Hey buddy, don't mean to call you out or anything but you called me, yesterday "a lying ass bitch" because I was saying my Black ops games on Xbox LIVE suffer from many connection issues.
I was gonna leave it, but then today, in my lunchbreak I played 2 rounds of Black ops, no more, no less, well, a little less because looky what popped up (after the little unplugged cable logo) about 2 minutes into round number two....
Now I know the picture doesn't show much, but I kinda had to grab my phone and take it from my gaming chair position quickly but, this was honest to God on LIVE and within 15 minutes of starting my game session.
That's right mate, XBL is "buttery" 100% of the time. If butter has trouble staying connected to the servers/host of what is currently it's most popular game, and cost £40 a year.
(In fact, due to it's nature, butter probably would have a bit of trouble staying connected to just about anything, except bread, it's good with bread)
I'm gonna have to start taking shots of all of these, i get a variation of 3 different problems pretty much on daily basis (not including the occasional: "The Matchmaking Servers for the P2P game you paid for on the online gaming network you pay for, are currently unavailable") - and as I've said before, this is far more understandable and acceptable when you're not paying £40 to get disconnected.
*Just FYI, I run my PS3, PC, Mac, Xbox, PSP, and Mrs SC's DSi XL through the same 50mb/s fibre optic cable broadband and ISP supplied wirelss router - and I have more problems with Xbox LIVE than any other platform. Funny, being as though it's the ONLY ONE I have to pay a subscription for*
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@Jayson - I wouldn't go as far as to say it sucks, I mean it lets you connect to other gamers and play games online, but as far as the hordes of Xbots on here saying it's fucking flawless and well worth £40 a year, or even just that it's "better than PSN" - as far as stability and basic ability to it's it's basic job (online gaming) it's no better and no worse. It's just more expensive.
Sure it's got lots of bells and whistles, but personally I don't use any of them, I've used cross game chat once since i got it (a couple of months ago) and have never used the Facebook, Sky, or any othe that other bullshit.
I just want to play games online, and when it's being used for that it's pretty much identical to PSN, except for the price, and the way the PSN supports a lot of games with dedicated servers.
Oh well, Black Ops sucks balls anyway, I'm going back to MAG.
People are so quick to call PSN "inferior" when they fail to understand how the systems work.
PSN let's game publishers sort out the online for their games through PSN, you want dedicated servers it's your job as publisher to sort them out. you want cheap shit matchmaking and P2P connection, go for it, and on your head be it if it's shit.
PSN shouldn't be blamed for publishers lacking at server support and devs lacking at netcode.
(LBP2 is Sony published though isn't it, so that's kinda one of the exceptions to the rule - but saying that it could be mM's netcode or just more players than they were expecting or something, sure it'll smooth out soon enough)
Meanwhile XBL IS the online system for the games, it's sorted and maintained (and charged for) by MS and other than special circumstances (I "think" EA requires their own servers) if it doesn't work it is absolutely MS's responsibility.
That's why I find it so unacceptable when I have connection issues on XBL. Not because it ruins my life, just because I'm paying MS to play onine, they should be coming down on Activision and Treyarch fucking hard for screwing THEIR customers out of the service they're charging them for.
If it was up to me, i would look at games like CoD using cheap shitty P2P connections and minimal matchmaking servers and I would insist, quite strongly, that they used dedicated servers in order for MS to provide the service they're charging for.
But in the end, they don't "really" give that much of a fuck about providing the service they charge for, but they would do anything to keep that "available on Xbox360" on the end of all the CoD adverts and the contract for early DLC...
Serious Bizniz, you've gotta love being the lowly consumer.
Other games... like Warhawk or Killzone, I rarely get disconnects. WH is P2P and KZ is dedicated... but they just seem to have more robust systems less prone to disconnects. Oh and Resistance... never had a disconnect, ever, in either game.
I agree it's likely nothing to do with the console... and I suspect more to do with the game's infrastructure and the individual developer. The thing is, COD is such a successful game and they produce a new iteration to suck money from the pockets of gamers on an annual basis... so you'd think that they might spring for the cost of dedicated servers or at the very least, they might improve their online infrastructure to ensure a more stable online platform - for BOTH the 360 and PS3. COD is all about the money, I honestly don't think they give a shit about the gamers... any of the gamers.
I NEVER have problems on Black Ops 360. Neither do any of my friends. I have some issues with Marvel 2 on PS3 - none of my friends do. Apparently Elsa has some issues with PS3, and she plays it pretty often to make a good judgement call.
It's all circumstantial and trashing an entire platform because your ISP doesn't agree with the developer's code for some reason is ludicrous.
However while that problem somewhat persists, I find I very rarely have any disconnect issues from a game when I'm playing by myself or with 1 or 2 friends. It'll happen but never on the scale that it seems to happen to you. Then there's the Host Migrations which I thunk if it bounces around long enough can disconnect you but just from personal experience I'm not seeing the same game launch failure rate as you.
"I've used cross game chat once since i got it"
See, this makes me think that you don't really know what you're talking about. Cross game chat is, without a doubt, the best feature introduced to online gaming in the current generation, and I truly believe that anyone who doesn't agree with that has never actually used it.
Take a recent Friday Night Fight as an example. I jumped online at the usual time and immediately scrolled down my friends list to see who was playing what. I noticed that most of my friends were in different games (as usual), but since it was FNF and I was in the mood for some MP, I tapped the X button as I scrolled past my seven favorite Dtoiders, inviting them all to my party. Then, after everyone was in party chat, we all discussed what we wanted to play, threw in the disc, and then I jumped into RDR free roam and invited the ENTIRE PARTY into MY free roam session by pushing ONE button. Within literally a few minutes, eight Dtoiders went from playing completely different games to jumping into the exact same multiplayer session, just by pressing a few buttons.
Sure, we COULD have jumped on Skype to make our plans and then all scurry to find each other once we got in the game (and then cross our fingers that the session didn't fill up with randoms before we all joined), but why the fuck would we when a feature as simple as cross game chat does all the work for us?
You really are missing out on an incredibly useful and fun feature by ignoring the party system, and you owe it to yourself as a gamer in the 21st Century to give it a chance.
Agreed. Cross chating is the wave of the future. The whole idea behind it is getting a whole posse of your friends together, and just playing any game you want across on entire platform. You don't even have to play the same game at the same time - it doesn't matter.
It's also a free phone service if you have limited cell minutes - just hit "party" and you're talking.
Also, SO useful during FNF.
People who got a 360 before the PS3 came out were suddenly able to easily connect to their friends, play online, and chat, and for a lot of the gaming public this was the FIRST time online multiplayer was so accessible. PSN came along and there just wasn't any reason to switch if you already had a 360. It basically did about the same thing with a few less bells and whistles and connecting with your friends didn't feel quite as convenient as Live.
I grew up playing Doom and Unreal and Tribes and Warcraft and Starcraft and all those classic PC games online with friends or at LAN parties or whatever so I wasn't ever that blown away by the consoles finally catching up, but for the vast majority of people multiplayer was a new world and 360 was their introduction.
I got my PS3 before I got a 360 and it was the same circumstances only vice versa. PSN worked just fine for playing online games and there was really no good reason to switch to 360 (other than being able to play w my homies who don't play online on PS3) so I ditched my 360 as it just wasn't getting any use. If I had more gaming time I would love to get a 360 again, but I really only have time for one console in my life right now. I'm a monogamous console gamer. :)
Anyway, I'm right there with you in that I don't think that Live is SOOOOOOO MUCH better and SOOOOOO worth the subscription fees, but I think it's still the standard and will continue to be and I think it's still a tad easier to connect/interact with friends online than PSN... and I can see how a lot of gamers justify paying for it for those reasons. Like I said, I'd love to get back into the 360, but just don't have the time and the PS3 does all I need.
True story, in all respects it almost seems archiac to think about how you had to all get into a game to talk to each other on PSN. The ease of Party Chat is literally night and day. I know last night when I played with Marcus and my buddy James on Crackdown 2 when Monk's brother stopped in to say hi, he didn't have to join our game, send a text message, jump on a computer then message us to get on.... He pressed X to Party Chat (see what I did there).
@sexual chocolate
You know you're my main man, right? We've had our verbal scuffles but I some love for you.
Im sorry you're having such a guff time on xbl and it undoubtably confirms any fears you may have had before you dropped the money but people aren't saying they don't have these troubles to prove you wrong, they're saying it because they really aren't having these problems.
I know you are defending yourself in this blog and you have every right to do that but your troubles are not indicative of the whole of xbl. I could pull google images of similar screen shots from ps3 games and yell about how it's shitty, free and you get what you paid for. But I wouldn't be winning points over anyone, I would be making myself look like an über tool.
Also. Seriously now, Jayson is a tool. Agreeing with anything he says is like supporting the westboro church. You're smarter than him. Associating yourself with such a dick will only leave a stain upon your good self.
"I grew up playing Doom and Unreal and Tribes and Warcraft and Starcraft and all those classic PC games online with friends or at LAN parties or whatever"
High five!
Live and PSN are both pretty damn stable when you take these fucking games out of the equation.
Not sure if that was directed towards me or not, but I'll go ahead and answer anyway since I love spamming people's threads :)
My first comment wasn't necessarily in response to this blog so much as Sexualchocolate's past history of hating on Live. I mean, dude's been bashing the 360 for the entirety of this console generation with next to no experience using one, and then, when he finally gets one, he goes out and buys the one game that is guaranteed to reinforce his already-established opinion of Live (as in, "it's not worth the money"). Maybe it was subconscious, maybe not, but let's be real: he wouldn't be able to complain like this if he were playing Halo or any other stable 360 staple.
It would be the same situation if I had bought my PS3 and then played nothing but Haze and bitched about how 100% of my experience with the PS3 was utter shit. Sure, it would be technically true, but is Haze a fair representation of the system as a whole? Of course not, just like Black Ops isn't a fair representation of Live.
As for my party chat lecture, I was mostly trying to let him know that I honestly don't think he's using it right. Sure, you COULD just use it as a means to BS with people while you're playing different games, but you'd be missing out on its best features. I just wanted to make sure he actually knew what he was missing out on so that he could start to utilize the thing since he paid so much money for it :)
Also, I'm not hating on Sexualchocolate at all. My experiences with PSN and Live are almost 100% positive, with the only difference being I have more friends on Live and I love party chat. PSN it a completely stable platform and anyone who says otherwise is a liar, plain and simple.
And despite our past tiffs, I like the dude, and even though I rarely agree with him, he's at least better than dicktards like Jayson up there :)
:)
Also,
:)
I wasn't directing it at you personally, moreso at the overall conversation in the comments. Fear not - as near as I can tell there is no ill-will on either side.
But I don't think SC is insinuating the entire XBL service is shit judging by his experience with blops - rather that XBL isn't as perfect as it's made out to be in contrast with the barbarism of PSN, as is a common enough generalization made by fans of the former. And that while online instability is more or less a symptom of the game (be it developers, publishers or whatever), it's a lot harder to shrug off when you're supposed to paying the service provider specifically for game stability. It's not so much "XBL is shit", than "XBL is a more expensive PSN."
Then again my reading of this blog has been disjointed so I could be wrong in my interpretation.
No, I don't think you're reading it wrong at all. I was mostly just using this thread as a soapbox to try and get SC to use party chat more :)
/highfive
I still think he's wrong as shit about Xbox Live :D
It maks me a saad epic that your experience on xbox live wasn't a good one. The least you could do is attempt to enjoy some Reach or L4D2 On FNFs. Or hell, join us in Black Ops sometime.
Still, XBLA>PSN.
@Everyone I appreciate your sadness for me. Thank you.
Byronic nailed it right in the face. I don't think LIVE is shit, not by a long shot. I just don't think it's quite as superior to PSN as a lot of people make out. I think my main problem at the moment is lack of games and lack of friends on there to be honest, more friends would mean more party chat opportunities, more games would give me a broader experience of the service.
(So far I only have Black Ops, Medal of Honor and New Vegas - Love MoH but struggling to enjoy NV)
And I am fully aware that my problems are down to the game, shit every modern CoD game has suffered from shitty P2P connections. But I would just expect, being as though I'm paying for the service, that MS would be a bit more on top of it making sure everyone was getting what they were paying for. I'm sure they have "some" leverage with publishers!
Still, it's OK, now I'm a bit more used to the NXE (that's right isn't it?) and have had some time with it. It's just not as Godly as the fanboys like to make out.
Also, @Magnalon
@Jaws
"I grew up playing Doom and Unreal and Tribes and Warcraft and Starcraft and all those classic PC games online with friends or at LAN parties or whatever"
High five!
^ SECONDED ^ (but add a little Counter Strike, well a fucking lot, too much in fact)
Rest assured though guys, Homo Reach (Around) is in my Lovefilm (post rentals) list and will arrive at some point. Maybe sooner rather than later being as though I currently have SC Conviction from them, which seems pretty awesome, but I'm stuck as a pig on the borked stupid fucking flashback mission. So I may just give up and send it back.
Oh yeah Jaws nailed it pretty much too.
I really feel on the same wavelength as a lot of you guys. Man, I love this place.
*exhales cloud of smoke*
Peace. x
The mission with Coste and you have to save Sam? That was easy, lyin ass bitch.
;D I'm kidding.
Might I make some suggestions to add to your Xbox 360 rental library?
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
L4D2
Super SF4
Gears 2
Mass Effect 1 (so you can have a bit more background when you play ME2 on PS3)
AS FOR XBLA GAMES:
Perfect Dark
Shadow Complex
Undertow
Garou: Mark of Wolves
MAHVEL BAYBEE 2
Doom 2 (don't know if its on PSN,)
Limbo
Raskulls
IloMilo
Aaaaaaand......Banjo Kazooie/Tooie
At least, until my 360 dies.
If I don't leave a disc in the tray, it takes a lot of effort and waving the console around in the air as it is running to get it to open again.
Dammit.
@daedhead unfortunately not, I do love that meme though! I just kinda made it up, sure must have heard it somewhere, Adam Sandler film or something? And being a sexy man of dark skin it kinda fits, although I'm more Sexual caramel....
@Scotty G - My Bad Company 2 on PS3 is maxed out dude, one of my favourite games that one, loving the Vietnam pack!
@daedhead unfortunately not, I do love that meme though! I just kinda made it up, sure must have heard it somewhere, Adam Sandler film or something? And being a sexy man of dark skin it kinda fits, although I'm more Sexual caramel....
@Scotty G - My Bad Company 2 on PS3 is maxed out dude, one of my favourite games that one, loving the Vietnam pack!
*cue why can't we be friends*
/troll
That's cool, I like caramel better than chocolate anyway. No homo, I really do prefer caramel as an ice cream topping.
Turok was terrible on both consoles, jesus christ i nearly tore off a testi attempting to play that game, it was buggy from day 1. Also..
@sexual chocolate
Stay high brother