Online multiplayer then (Halo era, i.e. 2004 to 2007) vs now

Perhaps I'm just showing my age, but does online, competitive multiplayer seem to not be as great as it used to be? I have fond memories of Halo 2, 3 and actually, even Reach during the years they were popular. It almost seems like a golden age to me that has since passed. These days we've got Fortnite, Overwatch, Call of Duty Black Ops 4 (!), etc. It just doesn't seem like online gaming is as good as it used to be. What are everyone else's thoughts?

It's a normal thing for any industry, right now almost everyone is a gamer (even mobile players), the market grows as developers realize what appeals to the most of the people. For example I remember playing CS or TF2, the whole servers were talking and shitting on each other (just for fun, no offense), and now everybody is just silent. Things change, and you can see those changes miles away, so you can be ready for whatever)))

Everything was better in the good ole days

I think that much like the rest of gaming the online multiplayer aspect has improved as well. The online gameplay has improved and there’s a lot more variety and modes these days then there was in the past.

doubtful, more likely you life was just better then it is now and you associate incorrectly

I do agree 2004- 2007 was a million times better for me as someone that use to enjoy MP gaming games like

• Medal of Honor Allied Assault even though this came out in 02 the servers where still pack in these years.
• Battlefield 2 back when BF played like BF
• Counter Strike Source
• F.E.A.R. Combat

Multiplayer gaming back then was better no stupid lootboxes and microtransactions also this was before Youtubers and twitch streamers bastardize online gaming. And the games back then where the best that's subjective of course but MP games these days to me are trash.

Maybe I just don't play enough Online Shooters but Quake: Champions does the job for me.

I'm one of those people who doesn't follow Destiny or Call of Duty, but have played PUBG and Fortnite. And while I'm not against those latter games existence like a few I've seen. I find Battle Royale games too slow paced for my liking. And much prefer to dodge shots by side stepping and flying from a rocket blast.

I think it might just be that the excitement of actually getting MP to work has worn off slightly. I still play mostly online .... a lot of PUBG right now, quite a bit of BF1, Gears 4, the occasional bf4 session, SOT is still fun ...... but nothing can beat the first time I played BF2 online.

Online is much better now, without a doubt. But, I guess people confuse back then being better than what we have now because of the nostalgia factor.

I remember playing Halo CE PC MP a lot back in the day. Good times. But it wasn’t better in terms of how accessible MP is now. The nostalgia is what I look back on.

I agree but also disagree nostalgia surely plays a factor but the question is can you still play a old MP game from over a decade ago and still prefer it's gameplay over newer titles if the answer is yes then it's not nostalgia .This is my case I prefer Battlefield 2's slower tactical gameplay over the newer games that play more like a COD twitch shooter.

Back then Halo was a huge standout game for the console audience, also very, very heavily marketed cooped with the fact that Xbox was a new console and it was the flag ship game.

Now a days there are really just too many options, Fortnite fits the bill for various different reasons, it's free2play, it's accessible to PC and console gamers, it has a nice artstyle, it is in kind of a unique genre that gaming has not seen before.

If you are interested in Halo, I will have you know there are players that still play Halo: The Master Chief Collection as well as Halo 5, you just need to search some of the more common playlists in these games (i.e. Slayer, Team Arena, Big Team Battle)

The BF2 days on OG Xbox were easily my favorite time as an online player. Clan matches on Bridge Too far and Deadly Pass. Shooting choppers down with my 120mm.

One of my best gaming memories was leaving base on Deadly Pass at the beginning of the match, firing a single tank shot across the middle of the map and getting 5 kills hitting their chopper on lift off. The whole clan erupted on the mic.

Online multiplayer games were a nice change when they came out. Now they are just miserable. I'm done with them. Back to single player only here.

it's more of an issue with emphasis than gameplay. Imagine one of the older style Battlefield games with today's tech? But we're not getting that...we're getting watered down arcade shooters for wallet warriors, occasional gamers and people who don't want to use a mic. I'm not trying to disparage; accessibility is the word in today's market. You get more money with less skill gap and so people make games that way.

I think some aspects of online play are better, while others are worse. There's a PC game called Eco right now that you can play solo, but it's meant to be played with others. The whole point of the game is to work together, build an economy, but don't destroy the ecosystem.....all while trying to save the planet from a meteor that's going to hit in 30 real life days. An awesome concept that I really got into....even created my own server....but then other people started joining my server. That's when I lost all interest in the game. People just want to be #1. They don't care about the actual concept of working together. They didn't even try to work together. Then, you have game genres like MMORPG. When they first started getting popular, those games were great....yeah, there was a lot of grinding depending on the game, but even so, people worked together, games had depth, and it was all community based. Now it's mash the buttons, hurry to max level, get max gear, and wait for the expansion.

So, in general, people and dumbed down online play ruined multiplayer for me. It may be awhile before we get back to good multiplayer games again.....so for now, I'll stick with solo play, or playing with close friends and family. Once gamers start forming good communities again, and once online games stop pandering to the "instant gratification" players, maybe then I'll get back into it.