Do players that like story-driven co-op also like the co-op experiences possible in Minecraft or Halo3:Forge?

I can only speak for myself. I don't much like sandbox scenarios like you mention. I prefer a fully crafted story and clear goals. But of course, that's just me. Others may be more open minded and enjoy both.

Thinking about this, as others have said, part of it is that when you play co-op, especially with friends, not many people play, "In character", you end up playing as yourselves, and chatting away and bringing in all sorts of out of character knowledge and experience into the game. In some ways, Journey manages to do a game with a story, as it completely limits the communication allowed between players.

Though games still tend to be designed for singleplayer first, and don't seem to attribute actions to one player or the other, but to a group as a whole. Which can be a bit frustrating. I recall the Neverwinter Nights series, where I would be busy shopping with an NPC, only to get status messages like, "Your actions have modified your alignment towards evil (3 points)", randomly, because another one of my party members was off causing trouble.

I'm just picturing "The Last of Us" Co-Op now... Thanks -_-

Was there ever such a time when co-op was mainstream though?

I feel like this has always been an underdog game mode.

That being said, there's a lot of multiplayer sandbox games out there that allow you to play cooperatively (and an increasing number at that), so I'm not sure its actually in decline.

(referring to games that followed in the stead of minecraft such as the highly popular Space Engineers)

Was there ever such a time when co-op was mainstream though?
I feel like this has always been an underdog game mode.

I suppose you have a point. I guess looking back there has never really been as big a Co-Op scene. I think want the gaming world to give us a captivating Co-Op game and so far there hasn't been that many to come close. I feel like with technology what it is today Sacrificing depth for Co-Op shouldn't Have to happen. Hopefully im right and that will change soon.

First of all i feel people may be confusing MP and Co op. Minecraft for example is not a coop game, it is however a multiplayer game in which you can play co-operatively.

Now this then leads to actual co op games. They are far and few between, and i think most people have pointed out often a by product of the single player experience. You have a few good example that took the extra steps a little like the gears series or dead space, but ultimately fell into the trap of stupid AIs at some point in the single player (Gears 1 i found almost impossible to complete in SP mode due to the AI dying within 5 seconds in the final boss stage).

The problem like so many have pointed out is the publisher wants to make money and thats either SP or MP. It seems us here are the minority who want the coop experience and the majority want the esport that is now CoD MP. I have always preferred coop but for more or less found nothing other the course of playing games for almost 30 years. High speed internet has more or less killed the LAN scene. In the past we needed to have LANs to enjoy certain games, nowadays we can all sit in our own houses with VOIP and happily play with 10 other friends night after night with out the hassle of lugging our PCs about.

As for actual coop games in my own honest opinion i dont see the market for them. An AI isnt a substitute for your friend, and time constraints etc also make coop nigh on impossible (well for most people over 18 i would guess this is true) and this could then take away from the game as a coop or single player experience. I feel really it is just a case of if you can play a mp co-operatively then fine, i love playing Minecraft, DayZ, BF etc with mates, but if they are not there i can still have fun playing by myself. I am talking as a person who loves coop games, i would love to see someone make a truly fantastic coop game, but my head tells me it really isnt possible and would just flop as it would detract from either the sp or mp aspect of the game.

I agree, not enough good Co-op games. I\My girlfriend is a gamer and it sucks we can't even game anymore like the good ol' days, unless we want to play halo -.-

Co-op games are few and far between, but I believe that there is a demand for these types of games. Games that usually stand out for me are ones that are very puzzle heavy and not so much story driven like Portal 2 and Forced. Of course you have your Halo and Borderland games, but the co-op of those games don't really feel like we are working together. I know that their is less money in making co-op games, but their is definitely a demand for them.