Why I Have Not Made the Leap To Online

[RaychelSnr]

Our very own Carlos Hernandez checks in today with a look at why he hasn't made his own leap to online play just yet. Check out his thoughts and let him know your own thoughts in his article, Why I Have Not Made the Leap to Online.

"Over the past number of years, as online gaming has become the embodiment of sports gaming, I have caught some heat for being one of the only serious gamers to not get involved in online competition. Friends of mine routinely ask me to sign up for a Xbox Live Gold subscription and join a world of gamers connected world wide under one network. Yet, still to this day, I have avoided the online community. My reasons are straight forward, though they've always received criticism that I do not expect to see go away."

[kerosene31]

Nice article. I agree with many of your comments. While I do play other games online, I almost always stay offline with sports games.

The problem though is I can't help but feel like offline play is not getting nearly enough focus from developers. Plain old season modes are hard to find (not a franchise). Fantasy drafts usually aren't included.

Also, the big problem is that CPU AI does not seem to be advancing along with the games. It seems I end up terribly disappointed in the AI of every sports game I buy. To me, it feels like online is the focus.

With games like NHL 09 coming out, online may be the only mode some people play.

The problem with sports games online is that they are (often) 1 on 1, and nobody wants to play someone who is 10 times better than they are (and I'd guess the good player doesn't want to bother either). In FPS games, you can just be 1 player on a team and blend in. If I join a CoD4 game where every other player is way better, I'll just quietly quit and nobody will care. You can't do that in sports games.

[jeetaa6]

Count me in as a strictly offline gamer, too. I tried last summer to become more of an online gamer after purchasing APF 08. T'was not to be.

1. I absolutely cannot stand cheesers. Something about my blood pressure.

2. I hate losing by wide margins, whether by being "cheeseified" or just straight up being pounded by a solid skill player. The close games weren't so bad, but there just weren't many close games, which leads me to number 3.

3. I'm not as good a football gamer as I thought(playing against CPU is totally different than playing against human opponent). This just in!

4. Losing online for me can prove to be expensive, as I broke 2 controllers out of sheer frustration. Sad, but true. Hey, we're all family here, right?

5. I also enjoy having a goal to succesfully manage my Franchise team to a playoff run or even the Championship, taking the time to make the right moves, edit players, etc... along the way. That is the core enjoyment of sports gaming for me(thus, the disappointment in recent Madden Franchise efforts, but...I digress).

6. Gaming is supposed to be fun, and, as you can see above, I'm better off setting the CPU at a level where it's competive a bit, but I'll win the vast majority of the time. THAT'S relaxing for me. That's the way I can best sit back and notice all the animations and other little things that make a game great or not.

So....Carlos, I'm with you!! Here's to the next time I don't see you online!!

[rsnomar05]

Re: Why I Have Not Made the Leap To Online

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.

[mgoblue]

Re: Why I Have Not Made the Leap To Online

I'm in a more casual online dynasty in NCAA, but since there are lots of CPU games it makes it go faster/less scheduling. Otherwise I'm not as much of a online gamer, I don't have the time to match up with a lot of people so over the years that is slowly fading. I don't play randoms because they cheese and it's not fun.

I still enjoy playing my OS friends here online, and I'll make a point for some games to play a bit more, but it's tougher with the girlfriend, family, work, etc to make time. Gaming's not the priority in my life it once was.

[sportyguyfl31]

I agree mostly.

The thing I find amusing about online gaming is that people talk about the "unpredictable human variable", yet most people play more or less the exact same way.

It's monkey see monkey do.

Ultimately you are always playing against the game.

I also do not like how many people turn into caracitures of themselves, and act like WWE characters in lobbies and voice/text messaging.

I have all communications blocked except for friends list people and friend requests because of this nonsense.

Mostly though, I just have a hard time getting competitive over a video game.

I'm in my mid 30's, was a college athlete, and I am still very physically active, and have many outlets for this, so perhaps that is the reason why.

Maybe I'm generalizing a bit, but I think that perhaps the more someone is involved physically in athletics in some way, the less satisfaction they get out of competing in it, in the virtual online world.

I play online, but for me, its for fun.

Video gaming is a leisure activity for me to enjoy on weekday evening or a weekend afternoon, just as reading a book for an hour, or going swimming might be.

This is why I often tend to lean towards playing more offline in franchise/dynasty modes as opposed to knocking heads with someone online.

[ab2c4]

I'm 37 years old and have been playing video games since the Atari days and I have zero interest in ever playing any game online. It's just not going to happen with me. I totally know what this guy is talking about. I enjoy playing against the cpu. To be honest, I don't even enjoy it very much playing a game against any of my kids so I know for sure I won't enjoy playing a game against a stranger.

In fact, even with non sports games I generally choose games that are either completely offline single player games (Bioshock, Oblivion, etc) or games where the single player campaign was what the developer focused on the most.

[dustinrr]

I tend to shy away from online play as well. The only thing I use it for is the occasional pick up game w/ my brother. I worry sometimes that with the growing popularity of online gaming the developers will start to make the online portion of their games the main focus.

[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]

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]

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]

Re: Why I Have Not Made the Leap To Online

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

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."