It can be annoying, yes. Take Uncharted 2 for example, it's relatively new. It's been out in America for 9 days, and in Europe for 7 days. Now, some people rushed through the campaign, I wanted to take my time with it. I got the game on Thursday and was finished by Sunday. Three days later.
I decided to try playing online.
HOW THE HELL DOES SOMEBODY HIT LEVEL 36 IN A WEEK? It was just ridiculous. I kept being put in matches with people 20 levels above me, and people on my side left because two of their players combined had a higher level than all five of us combined, and so there were two of us left, against 5 level 25-35s. Not fun.
The only game in which I've preferred multiplayer to single player is Call of Duty 4, and I maintain that it has the best online of any console shooter to date.
(Former) Lead Moderator and (Eternal) VGC Detective 
