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[cormack12]

Last we heard, it was supposed to be something like Dark Souls II where it's random players by default and there's a way to make it easier (but not guaranteed) to co-op with friends.

I think they said a secret word. So if you both use the same word then matchmaking should potentially place you together.

 

[Nyoro SF]

Like the Souls games, then.

Less 3v2 and more 1v1v1v1v1, please.

This man knows.

There is nothing more fun than trying to invade someone as blue, getting beaten to the punch by the red invader then allying, betraying, allying versus each other lol

 

[Philippo]

Why is it so hard to let us play and invite our friends like any other game?
Is it part of some design philosophy i don't get?

 

[nded]

will buy at launch (Even though i cant stand souls games) just to learn the ropes with other noobies.

Why would you subject yourself to Bloodborne?

 

[Orayn]

Why is it so hard to let us play and invite our friends like any other game?
Is it part of some design philosophy i don't get?

It is part of the game design philosophy. They're trying to capture the idea of cooperating with strangers who you may never meet again, which is a pretty unique thing that you don't see in a lot of games.

Human nature, it turns out, was the inspiration. "The origin of that idea is actually due to a personal experience where a car suddenly stopped on a hillside after some heavy snow and started to slip," says Miyazaki. "The car following me also got stuck, and then the one behind it spontaneously bumped into it and started pushing it up the hill... That's it! That's how everyone can get home! Then it was my turn and everyone started pushing my car up the hill, and I managed to get home safely.

"But I couldn't stop the car to say thanks to the people who gave me a shove. I'd have just got stuck again if I'd stopped. On the way back home I wondered whether the last person in the line had made it home, and thought that I would probably never meet the people who had helped me. I thought that maybe if we'd met in another place we'd become friends, or maybe we'd just fight...

"You could probably call it a connection of mutual assistance between transient people. Oddly, that incident will probably linger in my heart for a long time. Simply because it's fleeting, I think it stays with you a lot longer... like the cherry blossoms we Japanese love so much."

 

[Red Liquorice]

Sounds messy. I feel the same way about DS2 6-player too, it's just not the type of combat that suits cluster-fuck gameplay, unless that's what you like, in which case enjoy the constant loading screens.

 

[super-famicom]

Why is it so hard to let us play and invite our friends like any other game?
Is it part of some design philosophy i don't get?

Pretty much this. The Souls series was always about tackling a myriad of challenges by yourself in a lonely, oppresive world. The summoning random help/invading worlds was always an optional thing where you can help strangers or hurt them. The lore of Dark Souls even states that time flows differently in Lordran, so each player character is essentially in some kind of parallel game world and summoning/being summoned/invading allows one to enter another's world.

edit- beaten by Orayn

 

[Natiko]

I think they said a secret word. So if you both use the same word then matchmaking should potentially place you together.

Is there a source for this? The only time I saw any info relating to being able to coordinate playing with friends was a leak with no verified info.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

I sure hope there is some way to connect straight with a friend :X I told a friend about this game and told him we could coop <_< I KNOW HOW SOULS GAMES WORKS, But I heard that the chalice dungeon in this one you could select someone to do it with.

 

[ChosenPredator]

Dragon Dogma Online
Dark Souls Online
Deep down Online

everything is slowly creeping to online only eventually lol

 

[nded]

I think arranged co-op should be an NG+ only thing.

 

[JudgmentJay]

I sure hope there is some way to connect straight with a friend :X I told a friend about this game and told him we could coop <_< I KNOW HOW SOULS GAMES WORKS, But I heard that the chalice dungeon in this one you could select someone to do it with.

They haven't said anything like that. Just that the Chalice dungeon will be a good place for co-op and that you could share your dungeon layout to the community.

EDIT: I see where you saw that. From a Miyazki interview, "And of course, you can use Chalice Dungeons where you can share your chalice Dungeon with a limited number of friends." I took that to mean you can share the layout with friends, not that they could easily join your game, but who knows.

 

[cormack12]

Is there a source for this? The only time I saw any info relating to being able to coordinate playing with friends was a leak with no verified info.

Yeah, Miyazaki himself:

Multiplayer has always been a bit of a mystery in the Souls games. In light of recent trailers that showcased three human players teaming up to fight a single boss, fans theorized that there might be a more streamlined, jump into a friend&#8217;s game kind of multiplayer this time around.

Well, that&#8217;s not the case, as Miyazaki clarified. &#8220;You still have to go through the matchmaking process. However, there is a workaround where you can use keywords or a secret word and share them with friends. And of course, you can use Chalice Dungeons where you can share your chalice Dungeon with a limited number of friends."

Source: IGN Interview

 

[nded]

The bit about a "limited number of friends" makes me think there will be restrictions for chalice dungeons.

 

[Trace]

Happy to see some kind of way of playing with friends. As much as I like playing with random players, going on skype or PSN chat and playing with a friend is a different experience entirely.

 

[Super_Cobra]

Coop with horde mode and take care of bosses like that big spider?
That would be godly.

 

[wicko]

Hopefully they go the route of a secret keyword that's completely customizable. Otherwise it will just be the same as before - I'll get summoned by a stranger when my friends are trying to summon me, and then I'll leave right away. Stranger's time is wasted, and my time is wasted. A customized keyword solves most of this, if it's literally a password. Some of this was avoided by placing my sign off the beaten path but some people didn't seem to care.

 

[Natiko]

Yeah, Miyazaki himself:

Thanks for the info! I was getting concerned there'd be no way to do it at all. Awesome.