Online Multiplayer / friends - how does it work?

[WHIPperSNAPper]

I'm thinking about buying this game since I like FPS and also enjoy leveling and optimizing character loadouts.

(1.) Can this be played in single player without any friends? Could I finish the entire campaign and expansions solo?

(2.) Let's suppose I wanted to hook up with strangers for some online cooperative fun. Is there a server browser or matchmaking system or some such?

(3.) This game has a campaign - how does online multiplayer work if you can't play the entire game in one sitting? Supposed I played single player and cleared out the first 8 quests on my own and am now Level 20. I want to take that Level 20 character and play online starting with the next quest area. Can I do that?

[Dansemilia]

1,2,3 = Yes.

[Маэстро]

1. Yes, you can play it alone OR in company.
2. There is a server browser or Matchmaking system. It works p2p - peer-2-peer - from client to client.
3. It saves your progress at Fast Travel Stations. Yes, you can do it, if you host an online game.

[the_bat_turtle]

1. Everything can be done with one player, or in a group of up to four.

2. You can join randoms through the match browser, but it's pretty tight with who you can and cannot join, so creating a thread in the discussions is much better.

3. The game is semi-open world. You can go anywhere at any time, pretty much, but the world is segmented into different maps. The singleplayer and coop are the same, just with better loot and tougher and more plentiful enemies in the latter. Jou can joinn a level 72 OP 8 friend with a level one character, if that's what you're asking.

Buy the game of the year edition and Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2. That's how you'll get the most value from the game. I really reccommend it, and a bunch of people here would too

[WHIPperSNAPper]

Thanks for all your replies. This sounds like it might be right up my alley. I didn't know about the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2 and that it isn't included with the GOTY. I'll pick that up too.

[Zen_Disaster]

Originally posted by WHIPperSNAPper:

I'm thinking about buying this game since I like FPS and also enjoy leveling and optimizing character loadouts.

(1.) Can this be played in single player without any friends? Could I finish the entire campaign and expansions solo?

(2.) Let's suppose I wanted to hook up with strangers for some online cooperative fun. Is there a server browser or matchmaking system or some such?

(3.) This game has a campaign - how does online multiplayer work if you can't play the entire game in one sitting? Supposed I played single player and cleared out the first 8 quests on my own and am now Level 20. I want to take that Level 20 character and play online starting with the next quest area. Can I do that?

(1) Yes you can just as easily solo the game from lvl 1 upto max lvl 80 / OP8 as you can by playing in coop. There's a myth that coop is "easier" or "quicker" but it's untrue - coop & solo just differ a bit in playstyle. Solo players tend to build better-rounded toons by force of necessity.

(2) You can look for coop players on the Looking for Players sub-forum https://steamcommunity.com/app/49520/discussions/1/ About playing with randoms (via GBX' matchmaking function), I recommend against it & suggest you try your best to stick with trusted Steam friends for coop or simply play solo til you've made some suitable Steam friends.

3) There's no multiplayer option for BL2 unless you mean the coop option in which you can lead a team of up to four Steam friends. If you must interrupt your game, you save it where you left off and when you play the next time, your toon will be stored/saved for you to return to at the closest available entry point to where you left off - sometimes the two places are close to each other which is always optimal. Yes you can shift the same toon from coop (or "online" as you call it) to solo and back again etc whenever you want as you move up the levels.

Have fun

[WHIPperSNAPper]

I just bought the GOTY bundle and Vault Hunter 2 pack, just over $11, so it's a done deal now.

What's so bad about playing online with random people? Everyone just grabs the loot for themselves?

[Zen_Disaster]

Originally posted by WHIPperSNAPper:

I just bought the GOTY bundle and Vault Hunter 2 pack, just over $11, so it's a done deal now. What's so bad about playing online with random people? Everyone just grabs the loot for themselves?

No - in games like BL2 with no protection from malicious play (no VAC or similar anti-cheat installed), randoms screwing around maliciously in coop can be a real problem as they tend to target this sort of game for their particular brand of fun. No one ever complains til it happens to them but after a single bad experience they never return to randoms play. In BL2, randoms can screw up your game pretty badly if they're malicious punks & even your system if they're moderately talented malicious hackers. There are extremely few of the latter description on Steam but they do exist and our systems aren't worth risking for playing a computer game. Just my two cents.

[MaTheMeatloaf!]

Buy this game now, before the sale ends!!!! I'm not even a fan of shooters yet I rank this one of the best games I've ever played. Make sure you get game of the year edition

[Starbug]

Originally posted by WHIPperSNAPper:

I just bought the GOTY bundle and Vault Hunter 2 pack, just over $11, so it's a done deal now.

What's so bad about playing online with random people? Everyone just grabs the loot for themselves?

Loot ninjas are bad enough, but it's the hackers that give you skillpoints and irreversible level boosts that make public games so much of a risk.