There seems to be more games these days with multiplayer in them so, my question is what do you think makes the multiplayer experience funner?

Multiplayer games gain a lot of replayability when they allow the players to change the settings around. It's handy to be able to give a handicap to one player, nice to be able to choose whether the multiplayer is competitive or cooperative, nice to be able to control the overall difficulty, and nice to be able to turn on humorous or extra-challenging conditions for a single round or until the players want to turn them off again.

Beyond that it depends on what kind of multiplayer game you're talking about - something where players are constructing decks of cards to battle each other is quite different from something where players are having an arcade-style brawl, or sneaking around trying to shoot each other, or cooperating to defeat a dungeon with a big boss, or gathering resources and building armies as fast as they can to throw against each other until one is exterminated.

One of the really innovative things modern warfare did was have this constant progression. The player couldn't lose XP only gain it making it feel like you were constantly rewarded without an element of risk.

I've had an idea rattling around my head for some time (haven't fleshed it out due to the other project I'm currently working on). The basis is that the online system works a bit like facebook. You get notifications, can start chats on the fly, ingame without pausing, and see if you're tagged in any screenshots or user videos.
Notificatons would pop up if someone rated one of your maps or left you a player review (people can view your profile and see what people have said about you in the past).

as I said, not fleshed out at all but I see potential there :)

The absence of bad AI.

Beating an AI opponent never really feels as "legitimate" as beating an online opponent. I also prefer team play. Even when playing on pubs where there is very little teamwork, for some reason it is still my preference to have a team. One thing that is most important is having evenly matched skills. Utterly destroying a noob before they can even get started is boring. Being utterly destroyed without making any headway is frustrating. The most fun games I've had in online play have always been long back-and-forth stalemates where I had to be at the top of my game just to stay even.

Similar for cooperative games. It's not much fun playing with someone who has beaten a level a million times and is running on autopilot, impatiently barking orders and complaining about teammates doing it wrong. Most fun is playing a coop level that is the first time for everyone involved.

Also, sometimes I just like screwing around. After HL2 deathmatch became boring I played on coop and non-combat/puzzle maps and would clown around with other players who didn't take things too seriously. Then I discovered Garry's Mod which is like the ultimate screwing around game.

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Original post by Bladerz666 I've had an idea rattling around my head for some time (haven't fleshed it out due to the other project I'm currently working on). The basis is that the online system works a bit like facebook. You get notifications, can start chats on the fly, ingame without pausing, and see if you're tagged in any screenshots or user videos. Notificatons would pop up if someone rated one of your maps or left you a player review (people can view your profile and see what people have said about you in the past). as I said, not fleshed out at all but I see potential there :)

Didn't Activision already integrate everything into Facebook?

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Original post by Storyyeller Quote: Original post by Bladerz666 I've had an idea rattling around my head for some time (haven't fleshed it out due to the other project I'm currently working on). The basis is that the online system works a bit like facebook. You get notifications, can start chats on the fly, ingame without pausing, and see if you're tagged in any screenshots or user videos. Notificatons would pop up if someone rated one of your maps or left you a player review (people can view your profile and see what people have said about you in the past). as I said, not fleshed out at all but I see potential there :) Didn't Activision already integrate everything into Facebook?

I don't mean like that, I think Xbox Live implemented those features a while back. What I mean was the game having its own, individual system that works on a similar basis to facebook, just entirely in game.

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Original post by Bladerz666 I've had an idea rattling around my head for some time (haven't fleshed it out due to the other project I'm currently working on). The basis is that the online system works a bit like facebook. You get notifications, can start chats on the fly, ingame without pausing, and see if you're tagged in any screenshots or user videos. Notificatons would pop up if someone rated one of your maps or left you a player review (people can view your profile and see what people have said about you in the past).

Have you ever looked at Gaia Online? Not exactly what you have in mind but it might give you more ideas.

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Original post by Hollower Beating an AI opponent never really feels as "legitimate" as beating an online opponent. I also prefer team play. Even when playing on pubs where there is very little teamwork, for some reason it is still my preference to have a team.

That's interesting. I've heard other people say much the same thing - that they're mainly interested in playing against and with other people. Personally I feel the opposite - I prefer solo pve and get very frustrated when I'm forced into team play, especially teams of more than 3. I do like having other people in the same game world as me, because that makes the world feel real and not boring. I do like chatting to other people within the game, and dueling a single opponent, or working together with a single irl friend as a teammate. But man I hate the responsibility of being part of a team and the nagging necessity of paying attention to so many people, I don't enjoy losing half the time or knowing that in order for me to win someone else just lost and is unhappy, and I really really hate when I manage to accomplish solo something which is supposed to require a team but get no recognition or reward for that achievement.

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Original post by sunandshadow That's interesting. I've heard other people say much the same thing - that they're mainly interested in playing against and with other people. Personally I feel the opposite - I prefer solo pve and get very frustrated when I'm forced into team play, especially teams of more than 3.

When writing the above comments I was thinking about shooters. It's funny because in the context of (M)MORPGs I actually agree with you. I haven't been much into RPGs since the good old days of EQ and UO, but when I have I prefer solo and small groups, and hate large-scale raids. I tend to fall squarely into Bartle's spade/explorer category. Grouping should definitely not be required or overly advantageous, it should simply be a different way of playing. I would hate to be refused some challenge with a message like "Sorry, you need 20 of your closest friends with you before you can enter".