All Square Enix Games are Going Online

[Mirage]

With the huge budgets S-E games have these days, the only way it'd significantly decrease the quality of the single player part would because of stupid design choices and resource management, not because there wasn't enough resources all in all.

I was considering time as a resource as well.

Wouldn't take much more time if they brought in a few programmers that wouldn't otherwise have worked on the game.

(and even more than that if it wasn't for uninformed people hating on it for no real reason)

I don't know if this was aimed at me specifically but I would like to point out all I was expressing is the fact that for a gamer of my tastes this has a lot larger potential drawback than benefit. No doubt for some it is a great boon. As always I will buy games individually based on if I think I will enjoy it or not.

Not specifically at you, but you'd be "part of the problem". Everyone who avoided a game because of "optional multiplayer" would be reducing the profit. If they didn't, the developers would earn more on the sales, which leads to a situation where we won't actually have to choose between "single player quality" (of course, this reduction in single player quality might not actually be big enough for anyone to notice even now) and "multiplayer features".

What if a certain multiplayer feature pushed so many extra games that it would more than make up for the cost of adding multiplayer? That would actually lead to the possibility of *more* resources being spent on the single player part.


White Knight Chronicles is also a poor example. It's a game whose main draw is multiplayer action (you shouldn't even be considering the game if you didn't plan on going online). The single player mode is more an introduction to the game, and a fall back option in case you can't find anyone online to play with.
In terms of multiplayer, FFvs13 (for example) would actually be the stark opposite of this. It'd be a mainly single player game, with multiplayer added as a bonus.

Everybody can win on this, don't be so goddamned pessimistic.

[VeloZer0]

White Knight Chronicles is also a poor example. It's a game whose main draw is multiplayer action (you shouldn't even be considering the game if you didn't plan on going online).

I like to give everything a fair shot. Just because I'm pessimistic about something doesn't mean I'm not open to the possibility I could enjoy it.

Wouldn't take much more time if they brought in a few programmers that wouldn't otherwise have worked on the game.

You could say the same thing about adding more FMVs and HD graphics but look what happened. I will readily admit that it is possible it won't affect development time in the least, but it is very naive to think that it isn't a distinct possibility.

Not specifically at you, but you'd be "part of the problem". Everyone who avoided a game because of "optional multiplayer" would be reducing the profit. If they didn't, the developers would earn more on the sales, which leads to a situation where we won't actually have to choose between "single player quality" (of course, this reduction in single player quality might not actually be big enough for anyone to notice even now) and "multiplayer features".

One could argue that a having games solely focused on single/multi player would cause them to be specialized in each resulting in a better experience. Once again I'm not arguing that having both in a game is bad, but to make it a requirement is a little ridiculous. Single/Multiplayer content for a game is something that should be based on how well the games core concepts lend themselves to each, not a blanket ideology.

Everybody can win on this, don't be so goddamned pessimistic.

Everybody can win, and everybody could lose. I just like to consider all sides of the issue. Had the response in this thread been overwhelmingly negative I wold probably be pointing out the positives right now.

[Mirage]

Making more prerendered CG movies isn't what makes new games poor, neither is the "shift" to HD graphics. PC games have been in "HD" for like a decade and there's plenty of good games for that platform. What does make the games poor is terrible design choices and overzealous writers who make ridiculous stories and "paint themselves into a corner".

If everybody loses, that's definitely be reflected in the sales figures for their games. That would most likely make them reconsider their strategy. Game development should be a constant process of trial and error. Stagnation is the worst that could happen.

[VeloZer0]

Err sorry, I should have clarified. I was talking exclusively about development time when I brought up HD.

[Depression Moon]

You can say that it doesn't affect you if you only play single player, but it does. All the resources they put into multiplayer content are resources that could have gone to enhancing the single player experience. Adding something like a simple duel mode isn't a huge undertaking, but to include a comprehensive multiplayer experience consumes a large amount of resources meaning the game will either be longer to develop, or have the single player experience compromised due to lack of development time/manpower/budget.


I think it is a different story if ALL games have to include an online component though. With FF13 taking three years and a whole ton of money I can't help but feel that adding these features would have anything other than a detrimental effect on my gaming experience.

On point here, the article does say all games though I don't feel like that will be true, since they are saying a great deal of these are going to feature it then most of this multiplayer stuff is probably going to feel poorly done. I don't really ever see features like these being put into a game unless they really had a plan for it and that definitely doesn't sound like the case here. The result of that could be lost of quality in the single player of the main FF games.

[Mirage]

Err sorry, I should have clarified. I was talking exclusively about development time when I brought up HD.

You gotta remember that the tools for producing HD graphics are getting better too.

It would actually be interesting to see a comparasion between teh development time of for example FF6, FF8, FF12 and FF13

[VeloZer0]

From what I have seen when the tools get better they use them to make better graphics, not to do the old ones faster

On point here, the article does say all games though I don't feel like that will be true, since they are saying a great deal of these are going to feature it then most of this multiplayer stuff is probably going to feel poorly done.

Oh I agree. Issuing a blanket every game policy will only ensure poorly tacked on multiplayer content to essentially single player games. As for SE developing more multiplayer content, it is probably a good move. Bad for me, but probably the right way to go.

[Mirage]

Well, using the new tools to make better graphics instead of faster graphics means the development time for the graphics would stay the same, not increase.

[Del Murder]

As long as this doesn't take away from the quality of the games as a single player experience, I don't much care if they add an online element. I'll just ignore it like I always do. I really only care for online games if they are strictly online (like FFXI), and even then I only choose one to get into (like FFXI).

[Raistlin]

As long as this doesn't take away from the quality of the games as a single player experience, I don't much care if they add an online element.

This, exactly. I personally prefer single-player RPGs (except the odd MMO that I get into), but as long as the single-player experience is still good, they can do whatever they want.

[Del Murder]

Some things that come to mind are KH 358/2 days and FF Tactics War of the Lions. Both had some random online elements that I didn't get into but that didn't take away from the main game.

[Jiro]

It'll be interesting to see how this works. Online isn't possible for me anyway, but I look forward to seeing what they come up with and how it changes the game as a whole.

[Jessweeee♪]

FFXIII would have been pretty cool with a FFIX-like co-op. I'd like to see it in future titles.

[Del Murder]

Yes that would have been cool Jessweeee! Especially with the way that game was designed.

I didn't not know FFIX had a co-op. I only thought VI did that. Miriel is playing that right now, maybe I should join her.

[Mirage]

FFXIII would have been pretty cool with a FFIX-like co-op. I'd like to see it in future titles.

And enabling you to do that via the internet instead of requiring people to actually sit besides you is obviously a good feature too. I mean then I could play with like anyone on EoFF instead of just my local friends.