Excellent article.

It's interesting that people who have been around games for ages (I'm 23, but I started with a Vic 20 in about 1988) - aren't as interested in this sort of thing than people who haven't been playing for ages.

Like you, I far prefer single player modes, and would go as far as to say that online gaming really doesent interest me. I may pick up Football Manager Live when it comes out, I may not - playing against other people doesent interest me, playing against a carefully crafted AI, that won't do ridiculous things to see if it can, does.

Could you imagine a massively multiplayer online version of say, Elite? - It would be complete chaos. The primary attraction of said game for me was that you could make your own way - do whatever you liked. If you wanted to make billions by trekking on a safe trading route, you could. If you wanted to fly off to the Frontier systems and battle pirates - or become one - you could. It's a shame that it's seen as 'cool' to disrupt other people's enjoyment/experience (ref, the famous Warcraft funeral, even the Leeroy Jenkins thing - if people want to plan meticulously, why shouldn't they?), which, in a way, is what the rewards system does to some.

Long live the Single Player game!