As a predominantly OFFLINE old skool gamer, I feel as though I'm one of the last of a dying breed. I'm 31 and I've been a hardcore gamer for many years now. Many years ago, nearly all games were OFFLINE only, and things such as massive gaming servers were only conceptual. Now, in the recent years, the gaming industry has taken ONLINE gaming to a new height, and is now becoming MUCH more prominent than ever before. Granted I do like to play both online and offline games, it's just that I don't like the idea that there are games with a SINGLE-PLAYER mode/campaign that require a constant internet connection just to play. In my opinion, games that require a constant internet connection should be limited to Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) games only. When playing a SINGLE-PLAYER game, I want all assets on my device/machine so that I can play using as much of the device's native resources as possible thus allowing the game to run as optimal as possible at any given time (depends on the developer), while at the same time being able to play anytime anywhere without the thought of a great game being rendered inactive due to server/company woes. This is the most beautiful thing about OFFLINE gaming. In this day and age, most gamers have quickly embraced the social gaming life via ONLINE games. Multiplayer in the past used to be "local", but now it's global, which has opened many doors that were once locked in the gaming world. Granted it is nice to be able to play with real people online, but in many cases, these games lack in areas where offline games prevail (eg. storytelling/lore); ONLINE-ONLY games excel in prepping a player to be the best of the best in the world as fast as possible. In one hand, you've got immersion into story-telling (OFFLINE), and in the other hand, you've got world leaderboards (ONLINE). The demand for MULTIPLAYER is extremely high nowadays, and most people will seriously complain if there isn't any form of multiplayer, even in a single player game. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with wanting to play multiplayer in a single player game, but some single player games just aren't meant to go online with multiplayer features, as the developer has his/her original intentions molded into the product. Of course, if demand is high enough and the developer is passionate about his/her work, the multiplayer add-on may be a possible implementation, but don't expect it to be of a higher fidelity than the original single player build. For an ONLINE-ONLY to ONLINE + OFFLINE conversion, which rarely EVER occurs, the developer would have to perform massive reverse engineering to pull off such a feat, not to mention he'd/she'd be doing so with the notion that previous revenue gained will likely decrease after the conversion, hence it doesn't happen often; the game was originally designed for ONLINE-ONLY play. If the developer designed the game with both ONLINE and OFFLINE modes in mind, then it would be a different story. I personally like games that offer properly balanced online and offline modes; this gives us the best of both worlds, and in a SINGLE PLAYER type game, it is definitely welcomed. This is how I think: 1. MMOs should be online only 2. SINGLE PLAYER games should not require a constant internet connection to play. *It's vexing when the install size (mobile) is over 1GB and requires a constant internet connection to play. **The SINGLE PLAYER game could offer extras via IAP (connect to internet to buy) [OPTIONAL] ***Devs should use their app reviews, IAP purchases data, and these forums if they want to gather their consumer data instead of forcing players to connect. 3. Games with both SINGLE PLAYER and MULTIPLAYER should allow the single player to be able to play the full game offline (with the exception of all multiplayer elements not being present). The subject does get complicated when we start getting into FREEMIUM vs PREMIUM games, which is an entirely different subject of the matter; it's about money. I play both FREEMIUM and PREMIUM games and both have their pros and cons, but in any case, I still prefer these types of games to follow the same schematic as my "This is how I think" section. I will GLADLY pay for IAPs and/or PREMIUM prices for a good OFFLINE-capable genuine single player experience because I know I will have all the necessary assets on my device to enjoy the game ANYWHERE ANYTIME UNHINDERED.
