What games do you play? Who do you play with?
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve struggled to keep up with multiplayer games. I don’t really want to play unless I have someone to play with, and finding someone to play with is more trouble than it’s worth. I have friends and family who game, but we always run into one of two main problems: -1) Our schedules simply refuse to align, or -2) We can’t agree on what to play.
I’m always on the lookout for cool indie multiplayer games, whether that means large-scale like Battlebit or small-scale like Deep Rock Galactic. Some of my friends are either always chasing that absolute latest game (i don’t), or they’re real into MMOs (I’m not), or they have very particular preferences about which aesthetics they will take a chance on. It’s a struggle, but I’m always working to figure it out.
So what do you think? How have you fit multiplayer gaming into your life?
I play a LOT of ESO; I have three nights a week that I group with others to do PvP in Cyrodiil. Beyond that, I help out with a large trials Discord that runs ~3-5 trials a week, depending on schedules. I can sign up for those as needed.
Even with only doing PvP 3 nights a week, we generally only run ~2-3 hours, and there are enough people that if someone misses, it isn’t a big deal, and a sub can usually be pulled into the role. If not? We just deal with it. People have lives, they’re gonna miss. I routinely take breaks from the scheduled stuff, because I don’t like having things planned out. With football and basketball season coming up, I’ll likely step away for a bit to do other things I like.
ESO is nice, in that once you’re at level cap, you’re done doing that grind. New sets aren’t too hard to get once you get sorted, and non-meta builds are viable through most end-game content. Being in the large trials discords makes it really easy to slot in when I want. Additionally, the Discords themselves makes it easy to stay connected without the commitment of the game required.
As for friends that don’t play, anytime I’m playing Rocket League or CoD or whatever other games, I’ll send something in the group chat to see if others wanna join. Most the time I don’t get any takers, but putting the invite out there is enough. It’s hard to stay connected through the years, an invite at least let’s friends know you are thinking of them in the moment.