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"I could just buy my multiplayer games for the 360, but in all honesty I just HATE the fact that they charge a fee for playing a game I already paid $60.00 for."
I totally get this sentiment; I honestly, truthfully do. HOWEVER, I still stand by my point that when you pay for LIVE, you're paying mainly to avoid many of the problems you've described here.
Yes, there are always going to be server issues (some game makers just can't figure that shit out), but not having to rely on unpredictable devs to get something as simple and basic as fucking voice chat working (when they even bother to include it AT ALL) offers SO much peace of mind that it's well worth the $5/month for me.
Could it be free? Sure. Should it be free? Well, that's up for debate. But either way, I pay $5 a month and never have issues talking or coordinating with my friends on my Xbox, regardless of which game(s) we happen to be paying. Given that, I'll happily keep forking over my money :)
I totally get this sentiment; I honestly, truthfully do. HOWEVER, I still stand by my point that when you pay for LIVE, you're paying mainly to avoid many of the problems you've described here.
Yes, there are always going to be server issues (some game makers just can't figure that shit out), but not having to rely on unpredictable devs to get something as simple and basic as fucking voice chat working (when they even bother to include it AT ALL) offers SO much peace of mind that it's well worth the $5/month for me.
Could it be free? Sure. Should it be free? Well, that's up for debate. But either way, I pay $5 a month and never have issues talking or coordinating with my friends on my Xbox, regardless of which game(s) we happen to be paying. Given that, I'll happily keep forking over my money :)
Eh, MS seems always have some deal going on resubbing, so the fees amount to a dollar or two a month these days. Small price to pay considering Sony's online experience is less consistent.
Not that I play online all that much. I just don't see the long term appeal of shooters. I just got done with Xenoblade, and now I'm bouncing between Skyrim and Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne. All are great games for when you have a lot of time and nothing to do.
Not that I play online all that much. I just don't see the long term appeal of shooters. I just got done with Xenoblade, and now I'm bouncing between Skyrim and Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne. All are great games for when you have a lot of time and nothing to do.
I'm with Andy and Silent on this one. Gold subscriptions can be bought for practically nothing these days with a little searching, I renewed my sub a few months back for $29.00 because of a sale Amazon was running. Now, if you spread that $29.00 out over the entire year it equals about $2.50 per month.
$2.50 per month is a very small price to pay to have working voice communication for any and all games I play on the 360.
Would I rather it be free? Sure. Would I rather it be free with shoddy voice communication and other issues? Absolutely not, and that's why I choose to pay the small fee, so that I don't have to worry about issues like you described.
$2.50 per month is a very small price to pay to have working voice communication for any and all games I play on the 360.
Would I rather it be free? Sure. Would I rather it be free with shoddy voice communication and other issues? Absolutely not, and that's why I choose to pay the small fee, so that I don't have to worry about issues like you described.
The problem that I have with paying for Gold is that sometimes I'm into Multiplayer games and it's totally worth it...and then I'll play a single player game for a month only occasionally playing online. I don't like feeling that I "have" to play online because I'm paying for it. :(
The one thing about Ghost Protocol though is that there are only around 18,000 people currently playing the PS3 version and around 60,000 playing the 360 version... which means the game may well last longer, but then I'm locked into paying for gold whenever I want to play that game. I think I'll just return the game and say to hell with it.
The one thing about Ghost Protocol though is that there are only around 18,000 people currently playing the PS3 version and around 60,000 playing the 360 version... which means the game may well last longer, but then I'm locked into paying for gold whenever I want to play that game. I think I'll just return the game and say to hell with it.
You just need to get out of that mentality Elsa, I've gone months without playing anything online but I'm still happy with my gold sub, I mainly use it as a communication tool.
I get what you mean in regards to the state of gaming, I've moved away considerably from console gaming because of this.
I get what you mean in regards to the state of gaming, I've moved away considerably from console gaming because of this.
My favorite was the PS3 Space Marine multiplayer that took as long as 45 minutes to get into a game, if it worked at all. Then THQ sitting on its hands for several weeks to get a patch in to fix the situation -- by which time my interest was considerably less.
Pretty sad that PS3 is an afterthought when it comes to so many multiplatform titles.
Pretty sad that PS3 is an afterthought when it comes to so many multiplatform titles.
To avoid that whole "Got to play because I pay" mentality, just get a year. It's 40 quid (or whatever $ equievelant) gone in one stroke, and then you have a year to comfortably pace myself. Having all of the consoles, I can say that my online experience is as follows; PC>Xbox 360>PS3>3DS>PSP>Wii.
This is just a problem with console gaming, not PS3. Any game on consoles get shifted away for Halo or Call of Duty. There is almost no point in developers even creating MP components when nobody touches them after a few months or the requisite achievements/trophies are obtained.
That's why you should switch over to PC. Not only does the DToid community still play and host older games, but finding matches in old titles isn't an irregularity. Hell, I'll buy you copies of the entire Unreal Franchise so you can revel in the past with me.
PC Gaming just has better longevity in terms of any game. I believe right now I can install Tribes 2, grab a fan made patch and begin to play online, despite the master server having been shut off for 6 years. It's amazing!
That's why you should switch over to PC. Not only does the DToid community still play and host older games, but finding matches in old titles isn't an irregularity. Hell, I'll buy you copies of the entire Unreal Franchise so you can revel in the past with me.
PC Gaming just has better longevity in terms of any game. I believe right now I can install Tribes 2, grab a fan made patch and begin to play online, despite the master server having been shut off for 6 years. It's amazing!
Right now I'm paying for XBox Live and I can't even get my console to connect to the internet! I think that's more Rogers fault than Microsoft though but I still hate paying for something I can't even use.
I'm guessing a lot of the infrastructure issues are coming from Sony's end. I can't believe that so many devs would neglect that part of their online experience.
Starhawk becomes more enjoyable after you accept that some/many rounds will result in base-rapes going either way. I'm not really sure what they could do to balance the game (scrap build & battle?), but I'm sure many Hawk weapons will get nerfed. People also could make more use of skills (though there needs to be a better way to select them as it takes too long right now). The game has some great ideas but it needs work and has to be expanded on. As it is I don't see myself playing it anywhere near as much as Warhawk unless they give it a lot of TLC. The stat-tracking is an absolute embarrassment compared to its predecessor. Hopefully they expand on it whenever they get around to releasing the iOS/Android app.
I'm guessing a lot of the infrastructure issues are coming from Sony's end. I can't believe that so many devs would neglect that part of their online experience.
Starhawk becomes more enjoyable after you accept that some/many rounds will result in base-rapes going either way. I'm not really sure what they could do to balance the game (scrap build & battle?), but I'm sure many Hawk weapons will get nerfed. People also could make more use of skills (though there needs to be a better way to select them as it takes too long right now). The game has some great ideas but it needs work and has to be expanded on. As it is I don't see myself playing it anywhere near as much as Warhawk unless they give it a lot of TLC. The stat-tracking is an absolute embarrassment compared to its predecessor. Hopefully they expand on it whenever they get around to releasing the iOS/Android app.
I'm just going to stick my nose into this debate about paying for multiplayer rights by saying that all PC games (that I know of) that don't have a subscription allow you to play online for free. Then again, I guess that's one of the perks you get for not owning your games.
Borderlands on ps3 was awful! But that was pretty much the only online game I have played on my ps3 other than Killzone 3.
It's hard for me to really come into this debate as, well, PS3 online mic use is either very under utilized (by devs and people) or or the few times I have used it was playing games that are much more fun with local multiplayer (ie: fighting games, NFL Blitz, etc). On Live, well, let's just say my sub gave up the ghost during the Reach beta where 5 people enjoyed referring to me as a f***** and reported me for player abuse when I dared stand up for myself. The last of a long string of similar experiences that, at the end of MY 48 hour suspension period, I gladly just quit paying. I'm not the biggest fan of matchmaking as it seems to take forever no matter where I use it. But I'm more of a single player gamer anyway. It does suck that you do have to research stuff like this before buying a game but a LOT of people forget SOCOM was the exception, not the rule. Auto Modellista, Monster Hunter, RE Outbreak, TM Black: Online, Amplitude, Kung Fu Chaos, etc and so forth, those working were the result of 10-30 minutes of attempted connections. On the few times I do attempt online, it's usually pretty drop in and play affair. Of course this is usually a couple months after launch.
Multiplayer games can be such a hassle. Your enjoyment of the game hinges on a number of uncontrollable factors – lag, community, team-balance, and any interface problems the devs might have let slide, ect. If they weren't such fun when they worked it wouldn't be worth the headache.
Just throwing it out there, Ghost Recon is super fun in local and has very lengthy single player/local co op.
I have both those games E and I can tell you with all honesty that I haven't had any issues with those games. That's not to say that others aren't having any issues but I haven't experienced them. I've been playing Starhawk[/] & [i]Ghost Recon FS offline/online with multiple people and for me I have had ZERO voice issues or lag issues. I even made a point to shoot you a PM on PSN about how well Ghost Recon was on the PS3.Before you send return them I encourage you to play them.
Also in Starhawk I run around the landscape on foot and do quite well. Those that complain either suck balls or don't know what to do. I would comment on the state of most game forums but I just don't want to go there. That's a blog worthy treatment that wont drive me out of my retirement. ;)
Also in Starhawk I run around the landscape on foot and do quite well. Those that complain either suck balls or don't know what to do. I would comment on the state of most game forums but I just don't want to go there. That's a blog worthy treatment that wont drive me out of my retirement. ;)
Elsa, only you would write, "Oh, y'know, I have to keep getting cancer cut out of me, but it's no big deal. Now, video games??? I HAVE ISSUES." Awesome.
Dealing with cancer, or any recurring health issue, is a big deal. But you know that. Your strength is an example to us all. But fo' reals: Why you gotta be so badass, woman? Daaamn...
Dealing with cancer, or any recurring health issue, is a big deal. But you know that. Your strength is an example to us all. But fo' reals: Why you gotta be so badass, woman? Daaamn...
Well, for FNF, I just put "No baserape" in the server comments and then magically no one does it. We spent two hours joking around with the other team through all-chat. Pretty much everyone played with some manners.
Starhawk already has a patch and server hotfix nearing completion and Dylan Jobe is active on twitter answering even personal help questions that he has no responsibility to help with.
... or you could just keep playing the barren and never-well-supported MAG.
Starhawk already has a patch and server hotfix nearing completion and Dylan Jobe is active on twitter answering even personal help questions that he has no responsibility to help with.
... or you could just keep playing the barren and never-well-supported MAG.
Hey, they've had update news posted since this afternoon!
@Trev
Literally every one of those changes make me happy. "Quidditch" sounds awesome. Also I think I was having chat problems. I only heard Clockwork during a round of coop then radio silence for the rest of the night >__< It could have been because of my crappy internet though.
Literally every one of those changes make me happy. "Quidditch" sounds awesome. Also I think I was having chat problems. I only heard Clockwork during a round of coop then radio silence for the rest of the night >__< It could have been because of my crappy internet though.
But wouldn't you love to have a number that represents the number of years you've paid for LIVE Gold? I know I find small, inconsequential reasons to appreciate that 4 next to my gamertag.
I definitely agree with above people in thinking you need to forget about the mentality of paying for the service then suddenly playing a singleplayer game for a month. Let's face it, that month was called Skyrim and that's only an example. But I don't have that same mentality with Netflix and I didn't watch any Netflix for two whole months because I simply wasn't interested in turning it on and finding nothing to watch.
Then they added King of the Hill.
I definitely agree with above people in thinking you need to forget about the mentality of paying for the service then suddenly playing a singleplayer game for a month. Let's face it, that month was called Skyrim and that's only an example. But I don't have that same mentality with Netflix and I didn't watch any Netflix for two whole months because I simply wasn't interested in turning it on and finding nothing to watch.
Then they added King of the Hill.
I've been playing on my friend's PS3 for almost a month now.
And even though I've been without a 360 since last summer, I can say this in confidence: Gold is fucking worth it.
Take that as you will.
And even though I've been without a 360 since last summer, I can say this in confidence: Gold is fucking worth it.
Take that as you will.
@Elsa, once again a brilliant blog, I love reading your stuff and I agree with your complaints about PS3-MP, I've got XBL Gold and PSN+, I love Gold for the MP-experience ( it just works great ) and I love PSN+ for all the free shit I get ( soooo many free games that I don't have time to play them all :p ), I agree it's an outrage that voice-comm is such a horrible mess on PS3, even on 1st-party-games like Killzone3!
and congrats on getting Y0j1mb0 to comment! :-D Haven't "seen" him in almost a year and a half!
and congrats on getting Y0j1mb0 to comment! :-D Haven't "seen" him in almost a year and a half!
Yojimbo!! Yeah, it was your PSN note that got me interested in buying Ghost Recon. So nice to see you here and as others have noted, you've been missed! You should comment (or blog) more often! ;)
@Joe, I mentioned the upcoming surgery because it was the reason for the stop at the game store, and it's why I won't be playing Dragon's Dogma right away - though it'll be hard to let it sit until later! The actual surgery is a bitch, but I'm extremely lucky in that otherwise, it has little affect on my daily life... a lot of other people live with worst!
@Phil... I understand that there is a horde mode for splitscreen co-op, but neither me nor my husband is a fan of horde mode and it would have been nice if the originally advertised splitscreen campaign had been retained... but it's still something I can live with.
@Trev....yeah, we talked with Clockwork during MAG last night and he mentioned that you did that in the server comments... and that people actually seemed to abide! We also noticed the patch that nerfed the overpowered cluster bombs that were getting a lot of complaints in the forums. As Clockwork also mentioned, the forums are mainly populated by ex-warhawk fans who really just wanted a new Warhawk game and anything else wasn't going to make them happy.
In regards to XBL... I'm cheap! I'll admit it. I like to get my money's worth. I just keep thinking back to MAG and how I've played the game for over two years now. I paid $60.00 for the game and if it had been an Xbox game I would also have paid an additional $120 dollars in Gold just to keep playing it. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that even though the online experience might be better. I keep hoping that at some point Microsoft will make online play free and include it with Silver and use other "bonus" options like the video apps, etc. part of Gold, but I think this seems to be a faint hope.
I think we'll definitely go ahead and unwrap Starhawk... it seems from the recent patch that the devs are still those same Warhawk devs and they'll support and patch the game to balance it. Warhawk started out pretty rough too! Regarding Ghost Recon, I would probably be better off getting the Xbox version if I want to play it for a longer time because of the online population, but I think I'll stick with the PS3 version and play it until the game dies... and then trade it in for a second copy of Starhawk so my husband and I can play online at the same time.
... and I hope that the PS4 takes a lesson from the Xbox and gives us party chat. This would solve 99% of the voice chat issues that seem to arise with the PS3! Though I bet they would probably create a "gold" level and charge us for it! LOL! Then I could bitch about that too! :)
Thanks for the comments everyone. I was frustrated because the game purchases were rather spur of the moment... and I was having a bit of buyer's remorse... but I love that I can get good information from people here that help with these kind of decisions!
@Joe, I mentioned the upcoming surgery because it was the reason for the stop at the game store, and it's why I won't be playing Dragon's Dogma right away - though it'll be hard to let it sit until later! The actual surgery is a bitch, but I'm extremely lucky in that otherwise, it has little affect on my daily life... a lot of other people live with worst!
@Phil... I understand that there is a horde mode for splitscreen co-op, but neither me nor my husband is a fan of horde mode and it would have been nice if the originally advertised splitscreen campaign had been retained... but it's still something I can live with.
@Trev....yeah, we talked with Clockwork during MAG last night and he mentioned that you did that in the server comments... and that people actually seemed to abide! We also noticed the patch that nerfed the overpowered cluster bombs that were getting a lot of complaints in the forums. As Clockwork also mentioned, the forums are mainly populated by ex-warhawk fans who really just wanted a new Warhawk game and anything else wasn't going to make them happy.
In regards to XBL... I'm cheap! I'll admit it. I like to get my money's worth. I just keep thinking back to MAG and how I've played the game for over two years now. I paid $60.00 for the game and if it had been an Xbox game I would also have paid an additional $120 dollars in Gold just to keep playing it. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that even though the online experience might be better. I keep hoping that at some point Microsoft will make online play free and include it with Silver and use other "bonus" options like the video apps, etc. part of Gold, but I think this seems to be a faint hope.
I think we'll definitely go ahead and unwrap Starhawk... it seems from the recent patch that the devs are still those same Warhawk devs and they'll support and patch the game to balance it. Warhawk started out pretty rough too! Regarding Ghost Recon, I would probably be better off getting the Xbox version if I want to play it for a longer time because of the online population, but I think I'll stick with the PS3 version and play it until the game dies... and then trade it in for a second copy of Starhawk so my husband and I can play online at the same time.
... and I hope that the PS4 takes a lesson from the Xbox and gives us party chat. This would solve 99% of the voice chat issues that seem to arise with the PS3! Though I bet they would probably create a "gold" level and charge us for it! LOL! Then I could bitch about that too! :)
Thanks for the comments everyone. I was frustrated because the game purchases were rather spur of the moment... and I was having a bit of buyer's remorse... but I love that I can get good information from people here that help with these kind of decisions!
Some people are not good at their jobs…Starhawk sucks because it was going to suck.
I’m a good librarian, but I’m a shitty manager. I’m fair with people, I’m nice, and I work hard; but you could probably get more and better work from my team of employees with someone else in charge. I’m smart and super talented with my own works, but I’m dislike managing people. I dislike time-lines and checking in to make sure people have what they need.
There are probably some super talented people working at Sony Santa Monica on all levels. What separates a good projects form a bad one is often not the quality of the individual parts it’s the fist and finish of putting it together. Good pure flour and fine polished apples are ruined everyday in a shitty bakeshops. Bruised apples and cheap flour are turned into great pies by careful chefs.
It is not Playstations fault that Sony Santa Monica can’t put their project together, nor is it really the systems fault that Ubisoft skimped on the PS3 testing on a multiplatform game. Shit happens…because good people are poorly managed and poorly supported.
I’m a good librarian, but I’m a shitty manager. I’m fair with people, I’m nice, and I work hard; but you could probably get more and better work from my team of employees with someone else in charge. I’m smart and super talented with my own works, but I’m dislike managing people. I dislike time-lines and checking in to make sure people have what they need.
There are probably some super talented people working at Sony Santa Monica on all levels. What separates a good projects form a bad one is often not the quality of the individual parts it’s the fist and finish of putting it together. Good pure flour and fine polished apples are ruined everyday in a shitty bakeshops. Bruised apples and cheap flour are turned into great pies by careful chefs.
It is not Playstations fault that Sony Santa Monica can’t put their project together, nor is it really the systems fault that Ubisoft skimped on the PS3 testing on a multiplatform game. Shit happens…because good people are poorly managed and poorly supported.
Jimbo sighting!
Good luck with your surgery Elsa.
But yes, I agree with many others that I tend to MP game on 360.
I love my PS3, but there are usually a lot of issues that I like to avoid, given that I have an option.
If you can find a deal, the Xbox Live Family Pack can be nice. 4 accounts for $80ish a year.
Sorry for the constant spacing: Dtoid mobile is super borked for me.
Good luck with your surgery Elsa.
But yes, I agree with many others that I tend to MP game on 360.
I love my PS3, but there are usually a lot of issues that I like to avoid, given that I have an option.
If you can find a deal, the Xbox Live Family Pack can be nice. 4 accounts for $80ish a year.
Sorry for the constant spacing: Dtoid mobile is super borked for me.
Hey Elsa, I LOVE Mongoose's rants in game. I hear other people laughing so I know I'm not alone.
Regarding Xbox Gold, I personally will never pay for it again. I come from PC gaming where online game was a free deal that came with games you bought. If chat is an issue (like in Diablo 3), a lot of people do a party chat on Skype on PC. Some people even do this on the couch for PS3 games using Skype on their phones. Not ideal, but it works.
As for cross-game chat (is that the same as party chat?), it was a feature teased on PS+ questionnaires but ultimately it just wouldn't work with the PS3's limited RAM (only 256MB! that's a third of my cell phone's). They learned their lesson though and the Vita has it.
Regarding Xbox Gold, I personally will never pay for it again. I come from PC gaming where online game was a free deal that came with games you bought. If chat is an issue (like in Diablo 3), a lot of people do a party chat on Skype on PC. Some people even do this on the couch for PS3 games using Skype on their phones. Not ideal, but it works.
As for cross-game chat (is that the same as party chat?), it was a feature teased on PS+ questionnaires but ultimately it just wouldn't work with the PS3's limited RAM (only 256MB! that's a third of my cell phone's). They learned their lesson though and the Vita has it.
I can't seem to find any information about the current state, but back in the days of the Old Xbox you had to pay for the network as Microsoft was leasing some of the most expensive atlantic-cables to ensure decent connectivity... It is a great feat how well Europeans can play against americans on Xbox Live, back in the days of the old Xbox on PC it was no fun at all due to high pings and LAG, but on Xbox it worked like a charm. I still feel it's the same now...
The clearest example for me is Forza 4 & GT5, both are 'first-party' exclusives but the difference in online-experience is unbelievable, and I'm not even talking about the myriad of options available in FM4 compared to the sparse and gimped GT5-MP experience, I'm purely talking about racing "across the pond", in FM4 it's no problem whatsoever to race against Americans, Japanese people etc while in GT5 playing against someone in the UK or Spain can already be an exercise in frustration with 'lag-jumps' and 'warping' all over the place...
I love all my consoles, but PS3 has made itself into a SP-machine for me... it's just too much of a hassle... party-chat is what makes XBL so great, you can get online and hang out with friends and you don't even have to play the same game and if you're on a public game, you can still just talk with your friends without bothering anyone...
It's probably not such an issue in the US where everybody speaks Englisch, but here in Europe it seems everybody on PS3 just mutes everybody that they don't know and then just talk in their own language... I've been in MAG games where there were German, French and Spanish/Italian people all talking at the same time in their own language... never had that on XBLive...
The clearest example for me is Forza 4 & GT5, both are 'first-party' exclusives but the difference in online-experience is unbelievable, and I'm not even talking about the myriad of options available in FM4 compared to the sparse and gimped GT5-MP experience, I'm purely talking about racing "across the pond", in FM4 it's no problem whatsoever to race against Americans, Japanese people etc while in GT5 playing against someone in the UK or Spain can already be an exercise in frustration with 'lag-jumps' and 'warping' all over the place...
I love all my consoles, but PS3 has made itself into a SP-machine for me... it's just too much of a hassle... party-chat is what makes XBL so great, you can get online and hang out with friends and you don't even have to play the same game and if you're on a public game, you can still just talk with your friends without bothering anyone...
It's probably not such an issue in the US where everybody speaks Englisch, but here in Europe it seems everybody on PS3 just mutes everybody that they don't know and then just talk in their own language... I've been in MAG games where there were German, French and Spanish/Italian people all talking at the same time in their own language... never had that on XBLive...
@monkeyking... you're probably right that it's not the devs... so much of game development is poorly outsourced. Homefront was a solid game, but if I'm not mistaken, the infrastructure (matchmaking) was outsourced... and it didn't work. they had a nice pie... but it got badly burned in the oven and became inedible!
@Chris... my husband doesn't have an Xbox... one of the reasons I wouldn't need the family pack - but he does have his own PS3, so if I find a solid multiplayer game, it's easier to pick up a second PS3 version so that we can play online together with full screen (a fair number of games support online splitscreen, but it's quite restrictive).
@Dare... Yeah, he really can get quite explosive. Myself I tend to get repetitious about what we should be doing or why I'm frago'ing something. Like that guy that told me to shut up the other night. He didn't mind Mongoose lighting up the internets with swear words, but apparently hated me telling everyone to go for the E objective over and over again! LOL!
... hopefully Playstation works out the voice chat issues and the PS4 is flawless. It's just odd how some games work well and other games generally need to be be patched a bunch of times to work. I would think that Playstation would share voice chat info (how to's) with the devs to ensure that the basics worked.
@mistic... actually most Xbox games are peer to peer which is why many are restricted to 12, 16 or sometimes 24 players. Many Playstation games are often on dedicated servers and quite a number of games support 32, 64 and even 256 players in a match. I'm not sure of the other technicalities, but Halo played pretty much the same online as most PS3 games in terms of lag. MAG has lag issues mostly because it's a 256 player game. Some of the peer to peer games also have lag, especially when people are from longer geographic distances.
In terms of the language issue... I LOVE playing with people that speak other languages! It's so cute to hear a Japanese guy (or girl?) on mic yelling "go frago". I've learned all kinds of adorable new words like "puta". I still remember a bunch of germans chatting away in a game when some American starts yelling "speak English you stupid foreigners and then proceeded to do a rant on how foreigners were ruining his American games"... one of the German guys suddenly switched to perfect English and said "Most of us do speak English, in fact most of us speak several languages and we were just talking about how stupid Americans were... thinking they owned the world and owned this game when they don't even bother to learn other languages and can't hear what people really think of them". This stuck with me as it seemed a reflection of world politics and not just the game! :)
Oh... and the Brits! They're adorable! They make the "cunt" swear word somehow sound classy! LOL!
@Chris... my husband doesn't have an Xbox... one of the reasons I wouldn't need the family pack - but he does have his own PS3, so if I find a solid multiplayer game, it's easier to pick up a second PS3 version so that we can play online together with full screen (a fair number of games support online splitscreen, but it's quite restrictive).
@Dare... Yeah, he really can get quite explosive. Myself I tend to get repetitious about what we should be doing or why I'm frago'ing something. Like that guy that told me to shut up the other night. He didn't mind Mongoose lighting up the internets with swear words, but apparently hated me telling everyone to go for the E objective over and over again! LOL!
... hopefully Playstation works out the voice chat issues and the PS4 is flawless. It's just odd how some games work well and other games generally need to be be patched a bunch of times to work. I would think that Playstation would share voice chat info (how to's) with the devs to ensure that the basics worked.
@mistic... actually most Xbox games are peer to peer which is why many are restricted to 12, 16 or sometimes 24 players. Many Playstation games are often on dedicated servers and quite a number of games support 32, 64 and even 256 players in a match. I'm not sure of the other technicalities, but Halo played pretty much the same online as most PS3 games in terms of lag. MAG has lag issues mostly because it's a 256 player game. Some of the peer to peer games also have lag, especially when people are from longer geographic distances.
In terms of the language issue... I LOVE playing with people that speak other languages! It's so cute to hear a Japanese guy (or girl?) on mic yelling "go frago". I've learned all kinds of adorable new words like "puta". I still remember a bunch of germans chatting away in a game when some American starts yelling "speak English you stupid foreigners and then proceeded to do a rant on how foreigners were ruining his American games"... one of the German guys suddenly switched to perfect English and said "Most of us do speak English, in fact most of us speak several languages and we were just talking about how stupid Americans were... thinking they owned the world and owned this game when they don't even bother to learn other languages and can't hear what people really think of them". This stuck with me as it seemed a reflection of world politics and not just the game! :)
Oh... and the Brits! They're adorable! They make the "cunt" swear word somehow sound classy! LOL!
Yes, they are peer-to-peer, but the XBLive network is a VPN that gets pumped over dedicated leased lines to cross large distances and this really makes a huge difference. I'm afraid you misunderstood me, I'm not dissing the PS3, I'm just explaining that the improved online experience is worth the 60 euros ( yes even more then for americans ) for me personally...
I speak Dutch natively, speak English & French fluently and understand German ( I'm from Europe after all ) but when playing online on publics I exclusively speak English for obvious reasons. I wasn't complaining about people like me talking English with a funny accent, I'm talking about foreigners talking their own language in a public/team-chat which is purely annoying I think even though I understand most of them... Even if you understand all the different languages you hear in the chat it's very hard to follow multiple conversations in different languages at the same time, and 80% of them are not even about the game we're playing, on XBL they are just in a party so they don't bother anyone but on PS3 they don't have any other choice but to use the public channel...
On PS3-games like killzone you really constantly have people holding 'private' conversations on the team-chat because there is no party-chat like on Xbox ( at least I hope that's the reason and not that they're just a bunch of selfish jerks ). If I selectively mute and unmute them I can find 3 or 4 "private" conversations going on over teamchat where they've just muted everyone else and in the end the only thing you can do is also mute everybody, which downgrades the MP-experience to what might as well be a bot-match...
I haven't had that on MAG, but there you often have the problem that it just doesn't seem to work at all ( voicechat I mean :-) ).
I have a few friends that live pretty far away from me, on xbox we can start a party-room and talk while each of us is playing their own game ( like when I'm playing Mass Effect and my mate is playing one of his JRPGs ), I really miss that on PS3... It has gone so far that we start a party on XBLive and play on PS3 just to be able to chill out a bit together... But that's just silly as you're wasting a huuuuuge amount of power like that... cross-game-party-chat is for me the killer-feature of XBL and worth the 60 euros.
I speak Dutch natively, speak English & French fluently and understand German ( I'm from Europe after all ) but when playing online on publics I exclusively speak English for obvious reasons. I wasn't complaining about people like me talking English with a funny accent, I'm talking about foreigners talking their own language in a public/team-chat which is purely annoying I think even though I understand most of them... Even if you understand all the different languages you hear in the chat it's very hard to follow multiple conversations in different languages at the same time, and 80% of them are not even about the game we're playing, on XBL they are just in a party so they don't bother anyone but on PS3 they don't have any other choice but to use the public channel...
On PS3-games like killzone you really constantly have people holding 'private' conversations on the team-chat because there is no party-chat like on Xbox ( at least I hope that's the reason and not that they're just a bunch of selfish jerks ). If I selectively mute and unmute them I can find 3 or 4 "private" conversations going on over teamchat where they've just muted everyone else and in the end the only thing you can do is also mute everybody, which downgrades the MP-experience to what might as well be a bot-match...
I haven't had that on MAG, but there you often have the problem that it just doesn't seem to work at all ( voicechat I mean :-) ).
I have a few friends that live pretty far away from me, on xbox we can start a party-room and talk while each of us is playing their own game ( like when I'm playing Mass Effect and my mate is playing one of his JRPGs ), I really miss that on PS3... It has gone so far that we start a party on XBLive and play on PS3 just to be able to chill out a bit together... But that's just silly as you're wasting a huuuuuge amount of power like that... cross-game-party-chat is for me the killer-feature of XBL and worth the 60 euros.
@Elsa
No,no,no, in the response to your comment about paying gold. To me the problem is and not directed towards you, but gamers in general is that some feel that videogames have to have some online functionality for it to sell for them. Single player games with none or little aren't worth many of their time. I would suggest to people to re-evaluate what makes a game good and not depend on online. There was a time when games were great without online. I don't buy an Xbox game unless I know I'm going to have some replay value because I refuse to keep playing Xbox live gold to play online. The only solution for people who don't want to spend $60 for a game that may not be good is use Gamefly. Anyway this was an interested blog.**FAPS**
P.S I hate that you have some form of Cancer. I hope you do well after the surgery. Take care :)
No,no,no, in the response to your comment about paying gold. To me the problem is and not directed towards you, but gamers in general is that some feel that videogames have to have some online functionality for it to sell for them. Single player games with none or little aren't worth many of their time. I would suggest to people to re-evaluate what makes a game good and not depend on online. There was a time when games were great without online. I don't buy an Xbox game unless I know I'm going to have some replay value because I refuse to keep playing Xbox live gold to play online. The only solution for people who don't want to spend $60 for a game that may not be good is use Gamefly. Anyway this was an interested blog.**FAPS**
P.S I hate that you have some form of Cancer. I hope you do well after the surgery. Take care :)
My sentiment for Xbox Live is this:
I've had no problems ever getting shit going on PS3 or Steam. I'm not going to pay money for something that's no better than the free services that are elsewhere. This is why I'm letting my Live subscription expire after this next 12 month period is up.
I've had no problems ever getting shit going on PS3 or Steam. I'm not going to pay money for something that's no better than the free services that are elsewhere. This is why I'm letting my Live subscription expire after this next 12 month period is up.
@mistic.... thanks for the info on the XBL network and what you say makes sense.
Awesome that you speak so many languages! I actually don't mind overhearing people chatting away in private conversations (even if it's in a different language) while playing a game. For me it's like being at a large party with multiple conversations and I have to admit I'm a bit guilty of doing that myself when I play with a group.
On MAG I've never had a voice chat issue... one of the very few games where the voice chat is actually fairly clear and decent... but I do seem to recall some early issues with chat in the game when it was first released... apparently this is a pretty consistent issue with Sony. :(
Cross game party chat is fun, but in all honesty I don't know that I would use it. I tend to play a lot of single player games, but mostly during the afternoons when I'm also doing housework... so I'm bouncing up and down from the couch and wandering off to do other things and leaving my mic on the couch. Though I guess if I did start using it, then habits might change...
@grandmaster... I love single player games as much as multiplayer games. Divinity 2 on the Xbox is one of my favorite games! (I love being a dragon and flying!) For myself though, I generally play both a single player game and a multiplayer game at the same time. Afternoons are for single player and most evenings I tend to appreciate the social aspects of multiplayer. Personally I think that games are best when they are "either/or" rather than trying to be both. My favorite multiplayer games tend to be MP only (MAG, Warhawk) and my favorite single player games are SP only (Skyrim, Oblivion, etc). I still think devs are best to simply concentrate on one or the other and do it well.
@Sephiroth... yeah, PC games are free online... maybe I should start checking out the viability of using a wireless mic and wireless controller with some of the PC games available - my laptop has an HDMI out that can connect it to the TV. Not sure if that would work, but it might give me other gaming options for gaming (especially as there seem to be some awesome PC only games available)
Meh... if an awesome online game game out for the Xbox that I could see myself playing for a year or two (like MAG), I might spring for gold... though then I'd also likely end up springing for an Xbox for my husband and a gold subscription for him to because I do enjoy playing online games with him as well... though it's not entirely necessary. (and I do miss Left 4 Dead.... awesome online game!)
Awesome that you speak so many languages! I actually don't mind overhearing people chatting away in private conversations (even if it's in a different language) while playing a game. For me it's like being at a large party with multiple conversations and I have to admit I'm a bit guilty of doing that myself when I play with a group.
On MAG I've never had a voice chat issue... one of the very few games where the voice chat is actually fairly clear and decent... but I do seem to recall some early issues with chat in the game when it was first released... apparently this is a pretty consistent issue with Sony. :(
Cross game party chat is fun, but in all honesty I don't know that I would use it. I tend to play a lot of single player games, but mostly during the afternoons when I'm also doing housework... so I'm bouncing up and down from the couch and wandering off to do other things and leaving my mic on the couch. Though I guess if I did start using it, then habits might change...
@grandmaster... I love single player games as much as multiplayer games. Divinity 2 on the Xbox is one of my favorite games! (I love being a dragon and flying!) For myself though, I generally play both a single player game and a multiplayer game at the same time. Afternoons are for single player and most evenings I tend to appreciate the social aspects of multiplayer. Personally I think that games are best when they are "either/or" rather than trying to be both. My favorite multiplayer games tend to be MP only (MAG, Warhawk) and my favorite single player games are SP only (Skyrim, Oblivion, etc). I still think devs are best to simply concentrate on one or the other and do it well.
@Sephiroth... yeah, PC games are free online... maybe I should start checking out the viability of using a wireless mic and wireless controller with some of the PC games available - my laptop has an HDMI out that can connect it to the TV. Not sure if that would work, but it might give me other gaming options for gaming (especially as there seem to be some awesome PC only games available)
Meh... if an awesome online game game out for the Xbox that I could see myself playing for a year or two (like MAG), I might spring for gold... though then I'd also likely end up springing for an Xbox for my husband and a gold subscription for him to because I do enjoy playing online games with him as well... though it's not entirely necessary. (and I do miss Left 4 Dead.... awesome online game!)
@Elsa Divinity 2 is from Belgium (like me)!!! I play it on PC though :-) We're forced to learn Dutch, French and English in our country, for about 20 years now English is included, before that is was just Dutch & French. That's why it's such a great country for travellers :-D
I have that wireless dongle for the Xbox-controller on my PC so that should work for you too, and there has to be millions of wireless headsets available for regular PC, you can probably pick one that 'fits your style' :-D L4D2 is now 20 euros on Steam ( 60 euros for a 4-pack :p ) so you could get 2 for less then the price of XBLive if it's just for playing L4D :-D
I have that wireless dongle for the Xbox-controller on my PC so that should work for you too, and there has to be millions of wireless headsets available for regular PC, you can probably pick one that 'fits your style' :-D L4D2 is now 20 euros on Steam ( 60 euros for a 4-pack :p ) so you could get 2 for less then the price of XBLive if it's just for playing L4D :-D
@mistic... I just have HP laptop, but it should be capable of running some simple games - I'll check out the Xbox controller dongle and maybe even check to see if one of my bluetooth headsets would work with my PC for chat!
Thanks!
Thanks!
well, if you don't mind 'ugly' graphics, anything with the souce-engine will run on pretty old/weak hardware fairly well ( it astonishes me regularly what it can do on 'old crap' :-D ) . L4D(2) is on source, so there's a pretty good chance you'll be able to get it running and they both support the xbox-controller on PC it's community is also much more alive then on consoles...
If you have one of those 'official' logitech wireless headsets for PS3, you should be able to get them running fairly easy on PC.
with regards to Xbox, games like Halo allow you to play online with 2 people at the same time on the same console, kinda like MW3 did on PS3. Sadly it's a feature that's often overlooked by devs :-( ( on ALL consoles btw )
If you have one of those 'official' logitech wireless headsets for PS3, you should be able to get them running fairly easy on PC.
with regards to Xbox, games like Halo allow you to play online with 2 people at the same time on the same console, kinda like MW3 did on PS3. Sadly it's a feature that's often overlooked by devs :-( ( on ALL consoles btw )
I'm not a fan of splitscreen online... I'm bad enough that I don't need the added disadvantage of only half a screen LOL!
... though couch co-op isn't so bad because then I get to play with someone that usually sucks about as much as I do! :)
... though couch co-op isn't so bad because then I get to play with someone that usually sucks about as much as I do! :)
" I said I was interested in Kingdoms of Amalur and maybe Dragon's Dogma as they were both RPG's that I could play while I was stoned on drugs and tired and I wouldn't feel obliged to chat with people like I tend to do in a multiplayer game" - this made me chuckle.
Did you ever pick up Dragons Dogma or Amalur? I'm enjoying Amalur myself.
Did you ever pick up Dragons Dogma or Amalur? I'm enjoying Amalur myself.
