Bored of gaming

[VirusPunk]

Ive converted so many people into MP gaming that its not even funny. People generally "come in" with a certain misconception and ideas about people being assholes, game being unfair, competitive atmosphere being either too difficult to handle (not fun).

Actually to be honest, the Command and Conquer series (especially Red Alert 2) on the PC were the only multiplayer games that really caught my interest. I must've played online off and on for a good solid 5 years. While there were many cheaters on the WOL (Westwood Online) servers, it was still fun to just build up an army of Rhino Tank's and rush an opponent's base. The communities were just great too, but ever since Strike Team (XWIS) took over the servers due to Westwood Studios calling the quits, it began to fall apart. Now it just isn't the same anymore. Besides the XWIS servers are terribly laggy to the point where the game is unplayable.

[Carnivol]

Trying not to derail, but, well, although lobbies and communities are nice and all, fact still remains that you've got the lite version of it all going on the 360 right now. A party can stay open or closed (if it's open, friends of people in it can join and join the same game and stuff, others require invites. If it's closed, only invites will allow people in.) And as long as one person in the party remains online, a party can stay alive forever. Joining is about as easy as it can almost possibly get. Boot 360 -> Press up twice -> Press A twice. (assuming there's only one active party on your friends list.) Assholes wont even make it in. Unless you have asshole friends (which you can then just kick anyway or just black and/or not invite to your games if they're being really persistent.)

Whether or not the same group is around for "weeks,months, years" depends entirely on your friends/group and not whether or not they're in a glorified and moderated chatroom for a dedicated server.

I've got some people I play with every now and then, they pretty much always have one or two groups going (sometimes the same game, other times in different games. Usually split when several people go for one game), with people dropping in and out to just say hi, grab a few matches, etc.. Sometimes they also both team up and run 16 player matches in games. Since we don't exclusively play FPS games, but also stuff like versus fighters, racing games, various XBLA titles and other stuff... I'd say it's pretty nice 'n' cozy. Flipping through games isn't much of a chore either (anything that's not disc based is instant, while disc based requires you to pop in the disc)


Sure. Not all games have dedicated servers going (few do, actually), but in general, when dealing with multiple games, jumping between old and new at what's literally the click of a button, relying on dedicated servers for it all would be a royal pain for the end user. +Depending on how the game's netcode, lag compensation and the ping of all players... someone will more often than never have an advantage, regardless of whether there's a dedicated server or not. +Does that minimalistic piece of potential performance difference between players mean so incredibly much when you're supposedly playing for fun with your friends? Can't the losing side just say "Grats. You won. Next time I host."? I know for a fact that I don't even want to play with people who make a big deal out of common issues that are to be expected when playing with people from all corners of the globe. Those are the type of elitist pricks that tend to turn me off of online gaming. They're basically the online offspring of the controller complainers of the old days. (You know them! The ones who'd verbally rape a gamepad if they lost a game of Street Fighter 2 to a 9 year old.)



Anyway, in between couch sessions of Lost Plant 2 (mostly still working on various campaign stuff), I'm struggling with keeping my gaming spark alive. I've actually gone back to fiddling with various hacks these days +m my relatively short attention span has made me reach out to more other projects than before (to give them my cruel, honest and *hopefully valuable* feedback )

[Enrico Marini]

I just seem to always have bad luck with who ends up in my lobbies.

As for games in general I feel they've gone down the path of commericalism in the aspect of they make games too general to entice a wider audience, and in doing so the game looses its impact. It also feels like Graphics are the most important thing. That and flogging a dead horse with game mechanics, oh such and such was a great hit, lets steal their mechanics, so everything ends up as an action game. Maybe I'm just getting old.

[Carnivol]

The best reviews I know of are the "You're doing it wrong." reviews. Where they play a game that is NOT by the formula, and they whine about how it's not by the formula (or how the game sucks 'cause they can't play it the same way they played game X). This is also why I generally don't play much PC FPS anymore. The amount of PC FPS that just "feels" the same just turns me off. It doesn't matter how much they've tweaked/balanced/improved various things, if they don't provide a new experience... they do nothing for me. I could just as well skip it or return to whatever I poured countless hours into before.

[Member_of_STARS]

Actually to be honest, the Command and Conquer series (especially Red Alert 2) on the PC were the only multiplayer games that really caught my interest. I must've played online off and on for a good solid 5 years. While there were many cheaters on the WOL (Westwood Online) servers, it was still fun to just build up an army of Rhino Tank's and rush an opponent's base. The communities were just great too, but ever since Strike Team (XWIS) took over the servers due to Westwood Studios calling the quits, it began to fall apart. Now it just isn't the same anymore. Besides the XWIS servers are terribly laggy to the point where the game is unplayable.

I take it youre not into FPS games? Ive had limited experience with RTS games online besides Starcraft, and while they do have a very large community (depending on games of course), its a very 1 vs 1 competitive atmosphere and it grinds patience and nerves way too much. If youre a competitive player, that is.

Trying not to derail

Offtopicness gets you infractions!

but, well, although lobbies and communities are nice and all, fact still remains that you've got the lite version of it all going on the 360 right now. A party can stay open or closed (if it's open, friends of people in it can join and join the same game and stuff, others require invites. If it's closed, only invites will allow people in.) And as long as one person in the party remains online, a party can stay alive forever. Joining is about as easy as it can almost possibly get. Boot 360 -> Press up twice -> Press A twice. (assuming there's only one active party on your friends list.) Assholes wont even make it in. Unless you have asshole friends (which you can then just kick anyway or just black and/or not invite to your games if they're being really persistent.)

I can beat that

1. I can join my favourite servers with one mouse click. (xfire- "gaming" MSN, so to speak), 20 seconds.
2. The servers I visit, are on their own dedicated boxes, which means no host (ping advantage), its business or high grade home connection = no lag, high player capacity (or optimal numbers, matter of taste), mods, chat, impartial moderators and admins who keep the server clean.
3. I can pick a server out of the list, which plays the exact gamemode, exact map, and has the player number which all suit my taste.
4. I can come and go as I please, and if the server is well adminned, there are going to be a lot of likeminded people whom I dont have to add to my friends list just to be able to play with them. We know where to meet.

A server is like a good pub.

There really is no competition between matchmaking/peer2peer and dedicated servers solution, which is why more console games should not only be running on dedicated boxes, but allow private dedicated server hosting aswell.

But in essence, what you described, is basically a "server". A stripped down and limited version, but generally thats how it works.

Whether or not the same group is around for "weeks,months, years" depends entirely on your friends/group and not whether or not they're in a glorified and moderated chatroom for a dedicated server.

True to an extent. If you find a server which has all your tastes covered and has a great community, youre going to have a lot of "buddies", but even more complete strangers. What they will have in common is that they havent been kicked/banned for misbehaviour/cheating/whathaveyou, which means that even the fresh new blood is always going to be fun to play with.

Sure. Not all games have dedicated servers going (few do, actually)

On consoles, yeah, and its a shame.

but in general, when dealing with multiple games, jumping between old and new at what's literally the click of a button, relying on dedicated servers for it all would be a royal pain for the end user.

Hmm. You seem to be comparing console community to PC community thinking they have the same mindset in multiplayer games. Console community is being pushed towards new games and its being kept between a handful of supported titles whereas if the PC game has standalone dedicated server files, the community might even be 500 man strong and its still not going anywhere.

Joining a server takes just 4 clicks.
1. Start game
2. Select Multiplayer
3. Sort the server per your liking
4. Click on server

Because DS are not dependant on a central matchmaking feature, and because they offer much more reliable, stable and smoother connection, people from longer distances can have a lagfree game (Central Europe - East Coast). If a console title playerbase drops below a certain treshold, its going to be impossible for players to play lagfree because there are no players in their immediate surroundings.

+Depending on how the game's netcode, lag compensation and the ping of all players... someone will more often than never have an advantage, regardless of whether there's a dedicated server or not.

You can have a very solid game with an up to 150ms ping difference when the netcode is solid. It depends on developers more than the multiplayer connection solution. Its going to sound like clishe, but DS do offer better connection, better hitreg.

+Does that minimalistic piece of potential performance difference between players mean so incredibly much when you're supposedly playing for fun with your friends?

Its not minimalistic. You have to see it to believe it. But solid and reliable perfomance is not the only strong side DS has over matchmaking. Its all about choice. If you dont like where you logged in, you log out and you are not going to be thrown back randomly. You can find a server which consistently, 24/7, plays the selected map rotation which you like, at the ticket count/score limit you enjoy, and with the player cap which you find most suitable for you. All in just a few clicks. Its quality, customization and choice.

Theres a reason why PC community was outraged over MW2.

Its very difficult to describe adequately just how good dedicated servers are, especially to someone who has limited to no experience with them (not being condescending). Its kind of like trying to tell someone who has never had chocolate, that its great, heh. Its not something which comes from "PC players elitism" either.

Never underestimate the power of choice. Dedicated servers wont make assholes disappear from games, but community/clan run servers mean that you will find many which will perfectly suit you, and arent just "tolerable".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9qh2IF5OvQ

The only thing which seems to be complicated at first glance is the server browser. But a lot of games are combining DS with matchmaking, so if you want the game to pick a game for you- voila, "Play now!" button to the rescue! Takes away the community aspect, though.

[The_15th]

The best reviews I know of are the "You're doing it wrong." reviews. Where they play a game that is NOT by the formula, and they whine about how it's not by the formula (or how the game sucks 'cause they can't play it the same way they played game X).

It's the EXACT same with book reviews/ movies/ records etc! I don't even bother reading reviews. I try out things for myself. I'm used to having all of my tastes in entertainment insulted on release date.

[I_Am_Nemesis]

Ive been getting pretty bored with games these days aswell. Not just with new releases but with every game i go to play. I used to be able to spend hours playing a single game but now I just get really bored after a half hour, i find i have other thing on my mind like going out, especially now that im 18 and can actualy do things in the evening