Why do single player gamers like high stakes stories but...

[Men_in_Boxes]

Single player videogames are rife with high stakes stories. Eg. Ganondorf is going to destroy Hyrule again...

Then why don't they like high stakes gameplay?

I'm genuinely curious why you want a villain that's all powerful with the world hanging in the balance, but you don't want high stakes gameplay. You want minimal player punishment, unlimited lives, brain dead enemy AI etc...

Can someone explain this to me?

 

[Zzero]

Because dying isn't fun, dummy.

 

[anonpuffs]

"High stakes gameplay" like what? Ironman/permadeath modes? They have those.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

"High stakes gameplay" like what? Ironman/permadeath modes? They have those.

I'm just talking about the overall trend.

Single player games always have high stakes narratives with low stakes gameplay. To me, it's just weird how strong of a disconnect there is. Wouldn't you want the tones to match to heighten the overall experience?

 

[anonpuffs]

I'm just talking about the overall trend.

Single player games always have high stakes narratives with low stakes gameplay. To me, it's just weird how strong of a disconnect there is. Wouldn't you want the tones to match to heighten the overall experience?

That's a marketing decision to let casuals finish the story. Most people are shockingly bad at games.

 

[Yobo]

Wtf is high stakes about running around an arena shooting players

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Wtf is high stakes about running around an arena shooting players

Those games don't reset everything when you die. They don't care if you lose.

Most single player games are desperate not to let the player lose.

 

[Kokoloko]

Everyone is different.

Why dont you like Mountain biking off a cliff to parachute? Or is nitting something you dont enjoy?
Some people like different sports, book and movie genres. Same as games.

Plenty of single player games are insanely difficult and have “stakes”

 

[Yobo]

Those games don't reset everything when you die. They don't care if you lose.

Most single player games are desperate not to let the player lose.

Most multiplayer games let you buy your way to success, create safe spaces with skill level matchmaking and have entire communities that have meltdowns and review bomb whenever a balance patch involves nerfing something and adding more challenge

 

[RE4-City]

Wtf is high stakes about running around an arena shooting players

Getting that concord platinum before the shut down was pretty high stakes if you ask me

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Why do you keep making multiple threads all asking the same question just to white knight for GAAS "taking over" the industry?

Spoiler

As if Dark Souls, Baldur's Gate, Cuphead, TOTK, Disco Elysium etc. don't exist.

 

[Kokoloko]

Why do you keep making multiple threads all asking the same question just to white knight for GAAS "taking over" the industry?


[/spoiler]

Because it makes SP fans hate MP/Gaas games more

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Most multiplayer games let you buy your way to success

This is actually extremely rare on PC & console.

 

[Evilnemesis8]

Those games don't reset everything when you die. They don't care if you lose.
Most single player games are desperate not to let the player lose.

Lots of casuals don't like friction and that doesn't just apply to good controls or UI.
If you want your big budget SP game to sell a quadrillion copies to please shareholders, it's generally a net positive to have a difficulty floor that's fairly low. It's really that simple. This is why Normal is pretty damn close to what old "Easy" used to be back in the days.

Although, I do think that there's some decent variance depending on the (sub)genre that a game might be in.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Lots of casuals don't like friction and that doesn't just apply to good controls or UI.
If you want your big budget SP game to sell a quadrillion copies to please shareholders, it's generally a net positive to have a difficulty floor that's fairly low. It's really that simple. This is why Normal is pretty damn close to what old "Easy" used to be back in the days.

Although, I do think that there's some decent variance depending on the (sub)genre that a game might be in.

It's so sad that an entire medium is held down by the lowest common denominator.

 

[Evilnemesis8]

It's so sad that an entire medium is held down by the lowest common denominator.

All entertainment mediums are like this.

Music? 99.9% of the most popular and most successful music songs/artists, especially in the west, keep the same old 4/4 time signature.
Books? Most highest selling books/franchises aim for a younger audience and/or are old classics that are featured in various school systems across the world and keep being printed.
Movies? Four Quadrant visual spectacle are most of the highest grossing movies.
Sports? Commentary is low on quality analysis because most viewers can't engage with it on that level, same with most talk shows, analyst panel or not.

 

[Systemshock2023]

I play games for inmersion not to compete. Competition time is 9 to 6 at my job.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I play games for inmersion not to compete. Competition time is 9 to 6 at my job.

But the narrative is that of competing. Why do you crave that concept in narrative form but not via gameplay?

 

[Boswollox]

Those games don't reset everything when you die. They don't care if you lose.

Most single player games are desperate not to let the player lose.

Git gud, scrub.

 

[Systemshock2023]

But the narrative is that of competing. Why do you crave that concept in narrative form but not via gameplay?

Because narrative in multiplayer and "emerging gameplay" is terrible in my opinion. I want a well crafted game with a beginning and an end when it comes to certain genres. Racing, Sports, Fighting yeah those can have the online component and be competitive (I still want a strong single player experience)

I want a well crafted game , not being with "GamEEERXXX78" jumping around in a multiplayer lobby while the quest giver sends me to kill X number of enemies to gain xp.

You can have great gameplay in single player games as well. Single player games have been around for far longer than multiplayer games. I still like multiplayer games like arena shooters, that genre respected your time. Not skinner boxes like Fornite, but at least that game is funding my Epic games collection 300 and counting.