Dead online games!

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So here's something that always frustrates the hell outta me: getting into (or even just getting interested in) a multiplayer game of some sort... typically always one that is played online... only to have it die off quickly, or possibly even be already dead by the time I find it.

Just seems to happen SO freaking often. I can think of tons of them where they just seemed so freaking good.... but nobody ELSE seemed to think so, because there was never anyone on, due to everyone going over and playing Bloated Publisher's Generic Game #3856 instead.

This time, to my surprise, it looks like Mario Kart 8 might have died off. It's bloody impossible to get a full or even half-full race going, regardless of region settings or track/dlc settings or anything like that. It's like there's nobody on at all. I'd like to think that maybe they've been having some sort of technical issue lately or something that's causing it, but I'm really not the optimistic sort, and the fact that I've seen so many games just collapse quickly just makes that worse. Though if someone has evidence that suggests otherwise, by all means, enlighten me.

Just... ugh. So aggravating. It's like clockwork: I find a multiplayer game that looks interesting, go to try it... it's dead. Oh, but I could go play the brainless ones like Call of Boring. Bah.

Hoping that Splatoon doesnt meet that same fate, as it's been awhile since I've taken quite that level of interest in a multiplayer games (as I'm quite wary of them in recent months and have been sorta ignoring them, so as to avoid disappointment). Though the MK8 thing does rather baffle me, since it's Mario freaking Kart, and there's Smash over there, thriving like crazy (takes no time whatsoever to find opponents for any of the modes, even in the middle of the night). So I dunno what's up with that.

So yeah, somewhat just me venting over this here, as this one's been bugging me for quite awhile now.

How about some of you guys? Had this happen much? Be it with video games or even other sorts of things?

I've never been too much into online multiplayer games, there were only a few that really caught me and this is one of the reasons that I avoid them.
Unless you're "lucky" enough (I hope my sarcasm is clear here) to like the mainstream games the likelihood of getting addicted to something that you need more people to play and that soon might have no one else there is too big.
I think that the only similar thing that happened to me was when I decided to play White Knight Chronicles 2, but in this case the servers were actually shot down and since the game was way more fun while playing online it was unbearable to go back to single player mode.

Yeah, pretty much. Only mainstream game I've taken an interest in lately (on consoles anyway) is Destiny, which I found to be pretty nice since it's not trying to be another accursed modern military game. There's more on PC that are huge and actually good (like in the moba genre) but... huge games in any genre on PC tend to be DROWNING in toxic jerks. WAY worse than you find on consoles. So that can really damage the experience. Sure, it's easy to find players in those... but you dont always WANT to.

Beyond those though.... bah. So freaking annoying. I can really get into a good multiplayer game when I find one, but it's the finding that's bloody impossible half the time. And heck, even just with singleplayer games... it can be annoying to find some that I really enjoy, but that others dont even KNOW about, and I end up with nobody to even discuss them with (or do local multiplayer if they have it). Currently among my group of friends I'm pretty isolated as far as gaming interests go, which is pretty annoying.

I haven't really been into online games since back when we only had 56k dialup internet (which is kind of ironic, really).

I did try a few of the DS games online, Mario Kart and Metroid Hunters, but it seemed like there were too many cheaters.

Never tried any of the WiiU or 3DS games, although I did try out Splatoon when it was live a couple weeks ago.

I think the problem is the nature of console games in your case.

PC MMO's tend to last a decade or so before dying off... and yes, PC does have its fair share of 'generic game clone #xxxx' that dies shortly after release too.

Console games are made specifically to be replaced within a year or two by another product/version. It's how the money is made. To date I believe the only console game ever made that was long-term was Square Enix's Final Fantasy 11 Online which was an MMO game exclusively (no offline play). Even their previous non-MMO Final Fantasy games follow the short lifespan scheme.

There's no real way to find and keep a multiplayer game alive in today's market other than make it an MMO and make money off it in the long run. Something that very few companies today are willing to do given that the F2P/P2W scheme allows them to cut costs significantly and make more money (essentially the game is released, runs for a couple of years then dies off...and the company uses the same game engine, same assets, etc...just improves the graphics somewhat and creates a new world/storyline and voila.. a clone game is released as if brand new to start the cycle again. No innovation in these games just different storylines).

According to this webpage, Nintendo shut down whatever you call that online mode of Mario Kart:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/02/t ... -consoles/

I have played it, but my kids are/were so much better at it.

I am SO glad I didn't buy my kids a Wii U after buying a Wii. I will never buy another Nintendo item again. My son plays on Steam now, and I would rather sink money into kick ass video cards for PC and/or let him drop a few bucks on that stuff, over an Xbox, PS4, or whatever Nintendo is trying to pawn off now.

Not the same game, actually. I'm talking about Mario Kart 8, not the old Wii version. Frankly, I was expecting the shutdown of the original Wii stuff to happen. Inevitable, really.

That being said, I tend to share your view towards this sort of thing, which is something I think I've stated about 80 billion times on this forum now. Typically I prefer PC gaming over... everything. With fighting games being the exception. I will say though: Nintendo's stuff, this time around, the Wii U and 3DS... they turned out great. Wasnt *I* surprised. I really hated the original Wii. Quite a lot. But this one actually turned things around quite nicely, and is putting out stuff that even I like. Which coming from me, is saying something.

But yeah, other than that, I definitely tend to go with the PC stuff more. Particularly as alot of the mainstream games (like all them shooters) just get worse and worse... it's the indie guys (usually, not always) that end up giving me the stuff that's actually interesting.

BUT, even with alot of those, the thing I bring up in this topic happens. I've seen LOTS of different games on Steam, games of all levels, come out, they seem like HOLY CRAP AWESOME, everyone's playing them online... and then a month down the road, and BAMF, everyone's vanished. When it happens on PC, it happens even FASTER than on consoles. Since I buy games with extreme frequency, I've seen it happen.... so many times. And it's very frustrating.

I hope Splatoon doesn't meet the same fate. Its the one thing that turns me off the game. There's lots of games I got that heavily featured online but there was hardly any players. Armoured Core V is a great example; was fun but the low number of players killed it off for me. Also played Ratchet and Clank Q-Force within launch as well and no-one's playing. Eventually gave up on it. So now I just avoid any game that doesn't have a good dose of single-player gameplay.

Also, when was the Wii purchased because it was pretty much getting discontinued and the shutting down of Mario Kart's online features was always going to be expected. Its hardly Nintendo's fault, its just a customers misinformation.

Most games with online mods during the last generation used Gamespy's APIs and servers.
When Gamespy was bought, the company that bought them shut down the online portion.
This caused most games to lose their online modes.

As of this new gen, Sony, Konami, WBi, Ubisoft and EA have shut down quite a few games already and it hasn't been more than 3 years yet for the 3 systems.


I wouldn't worry about Nintendo, all their games that didn't use Gamespy API and servers are still running, including a few DS games.

Hell Nintendo is still actively trying to expand Code Name :S.T.E.A.M's online play and that game bombed hard!
There is a lot of very low selling 3DS and Wii U games that still have online play going.

It's the Wii U, not the Wii, which is the reason why it was bothering me; you know, Mario Kart 8? The current Kart, not the previous one (I'm not going to bother to play one of the old ones when there's a more recent one to play, that'd be silly). This is why I was so surprised; how could this most recent Kart have nobody on? Particularly when I look at other games on their service and.... they're doing just fine. Like Smash, which is doing just freaking wonderful (which pleases me).

As for the original Wii, I sold that old thing years ago; I still have a couple of leftover games but they're all singleplayer types.



I probably should have clarified in the original post a bit, but note that when I say a "dead online game" I dont mean one that's been shut down (though that applies too), I mean one that IS still going.... but that hardly anyone actually plays. I can understand a game shutting down; that's inevitable for most, eventually. Ya gotta shift focus at some point, after all, cant keep them things going absolutely forever. But still being active yet having hardly any players online, just... ugh.

Yeah, I forgot to mention in my post, that that is very strange, especially since they just had new DLC released. Maybe they were having some issues with the servers or something.

Well Nintendo has been doing server maintenance the past few weeks.
Though Mario Kart 8 is seeing regular bouts of activity and decline.