There is definitely a “protect Warhorse’s vision” element in some cases. That’s not something I’ll deny.
But what I think has led to some of the perception of SP people vs. MP/MMO people is that in some cases (not trying to define it with a ratio) people have come in not really clear on what Warhorse’s vision is because they haven’t read everything in the Kickstarter, thinking KCD is or will be something it’s not (at this point).
To be fair, @phydra, you did this very thing with your topic about not realizing RPG did not equal MMORPG. In further fairness you pledged and said you would keep your pledge (King is a pretty high tier, after all), but you hoped Warhorse would have an MMO-favorable publisher come in if KCD is successful enough (which strikes me as a very odd thing to wish for, as if Warhorse couldn’t do it themselves with a game if they wanted to).
I’ll note here that the very first thing on the Kickstarter page beneath the intro video is this:
Realistic single-player RPG set in the medieval Europe. Open-world sandbox with period accurate melee combat. Dungeons & no Dragons.
Later in the topic, you compared SP games to playing Solitaire and hinted you wouldn’t even give this game a chance as far as playing it yourself, simply because it’s not actually an MMO.
I hope you can see how or why some people might take a bit of offense at the suggestion a SP is tantamount to playing cards by yourself, when in reality it’s nothing of the sort. I also hope you understand that it comes off that by mentioning giving the game to your guy, the fact it’s not an MMO is an instant turn-off at least as far as your own interest in playing it goes.
Personally, I don’t think that’s being entirely fair to the people making the game. You obviously saw something that interested you enough to go in at a higher pledging tier, so I’d think once the game releases you ought to at least give yourself the chance to personally like it or not by playing it (beyond the alpha/beta stages).
I’ve made it clear here in the past I’m not much of an MMO person. A large part of that is because I don’t always have time to devote 100% of my attention to a video game. If I’m doing anything MP, I can’t just pause the game and set the controller down (or leave the CPU) in the middle of a mission because I need to step away from the game, or because there’s a distraction, or something else that comes up. I’d probably either have to drop out or lag behind, and either way it affects the others I was trying to play with. I just multitask a lot, so being able to play a game at my own pace is more my preference.
I tried the Elder Scrolls Online beta and it did nothing for me. I am enjoying some of the matchmaking in Destiny, but at least as far as the story mode goes it could still be completed solo. I actually found that a bit more of a challenge when it’s obvious the game is designed to benefit more from having a fireteam instead of not. Still, I was able to put a few hours into some random strike missions with two other people last night and I think we had a good time. I can’t frequently do that, though.
Anyway, if there’s an “issue” I have with the pro-MP/MMO side as far as KCD is concerned, it’s probably more in how they express their desire and how they react to being told this is the way it is. Put aside the segment of gamers who, on sight, won’t even give a game a chance if it’s SP (or MP/MMO, on the flipside). Nobody can do anything about those two groups because their minds are closed.
If someone says “Well, this looks great but I really wish it had a MP element. Is that possible?” and the answer is a clear “Sorry, no. This is the vision we have and this is the game we’re making. MP MIGHT be a thing later on down the line, but not right now,” then that should be the end of it. For some, they’ve pushed in spite of that general answer, as if they had the right to dictate to Warhorse how they should make their game just to please someone’s preferences.
Then versions of that repeat and the people who were in on this project as a SP game from the start get frustrated because it seems people who aren’t clear on the concept keep coming in making requests or demands about something for which the answer has already been given, and repeated, and repeated again. Patience with it thins, especially when new topics are made and people haven’t taken a few minutes to see if it’s already been brought up before, etc.
So, yeah. Sometimes people get chippy about it. That doesn’t mean they hate “the other side.” It just means they’ve lost patience with the subject at the time.
As it stands now, the way Warhorse is making this game, I just don’t really see how a MP element would truly make it any better. It’s not a game where you’re going to take up a random commoner in the world and run around doing a bunch of grinding - and face it, grinding is a strong element of a lot of MMOs. Henry himself is specifically defined with a backstory and a direction to go in, but with various options players will have to determine how that’s done.
Even something like allowing a friend to drop in and out as some sort of temporary companion doesn’t really work because there’s nothing I can see to it that really means anything for the second player in terms of things sticking. They won’t BE Henry, so what do they do? Maybe help in a fight or two? Travel with Henry from one village to the next and go about their merry ways afterward? There’s nothing in it that really impacts things, and we obviously can’t have multiple Henrys running around in the same world doing the same things.
I think that’s why there’s a certain stubbornness to the “No on KCD as an MMO” crowd. When you get down to it, it’s also the fact people pledged on the basis of this being a SP game, holding to the hope of it being a damned good SP game, and wanting to see that vision bear out.
There’s more than enough room in the gaming world for something like Star Citizen, which is on a massively broad MMO scale, and a game like KCD that’s focused entirely on a SP experience. There’s also no reason SP and MP/MMO fans can’t coexist without acting like what they wish or want a game to be is what it should be, just to suit their gaming preference.
