The revenge of single play

Artean

There was a time when I could not picture single player games as a part of my gaming future. RPG's (and PC games in general) to me have always been about escapism and get immersed in virtual worlds. With the release of mmo's as, in particular, EVE and SWG - both community driven and trying to realize a true 'world' - there was, in my view, just no way for single players games to compete.

 

But that view have during the latest years somehow changed. No doubt, both late mmo releases as well as upcoming does to a large degree aiming at another crowed than myself. Modern day game designs have taken a turn towards making 'games' as compared to believable 'worlds'. I'm sure that suits the general public rather well, but I do believe at the same time there are many with me feeling that the full potential of the mmo concept is currently not realized. And that concept was to me not about leveling your character through tons of generic quests, then hit the ‘end game’ where you begin to raid. No, it was about creating an open ended world where players would create their own adventures, own stories and, thus, their own content guided by a vision from the developers.

 

Now a days, I find myself spending more time in single player games as Witcher 1 & 2, Skyrim, X3, Stalker and the likes – games not too far off an open world concept, but with the big difference of I’m there alone.

VirusDancer

It has gotten to the point that other people are ruining a perfectly good single player experience in MMOs...

Though I'm unlikely to spend the ridiculous amounts they want for games these days, things like Steam and GameFly are definitely growing in appeal.