Topic: Multiplayer games aren't casual friendly

In recent years I have fallen out of love with online multiplayer games. A recent example is Splatoon 3. I joined a couple Splatoon Discord groups to play some Salmon Run and Non-Ranked matches but literally every player I have come across is well beyond my level because they apparently don't sleep lol. And everyone takes everything super serious and wants to be the top ranked player in the game.

I own to many games on multiple systems and tend to buy all the newest games coming out so I don't have time to dedicated hundreds of hours into one game. I also work over 40-50 hours a week and have kids (even a Grand kid), so when I use to play online I would find a few chill gamers and just have goofy fun a couple hours a day.

Anyone else running into this same issue?

@steventonysmith Yea I have, with Smash Bros.

I'd love to play multiplayer games but my younger brother and I don't gel well and he always wants to win and it becomes not fun.

I've tried to play online games but It's always with randoms, and it's never really fun.

I really want to find some people to set times with and just chill and have fun and play idk Mario Party on NSO when that comes out.

I stopped playing competitive multiplayer games after CoD MW 2 back in '09, lol. Twitch-reflex-gaming is for the young and everyone plays as though an MLG contract is on the line or something. Too serious for anyone who's looking for chill vibes in their video game.

@steventonysmith You have just described online gaming in general. There is no such thing as casual online gaming. The only thing you can do is just give yourself your own goals and go from there. I play CoD, Overwatch and even WoW and it's all the same. It's just the nature of online gaming.

You can finding a group of like minded players like you who are more casual focused or even some personal friends you know. That's what I did when I played WoW.

I have been looking for a Switch based discord group that is causal minded, so far I have failed. Does anyone know any groups that are a good one to join?

@steventonysmith I'm not an online gamer anymore as I prefer to take my time and enjoy single player experiences other than the odd exception here and there but I totally agree with you, I used to love the likes have COD and battlefield because no one cares or took it serious, KD ratios weren't a big deal or anything. These days I feel like the games and the likes of influencers push this volatile competitive nature which is no good for anyone in reality (just look at people freaking out on twitch smashing stuff as it's normal to do so).

In terms of a discord have you thought of starting your own and then posting it on here or somewhere to bring like minded people to you? I'm sure there will be people ☺️

Casual in gaming means a player that do not spend much time gaming. I mean extremely limited time spend on gaming

Most (not all but like 95%) games require you to put time in them in order to get good OR grind.

If you don't then you will not have a good time.

@Sparrow5579
I will look into starting one

That pretty much it with the creation of pro gaming and then the growth of YouTube and Twitch streamers it just about killed casual online gaming. The fact is that most of the kids playing games like Splatoon, CoD, Overwatch etc grew up on watching the streamers and such so they don't even know any other way to play a game other then super competitive.

Also unfortunately with playing online you are going to find people who can literally play the game from sun up to sun down and have an edge compared to you that can't. There's no way to avoid this unless you either do a private lobby with people you know, or you just don't play the game online.

I see what you mean. But sadly it’s just what’s natural when you have anything of a competitive nature.

I love online multiplayer, but some games are way more serious then others.

Fighting games are just plain competitive, because it’s you vs them. Team games wile still is can still be more casual depending on the community.

League is competitive because of how the community grew, Fortnite is kinda iffy, depending on the mode, overwatch is extremely competitive just because of its team mindset, and just one person can throw a game. Splatoon is surprisingly competitive, but that’s just how the community grew.

So yeah, depending on how the community grows and how the game can be played, will turn it into a more competitive game, but because it’s a competition, people aim to get better, and do there best, so would I agree that multiplayer games aren’t casually friendly? Pretty much, I say pretty much because I feel like, depending on how serious someone takes a game, will make it more casual or serious, battlefront is pretty casual in my opinion, it’s a mass team shooter, so one player is not going to ruin the game, and it’s just shooting fun, I have not played cod or battlefield so I wouldn’t know.

Some people also say just don’t care about winning or losing, but that’s kinda ignorant because we are human, and we have feelings

Sorry for the long post, Was just kinda writing what I was thinking in the moment. (I also think your always going to find a player that’s better then you, and your always going to face a player that’s weaker then you, that’s just what experience does, sorry I don’t think this adds to your point, just saying.) in short, yeah I agree, I still love online shooter like overwatch and Fortnite.

Another thing I thought of, and I don't know if it pertains to Splatoon cause I don't play Splatoon, but with games like CoD and WoW you have guides out there, on YouTube, and just website dedicated to putting together meta builds, basically the best weapon builds or character builds in the case of WoW. So nobody experiments with builds and such anymore because it's human nature that we want to be the best and no one likes to lose.

I don't think everyone is like that.

You go to a dedicated Discord and ya, you're gonna find super fans who take the game more seriously. For casual MP, just play against randoms, or ask ppl in the Splatoon 3 thread here to hop on with you.

That's how we do it here for Monster Hunter. We hop on, hunt, nobody takes it too seriously, we have fun and call it a day.

Splatoon 3 is such an incredible game. Easily top 10 greatest of all time for me. It's totally worth playing. But you have to understand not everyone is casual like we are. And that's OK. The game match makes based on skill level, so the higher level players bubble up and rise to the top, while us filthy casuals stay in our lane with the rest of the less committed.

I think online gaming is great for casuals to enter, but since they're repetitive, people learn all the secret tips and tricks as they play, even if thy are casual, and the new guys end up outmatched. nothing to do but push through the newbie phase, preferably with a really chill family member who's got your back and can have fun with you, and encourages you to keep trying and doesn't let you feel bad. It's not about gitting gud, it's about having fun.

I have only ever enjoyed online gaming in exactly one game: Monster Hunter Tri on Wii. The cooperative play was excellent and it really enhanced the game to work as a team. Every other game, especially competitive has been awful, except maybe the COD games on Wii U as the community was tiny due to the small install base and the fact that the ‘hardcore’ gamers would be on Xbox/PS.

For me nothing is the same as couch co-op. The N64 was the pinnacle of this (plus I was in the last couple of years of school so we all had the time for regular 4 player sessions). Nothing beats playing in the same room, especially the joy of a last minute victory.

Yes, there was still an issue of a difference in skill (of my friend group two of us had the system and games whilst the other two didn’t, so we could practice in one player mode) but after weeks of playing against each other the gap narrowed.

It’s funny to think that there is probably such a gulf between the online generation and those of us who were just reaching adulthood as the PS3/Xbox 360 ushered in the online age. I’m probably just stuck in my ways but I never bother to even look into most games online offerings (aside from the odd game of Mario Kart 7 on 3DS).

I'm definitely not one for online for the reasons given above, but I would be if there were games that allowed for skill matching and / or handicaps.

That way the 1337 bros could twitch their way to victory still while the back of the class like me can still do something while working out how to aim in the right direction.

I'm sure something like this must exist is some games?

Splatoon seem like an odd game to call out as the turf battles are very casual friendly with rank games providing the headache for casual gamers.

I dunno, I find online game more like games to be honest. So many of the single player AAA titles feel disposable as you do stuff to get to one cut scene from another and then finish it. Whilst online games are played over and over again for the sheer joy of playing it.

I nearly didn't buy splatoon 3 for a similar reason. When splat2n came out, It was my only game, I had so much time to spend on it, far from the same story now.
Too many games, or specifically too many fantastic single player experiences to justify spending hundred of hours 'gettin gud' in multiplayer online games. Nonetheless, I grabbed splatoon 3 and I have no regrets and I am playing it (and doing terribly I might add) in between whatever main game I'm currently playing and having a blast. I don't play enough to get salty that I'm not as good as anyone else who has put the time and effort in, I just do my best and have fun. Heck I may even get better slowly over time, but if i don't I'm quite comfy in C rank. (Yup I play ranked cause somehow its less aggressive then turf war which is supposed to be the causal mode) XD

I've recently started playing Destiny 2 and Splatoon 3 as my first multiplayer FPS games.

I definitely find the PVP in both to be a bit daunting at times but Splatoons one at least doesn't give me the sense that it's just me bringing the team down.
I also really like the medal system in Splatoon, as even if our butts get handed to us by a really strong team, you might still get a medal for inking your base the most or something similar.

@jump hmmm I do get what the OP was saying about Splatoon 3. I have young nieces and nephews who have bounced off the game even though I love it. They played a little single player to get used to controlling it, then tried turf war and just got penned into the spawn zone for five games straight. One nephew thought it was something he did wrong and was being bullied for it!! Poor kid. So.... dunno what can be done to smooth out matchmaking (if Nintendo bothers doing anything at all) but everything being so hyper-competitive does push players away who can't keep up.

@brendathecat I would not give a young kid Dark Souls or even Donkey Kong Country as it’s too hard, the same way I would not give a young kid Splatoon.

There’s a differences between get gud and having a game not being an empty challenge. If you want a game that just reward players for just turning it on the game then there’s plenty of those games already. If you’re reasonably competent than you can enjoy the game despite not mastering it, I’m not particularly winny at it but I’m still having fun.