It depends.
On one hand, I dont really want to socialize, or deal with screaming idiots.
On the other hand... it doesnt matter what game it is: In any game designed for multiplayer, AI opponents are no match for me. Never have been, never will be. PARTICULARLY in fighting games. And Mobas (like League of Legends), where the AI gives new meaning to the word "stupid". It's just too dumb, too predictable, too easy. And I'll not even speak about strategy games like Civ.
So if I want to get anything resembling a challenge, I *must* face off against other actual players.
The problem is that AI technology simply isnt even close to advanced enough for this sort of thing. Developers always try to make AI that plays like an actual person, but it fails miserably every time, because the tech just plain isnt there. The best thing is to make an AI that actually acts like a freaking AI. Like my favorite strategy game, AI War, which is sort of a combination of an RTS (that you can pause, and issue orders while paused) and a 4X game (but without the political elements... it's pure war and conquest). There's no competitive multiplayer: The focus is on battling against the AI in procedurally generated campaigns. It has, without a doubt, the best AI I've ever seen. It'll do things that are unexpected, it'll thwart your plans in ways you didnt prepare for, it'll analyze your defenses and find ways to break through. However, the reason it works is because the game is asymmetrical (also because the developer specializes in AI in a general sense). The AI never pretends to be human. It's a freaking monstrous AI and it knows it, and it has it's own stuff that you cannot use, and it's own rules (which are just as strict as yours), and it's the same the other way around. It's one of the most complicated and difficult games I'm aware of, and it's freaking fantastic. Learning curve from hell, but still, superb game, endless challenge and replay value, no need for other players.
But the moment you give me something like Civ or whatever, where the AI simply tries to be human, you've given me something that'll put me to sleep, because it just cant do it. I've given games like that a chance so many times, and every time, I just end up really bored.
I will say though that when I do log in and play against others in any game, I generally mute everyone else, because screw it. I learn what my role is, and I perform that role, and that's that. It actually tends to work out pretty well, but it depends on the game. It's a HORRIBLE approach for Dota for instance, but it's great in Heroes of the Storm (which seems designed to accept that type of playstyle). And really, I've found that NOT muting people is, well... pointless. When playing with randoms, most of the time they're just unhelpful. They either A: dont have anything useful to say, B: give advice that gets you killed alot, or C: scream a bunch and spray insults.
And that last one absolutely baffles me: Why play a game if all it's doing is making you super freaking angry? What in the heck is the point?
