Topic: Singleplayer or social gamer?

Would you consider yourself a solo player or a social gamer?

I can personally say that while I thoroughly enjoy a solid single player campaign, I've evolved into a social gamer over the years. I love teaming up with friends and "taking on the world together". I think it's the social aspect of it – the company, if you may, and then you sprinkle a bit of competition on top. I've come to see it as a way of hanging out with friends. Especially now that my closest friends are scattered across the globe.

It's the same thing I see in streaming games on Twitch, I guess – the company of the chat, the interaction. Not just showing off. It's like playing with people without actually playing with them.

I'm pretty much a solo player. I tend to play alone unless friends are online and playing the same game. My pet-hate is playing with randoms (yes GTA I mean you). I cannot stand trying to play online with some spotty twat killing me everytime I respawn and try to get to my car, the ammo shop, my apartment, you get the picture.

If I had to choose between a Single Player or Multi-player game, I would opt for the Single player every time. I do enjoy MP with friends but I really enjoy a good SP game more. I have been gaming for over 35 years now and apart from a few games, the majority have been Single player. Even as recent as the Original Xbox, I wasn't interested in social gaming and didn't invest in XBL. Even games that are perceived as MP games, I buy for the campaign as much (if not more) than the MP.
It does annoy me when games that started as a SP add an MP. It seems they add these to sell easy DLC - it's easy to make a few maps compared with an additional story or to 'tick a box'. Whether it was '2nd game' syndrome or not, games like Bioshock 2 and Dead Space 2 didn't reach the same heights as their predecessors and also felt 'shorter' too. It left me feeling that the MP was the reason as it had taken up space on the disc and focus from the development time. Halo for me was all about the campaign. I know it had an MP but to me it was an 'added' extra - something to do when you finished the campaign but as the series has progressed, I can't help feel that the focus has shifted more to the MP.
I probably do spend more time gaming socially but generally feel that it can't replace the depth of a single player experience

I much prefer single player, I have had Gold for about 5 or 6 years but rarely venture to MP. I just don't get the time for online and I don't talk to randoms.

Yes.

I like both, playing Walking Dead at the mo (can't even be in a party when playing as it kills the immersion) and Destiny, which is best with friends!

I prefer to play single player, but that's generally because a lot of multiplayer modes don't really have a point to them, barring raising my level or whatnot. I'll play if it's fun - Titanfall, for example - but I much prefer working toward a goal.

Generally, by the time I load up a game on launch day, there are so many players already millions of miles ahead of me on the scoreboard, so it's not like the goal is to be the world's best player as that's unattainable.

The last game I truly played hardcore online was Links 2001 on the original Xbox. I generally play online for an hour or so and then either get bored, or get spawned with random idiots. Can't even play a single match of FIFA online now without every game being against somebody screaming down the mic at you or hitting spam move after spam move to win 10-0.

If more people were interested in having a good, fun, challenging game, than just "win at all costs" then I'd play online more. Sadly, it appears to be going the other way.

@SuperKMx
I was trying to say almost exactly what you have but couldn't get it to look right on the screen.

Yeah agree with what been said already. Single Player / Anti-social for me really...

The sort of Multi-player I like is how it was done in Watchdogs where the emphasis was on infiltrating the other players game and not to kill them. I also like the social aspects of say, Forza or Trials Fusion where you are challenged to beat your friends times or in shooters to beat a high score - that sort of thing.

Sometimes its nice to just have someone drop you a gift in Diablo, or watch a recording of a friends gameplay, see what they're playing, how you rank against them, compare achievements etc.

I don't mind a spot of Titanfall every now and again but I don't like the PvP aspect (because I suck) and prefer the PvE attrition mode.

In real life I'm a quiet bloke and that's how I am on Xbox Live... I'm not the sort of person who dons a headset and suddenly adopts a new personality entirely.

Anyway, that's the sort of social stuff I enjoy.

I don't really have a preference as I like both.

Although the most fun I have had playing games are generally in multiplayer experiences.

Very much a solo gamer here. I will play online but I'm not entirely comfortable with it unless it's with people I know relatively well.

It depends on what you mean by social gamer.  I am not much of a social gamer online unless its World of Warcraft but that's only because I don't have too much interest in console online gaming at the moment since most of them seem to be shooters like CoD.  Although I do have Diablo III and GTA V which I am itching to try sometime online. Also I dont like playing with random people since I have had nothing but bad experiences that way.  Usually some foulmouthed 12 year old or a drunk idiot screaming into their mic. If I do play socially with people online I do it from someone on my friend list.

Offline though I like to be social.  Whether its me and a bunch of coworkers getting together and racing around tracks in Mario Kart 8 or us taking turns playing a single player game like GTA V.  I can do singleplayer but I enjoy being able to share moments like taking down a boss after a long hard battle with others around me.

I totally get where you're both coming from. I rarely, if at all, use mic around people I don't now. It's a habit thing and comes from having had people being rude (to put it mildly) to me when they hear I'm female. It's sad, but the 'WOMAN GET IN DA KITCHIN AND MAYKE ME SAMMICH!' players exist. If I use a mic, it's around people I know. Or people the people I know know... Weird sentence.

Didn't think about that side of multiplayer... I do play a lot of couch co-op with my wife. We play all the Lego games and 2 player platformers like Never Alone, Chariot etc. Hoping to have a go of Monopoly and maybe Trivial Pursuit over Christmas too.