Thief : MULTIPLAYER? - General Speculation & Discussion

[acridrose]

I suppose one thing that hasn't really been spoken of is a potential multiplayer component. Now we all know thief is and always has been a focused single player experience, the "ultimate stealth experience". Let's discuss what you would like to see if there were to be a potential co-op campaign, or perhaps versus. We have seen how fun multiplayer stealth can be through T2 multiplayer, Black cat games, etc- so would you like to see multiplayer brought to thief? What would you like?
Peace.

[Phaid]

Frankly, I don't see any reason why the devs should waste their time and effort on creating, polishing and balancing a multiplayer mode.
Thief is a single player experience.

[Necros]

Originally Posted by Phaid

Frankly, I don't see any reason why the devs should waste their time and effort on creating, polishing and balancing a multiplayer mode.
Thief is a single player experience.

QFT!

Working on a MP mode would hurt the SP development. Giving it to an other team is also a bad idea because they can screw it up and it will reflect bad on the team and the game too. If the game will be anything like the previous entries in the series, there's no need for MP because it will replayable, many times. And the lifespan? People are still playing with Thief 1, and that's 10 years old now. Just release an SDK and if some people want to do it, I don't mind.

[Thievingtaffer]

Originally Posted by Phaid

Thief is a single player experience.

QFT

Any MP feature should be added by mods only. Methinks.

[Necros]

Originally Posted by Phaid

Frankly, I don't see any reason why the devs should waste their time and effort on creating, polishing and balancing a multiplayer mode.
Thief is a single player experience.

This. An MP should only be worked on after the SP is finished or they could give it to an other dev team. I don't care, the important thing is that the SP has to be their focus.

And NO frelling co-op or versus mode!!! They wouldn't make any sense in a Thief game.

ⓣⓐⓕⓕⓔⓡ, I'm not stuck in the past. But believe it or not, some games don't need MP, at all or it just wouldn't work well. Some games can be successful without it too. Bioshock 1 didn't have MP and it sold a lot of copies. Same with Oblivion for example.

[ⓣⓐⓕⓕⓔⓡ]

Originally Posted by Necros

ⓣⓐⓕⓕⓔⓡ, I'm not stuck in the past. But believe it or not, some games don't need MP, at all or it just wouldn't work well. Some games can be successful without it too. Bioshock 1 didn't have MP and it sold a lot of copies. Same with Oblivion for example.

I don't see Thief 4 as marketable as a futuristic, gore-heavy FPS like Bioshock or epic RPG like Oblivion, but whatever. It CERTAINLY won't be if they make it like Thief The Dark Project or Thief 2.

[Necros]

Originally Posted by ⓣⓐⓕⓕⓔⓡ

I don't see Thief 4 as marketable as a futuristic, gore-heavy FPS like Bioshock or epic RPG like Oblivion, but whatever. It CERTAINLY won't be if they make it like Thief The Dark Project or Thief 2.

Of course it can't be marketed like that. They have to come up with some clever marketing for sure, but it shouldn't be too hard.I mean, they could talk about the great story, the interesting characters, the gameplay that you won't see anywhere else, the new installation to the greatest stealth game genre, the medieval steam-punk fantasy kind of setting, the cool graphics, and so on... I'm sure they can sell it without MP or co-op. Just throw in replayability and long single player campaign and those will get many people's attention.

[Acrid]

Originally Posted by Necros

Of course it can't be marketed like that. They have to come up with some clever marketing for sure, but it shouldn't be too hard.I mean, they could talk about the great story, the interesting characters, the gameplay that you won't see anywhere else, the new installation to the greatest stealth game genre, the medieval steam-punk fantasy kind of setting, the cool graphics, and so on... I'm sure they can sell it without MP or co-op. Just throw in replayability and long single player campaign and those will get many people's attention.

But multiplayer has better a lot of fun then single player,there you have online with friends or
gamers,fans you can playing with alive gamers

[Xenoc]

Originally Posted by Phaid

Frankly, I don't see any reason why the devs should waste their time and effort on creating, polishing and balancing a multiplayer mode.
Thief is a single player experience.

Agreed, EM please make the SP the greatest experience ever... I demand it!

[TafferTim]

There are an awful lot of younger players here that have come of age in the multi-player era, and for that I can understand the desire for MP. However, Thief is simply not the place for it. Part of the whole Thief experience is being out there on your own, that sense of aloneness and vulnerability. I can't imagine having other team members, or even just one, with me in the game, having no control of how slow or quiet they are, having to share my loot... they would probably be the first one to get black-jacked.

There is more than enough MP out there already, and Thief definitely falls into the category of "just because you can doesn't mean you should" - ya know, like that unnecessary third-person view in TDS.

If you can't handle the zombies by yourself, then maybe Thief isn't the series for you.

[mister_riz]

In my humble opinion this is a single player game first, and and MP element should probably only be attempted as an expansion after the SP component is successfully produced.

[StalinsGhost]

No.

Unless they give it to another team.

[Bukary]

Thief is a single player experience. Definitely.

Garrett is a lone wolf.

[acridrose]

Agreed- but Garrett is more than a lone wolf, he's hardly even physical- he's a shadow and a voice.
But being creative, mp could be completely separate.

[Masterthief-Garrett]

How about creating an online co-op mode. Two thieves casing a house, distracting and taking out the guards and robbing the city blind. Sounds like it could be much fun to me.

[negative_len]

Multiplayer is supposed to be a game. Single-player is supposed to explore a world. It's like comparing monopoly and a book.

[Barokna]

Originally Posted by negative_len

Multiplayer is supposed to be a game. Single-player is supposed to explore a world. It's like comparing monopoly and a book.

Nice example. But I think the Thief serie is a mixture of both.
I guess, a very impotant thing - next to the story and the characters - in Thief is the atmosphere. It were the little letters and books you could read. Sometimes they included more or less useful hints, sometimes they just let the story appear deeper. And that's what i loved in Thief.
If you make a MP mode it's more than likeley this atmosphere will be destroyed. I think, people won't take the time to read every 'unneccessary' letter if there is another one, who does'nt care or knows this part already.
But I guess a Coop-Mode would be a nice thing. A second thief could be able to turn a switch somewhere while the other goes through the new opened door before it closes. Or someone could lead a watch away while the other does his 'trade'.
Which leads me to a very interesting point: Communication.
I think, a chat display would be distrubing. So I'd say: You make a plan, before you get into. After that the only way to communicate is by 'speaking' and 'whispering'. This would be bordered. You can't shout through the whole castle, dungeon, cathedral or wahtever. If you want to explain something, the other has to be in range. And this makes noise.
I guess this would be a nice way to resque the atmosphere. And it would'nt get too easy.
What do you think about?

[acridrose]

Originally Posted by negative_len

Multiplayer is supposed to be a game. Single-player is supposed to explore a world. It's like comparing monopoly and a book.

I'm surprised in this day and age people still take this view. I think with so many fantastic minds and games out there, this kind of distinction has been disproved. SP games do not need to be book-like whatsoever, similarly MP respectively need not be "arcade"-like. Games like Modern Warfare (*shudder*) feed this classic genre stereotype. I mean look at what Arkane studios were doing with The Crossing.

[wolfenstein]

Originally Posted by Phaid

Frankly, I don't see any reason why the devs should waste their time and effort on creating, polishing and balancing a multiplayer mode.
Thief is a single player experience.

Well if you look at games like L4D1/2 where the Single player mode is the basis for Online games I think you'd understand that there isnt a need to sacrifice resources away from creating an awesome single player game.

Using the L4D1/2 example again, the online modes add so much more to an otherwise linear Arcade Zombie Shoot 'em Up.

Versus Mode - Zombie Special infected try to stop Survivors making it through the map.
This one game play mode has probably kept the game in the top 10 steam games played each day since it was release and adds a totally new dimension to FPS. Using an unarmed (no weapons) zombie with a special ability to incapacitate survivors is a spark of genius from Valve and if some similar VS mode were playable like maybe a Heist Mode Where Thieves Vs Guards or Taffers vs Truarts :P Could add a competitive element to the series

Survival -Survive wave after wave of zombies until you die, this could be simply Catch me if you can Mode Waves of burricks/Guards/Mechanists Chase you til you run out of health and die/captured

there is also

Mutation mode which is like an experimental mode , each week Valve play a "mutation" for the users, some of the mutations are Single player only mode, like only having 1 player with out the Bot characters to help, or only using Melee weapons, or only using pistols.

Originally Posted by Bukary

Thief is a single player experience. Definitely.

Garrett is a lone wolf.

I would say after playing T2:the metal age again, Garrett is Anti Social sure but like any one else he has to Pay rent, help pals with tricky relationship problems and ultimately I think he and the Keepers are closer then he would like to admit. In his ideal world he would be a lone wolf but in his reality he has many people who surround him and whom he is forced to interact with.

Watching the End trailer from Deadly Shadows which mirrors the Intro from T1:TDP surely opens up the Door for a 2 player Co-op or at least bot interaction like the type we've already seen in the earlier games.


Ultimately I think that if the games company has any foresight they will add some form of expandable Gsmeplay mode which isnt linear single player.
I mean I love replaying gamers on harder difficulties but when you master that then what?

Community mods are usually few and far between and the average mod which is worth playing on something like L4D2 usually takes it creator 2000 hours to develop (yes 2000 hours seems about the amount of time decent modders have taken to develop their skills and release a decent playable map with out any bugs)

I was acutally thinking about the possibility of some form of MMO with the Factions. Mechanists/Hammerites/Keepers/Mages/Thieves/Sailors/Pagans etc etc

I wont say its the best idea i've heard of for the thief game franchise but something more then just a linear story is needed now instead of a remake of Thief 1 with prettier gfx

Just my two cents

/rant

[Platinumoxicity]

Originally Posted by wolfenstein

Watching the End trailer from Deadly Shadows which mirrors the Intro from T1:TDP surely opens up the Door for a 2 player Co-op or at least bot interaction like the type we've already seen in the earlier games.

I hope you're not thinking that this 2 player co-op would be a part of the actual story, derived from the end cutscene, because that leaves only 2 options. 1# You can play as Garrett or a barely stealth-educated 10-year old kid. And 2# the story will skip the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the keeper order as if it's not at all important, and go straight to many years in the future just so that the game can justify the stealth abilities of the kid, and so that the kid doesn't need to be 10 years old anymore. Does either one of those two sound good? No.

[UrUkUs]

i wouldn't mind, if after T4 release, they'll make T4 Multiplayer addon

[Nate]

Well, multiplayer would bring in more gamers. It would also increase the re playability of the game and extend the game's lifespan. Finally, it would result in more $PROFIT$ for Eidos.

I (and my taffing friends) would personally love to see a multiplayer component. It could be custom multiplayer maps for team vs team games (Thieves versus Guards as in Thievery)....you would still need some standard AI guards and difficulty options in the mix though.

I would also love to see a 2 player Co-Op mode for the Campaign so my buddy and I could run through the game as a team....of course difficulty and # of guards would have to be increased for balance.

I know that this thread is going to see a lot of Thief 'purists' angry at any multiplayer suggestions. But multiplayer WON'T take away from the single player experience....so no need to get upset about it?

Instead, it will bring in a lot options for gamers, AND more $ for Eidos. This is a good thing for everybody. The better the game does, the more likely tools and add ons are made for it. Not to mention the better the chances of a Thief 5.

[BentlyTCow]

Originally Posted by Nate

Not to mention the better the chances of a Thief 5.

I assume you mean Thi5f.

I think Thief is a one-player game. Unless it's multiplayer hide-and-seek...

[Vladimyre]

Multiplayer would completely dilute the single player experience and IMHO be a complete waste of valuable resources that can really be an asset to this game. Put the time into sound, AI, and atmophere that's what this series embodies.

[kin]

The game editor for thief is equal with a multiplayer for other games.