One other point that I believe applies to some folks (not to me, heh):
Offline, you can use mods, save editors, and other “cheats”. Online (ideally) you can’t.
I’ve run into people who either can’t resist using these means to become more powerful if they’re available, but who feel their progress is then cheapened as a result… or who don’t want to be “competing” in an environment where other people might be doing this.
Personally, I’m non-competitive and don’t care what anybody else does, and I play exclusively solo. So I’m happy with offline in general. However, right now I have both an online and an offline character in LE, because I want to help stress the servers so bugs can be discovered and corrected Also, I’m kind of having more fun with my online character because for the moment, he’s way BEHIND my offline character… due to having no gold, crafting mats nor the uniques my offline chars have accumulated over the years.
Come release, I may play online as well, because we’ll have the Circle of Fate, and Cycles (seasons). We’ll see what those have to offer, but I’m intrigued.
Yes, this is a big part of it, and makes your progress feel more real. A friend might play and I could help them out with my powerful character. I’m more impressed with someone else’s character if it can join my game and kill stuff it feels more real.
Character power aside, my knowledge on a game feels more valuable if I could theoretically league-start with a friend and help them out in multiplayer.
As other’s mentioned it this should also come with secure servers/online storage, making cheating harder instead of trivial, but I see this as a separate point.
Same with tradeable items, top end items free more weighty if they can theoretically be sold or given to another player. Of course it’s a two-way street and comes with the downside of de-valuing almost everything else if you can easily buy items.
Sure, it is kinda already covered by the OP but isn’t marked as such. The most prominent answer was “I just want to have the option to play with others, so I could go for it if I wanted. But right now or rather most of the time I don’t want to.”. Other reasons were trade (to get easier access to more rare items) and being able to use the game as a chat room but we quickly reached the consensus that those aren’t good arguments because they either can be achieved without an always online multiplayer mode (e.g. LE’s chat that existed way before the multiplayer servers were a thing) or wouldn’t be necessary if they wouldn’t be a thing in the first place (trade). Btw, that discussion wasn’t specifically related to LE but games that offer both offline and online modes.
You’re right, I’ll tone it down.
I guess at least it lead to additional interest in the discussion, even though it wasn’t my intention. Social media shows that more controversially and aggressively formulated texts lead to way more interactions. Making people angry for clicks and therefore also moneys, I feel like this is the #1 priority for many influencers (and also mainstream media in some cases) these days.
To be honest I just want MP to play with a friend or two and being able to trade with them. If there was a LAN option would not even need to play MP. Farming in this game to get what you need is far more achievable than the likes of POE, crafting is satisfying and is not overly complicated and getting exalted gear with the right roll is actually exciting and is not essential as that is where min maxing comes in.
I play solo primarily because my friends and I are all available at different times, but I still want to play the game. I want my games to have multiplayer even if I’m not using it most/all of the time because we can play together when our schedules align.
I want to play MP with friends, but the game needs to have the basic bare minimum that’s found in every ARPG first (trading, a less encumbered gifting system, the game being generally functional in MP) Until then I will play solo and not consider the game as having Multiplayer.
I like to talk to people. I don’t like to run with people because I am old and slow and always feel like I am lagging behind. But, I really enjoy conversations when the community is pleasant, as this one seems to be.
We do not have trade yet, so I am avoiding multi until that happens.
Also all my stuff is in offline and no benefit to play online right now.
also online has lag, it may be just a tiny bit, the loading screens may take a second longer - but if I am not using multiplayer then I prefer the mode without lag. I am aware that it is literally impossible to make online without lag, so I do not think the online lag is the fault of the devs, lag just isn’t my thing.
I know more ARPGs that don’t come with any kind of trade system (or multiplayer features for that matter) than those that do. So, why is trade a bare minimum for you? And why is trade important to you at all? Why do you prefer lowered drop rates and rather trade for the items instead of farming them more easily yourself?
Whenever I see an online/offline option, I assume offline is for hacking/mods - which I want nothing to do with. So default is solo online. Perhaps a poor assumption, but something instilled that mindset in me along the way the past few decades…
Also, I’m kind of having more fun with my online character because for the moment, he’s way BEHIND my offline character… due to having no gold, crafting mats nor the uniques my offline chars have accumulated over the years.