" multi-player gaming used to mean with people that were with you in the same room. game devs did it because the tech didn't support networked gaming."

" Because two people gaming online can't see each others faces they have to play off each others intentions instead. This is where almost all conflicts start because its too easy for most people on a team to just want to play, while one or two other people are trying to take the game seriously. The latter gets frustrated with everyone else, and everyone has a bad time.   crusader8463 also speaks the truth, though I believe gaming tends to bring out the asshole in people rather than attract them. I'm no online gaming saint myself. "

I only "role-play" when playing Battlefield with my friends where every-time we die we quote the Kurtz from Apocalypse Now and say "The horror...the horror...".  Anyways as the others two duders said online gaming has a 10% of people who just want to have fun and not ruin each others experience and the other 90% are psycho-douche-nerds that send you hate mail at a rate of 115 messages per death or curse your mother through the headset. It's a sad reality but you can't let it change your gaming habits.

multi-player gaming used to mean with people that were with you in the same room. game devs did it because the tech didn't support networked gaming. you playing with your friends in one room means you only need one copy of a game. that doesn't make them as much money. so they decided that multi-player gaming should mean playing with random people and charging you money for it whilst dropping support(except for a few titles here and there) for gaming with people in the same room. now all you can do is play with people that are your "friends" over the interwebs as long as they have the same game you have. kudos gaming industry for taking the fun out of multi player gaming. now i get to hear some guy's four year old talking on his headset while he plays.

Because two people gaming online can't see each others faces they have to play off each others intentions instead. This is where almost all conflicts start because its too easy for most people on a team to just want to play, while one or two other people are trying to take the game seriously. The latter gets frustrated with everyone else, and everyone has a bad time. 
 
crusader8463 also speaks the truth, though I believe gaming tends to bring out the asshole in people rather than attract them. I'm no online gaming saint myself.

Sadly gaming tends to attract assholes. It's a sad fact, but one you just learn to live with. You do your best to find a group of mature people and stick to gaming with them, or single player games.

Hey y'all, I'm Katajero. I like to game, but when I'm not gaming I tend to think a lot about little quirky to big things. I'm a quiet dreamer who thinks a lot about games, theories and opinions and then finally express my ideas in a huge ejaculation... to my best friend and my cousin. This is one thing I've thought about that isn't really innovating, but may answer why it just isn't fun to game with certain people online or in split screen. 
 
I've noticed a trend with certain people, you can game with some just fine, and some gaming sessions with others are less than desired. But why you say?! Or who cares! I do of course, I'm the type of online gamer where if I'm not having fun or enjoying it, I'll feel very disconnected from the game and end up turning off the console much earlier. Now I realise why, and a good example is youtuber BlueXephos. You see, you can either go online to just play the game, and that's fine really. Call of Duty, go online, get lots of kills, win your objectives and then bugger off. Same with Halo, Battlefield, The Conduit, Monster Hunter, Uncharted, WoW etc. Then you got people that play it a little silly almost, they start roleplaying in the game, take on the character or act the stereotype. 
 
THESE are the people that make gaming fun, the role players. Now I don't mean where you absolutely talk like the character, say what he's got to say, act accordingly. What I actually mean is when you play Battlefield or Halo, you end up saying movie quotes, helping each other out and genuinely having a great time because you're bouncing off your friends a lot. Now this is where BlueXephos comes in, also known as Yogscast. They usually play games together, anything that may have multiplayer in it, mainly they play a lot of WoW and Minecraft together as well as doing quest maps and playing along to the story. Listen to them during their videos. Genuinely having fun instead of getting stressed out all the time.  This is really what gaming is supposed to be, rather than a Call of Duty mentality where you "JUST PLAY THE GAME, GET THE MOST KILLS, KILL KILL KILL, AW SHIT RUN RUN KILL, WOOOOOOOOOOOO SICK SHOT BRAH!" Which isn't bad by any means, that's how I usually play games when I'm on my own online, or just on Call of Duty,  you really can't goof around on the online multiplayer, well apart from Zombies.
 
So there you go, promote that tinge of role playing, don't just play the game, enjoy yourself and have fun! You playing Halo? Grab a chopper and tell everyone to "get to the chopper!" Monster Hunter? Complete a quest, hear the dramatic win music and say "Let's go home... and be family men..." Street Fighter? Pick Sagat, say "They call him... the king" and end up losing. Call of Duty? Watch Platoon and yell "TAKE THE PAIN! TAKE IT!" Halo:Reach? Crouch above your friend, staying silent on his radar... then leap onto him from above, hold that melee button and scream "BOOM SHAKALAKA!"