"All Square Enix Games To Include Social, Multiplayer Gaming"

[kane_magus]

I think that this, quite frankly, is horrible news. I guess I probably won't be buying any more Square-Enix games if this goes through and becomes the norm for them. Depends on how invasive it will be, I guess. If it's entirely optional, or something as simple as Steam community stuff or something similar which can be completely ignored as desired, then it wouldn't be too bad. Anything more than that would be too obnoxious to me, however, and I simply wouldn't play the games in question.

Is Square-Enix becoming the next EA/Activision? Or are they at that point already?

(EDIT)

The commenter with the user-name of "Robert Kotick"... that's not the actual Robert Kotick, is it? Surely not... right? I'm guessing it's just someone using the name as a (somewhat unfunny) joke, but I can't be sure. After all, I didn't quite believe it at first when "Jack Thompson" started posting to Destructoid a few years ago either, but it apparently was the real deal in that case, and I guess it could very well be the real deal here as well.

In any case, that sounds about like something Kotick would say, even if it's not actually him.

(/EDIT)

Comments

[owsf2000.livejournal.com]

When it comes to getting any future games by them, for me, it will depend entirely on what the single player aspect retains. I would not buy a Final Fantasy game, for instance, because of some online aspect. The only reason I'd buy one is for the story. Which is probably why I start losing interest after the game opens up when you get an air ship. Hm.

[kane-magus.livejournal.com]

That's my take on it as well. As long as the development of the single player isn't adversely affected by the inclusion of this multiplayer/social crap, and as long as the multiplayer/social crap doesn't intrude in any way whatsoever into the single player portion of the game (unless I, the player, actively choose to allow it to do so, for some unfathomable reason), then they can include all the multiplayer/social crap they want. But the instant I can't play a Final Fantasy game without being bugged about some kind of online mess is the instant I stop playing Final Fantasy games altogether.

[kane-magus.livejournal.com]

The sad and scary thing, though, is that this seems to be the trend that just about every dev/publisher is moving toward these days. It's all about multiplayer/social stuff anymore. The crux of the matter, at least for me, is this: I would be perfectly fine with multiplayer/social stuff if most people playing online games weren't ginormous asshats (based on my admittedly limited experience of attempting to play multiplayer games in the past, mind you). I'm sure there are loads of people out there who are fully capable of playing online multiplayer games without being dickcheese, but extremely rare are the occasions in which I encounter them. That's what has turned me off to the whole multiplayer thing in general and is why I stick almost exclusively to single-player games. But, now, single-player games seem to be going the way of the dodo, and that really sucks.