Crosmando: How does the multiplayer work in the Dark Souls games? I know that it has something to do with players "invading" the worlds of other players while one the single-player campaign, but is it optional, can you play completely offline and ignore that?
GastonArg: you can play the whole game offline, are you missing a lot? not really, I played dark souls 1(120+hours ) on my xbox 360 offline because I hate some of the things of the online gameplay , like being invaded while I was playing the game it just adds more to the game but in a different way and it's a thing that or you love or hate. Like pvp (with lot of delay...at least for me)
Some pros that I can think is the help of other players against a boss for example but I dont like that either, it takes away everything that dark souls is, I mean if something is hard and someone else helps you out when you finish the game it's not the same, you dont get the same sense of accomplishment or seeing a message in the floor and spoils you what is going to happen, yes it will help out but you are spoiling the game in a way, but then again this is just my opinion and it is very subjective .
Imho, it's best to finish the main game on your own at least once, so you can play at your own pace, explore the world, enjoy the creepy atmosphere etc. You can still get into online multiplayer after that, once you're familiar with everything. But I guess some people enjoy going co-op ( or PVP ) right from the start.