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Do you miss playing multiplayer games? I do.
I used to be an avid MMO player who would play everything from Maple Story to Guild Wars and even the most obscure such as Megaten/Imagine Online.
Over the years, my interest in the genre faded, but that doesn’t mean I stopped playing online multiplayer games. After MMOs, I became a fan of MOBAs and easily sunk more than 1000 hours on them.
But then, I moved in with my girlfriend, got a job, and eventually had a sweet baby girl. And as a result, my time gaming was reduced, as I’ve mentioned in other blog posts:
• Balancing fatherhood and gaming;
• Is it normal to not finish video games?;
Consequently, I had to make choices and start to avoid online games due to how time-consuming most of them are. Since you can’t pause them, you have to make an extra commitment.
However, recently, I decided to bring back to my life some form of online gaming, and after some analysis I managed to play Street Fighter 6 against other people regularly.
Following the steps I took might help answer the following question:
“How to find more time for online multiplayer games?”
What is a Multiplayer Game?
First, we need to quickly establish what a multiplayer online game is. To me, the existence of an online functionality that allows me to connect and play with other players, directly or not, falls under this category.
So, Street Fighter 6, despite having a single-player campaign, has an online matchmaking that allows me to play with other players, making an online game as well.
Managing your Time and your health
This is the tip I give in every post that about time management in video games. You need to make a schedule for your week and find out the best time to game. However, no gaming session is worth sleep deprivation, which will affect your health and your real responsibilities.
After having your week laid out in front of you, you can start looking at blocks of time that can be optimized.
Also, I still believe that the best time to play video games is in the morning, especially if you’re someone like me that has a 9-5 and a daughter. I go to sleep early and have my 8 hours sleep time before anyone in the house wakes up.
At this time of the day, I’m full of energy and I know I won’t be bothering, or bother anyone with my gaming session.
The different types of Multiplayer Online Games
Not all online games are the same, and depending on the genre, they require a different level of commitment. And it’s not easy to just separate into Casual and Competitive since, inside Casual MMOs, there are more hardcore challenges for the player.
While I consider Fall Guys a game of low commitment, if your goal is to get 1st, then it shifts into a high commitment game.
Before you start playing, you should establish your goal and establish what you want to achieve with the game you are playing.
If the commitment is low, just establishing and optimizing your routine should be enough, since you can drop off at any time you want. This is especially true if you are playing the game by yourself.
And the same can be applied for MMOs that require huge Raid Parties like FF XIV, even if the commitment is higher. Since you have others relying on you, make sure you schedule it for a session where you won’t be bothered!
Also, if you want to raid with a certain number of people who are lacking in time, it’s important that you communicate with each other and share your schedules in a shared file! This way, everyone will be on the same page and know when you’ll be online to play.
But what if the commitment is extremely high?
Let’s say you want to be the best there ever was in Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, or reach Master Rank in Street Fighter 6? All of this will take thousands of hours of work. And if you only have a couple of hours each day, your dream is far away.
The best advice I can give is, optimize your play so you know you are making improvements in each session.
Optimize your Practice
When Splatoon 3 came out, I played terribly, but I loved the game and was determined to reach S-Rank with the little time I had.
What I did was splitting my sessions like so:
• 40% practice
• 50% playing matches
• 10% watching replays
In practice, I went through several movement drills on various maps and practiced my aiming with a particular weapon. Then I went online and played ranked while trying to implement the things I practiced.
After playing a good number of matches, I selected a couple of replays and watched them thoroughly to find out what else I needed to improve and catch bad habits that might become a problem in the future.
You will eventually become better than most people if you do this; good fundamentals are the road to success, even though it might take you some time.
Manage your expectations
In the end, it is not easy to find time to play online games since we all have different lives, schedules, and energy levels.
However, I believe that any routine can be optimized a bit. And if you write down your week while defining the goals of your multiplayer sessions, you’ll definitely find a crack to fit an hour or two of online gaming.
Just be sure to manage your expectations. While it’s possible to reach higher heights in competitive games, it will take longer to reach them. But, you can shorten that time by optimizing your gameplay sessions as well!
Good luck, and let me know which online games you’ve been playing lately!
Let me know if this format works for you!