[Editor's note: SurplusGamer takes a look at the difference between playing Left 4 Dead on Steam and Xbox Live for his Monthly Musings. -- CTZ]
I'm not an avid multiplayer gamer and so despite having bad experiences with playing Team Fortress 2 and a few other games on Xbox Live, I really didn't expect it to live up to the negative things I've heard people say about it. I knew just as well as anyone the particular kind of idiot you get when playing with random people on Live but equally I found myself quick to defend:
"Sure, those morons exist, but they must exist on PC, too!" I'd insist and I'm sure it's at least partially true.
Recently, though, I've had a chance to put this to a real test. After weeks of playing many public matches of Left 4 Dead on Steam, I got the chance to play it on Xbox Live for the first time over Christmas. Hit the jump to see how the experiences compared.
My very worst experience of playing Left 4 Dead on Steam is as follows:
Some random player on my team started to shoot me. The rest of my team turned on him, we dealt with him and moved on. That's it. Apart from that I've played with many players of very variable competence but they all at least seemed in tune with the idea of killing zombies and getting to the end, even if they were a bit bad at doing it.
Now, you probably know where I'm going with this but let me describe my first three public games of the same game, Left 4 Dead on Xbox Live:
Game 1 - No Mercy
Random guy on my team starts shooting me as soon as I join the game. I shoot him more. I leave, hoping for something better.
Game 2 - No Skills
Two guys at the beginning of No Mercy versus mode decide to start the game by dancing about on the edge of the roof. They both panic when a Smoker and Hunter go for them and fall off the roof. They die before even leaving the first area. I quit in a fit of disbelief.
Game 3 - No Longer Surprised
I get some advice from the Destructoid IRC channel that playing Campaign works out better with randoms, so I start one of those games. There are two friends making up one half of the team. They start shooting me and the other random and we can't vote to kick them because we're not a majority. The following conversation ensues:
Them: "Man, you suck at this."
Me: "You probably think this is how you're supposed to play the game, don't you?"
Them: (predictably) "It is how you play the game! Fag. olololol."
Me:: "OK, bye."
Subsequent games have, more often than not, had similar results. I'll grant you that this experiment hasn't been exactly scientific but it's at least some fairly strong anecdotal evidence that all the bad things that people say about Xbox Live gamers have at least some basis in fact.
Artist's impression of the average Xbox Live gamer
Why the big difference? Is it a simple case of demographics? Is it simply that those who play on Xbox Live are far more likely to be whiny thirteen year old homophobes with no interest in actually playing the game? I suppose it's possible but I know from the non-public games I've played on Live with you good Destructoid folks that there are plenty of people out there with the will to play these games properly. Not just that, but I know so many people with a 360 and none of them would act in this way. Why I don't encounter this kind of person even half the time I'm playing remains a mystery to me.
Ultimately though, it's a shame for the 360. I still defend people's right to prefer playing on consoles to PC and consider elitism about either to be pretty short-sighted. Both have their advantages and I use both for different types of gaming. Other people have their own preferences and that's okay too. That being the case, I'd love to say to someone who is considering buying a game like Left 4 Dead "Go for whichever version you're more comfortable with." Instead, though, it has to come with a caveat: "Choose whichever but if you choose the 360 version, don't expect to have many good games on public servers."
Isn't that sad?
Contest:
12:00 PM on 01.08.2009
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Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.
(joke, joke)
SuperD1984 your average Xbox Live Gamer.
So far my experiences on my PS3 have been rather good. Maybe just luck but I've had not a single person be an ass over voice chat.
Stop everything and go watch the film Idiocracy then come back and reread this article.
Do you get it? Xbox Live is a crystal ball into the future leaders of America.
Or maybe they're all just jerks.
that's how it works
Answer: Yes.
However, there have been games such as FIFA 09/NHL 09 that have brought back the whole community aspect back into gaming with their 5 on 5s and 10 on 10s.
It should be said that it is close to impossible to find newer people to play with in a game like Gears of War 2 when everyone is in private chat or less reluctant to use their headsets (PEOPLE... Microsoft included it in the package for a reason [i don't know if they are still included in the box]. And it is also the fault of imo parents of 12 year old kids who allow them to play something LIKE Halo. It opens up to way more immature stuff like the shooting from behind thing, name calling, and shouting into mics.
This may sound rather silly but the accessibility for a 12 year old to PC gaming IS a lot harder than a console. The steps to enter a game is much easier on the console, parents see consoles as harmless and PC games as dangerous, and sadly XBL ends up being flooded with all those people.
I hope you're not referring to Left 4 Dead, because in this case, the 360 version has a lot of people cheating in ways that have been patched on the PC. In fact, I've never encountered a cheater, and after a quick survey of my Steam friends on right now neither have they,
But I've had bad experiences on all of the online platforms.
Now I completely understand. Thanks.
Look, let's get real. The vast majority of the people on XBox Live are just like you and me, they want to go in and play the game online and fuck some shit up and have a good time. Period.
Are there griefers? Yes, of course. Are there racists and sexists and homophobes? Thousands. But they're NOT the majority, the majority is just as annoyed by them as the rest of us are.
Three anecdotes about your experiences with griefers on L4D really is not representative of all 360 multiplayerdom. I've played Left 4 Dead on the 360 countless times, almost always with random people, and I've only been on one team that was horrid.
Does that mean XBL is a utopia? Hell no. There's millions of people there, it's a community, there's cool people and there's assholes. Meet a griefer? Okay, log out of the match and load up another one, odds are the people will be cooler.
Gamers on the 360 are no different from PC gamers. They're no less hardcore just because they don't use a mouse. And honestly, at least on the 360 99% of players have a mic and actively communicate and talk to one another. That communication is pretty hit and miss on the PC version of Left 4 Dead and other multiplayer games.
Picking out the douchebags from the lobby is way easier, and less time consuming. I should note however, that it usually takes 2 or 3 lobbies before I find a game I consider worthy.
I try to only play XBL with friends and DToiders, because then you are crushing the douchebags, idiots, and racist middle schoolers who think they are kings of the vidja games.
I'll actually be receiving L4D in the mail today and I don't think I have enough people to avoid needing a random idiot to fill the team. So if anyone's up for a game, hit me up. Gamertag: BROS3F
Everybody talks to one another on XBL, so naturally you're going to talk to dickwads a lot more often.
I still want to get the PC version also, not because I am fed up with the people on L4D XBL but because I want the awesome mods of the future. I need bikini boomer.
Now, I just hop on my Colloquy and ask around what people are playing in order to avoid the majority of the losers online. That's not to say I never play with randoms...there are some good people that I have randomly played with online. However, I just love knowing that I can play with you guys and enjoy myself rather than take a chance
I love Idiocracy, so funny.
PSN also has very little access in comparison to the Xbox 360 like the original Xbox, so there is a greater chance of better players, which makes it enjoyable.
Man, I miss the good old days on Halo 2...
And I usually suck in multiplayer games.