When Video Games Die

[instantreplay]

One thing that's truly depressing about current gen gaming is that video games can now truly die and never be played again. Sure it's been happening with MMORPGs for a while now but we're starting to see it more and more with the rise of multiplayer only games; once a game goes offline, you can never play it again.

I recently booted up Paragon only to learn that its servers officially shut down and its really depressing finding out you'll never be able to play a game that you really enjoyed (personally I don't spend money on loot boxes or shit because of this very reason).

[seether]

It's kind of inherent in multiplayer games that servers get shut down or the player base dwindles to play new games after they have their fill so matchmaking becoming painfully slow or impossible.

It's not limited to online current gen gaming, there's no one playing Halo: CE on OG Xbox online right now either.

[badATchaos]

This is what I love about some PC games. Some games give you all the server files so you can run your own server and even make your own rules and mods. Even if official support for the game stopped ten years ago, people can still play the game.  It's great if you want to play a couple rounds with your friends years later. Just a couple weeks ago I jumped into a Day of Defeat server and there were people still playing it. - A game from 2003!

Unfortunately this is starting to go away. - At least with AAA games anyways.

[dreama1]

The historians will have a hard time documenting it.

[oldgamerz]

This is what I love about some PC games. Some games give you all the server files so you can run your own server and even make your own rules and mods. Even if official support for the game stopped ten years ago, people can still play the game.  It's great if you want to play a couple rounds with your friends years later. Just a couple weeks ago I jumped into a Day of Defeat server and there were people still playing it. - A game from 2003!

Unfortunately this is starting to go away. - At least with AAA games anyways.

Believe it or not the original Doom series can still be played online I think through engines like Zandronum or Zdaemon. their also is mods for original Doom that can turn the game into something other than doom, just like the fact that there is even a Call Of Duty Modern Warfare weapons mod for doom and 1000's of other free mods for the original doom both multiplayer and single player both.

[cirno]

I think is why making multiplayer-only games shows an incredible lack of foresight.

Pretty much any multiplayer-focused game you could think of that came out ten years ago not only is still at least viable for couch multiplayer, but has at least enough singleplayer content that you could at least waste a few hours on it; but then nowadays companies are expecting us to pay 60 bucks for what's gonna end up being a brick in a few months

[telly]

The only multiplayer only game I ever "owned" was Ace Combat Infinity. That game was free, so I didn't mind that it was eventually going to be taken off the PSN. I still got plenty of hours of entertainment from it.

[badATchaos]

lol. Foresight?

Do you think the publishers care at all? Games are just a consumable that companies pump out.  If anything, it's a good thing. It allows publishers to create remakes and sell you almost the same content again.

The same thing happened with a lot of radio and early TV shows. They're just gone and not many of the creators cared about it.

[cirno]

Yeah, you're right, I did't really consider that it has no negative impact on the publishers at all.

Still kinda sucks for us tho