Why I Stopped Playing Multiplayer Games (and I’m Happier For It)

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with online multiplayer games. To me, it has some of the worst highs and lows in gaming than any other genre. On the one hand, they’re really fun with friends, but on the other, multiplayer games come with a lot of baggage. So much so, I’ve given up on playing multiplayer games altogether and realized I’m happier without them. Here’s why…

1 Playing By Myself Is How I Recharge

Socializing for me is pretty fun, but also very draining. My family’s big and that means a lot of birthdays, get-togethers, and holidays. I get all the socializing right there, so playing online games, where it’s also expected, cuts into my decompression.

It’s one of my core reasons for staying away from live service games. I do have an open-door policy for co-op games, though, as I’d sooner play Goat Simulator 3 with my kids than by myself.

Single-player games are how I escape from the daily grind, especially RPGs. Getting to experience a handcrafted story, at my own pace, is like a brain massage. And you know what? When I meet up with friends and family who game, we share our experiences, anyway. It loops all the way back!

I’m usually playing more than one game at a time as well. Right now it’s Starfield, Boltgun, and a handheld emulator. I’m in gaming bliss, cycling between the games based on my mood. No one else is running my clock except me.

2 Scheduling Is a Nightmare

Just trying to get a handful of people together for a retro night (like I have at my place) makes me desperately wish I could see into the future. It doesn’t matter the size, but the odds of plans falling through are exponentially worse the more people there are.

I felt this the most in World of Warcraft—and it never mattered how organized a guild was. You always have some people five, 10, 20 minutes behind because they’re still traveling or dawdling in town. Oh, and that’s if the servers are running to begin with.

On the other end of the spectrum, when everyone shows up on time and ready to shred, I can’t say that the going doesn’t get good. That feeling of everyone being locked in, as a unit, is pretty hard to replicate alone.

3 I Never Could Handle Griefing and Toxicity

Give people anonymity and they can be the biggest nuisance in the world, like some bully destroying the sandcastle you were quietly building. What makes it worse is that people go out of their way to get under your skin. It’s not uncommon for said people to escalate it to harassment, either.

Griefing and toxicity got so bad in League of Legends, I stopped playing Summoner’s Rift altogether. Once in a blue moon, I might play, but it’s All Random, All Mid (ARAM) only. You get a random champion, one lane, and no one cares if you build correctly.

Then there’s the trash talking. Any multiplayer game with communication between players is immediately muted and disabled. People are weirdly racist and hateful sometimes.

4 More Time For Other Hobbies and Skills

Multiplayer games have very different expectations, time being the most important. To log on every day for daily quests, dungeons, raids, and leaderboards starts to feel like a second job. At that point, I’m not playing because I want to, it’s out of obligation.

Along with toxicity and griefing, I’d rather spend that time on something else. I’ve got a bunch of cookbooks I’ve been meaning to crack open. I just replaced the strings on my guitar, and my reading list keeps growing, as does my watch list.

5 I Save Money For the Games I Want

Every time I see a new multiplayer release or free-to-play game, my first thought isn’t how fun it might be, but wondering how bad the microtransactions are. The constant blast of manipulative advertising gives me whiplash.

And if it’s on console, where I play the most, I have to buy a subscription to even play online in the first place. Sheesh! I’m getting tired of being nickel-and-dimed. The moment I left that behind was the moment so many doors opened.

What’s crazy is, the money you spend on a $20 digital skin is enough to get great indie games on GOG, consoles, and Steam. They’re popping off left and right. AA is a good place to look, too!

At the end of the day, my gaming habits changed for the better. I don’t hate multiplayer games, but most of the time, it has a net negative effect on my experience. I still recommend them if you have a competitive streak, just keep your cool.