{
"post": {
"title": "Moving away from competitive multiplayer games to Singleplayer games is the best thing I ever did.",
"selftext": "To give a bit of back story I used to be hardcore into competitive PvP games. Predominantly Overwatch and League of Legends. I also dabbled in CS:GO. \n\nLike I used to play these games pretty much all day on my days off from work and it got to the point where I was so dedicated to them that I would essentially play nothing else. This meant I missed out on a lot of games that I would ordinarily love.\n\nIt got to the point where all I cared about was my rank. And I put an unhealthy amount of value into what is in actuality a virtual, meaningless rank that has no bearing on anything outside of the game. \n\nIt got to the point where PvP games started to really negatively impact my mental health. Family and friends would notice that I was in more of a bad mood than usual and I just was not myself. My girlfriend would beg me to come off the game but I was addicted to them.\n\nEventually, I decided to do something about it and I immediately uninstalled the above mentioned games and instead started playing more single player games.\n\nThis year alone experiencing Baldurs Gate 3, Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Wonder and even Starfield (despite its flaw) was such a breath of fresh air and my mood has been lifted massively. I can't believe I was missing out on all of these games! And it has been a stark reminder than gaming should never feel like a job or stress you out and it DEFINITELY should not affect you once you turn it off.\n\nDon't really know why I'm sharing this but I hope it can maybe reach out to someone out there who is going through what I went through. And guys, there's more to life than a stupid rank in your game. ",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/183r1m7/moving_away_from_competitive_multiplayer_games_to/"
},
"comments": [
{
"body": " That was exactly me when I was younger, I played older Call of duty MP games and Battlefield, as I'm getting older I moved to the playing singleplayer games and games that relax me, I realized pvp and competitive MP games stressed me mentally.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Honestly wish I had learnt sooner!",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I stopped playing MP games long ago, just much more relaxing, and most game devs use multiplayer as an excuse to artificially lengthen the gameplay of thier titles in a way of justifying paying 80 bucks for 'em. \n\nThese days the only MP i play is maybe a bit of casual or if i'm trying to earn a specific achievement.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I play BF casually, I don't try to top board, don't bother with the metas. If I notice I start getting too into it, I stop. It's important for me to relax, and sometimes a good pvp game does it. Most of the time it doesn't. \n\nMoving away from PVP to solo is a blast. I just wish there were more single player PVE games. L4D2 but without the bots for example. Sadly that hasn't been realized yet.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "You should check out Warhammer 40k: Darktide! It's like L4D. 4 player co-op against A.I. I've been obsessed."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I still get the multi-player competitive itch sometimes, but other than that I'm in the same boat as you. At some point I realized I was too old to be letting 12 year olds influence my mood after work and just dropped it."
},
{
"body": "I stopped multiplayer when COD had cross console and the non stop PC cheaters. Around 2019 started playing Dark Souls 3 and jumped both feet into From Software games\n\nNot FS but finished my 4th playthrough of Lies of P. I LOVE single player"
},
{
"body": "Don't forget you could also do multiplayer pve games too, depending on the game there's a lot less toxicity to be had there, and just not being pvp alone is a huge drop. Warframe's community for example is pretty fine, or at the very least someone trying to show off will carry the everliving crap out of a group if someone isn't so good just trying to show off, hah."
},
{}
]
},
{
"body": "You can still play MP games, but just don't participate in the toxicity, I never interact with players and always turn off the voice chat. Sure sometimes you get a bit frustrated, but most times is more of a \"I died lol\" and continue playing",
"replies": [
{
"body": "The toxicity of MP games is what makes them fun lol, what removed the stress for me was playing and being toxic with friends",
"replies": [
{
"body": "If I play with friends we talk over discord, talking to random 12 y/o kids calling me slurs isn't fun IMO, or people screaming over loosing a match, it's a video game, chill out, if you enjoy that, then good for you, I guess. \n\nTo me the fun is still doing well in a match, with the knowledge that I'm not playing against AI but against actual human players, and progressing through ranks or unlocking skins and such, but I play to have fun and relax after working, no way I'm just making my life miserable on purpose."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Same but I still crave a good co-op campaign.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I do as well. Wish there was more of it."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Think this is a natural progression. Although I will say I still love dabbling in Halo at age 40. I take it seriously, but I am never upset about losing. Even when a teammate is a big ???. Haven’t played the latest season but I’ve grinded to low Onyx in a couple of seasons. And when I don’t want to care *at all* throw in some BTB or tactical or whatever just for funsies. Mouse and keeb though, I can’t play shooters on controller anymore. \n\nI really like arena shooters. Give me 10 seconds to learn from my mistakes and throw my ass back out there man. Refreshing after the BR phase."
},
{
"body": "I don't think it is you. Alot of multiplayer today is trash."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Its a peaceful life.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "The best life.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "May it never change.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "And may it never change us."
}
]
}
]
},
{}
]
},
{
"body": "Wait until OP discovers single player strategy games. The moment you realize that playing Total War or Civilization VI and similar games on their hardest mode is like playing competitive multiplayer, but your opponent doesn’t spam you with slurs and it doesn’t require twitch reflexes.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Stellaris. The real challenge is not setting out to recreate the Starfleet Federation but accidentally reenacting the Butlerian Jihad instead",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Suffer not the alien to live"
}
]
},
{
"body": "These were the games that made me love single player games. I have no idea how many hours I have on Total War or Civ games but I don't regret any of them."
},
{
"body": "I just bought Civ 6 and cannot figure out what to do for the life of me. It’s my first Civ game. I played the tutorial but I feel like it didn’t explain things very well."
},
{
"body": "Competitively difficult single players is my new high. Much rather conquer something difficult when it's only me to blame when things go wrong. And, of course, the game cheating.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Spot on, love playing my fast paced projectile arena shooter, busy in the matrix, I'd love to see normies try weave the way I do =P"
}
]
},
{}
]
},
{
"body": "The hardest thing about singleplayer games are you get attached to the story and dont want it to end",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Yea, but it feels good to beat a game, have something that resolves so you feel an accomplishment in putting all that time in for a good story."
},
{
"body": "100% a game solwly because you dont want it to end.\n\nThen theres that feeling after a really good game, where your lost, sad its over. And have no clue what to play, because you want more of what you finished."
},
{
"body": "That feeling you get when you played a great story and make it to the end credits is always more satisfying than being first place in a match.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "More satisfying but at least every match will be different and can be played again"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I'm much more interested in giving my time to a long and enjoyable story. I'm tiring of chasing highs and completing passes. I have the occasional mobile game and 1 online focused game (Diablo 4) but I pick them up for a time then drop them for months. Lately it's been Star Ocean Second story R, Star Wars Jedi survivor and cyberpunk."
},
{
"body": "After months of Valorant, I finally got around to playing Hollow Knight. What a change of pace that was, I totally fell in love."
},
{
"body": "Same here. Basically saved my marriage, career, friendships, etc."
},
{
"body": "I'm convinced league of legends is an extension of the MK ultra program scientifically designed to induce anger and damage mental health. \n\nEven other MOBAs aren't so precisely designed to make the playing experience so miserable. Most people who play it aren't even having fun when they win games let alone lose them.\n\nEven the big pro players who present like zen masters who never 'tilt' or 'get salty' have the eyes of a lighthouse keeper who has lived a monotonous grind in near total isolation for 30 years and has just received a telegram that he won't be getting any tea or coffee next relief day.",
"replies": [
{}
]
},
{
"body": "I have gotten to the point where i refuse to play competitive multiplayer. it's literally a hard pass for me if an MMO has forced PVP, I won;t even touch it. It's either opt in or I won't touch your game. now, I definitely do cooperative multiplayer, such as the PVE side of Destiny 2(altho i have quit that shithole of a game) or MMOs, but yeah, it's just not worth the frustration and stress of PVP to keep playing that way.\n\nAnd don't even get me started on the crap that was ExoPrimal. thje idea that your team can do everything right, but because the other team finished half a second before you you get basically nothing for your effort? fuck the everloving hell outta that :P"
},
{
"body": "Was the same for me.\n\nNowadays i prefer cooperative PvE.\n\nIt's just nice to work together and wade through hordes of enemies, ideally complementing your different playstyles, which can be a lot harder in singleplayer.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Rock and Stone!"
}
]
},
{
"body": "I can relate but I haven't given up COD. I just jump back and forth. I did give up Destiny though. The endless grind was just so stupid.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I dropped CoD because of the skill based matchmaking. It basically punishes you for doing well and you can never tell if you are getting better. The game feels so artificial and planned nowadays. Back in the day when we had dedicated servers you could become a regular at one and go up against a variety of skill levels and stick with people you meet but they’ve done away with all that. It’s like the developers weaponized the game solely in their own best interests."
},
{
"body": "CoD was so easy to drop for me. Especially this latest iteration. Jumping and proning while shooting having 0 penalty paired with new movement “techniques” that are just bug or exploit abuse made it *so* easy to stop buying. Every new iteration looks more and more like a clown show and not an FPS.\n\nAnd the campaign that was super phoned in and half assed.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Latest iteration? People were doing that stuff back in cod4 promod. Cod2 jumping bolt action? It's always been an arcade shooter."
},
{
"body": "Same, but that 100gb update regardless if you had the game or not was the last straw for me. Completely uninstalled. I wasn’t intent on getting mw3, but once the hype dies and I can get it cheap, I didn’t mind hopping back in.\n\n100 gb update regardless if you have the game or not? FOH, there are SO many other games worth my time."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "BG3 also pulled me away from the bad mental state league of legends was putting me under. I’ve since come back to playing league but now I’m not super anal about my rank. I just play and try hard and if I do t climb it’s whatever’s I still enjoy the competitive aspect. I’m currently playing and loving RDR2 but I jump into league every now and then."
},
{
"body": "Heh, I got Whooped a few times in Starcraft and realized that life just wasn't for me. ;P Welcome to the club.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I remember thinking I was amazing at StarCraft and watched a Korean tournament and it was a humbling experience. I uninstalled because I knew I would never be as good as those guys.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "That's one of the stupidest things I've ever read"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I’ve had this realization playing MK1 recently. Whenever I get off that game I am always in a worse mood than when I started. Time to move on…"
},
{
"body": "Basically same thing to me. A couple of years ago, I played very little solo games and played many FPS games (COD, Apex legends, Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege, etc), and I got so burnt out. The only reason I kept playing was because of my friends. Eventually, I drifted apart away from those friends (still play with them, but a lot less), and now I enjoy so many single-player games. I became less of a chair potato, and it really improved my mentality."
},
{
"body": "As you get older, you tend to take more stock into what’s negatively affecting you, including things you used to find thrilling and enjoyable. I had a higher stress threshold for intense games, and while I still enjoy the occasional fast-paced shooter, single player games are overall more enjoyable. Just you and the story (like Uncharted or God of War) or you against yourself and learning your opponent (like Sekiro)."
},
{
"body": "Only multiplayer games i still play are Rocket League, Tekken, and Chiv2 , moved away from Cod/fps in general cause it was getting too frustrating",
"replies": [
{}
]
},
{
"body": "I did the same when I was young. I eventually stopped gaming all together and years later came back and just played single player games. I have much more fun."
},
{
"body": "Throw on a Yakuza game while you're at it if you haven't already, I recommend 'Judgment' one of the spinoff games. It's hella fun to play, and gripping. So far it's one of the more fun, refreshing single player games I've played in the last decade, loved it."
},
{
"body": "So Imo there is a different aspect to it. The 360/PS3 generation was one of the worst for single player games of all times. Stories were bad. Gameplay was color-by-numbers simple. The colors and aesthetic were ugly. If you were a Nintendo fan you got Mario Galaxy and I mean, what else? deBlob? It's no surprise that we retreated to multiplayer.\n\nNow, multiplayer is really stale. Oh boy, another MMR skill based matchmaking system with a battlepass. Oh your BR is different because you can resurrect a budy or something. Sit in this queue so you can land in 1 of 4 maps. Pre-order the character pack btw.\n\nThe fun is back with single player games.",
"replies": [
{}
]
},
{
"body": "Embrace true pvp with fall guys",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Lol my kids are getting to the age where they want to try playing video games too but I soon realized I don’t really have anything little kid friendly. Hopped on the PS store and fall guys was the game I ended up downloading for them to try. I will admit I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Rocket League is a super fun kid-friendly game and it has the added benefit of allowing you to demolish all their hopes and dreams with its unbelievably high skill ceiling. 10/10 for making kids bend the knee to your gaming prowess… or more likely they whoop your butt cause kids are crazy good at competitive games lol."
},
{}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I've been having this debate with myself today. I rarely play story modes within games, just bouncing from online game to online game, not really getting any fulfillment.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "If you want any recommandation for single player games, i got you ! The only MP i play rn is Titanfall2",
"replies": [
{}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I’ll always love Val and I do see myself coming back when I find a group of people to play with that are both good and not insufferable, but getting away from that game to play more casual games with my friends has been infinitely more fulfilling than the last few years playing ranked modes in every game ever.\n\nThis year I’ve played Starfield, Battlefront2, NMS, and I’m finally gonna come around to playing cyberpunk soon. Very excited."
},
{
"body": "Moving story"
},
{
"body": "As someone who's only stepped into the multiplayer scene briefly here and there, idk how you stayed there for so long."
},
{
"body": "I’ve never been a multi-player gamer, I love action-adventure story driven games."
},
{
"body": "Exactly what happened to me about 5 years ago.\n\nI felt I was playing CS:GO only as an obligation to keep a rank and \"be\" with my friends. Sometimes it was good chating on Discord while playing, but most of the time it was just us arguing because of strategy and whatnot.\n\nI decided to go back to single player experiences and immediately felt less stressed. Experiencing things on my own pace and terms was great and I even felt my friendships with those CS guys improved when I gave the game up."
},
{
"body": "There is definitely an addictive element to online gaming, and no doubt it's designed that way. Glad you found a way away from it!"
},
{
"body": "Welcome back!"
},
{
"body": "I did the exact same thing a few years ago. I feel a lot better now and will never go back"
},
{
"body": "I couldn’t agree more 🙌"
},
{
"body": "Cool"
},
{
"body": "A few years back I made the decision to cut back on the live service multiplayer games, too. I gave up Fortnite, Overwatch, and several mobile games.\n\nFirst thing I immediately noticed was how much more free time I had. I didn't realize how much they consumed. How many things I kept putting off because I needed to grind in one game or another.\n\nThe second thing, which I noticed after a week, was how much less I was raging in the games I did still play (Mainly Splatoon 3). I would go into fits of anger, self-hatred, despair, even SH. I don't anymore, at least not as bad.\n\nIt's scary how much of an addiction they can be.\n\nI still feel tempted sometimes, but I've managed to keep clean for the most part. It helps that single player games on Steam and Switch have been so damn good these last few years."
},
{
"body": "See you in the finals"
},
{
"body": "Sounds like you got old. Welcome to the club.",
"replies": [
{}
]
},
{
"body": "Yeah I dont play much multiplayer competetive games, they are toxic as hell. Also you have to play them a lot be good. Battlepasses are designed just to be addictive."
},
{
"body": "At some point in a gamers life they come to the realization that not only are competitive video games extremely negative and provide zero life worth, but that they rely on the basis of “I’m good at a video game”. Which congrats dude, unless it’s your career nobody cares.\n\nDuring that time your also not playing all these other games that are great, because instead your playing the same summoners rift over and over and over. Sure each round is different and sure you get endorphins pumping when you win, but you also have been missing out on so many games.\n\nEdit: yup all children I guess",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Eh, I haven’t played a competitive multiplayer game in years, but I think this take is too judgmental.\n\nSome people may genuinely enjoy the competitive nature of multiplayer games, the challenge of getting better and mastering the mechanics, the social atmosphere of playing with friends, etc. \n\nIf so, more power to them. I’m not going to diminish their experience by saying “nobody cares” or “that has zero life worth”. You could say the same about single player games or any other form of entertainment.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I replied to OP, but i'll put my stance in a quote block here.\n\n>PVP and multiplayer games are not for everybody. And I say this as someone who used to compete. I had an extremely short stint as a caster/commentator as well. Was sponsored and had flights paid and all that stuff. \n> \n>Some of us thrive off the stress / pressure to do well; realistically, getting very good a game requires discipline. Playing just for your rank is NOT the way to \"git gud\" at multiplayer games. You need to get comfortable with losing; in fact, playing to lose (trying out new strategies, doing things differently) is often more important than playing to win (using optimized strategies that you know work). You only really play to win in tournaments. Playing to lose is more important during your practice. \n> \n>I'm going to put this out here; most people are NOT suitable for playing games competitively. You either thrive off the pressure and adrenaline OR you let it consume you. Rank is meaningless; all that matters is the one or two big majors which you show up to. It's a sport like anything else, and coming in with the wrong mentality means you're going to get beaten up and spat out just like in any form of competition. There are ways to play competitive games healthily; but I think most gamers do not have the right mindset for competition. \n> \n>Winning doesn't matter, until there's money involved.\n\nEvery gamer should at least once in their life, try to learn a fighting game. There are soooo many useful things in undertaking that incredibly difficult process that you'll find gives you discipline to tackle real life."
},
{
"body": "I’m the gamer who played only online and multi player games most of my life, again, I missed out on so many great games because I was sucked into ffxi or halo. Do I regret it, no not really, did I realize I missed out on tons of games because of it, yes. \n\nIt’s ok though I’ll make up for it the rest of my life."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Yeah, competitive games are fun for a little challenge every now and then, but I have never understood the appeal of continuously playing ranked matches.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "It’s all about pushing yourself, continuously improving, and seeing how far you can take your skills. It is an absolute fuckload of fun to have a bunch of people with the same conditions thrown into a competitive atmosphere and see who comes out on top.\n\nAnother way to think about it is that people have been playing basketball for the better part of a century. The game has changed over this period, but not in any significant way in over 60-years since the introduction of the 3-pt era. Guys go out and play pickup every single day for decades — it’s the exact same game over and over, but the challenge continuously changes.",
"replies": [
{}
]
},
{
"body": "A lot of it has to do with the same psychology of a kid ordering mac and cheese every time. \n\nFamiliarity with a game, familiarity with a map or game mode, knowing that you like it or that you are good at it. Someone in that mindset might look at a single player game that changes and has a story as boring because there is no familiarity with it. Even an inability to just stay engaged and finish a game can be challenging because that lack of familiarity. Just like a kid trying something new and immediately discarding it. \n\nI’m not saying these type of people are children, some literally are, just using it as an example of the psychology of it.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I'm calling this Mastaberg's Mac n Cheese Hypothesis"
},
{}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I gotta say your comment is extremely narrowminded and condescending. Competitive MP games definitely help with life skills especially with teamwork, communication, leadership, strategy, dealing with adversity, adaptation and more. These skills and a mindset of wanting to improve continuously has helped me advance my career so labeling them as zero worth to me sounds willfully ignorant.\n\nI've also fostered social connections with a ton of people and had group experiences that were fantastic and I think of all my top gaming moments I'd struggle to put any SP experience I've had in the top 10. I've tried numerous SP games, they're pretty good but to me often times the game mechanics are extremely boring and very predictable. Increasing difficulty usually makes everything into bullet sponges and turns me into glass which I'd argue is even less fun. Competitive MP games lets me relive the days of middle/high school playing on competitive sports teams and joy and connections I made there, I just transferred it over into the video game world. \n\nFor someone like OP, I'm glad he realized that he needed to break out of his addiction and he enjoys the SP side of video games. But not everyone is a sweaty try-hard rank chaser who plays those games.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Fuck this made me laugh 🤣"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Video games in general provide zero life worth and nobody cares which games you’ve completed. People don’t play competitive games for some sort of status symbol (outside of the top .0001% who are professional) — they play it because they enjoy the type of challenge it provides.\n\nIt’s the same way really for any competitive hobby. Nobody gives a shit that I ruled winner’s court all weekend long in pickup ball — but the challenge is what makes it fun.\n\nIt really just sounds like competitive gaming isn’t for you — and that’s okay. There are plenty of wonderful single player games for people like you to enjoy and there are plenty of competitive PvP games for people like me to enjoy."
},
{
"body": "Sounds like someone sucks ass at video games. Also I’ve met great people online in dota that we’ve hung out irl and are still friends. \n\nSounds like you’re the problem"
},
{
"body": "It's okay to try to get good. You sound like you suck."
},
{}
]
},
{
"body": "I feel exactly the same, sometimes I want to play online, it’s usually older call of duties. But I really enjoy a FPS shooter such as a Farcry or a Metro."
},
{
"body": "34 stopped playing pvp games about a year ago! I know the feels. Compete over a rank that inly the people that play the game can brag with. At this age most people are bragging about their cars, kids, relationship. Oh look im diamond. 💎. \n\nMentally great. Trying to show my little nephew who 12 not to get sucked into the pvp. Enjoy some singleplayers."
},
{
"body": "Thank you for sharing. Upvoted."
},
{
"body": "I uninstalled StarCraft II back in September because the multiplayer was just killing me. Installed it again back at the start of this month, lost six games in a row and had people spamming the chat with abuse and generally just being rude. Uninstalled again within 2 hours.\n\nThat game has absolutely shat it and its current problems will never be fixed. Too old now and only receiving an update every six months, where Blizzard just prune the edges based only on the opinions of a select few pros, and don't fix anything people are actually complaining about.",
"replies": [
{}
]
},
{
"body": "I’ve been trying to quit Valorant but I just can’t stop. Part of it is because of the micro transactions I’ve bought. Any suggestions?"
},
{
"body": "Yah pvp is simply not fun. Not unless you wanna play the game every night and only play that 1 game just to keep up. Even when I did good in matches it wasn't even that satisfying compared to enjoying a good campaign."
},
{
"body": "i really miss playing with my friends though. is there a best of both?",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Co-op pve. Though I’ll say it never truly scratched the itch for me. ",
"replies": [
{
"body": "aye, we are immersed in valheim at the moment and it is both relaxing and infuriating",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I’ve dumped several hundred hours in that game. I highly recommend QOL mods.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Such as?",
"replies": [
{
"body": "We used nexus mods, and I think there were a few templates. Definitely would increase the box size, we increased how much wood trees drop to save a a little time chopping wood. Also upped inventory space. I think the two most important mods were the ones that allow you to craft directly from crates, and to have crates to auto fill from production devices like your furnace.\n\nDefinitely gotta balance keeping some challenge there. I’ve played with unlimited resources before but it takes the fun out of the game. \n\nIf you haven’t done so already, look into how to set up an efficient pig/wolf breeding system. It’s pretty funny to breed a couple hundred wolves and have them walk around with you. \n\nOverall you’re in for a treat. It’s an amazing game and I’ve done two play throughs already. Definitely recommend paying for a persistent server if you’re gonna do a group run through for more than a month or so. Makes it fun to be able to pop in and out of and it’s relatively cheap. "
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I enjoyed competitive Counterstrike and StarCraft and DotA when I was younger, but then I started playing DotA with my (then gf, now) wife and she only wanted to do bot matches because Internet random are toxic. While I miss the competition sometimes I have to admit I am much happier overall. It's kind of a \"best of both worlds\" situation where I still get to play the games I like, but I get to share them with people I care about in a low-stakes environment. And it does leave more time for single player gaming (which I always did, but less) if I don't have a ladder to grind. Realistically, I'm too old to be competitive now anyway."
},
{
"body": "in the two decades i have been playing video games , i have not played an online/multiplayer game ."
},
{
"body": "Exact opposite experience: As the years go by I've found more and more that I just want to keep playing the same MP game I've enjoyed for decades (Quake 3/Live) because no SP (Or MP) game can come close to the enjoyment I get from them.\n\nWhen someone can figure out how to better perfection, I'll play it. Till then I'll stick to Quake and a drip feed of whatever hype SP games come out that end up being at least fun enough to finish or another disappointment."
},
{
"body": "Live services games feel like a job tbh. I am glad I never touch them. I have my go-to multiplayer games to enjoy with friends from time to time."
},
{
"body": "Did you work on your underlying issue? Switching to single players isn’t solving the root cause."
},
{
"body": "I also stopped playing competitive games. There's a myriad of reasons, but generally speaking, once you realize that those games are designed to suck as much of your life and time up as possible, you understand that you have to get away from them.\n\nThis is further exacerbated by the god-awful terrible matchmaking, and obsession game companies have with that enshrined \"50/50\" ratio model. The games are designed to ensure you're as close to a 50/50 win rate as possible. Start winning more, get a heavier \"weight\" assigned to your profile. It becomes a numbers game, where you *will* hit a higher rank... just throw more time at it. \n\nI think the thing that people also don't realize is that competitive gaming isn't what it used to be. Generally speaking, you were mostly on a semi-even playing field before. Now, you are competing against teenagers and twitch streamers **whose literal job is to play the game and stream the game 8-10 hours a day**. You are not going to be better than those folks, you are not going to compete against them. They treat games like a job because, to them, it is **the** job. (If you ever need proof, go look into how much pro-LCS teams play a day; they also tend to live in the same houses and everything).\n\nNow, I spend my time playing games I can just enjoy without the endless anger and trolling and everything else, and it's reinvigorated my joy for games. Baldur's Gate 3, the Resident Evil remakes, Crusader Kings 3, Armored Core 6, Dave the Diver, Dredge ; this year was the reminder I think many gamers *needed* to remind us how great gaming was before everything became a live-service treadmill hellscape."
},
{
"body": "Sounds like you need to try an MMO. You can play the game solo while occasionally enjoying seeing other players while you roam. \n\nIf you liked competitive multiplayer but don’t miss ranking systems, try Guild Wars 2.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Ohhh yeah second Guild Wars 2. Can be a grindfest sometimes, but when you clear that T3 fractal with people downing left and right, man it's really something else."
},
{
"body": "The man JUST left one addictive form of online media where he is lamenting all the great games he missed out on and you wanna suggest an equally as life sucking MMO? No. Stop.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Guild Wars 2 isn’t the same as WoW. You don’t need to constantly play to be caught up. \n\nGW2 has a horizontal progression system which means that you can quit playing and come back 2 years later to play the new content without farming for anything.",
"replies": [
{}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Competitive multiplayer games are the reason why gamers have always been considered toxic and negative. There's a reason why the only people that play most of them pas the first year are cheaters too. It all comes together."
},
{
"body": "Same here. I'm playing LoL ARAM sometimes with friends and i like to chill with my FFXIV fc, but that all the \"multiplayer\" i am doing. All of my other recent games are single player or something that i play with my inner circle (3-4ppl) co-op (like Grounded)."
},
{
"body": "The only multiplayer game I play is MWIII and I actually enjoy the ground war mode. Other than that I play single player games and it’s all good."
},
{
"body": "You can’t be all one thing. Need something for variety’s sake and then you can go back to whatever competitive game you’re playing."
},
{
"body": "I only quit caring about rank and it made every game so much more fun."
},
{
"body": "I can't do single player much for whatever reason (exceptions exist like BG3) ... but I love co-op. Darktide, Vermintide 2, Deep Rock Galactic (and formerly, MMO's) are all great pick-up games where you are working as a team but skill still shines."
},
{
"body": "“i was addicted to weed so i stoped smoking and started doing coke” -OP"
},
{
"body": "Not me. I long for the days when I got to pay qulity games liks UT 2004, prime UT 99 and Quake 3, CS.16, BF2142, BFBC1, BFBC2, CoD4 (oh my GAWD remember how amazing 2007 was in November, greatest month in gaming history BY FAR), HALO 2. The list goes on and on. Single player games are pretty cool. I mean, Mass Effect 2 (one of the greatest single player games of all time) and RE4 (perhaps the greatest third person shooter ever) are among my favorite games, but.... You simply cannot beat an amaing comp FPS. They are unbeatable. \n\n​\n\nTo each their own tho. Cheers."
},
{
"body": "TLDR: played the worst toxic games and quit Becuase skill is declining. Nothing really out of the ordinary here",
"replies": [
{
"body": "hahaha nah tho, they can impact mental health negatively. i can vouch for the league experience, your sometimes locked into a lobby with clowns for 30 minutes",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Hahaha yeah though, if he was still demolishing lobbies it would be like “45 year old dad here and I still got it” instead of a whole sob story about quitting",
"replies": [
{
"body": "was not even mocking you, i found your comment funny",
"replies": [
{
"body": "People confuse me , English is a secondary language"
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Damn, did you get whiplash from how quickly you became defensive just now?",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I did not ? You got any other quick witted retorts ?",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Good to know you didn’t get whiplash. Stay safe and try not to be so cringe in the future.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Damn you got me bro 👍🏻"
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Skill issue"
},
{
"body": "you know what's funny? I could never play the newest multiplayer game cuz I'm broke and my laptop is trash and it can never run those game so I've never had that issue on pc, and I don't have a console. so the only competitive games I've played are on mobile, and sure they're still competitive and I've played COD Mobile, PUBG Mobile etc but they're not at the same degree. I was chilling, being casual while playing them, never took them too seriously. so I have the opposite problem, I basically ONLY play singleplayer games for the most part. I do play multiplayer games sometimes and play co-op in other times but typically, I still stick to singleplayer more."
},
{
"body": "Buy a steam deck this is that systems wheelhouse"
},
{
"body": "I play everything but as I got older I lost the delusion that I can be good enough to be a pro. I play competitive games for fun just to climb ranks and have a human opponent. If you don’t take it super seriously it’s still a good time"
},
{
"body": "Had a very similar scenario when I raided in WoW.. though my raid group was great, they'd always push me to stay for more runs despite having work the next morning and it got to be too much.. especially since new expansions it felt like you had to start all over again so I scoured for an interesting game with an ending.. and that's when Outer Wilds came into my life. Space, explorations, puzzles, mystery... it was the perfect game for the perfect time in my life and it's my favorite of all time now. Haven't played an MMO since. (Also can't sing enough praises for BG3 though still playing it)"
},
{
"body": "A big thing that I always struggled with is I'd put a game down for awhile then pick it back up and start a new game, losing over 40+ hours of gameplay. I'd replay the start of the games and get bored and put it down. I eventually realized I should just continue where I left off after weeks of not playing because I'd go back to multiplayer games because it was easy to pass the time and I felt rewarded after a match. Glad to hear single player games helped you get out of a rut."
},
{
"body": "After this season of rocket league ends. I'm putting down multi-player online battle whosiwhatsits. \n\nI love the game. And I tell the player's I love them before each game. But, its draining me. I've wasted hours on gaining nothing when I have a whole backlog of games stretching from steam and across all current gen consoles. What I fell in love with is not what I am playing anymore. Got a few weeks left and I'm onto better things. Finally got another TV, so my lady and I dont have to trade off from playing games on the big TV. I honestly can't wait to get home and set up my xbox and TV in the bedroom and actually get comfortable and play."
},
{
"body": "I put a LOT of time into Apex Legends (and Halo and some others before that) before learning that I was getting more stress and frustration than enjoyment out of them. I'd love to see some of these games develop a true PVE mode (especially Apex, which had a few limited time events that toyed with PvE in the past) but I'll happily reinstall Gears 5 and plunk time into Horde mode rather than get cursed out by some raged out stranger over voice chat over basically nothing."
},
{
"body": "I would love to get into pvp stuff but it’s always so sweaty and toxic. There’s no casual lounges.\n\nPlus, games like destiny slowly over time shift to placate the sweaty tryhards which want the game a specific way until it’s stagnant and boring and the red of the game suffers for it"
},
{
"body": "I only really play PvE in multiplayer games nowadays, usually with a few guys from an online community. No getting stressed, just having a laugh on comms while shooting a horde of bugs or bots or doing whatever else. Much more fun IMO."
},
{
"body": "I like cooperative multiplayer. Jumping in on a public factorio server and fixing problems, helping folks kill nests, or put randomly colored lights throughout the base is fun."
},
{
"body": "That's me right now going back to story stuff on the Wii. I've been on a fighting game streak for years and *only* having the stress of losing is much lighter than the stress of a fighting game match."
},
{
"body": "Dead by Daylight is the only multiplayer game I really actually play that’s pvp, other than that I’m always playing single-player games just because the stories are just movies that you get to play out and I’m a huge cinephile."
},
{
"body": "I've only ever played competitive games with friends and even then, winning was far less important than having a good time. \n\nThe worst thing you can do for your mental health is to take a hobby too seriously. If it's your job, that's fine, you can walk away to calm down when you're done for the day, but when it is the thing you do to relax, to have fun, then how do you de-stress? You need a break from having a break! That's super unhealthy, gaming has to be fun and although shooters can be fun, they are designed to encourage competitiveness and excitement through stress and tension (especially battle royale and team-based shooters)."
},
{
"body": "I did the same but around 2013. I was playing every game i got into competitively at the time. Would play every tounry I could to make a little money but mostly for the ego of knowing I was actually one of the best players. Was eating at my real life and relationships and i wasn't going to be in a position to make a career off it unless I switched to more popular games which I probably wouldn't be that good at or care about. Finally switched to single player games and coop games and actually started to ENJOY gaming again instead of using as an ego boost to prove to myself I was good at something. Now I will play comp games again now and then since it's been years and I learned to be a casual and like it."
},
{
"body": "You're still playing a video game either way. Did you do anything with that time?"
},
{
"body": "Same here man. I love it."
},
{
"body": "I got into gaming to get *away* from sports only for video games to systematically recreate everything bad and toxic about sports except the actual concussions"
},
{
"body": "I would love to play an RPG. Couple I tried I couldn't get into. Either spent the whole time picking up flowers, talking to NPC or getting stuck with no idea what to do. Like stuck in a room. That being said I would love to try others that are more forgiving (maybe help you if needed) but fun. Also want to try giving controller a try. Very bad with controller. Any suggestions. I have a PS5, XBOX S/X and PC."
},
{
"body": "Rainbow six siege was the last for me(well did go into chess for a short bit but noticed that was really consuming my time). \n\nPlaying one night and a 3 party on my team started shooting us down to low health but not killing to not get banned. \n\nI just said “I can’t believe I’m babysitting peoples kids on a Friday night” and had enough. \n\nStill dabble with some multiplayer. Playing Hell let loose right now. 90% of the games are easy going and fun. Can get a few sweaty squad leads and commanders sometimes though."
},
{
"body": "Although I played them occasionally I just don’t care for the repetitive nature of them."
},
{
"body": "Single-player is superior in every single way, just sit back and enjoy great gameplay and engaging story. I started SOMA today after hearing many great things about it and my backlog is still plenty big."
},
{
"body": "I feel this. Over the past decade played StarCraft 2, then League of Legends, then Smash 4/Ult/Melee. Realized over the past few months at the age of 32 that super tryharding at competitive games is burning me out. I still have been playing some SF6 and Melee and the occasional quick play League of Legends game, but I’ve been playing single player games just as much lately and yeah it’s pretty nice to just drink some beers and play a slow paced RPG or whatever. I still play some competitive games and try hard, but having some balance is very nice"
},
{
"body": "Me as well, a huge part of it though is I got tired of paying $90 for a yearly cod game that my friends play, teammates grief'ing in ranked in multiple games, and just younger people getting good at gaming at an early age."
},
{
"body": ">This meant I missed out on a lot of games that I would ordinarily love.\n\nYou didn't miss out on them, you just saved them for later!"
},
{
"body": "Opposite here. I've bought all the recent hyped story games... None of them hold my attention for more than an hour or so. Cyberpunk, BG3, Elden Ring, Red dead... they all put me to sleep."
},
{
"body": "I haven't completely moved away, still play some sometimes, still have fun with friends when playing online games, but playing less online games and especially completely dropping online playing on sports games, holyyyyyy."
},
{
"body": "Games like BG3 and the total war series, where I can step away at literally any second, is invaluable for gaming with a kid. \nZero chance I could play a multiplayer game unless I was content to burn the midnight oil for it."
},
{
"body": "Bunch of people here never learned how to lose as kid, and so when they lose competitive games it negatively effects their mental state.\n\nIf you been gaming since the 90s and haven't learned that very important lesson, I can understand how this occurs. It's odd, though, because if you have fun playing a pvp game, and can't find the lesson or mistake in your loss, I am not sure how well you deal with problems in general. This isn't an insult, just confusion. I personally do not mind losing because it's not every time, and it's definitely not going to affect me going pro, haha. If you're an average everyday gamer, stressing from a video game, games are simply not meant to be your leisure. If you are swearing off games you enjoy because you can't seem to find balance, you may need to learn how to lose a bit and separate reality from the screen. Mind you online, being a sore loser is way more prevalent than a humble loser."
},
{
"body": "I'm one step ahead of you. I went from PVP to sandbox PVE to linear story RPGs to mobile games. Every step of the way I'm playing less and less and basically just end up staring at my phone and scroll through apps and the pass out in bed."
},
{
"body": "Yeah it is definitely a great change. \n\nHowever there is small ways you can still play PVP and enjoy them without them feeling like a chore. \n\nFor instance playing Battlefield and just chilling and sniping from a distance and doing small things like spotting or marking vehicles for your team. \n\nYou know less sweating and more relaxing gameplay. It’s what I do when I play PvP which is rare these days."
},
{
"body": "Yup!\n\nAlso that they \\[mostly\\] don't rely on FOMO and season pass bullshit.\n\n​\n\nIt does hurt to see some of my favorites like Overwatch go down the drain because of that."
},
{
"body": "I love jumping into battlefield 1 every once in a while when I get the itch to play real people who can actually think. But most of the time I'm playing Skyrim, the witcher, or Minecraft. Lately, it's been farcry 5 that has me hooked."
},
{
"body": "I did that over 10 years ago - quit after MW2 and very rarely play any multiplayer games now."
},
{
"body": "Think I’ll give this a try"
},
{
"body": "PVP and multiplayer games are not for everybody. And I say this as someone who used to compete. I had an extremely short stint as a caster/commentator as well. Was sponsored and had flights paid and all that stuff.\n\nSome of us thrive off the stress / pressure to do well; realistically, getting very good a game requires discipline. Playing just for your rank is NOT the way to \"git gud\" at multiplayer games. You need to get comfortable with losing; in fact, playing to lose (trying out new strategies, doing things differently) is often more important than playing to win (using optimized strategies that you know work). You only really play to win in tournaments. Playing to lose is more important during your practice.\n\nI'm going to put this out here; most people are NOT suitable for playing games competitively. You either thrive off the pressure and adrenaline OR you let it consume you. Rank is meaningless; all that matters is the one or two big majors which you show up to. It's a sport like anything else, and coming in with the wrong mentality means you're going to get beaten up and spat out just like in any form of competition. There are ways to play competitive games healthily; but I think most gamers do not have the right mindset for competition.\n\nWinning doesn't matter, until there's money involved."
},
{
"body": "Yes. \n\nCompetitive gaming is like crack, even though you think you can control it, it consumes you in the long run. \n\nIf you are not doing it to make money out of it, it can only be bad for you. \n\nI went through the same ordeal, but I like to think that it was a worthy experience, which made me enjoy the beauty of single player games more."
},
{
"body": "To bad once you play all the games worth playing its back to the salt mines of online multiplayer games. How many AAA games did they release this year that are worth playing on PC this year? Like two?"
},
{
"body": "I'm really fond of coop-only games too. They have all the social benefits of competitive multiplayer, but with minimal toxicity. You often get this camaraderie between players as we slaughter the nameless AI controlled hordes, and we don't have to feel bad for ruining another person's day."
},
{
"body": "Oh interesting"
},
{
"body": "I like playing ranked. However yhe games I play are mostly fighting games where its you and the other guy. Cant blame your teammates if you lose."
},
{
"body": "Welcome to me since forever. I've always played almost exclusively single player in games. Even with stuff like Halo and Call of Duty. I just fuck around on my own time."
},
{
"body": "Same here I also think just the feel of fps games and gotten away from me and doesn't feel fun anymore. I stopped enjoying being toxic and personal stuff going on I started getting into single player games and simulator games. Seriously idk why I'm having so much fun on American truck simulator and flight simulator 😂"
},
{
"body": "War brings out the worst in men"
},
{
"body": "Same boat. Give Alan wake 2 a shot. It is amazing"
},
{
"body": "I put at least 10k hours into competitive FPS games, that's enough for a lifetime."
},
{
"body": "Coop and fun team stuff like tf2 are all good, I just don’t want to WORK to have fun"
},
{
"body": "This is what multiplayer online gaming is and has always been.\n\nToxic culture full of unhealthy, aggro \n\nLive Service games on mobile are similar."
},
{
"body": "Tl;dr I dropped multi-player games while I was binging though outer wilds, kinda changed my outlook on life."
},
{
"body": "I’m not quite in your situation in that I can put the crack pipe down and do other things without any impact, but when I do have time to play I just don’t get the same buzz from single-player games. I would like to play my ps5 a bit more cause it’s more relaxing on the sofa etc but whenever I start a game that’s not competitive pvp I get bored and stop paying attention. Any tips? I’ve tried a variety of games and I love Star Wars so thought fallen order might captivate me but it hasn’t. I play it for a bit but then next time I get time to play I don’t have any drive to return to it"
},
{
"body": "I try and do this for my nephew, he's a teen now, he doesn't like single player games.. He'll get there one day."
},
{
"body": "Yep, I wish I'd only quit sooner. Multiplayer competitive games can be soul-sucking. One day I just had an epiphany that games are supposed to be more fun or at least interesting. And not having fun and doing repetitive matches was not a good use of my free time"
},
{
"body": "There is also a way in between. To change your attitude and mindset when it comes to these games. Play CS because it’s fun and social with friends. Not to get the highest rank. I play both competitive and single player games. I can totally relate to your post but once I switched my mindset, it’s all good. Took some time though but it’s important for me to play the games I do love together with my friends."
},
{
"body": "I competed at the very top in Black Ops 1 and MW3. Before that I put in thousands of hours in Counter Strike 1.5/1.6. Made it to CAL P. \n\nI haven't competed in nearly a decade now, took the same path as you going to Co-Op games and singleplayer.\n\nThe fun thing is while those skills diminish, they never fully go away. When you return to a competitive FPS like the ones you played, you feel like John Wick returning after retiring. I picked up MW2 when it came out, and was just this no clan nobody crushing every game it put me in to. It felt nice, but then I realized just how much effort and time I'd have to put into it again, and I went to a different game instead.\n\nIf you want to scratch that itch, give Insurgency Sandstorm a try. While it DOES have competitive PVP, the PVE against bots is second to none. It's tactical and difficult, but there's only the goal of winning the level, no rank or leagues to worry about, and all rank means is how many points you've earned over-all."
},
{
"body": "I'm not a scientist, but here's an approximate description what happens to you. \nWhen you play high intensity multiplayer game sessions regularly, your dopamine loop (let's say overall challenge->reward system) get's triggered too much on a daily basis. This leads to dopamine receptors tolerance and you basically can't feel like a normal human anymore. \n\n\nWhen you play single-player game with storyline and some depth, you have normal loop like 'effort -> more effort -> get better at this -> some reward with feelings (aka you've saved the princess'. Compared to winning and losing 100 times a day in multiplayer, single-player gives you lower intensity and **reward that you have earned with your effort**. This is why single-player achievement or win feels good - it is more natural. \n\n\nAs a developer I work on a combined (single/multiplayer) game too right now, and we've spent a lot of time to balance online experience with single story, so the intensity of online doesn't burn out the player. It's a hard challenge, but I believe it is doable."
},
{
"body": "I feel you, OP. \n\nPvP games and other online games can be fun... in moderation. I play both single player games (I loooove me some good 4-6 hour long games) and online stuff, but I've been trying to move away from online games for the most part. For one, I tend to burn out very easily. But also, the games themselves can be incredibly mentally draining and it doesn't help when their communities are also just super toxic and whiny/entitled. You know it's bad when some people just go absolutely nuts (in a bad way) over small details that ultimately don't matter in some random paid cosmetics. \n\nOh and people who make their ranks their entire personality are also just...really something else. It's just ridiculous when higher rank players use their rank to talk shit about lower ranked players and say their opinions don't matter on anything. Like gee, imagine playing games to HAVE FUN."
},
{
"body": "same with me and dota2.. i havent played in about 5 years now. so much better"
},
{
"body": "may i reccomend trying halo? has story, has casual multiplayer(with wacky shit like custom games), and competitive. \n\n\nhalo mcc is on sale rn for cheap on the steam store, and infinite is ftp for multiplayer."
},
{
"body": "Real question: were you any good? Were you in any way close to being recruited to a team or making money in any way?"
},
{
"body": "gmod zombies is my breath of fresh air. love the part where if zombies get me well that means I van just bug off till the next game (which can take a while) and be a little productive. unlike in ow2 where you can just keep redrawing and requeue into another game so quick, this one at least forces me off for some time"
},
{
"body": "Im way too competive to play multiplayer games, and also have a bit of a short temper when playing games. These two usually dont mix well so i also gone over to just enjoying my time with co-op games and single player instead."
},
{
"body": "you should try read dead redemption 2 and black mesa if you haven't already"
},
{
"body": "Ever tried MP coop games like warframe, factorio, arma3 and more like them? When i stopped playing competitive games I started playing them and I love them so much (especially arma 3 as I love to create scripted coop missions to play with my friends)"
},
{
"body": "Same for me exactly. I still play the Blizzard game Heroes of the Storm, but only the all-random mode. These matches are generally quick, with random people, and generally very little communication between teammates. Other than that, I don't play any multiplayer games and I far prefer it. There is simply too much toxicity in multiplayer games, and puts me in a bad mood more often than not."
},
{
"body": "Truthfully OP you sound like a lot of the mmo gamers in my guild that are in their 30s."
},
{
"body": "League of legends was the death of me. Quitting that game saved my mental health X9000"
},
{
"body": "Same. Going from that toxic environment to a more calming environment where I can enjoy and play at my own pace was a night and day difference."
},
{
"body": "Are you looking for suggestions for single-player games? I'd love to give you some, if you tell me what genres you're looking for."
},
{
"body": "My friends tried to get me into multiplayer games like COD, overwatch, FIFA etc but it just wasn't for me. doing the same shit over and over again just for a rank which wouldn't matter because when a new game came out you start all over again. I love my single player games Yakuza, Ghost of Tsushima, Final Fantasy, Persona etc. You made the right choice mate.\n\nSome of my friends have spend thousands of hours on these games like Fortnite, COD etc which is terrible."
},
{
"body": "I hear you. I was addicted to a multiplayer game called OpenSpades...I'm a really nice guy in real life but in there and especially when loosing (became one of the best players), I was behaving like a psychopath. So unhealthy. Haven't touched it in months, nor will I ever again touch any competitive multiplayer game."
},
{
"body": "I do find that the casual experience of single player is really relaxing and fun. The multiplayer is harder and thus more often than not, more rewarding and thrill providing. The other edge of the sword is that it’s taxing on the mind/soul due to the rage it can induce."
},
{
"body": "Same."
},
{}
]
}