Friend Closet

Tycho said something on PA that I found notable. Not that there's a chance that anyone, anywhere would read this *before* seeing it on Penny Arcade, but still:

I love unlocking things, don't get me wrong, but God dammit when I buy a game with multiplayer features I basically expect to leverage those features in a non-crippled fashion from the moment I spin up your expensive game. If you want me to unlock different scarfs or whatever, fine. If you want me to unlock bonus courses or tracks, hey, whatever. But let us utilize the social functionality out the gate. Wipeout did it right - a handful of tracks upfront. That's some olive branch shit.

Seriously - WTF is with that? I started to notice it with some Japanese developers way back when (I think Zone of the Enders?) and it's only gotten more prevalent. Yes, I understand that you want me to play the single player version. Yes, I appreciate the need to learn the rules. But it's not like there is some friend closet available to pull players from just because you unlocked something (although, if any mad scientists are reading ... there's an idea).

If I rent a game that advertises two person play for the express purpose of playing it with my girlfriend upon receipt - you damn well better be sure that the game will be returned before I bother unlocking squat.