Got news?   tips@destructoid.com  |  Never miss a story:   RSS + Twitter + YouTube
Hey! New here? Destructoid is a gaming discussion community, updated nearly every 20 minutes. Make a quick avatar to comment and enter our contests. Take the tour!
 


Home Monthly Musing updates

Monthly Musings: Playing with others
12:30 PM on 01.02.2009, Anthony Burch 21 comments

Monthly Musings: Playing with others photo
     Monthly Musing

First of all, happy new year.

Second of all, this month's topic revolves around multiplayer games. Deathmatches, party games, fighting games, what have you -- everything's up for grabs. The topic itself is simple, but broad:

What do you love or hate about multiplayer games? What experience and emotions do they effect which can't be found in singleplayer experiences? What stories have you gained from multiplayer games?

Yes, that is technically three topics. When I say broad, I mean broad.

Anyway, you can hit the jump for a further explanation of the theme (with some examples), and the directions for how to get your themed article promoted to the front page.

 

Off the top of my head, I sort of want to write about Left 4 Dead, because I'm goddamned unoriginal. If you think about it, almost all multiplayer games are made up of what marketing buzzwordophiliacs would call "procedural narrative"; there's no actual story to CounterStrike or Team Fortress 2, but this frees us up to create our own and focus on the immediate events of the game.

When you talk about the time you killed eight guys in four seconds in cs_office, you're telling a story, even if it hasn't been meticulously plotted and structured by someone sitting at a typewriter (and by the way, please feel free to devote articles to telling these types of muliplayer-based stories). There are, of course, notable upsides and downsides to this sort of structure. This month's theme just makes me think about how Left 4 Dead sort of turns that on its head, while still keeping certain essential aspects of the multiplayer experience intact.

Or, you could talk about the competitive nature of something like Super Smash Bros Brawl, and how the dynamics involved in trying to learn wavedashing or whatever-the-fuck are unlike any in other games, or other mediums.

You could talk about games as sports. You could talk about how one's enjoyment of a multiplayer game is directly proportional to one's skill at that game. It's up to you.

The only rules are these: make sure to tag your community blog with the "Monthly Musings" category, and make sure to put "Playing with others: blah blah blah" in the blog title.

That's all. Any questions, comments?


Next page: More Monthly Musing stories




mistic's Avatar
mistic at 01/02/2009 12:49
cool topic! I've got loads of MP-stories to tell :-) have been playing online since 56k-modems :-)
Darth Kupi's Avatar
Darth Kupi at 01/02/2009 13:10
"You could talk about how one's enjoyment of a multiplayer game is directly proportional to one's skill at that game."

I've thought of this before.

Rare is the multiplayer game where losing is as fun as wining.

I think its a design not many games incorporate into their multiplayer.

Usually, either you excel and pwn n00bz left and right, get your kick from dominating, or languish in a loop of quick deaths and respawns.
Primo's Avatar
Primo at 01/02/2009 13:30
I've been playing online since 28k modems! Warcraft 2 got pretty intense.
Pangloss's Avatar
Pangloss at 01/02/2009 13:30
Darth Kupi, I'd beg to differ. I've seen multiple examples where a feat of heroism in a competitive game is enjoyed and admired by all the parties involved. I can recall many times in games like TF2, Gears, UT, etc. where one or two guys claimed an epic victory, and everybody, from the victims on the opposite team, to the guys on the same team that hadn't performed, congratulated the heroes. I think I'm gonna write about this particular phenomenon.
Sentry's Avatar
Sentry at 01/02/2009 13:34
I don't see "Monthly Musings" as a selectable category. Mind you, I'm entirely new to the community side of the site, so mayhaps I'm just missing something.

Help?
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 01/02/2009 13:40
So a blog about interacting with players in a small time mmo is welcome?
iconsam's Avatar
iconsam at 01/02/2009 13:49
I think a great multiplayer moment is when you're able to emote to the people or person that you're playing together with through the actions of your player/character.

One example that comes to mind, besides a recent Left4Dead moment, was in Warcraft 3 2vs2. It's one those times when you have a complete keyboard-mouse-mind-meld-gaming-stream-of-conciousness moments. So you know from your and your partner's actions exactly what's going on, what needs to happen and when it needs to happen without even saying a thing. Moments when you honestly feel like you're at a breaking point and the only thing that can save your ass is if your co-op player comes to save you or vice versa. These are usually the moments upon ending the game, you can talk about it with the person that you just played it with, how fucking badass it was.

Ahhh.. good times.

Moments like that and cybering with someone you KNOW is a chick. That's pretty special too.
F Whipple's Avatar
F Whipple at 01/02/2009 13:51
Hmmm...ima hafta think about this one
BattyAdroit's Avatar
BattyAdroit at 01/02/2009 13:56
My first online game was Island of Kesmai, on the Compuserve network. It cost $6/hr at 300 baud. Can you even imagine?

I love any team-play based online games though. I tend to shy away from non-team deathmatches.
Tehmtnlion's Avatar
Tehmtnlion at 01/02/2009 14:07
Oh man, I've got a WICKED idea for this.
Tubatic's Avatar
Tubatic at 01/02/2009 14:22
Heh I've got one. Nice topic!
Samit Sarkar's Avatar
Samit Sarkar at 01/02/2009 14:39
What Darth Kupi said. I hate Super Smash Bros., but a lot of that hate stems from the fact that most of my friends are way better at it than I am.
RonBurgandy2010's Avatar
RonBurgandy2010 at 01/02/2009 15:15
Oh this is going to be fun.
blehman's Avatar
blehman at 01/02/2009 15:32
How to get your themed article frontpaged: Don't be a bleh, man.
silvain's Avatar
silvain at 01/02/2009 15:46
Someone write about asymmetric multiplayer plz. (super mario galaxy)

That was, I think, one of the best semi-passive multiplayer experiences I've ever had.

--------------------

That being said, I've never felt more demoralized than when I realized other people weren't going to actually role play creatively in the MUCKs I was on.

(MUCK == MUD, no dice, just RP)
pendelton21's Avatar
pendelton21 at 01/03/2009 02:02
Be warned: my musing is gonna involve Shaq Fu.
mistic's Avatar
mistic at 01/09/2009 13:52
just finished mine :-)
heymunus's Avatar
heymunus at 01/31/2009 04:11
thanks.
heymunus's Avatar
heymunus at 01/31/2009 04:17
thankssssssss
<a href="http://www.pornovideolarim.net" title="porno izle" target="_blank">porno izle</a>-<a href="http://www.pornovideolarim.net" title="porno izle" target="_blank">porno</a>-<a href="http://www.pornovideolarim.net" title="canlı porno izle" target="_blank">canlı porno izle</a>-<a href="http://www.pornovideolarim.net" title="bedava porno izle" target="_blank">bedava porno izle</a>-<a href="http://www.sexvideoizle.us" title="sex izle" target="_blank">sex izle</a>-<a href="http://www.sexvideoizle.us" title="sex video" target="_blank">sex video</a>-<a href="http://www.sexvideoizle.us" title="sex" target="_blank">sex</a>-<a href="http://www.sexvideoizle.us" title="sikiş" target="_blank">sikiş</a>-<a href="http://www.evrimakin.net" title="yemek tarifleri" target="_blank">yemek tarifleri</a>-<a href="http://www.evrimakin.net" title="oktay usta" target="_blank">oktay usta</a>-<a href="http://www.evrimakin.net" title="yemek" target="_blank">yemek</a>-<a href="http://www.escortilan.com" title="ilan, eskort" target="_blank">ilan</a>-<a href="http://www.escortilan.com" title="eskort bayan" target="_blank">eskort</a>-<a href="http://www.escortilan.com" title="masöz" target="_blank">masöz</a>-<a href="http://www.escortilan.com" title="masör" target="_blank">masör</a>-<a href="http://www.pornovideolarim.net/dunya_guzeli_kiz_veriyor_fena_bir_sikis_videosu-izle-seyret.html" title="sikiş, sikiş izle, sikiş seyret, sikiş videosu" target="_blank">sikiş</a>-<a href="http://www.pornovideolarim.net/Amator_genc_kiz_ilk_deneyim_kizlik_bozma_beyaz_carsaf_kan-izle-seyret.html" title="kızlık bozma" target="_blank">kızlık bozma</a>-<a href="http://www.pornovideolarim.net/amcik_yalama-izle.html" title="amcık, am" target="_blank">amcık</a>-<a href="http://www.pornovideolarim.net/sibel_kekilli_pornosu-izle.html" title="sibel kekilli, sibel kekilli pornosu" target="_blank">sibel kekilli</a>-<a href="http://www.pornovideolarim.net/orospu_videolari-izle.html" title="orospu videoları" target="_blank">orospu videoları</a>-<a href="http://www.pornovideolarim.net" title="porno vidyoları" target="_blank">porno vidyoları</a>
prev next

Returning Dtoiders: login now to post a comment

Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just Create an avatar now - it's fast and free: PLUS you also get your own gaming blog and begin posting stories and uploading videos in our open community area that may also appear on our home page. Sign up and we'll guide you through it, it's easy and 100% anonymous.




 Original Videos

 Reviews
Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack
Overlord II
Yosumin Live!
Let's Tap
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Wii)
View all Game Reviews

 Community blogs -   39789 Dtoiders!

This month's theme: Untapped Potential

New to Dtoid? Read the survival guide


 Originals

How Pokemon Red is blatantly better than Pokemon Blue











more original Destructoid stories


 Popular now more













Destructoid is:
Nick Chester
Editor-in-Chief		 Jim Sterling
Reviews Editor
Dale North
News Editor		 Hamza Aziz
Community Manager
Anthony Burch
Features Editor		 Rey Gutierrez
Video editor & director
Niero
Founder, publisher
Letters to the editors
tips@destructoid.com
Associate Editors
Ashley Davis Jonathan Holmes
Brad Nicholson Jonathan Ross
Brad Rice Jordan Devore
Chad Concelmo Matthew Razak
Colette Bennett Tom Fronczak
Conrad Zimmerman Topher Cantler
Dyson Samit Sarkar
Contributors
Adam Dork
Ben Perlee
Daniel Lingen
Joseph Leray		 Joe Burling
Mikey
Will Maddock
Stella Wong




get involved

register or login
post a blog
post a forum
enter a contest
discuss a review
contribute a news tip
write a guest editorial
 support

new member's guide
login assistance
tech support
report abuse
email our editors
read our dev blog
nuclear crisis?
 keep in touch

RSS feed
Twitter
Facebook
Myspace
Flickr
Game nights
Meet-ups 		seriously

about us
advertising
terms of use
privacy policy
jobs at MM
buy our crap 		our network

Tomopop
Japanator



Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press
living the dream since March 16, 2006