responsibilities, online gaming is just not an option.

[forensicd]

the only game I play online is FIFA, and it is perfect for online. We have a club of 5-6 players that play every night, and theres just something about playing soccer against other teams that just feels right. I dont thinkn there is another sports game that you could do this with. NHL is fun with others, but gets a little too chaotic.

[jenglund]

I agree completely as well. The one aspect I love about online is being able to store my dynasty information on a site, and easily upload highlights and stats. NCAA football did that really well, and allowed me to have my own online dynasty. I wish MLB The Show and NBA 2K would add this to the feature set. But I have no interest in playing people online; I just love the offline RPG-like aspects of offline sports gaming.

[RogueHominid]

This is a very nice piece. I think the romance of online gaming is built on an ideal of connectivity that either isn't attainable or isn't sustainable.

In addition to the issues of intimacy and community, there's the real practical issue of functionality. Online modes often don't have as robust or as polished a set of features as their offline counterparts, and this makes the online experience much less compelling than it could or should be.

I may write a companion piece to this one ... great topic and well said!