Multiplayer Gaming: What am I missing?

[GoodKingJayIII]

It's not a list, per se. The way the reveiw function in XBL is supposed to work, if you give someone a positive review you are more likely to be grouped with that person in the future. Vice versa, give someone a negative reveiw and you are less likely to be grouped with that person in the future.

You can look at individuals' game tags and see their ratings and why people rated them negatively (bad language, unsportsmanlike play, etc.). It's a useful system in theory, but I don't have any sense of how well it works. Halo 3--the only multiplayer game I've played for XBL--has so many people online at a give time, the chances are astronomically low that I'll end up with the same people next time I play.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Yet for some people, multiplayer is the most important element of a game. Isn't the behavior of others disappointing?

The trick is to play multiplayer games with people you know. Real life friends who have the same game, or those few individuals you DO meet while playing that are cool to play with. Just put them on your friend's list and group up with them when you are on together.

I don't get as much Halo 3 time in as I used, and that's mostly because my real life friends have been busy and haven't called me to play in awhile. (Plus I am really into WoW right now)

 

[TwistedBishop]

I'm so used to these sorts of posts. Someone plays Live for a brief period of time, runs into jerks, and quickly dismisses the whole system as a cesspool.

I've played hundreds of hours of Halo multiplayer, in purely random pickup groups, and have found the truth of the matter far different. By far the overwhelming percentage of players are quiet and anonymous. Just because the bad ones are more memorable does not mean they are representative of the whole.

As far as those truly obnoxious people go, it's the same as the rest of the internet: you block them; you ignore them; you move on.

 

[Orius]

Well, I can't stand FPSs to begin with, so I'm glad I'm not playing these games. I really doubt I'd enjoy getting fragged by these guys.

I tend to prefer games like RPGs, puzzles, stragegy games, and the like. Unfortunately the vast majority of online gaming is either FPSs or MMOs. And just from playing MMOs and even some NWN PWs, I know there are bastard gamers out their who get their kicks to making everyone else's experience bad (which is one reason I don't want to play WoW). It's probably a thousand times worse with FPS games. Cooperative gaming is more to my taste, I get enough backstabbing jerks who'll do anything to get ahead IRL, I don't want them in my entertainment I use to unwind from that crap.

And I can believe XBL is as bad as some have said. It's probably easier to use than a PC setup, so the Neanderthal content probably goes up.

Anyway, I have enjoyed online gaming. I usually prefer to play with people who play about the same time of the day I do even if I don't personally know them. I also like smaller more competant groups in RPGs. I've had fun killing all sort of monsters just teamed up with 1 or 2 other players who knew what they were doing. It's less fun when you're in a bigger party of noobs who constantly get mauled because they're poor players and don't know how to coordinate.

Even if it's a more competative game, I prefer someone who's more mature who won't rub it in if they win, or break the connection or something if they lose. Especially if they don't take it personal, and even are the type who are willing to give tips to other players. Unfortunately, very very few competative gamers are at all like that, instead they prefer easy victories against weak opponents.

 

[stevelabny]

SO I just got my 360 and i've been downloding tons of demos, and I've been playing Mass Effect and Bioshock, and I wouldn't mind trying an online "light" game in xbox arcade, or trying a FPS online.

I put on the Lost Planet demo and it dumped me right onto a map with 15 other guys, no idea how to control the game or what the map looks like, and I think i died 14 times in 15 minutes with 2 kills.

anyone want to suggest a nice FPS online demo to try out or hold my hand while I learn the ropes on one? Or if you're new to FPS online battes too, we can group up?

 

[Vocenoctum]

It's not FREE, but you can get Halo2 pretty cheap used. I imagine most of the world has moved on to Halo3 or CoD4, but it's still an option.

 

[Vocenoctum]

Well, I can't stand FPSs to begin with, so I'm glad I'm not playing these games. I really doubt I'd enjoy getting fragged by these guys.

I tend to prefer games like RPGs, puzzles, stragegy games, and the like. Unfortunately the vast majority of online gaming is either FPSs or MMOs. And just from playing MMOs and even some NWN PWs, I know there are bastard gamers out their who get their kicks to making everyone else's experience bad (which is one reason I don't want to play WoW).

I'll put it this way, ENWorld has a large group of jerks, but that doesn't mean folks should label it as a bad place. If you came to ENWorld and tangled with some of them in your first thread or two, you may get that impression.

Anonymity lowers the standards in some folks minds.


It's hard to be more than a nag in WoW really, PvP is optional, and sure someone might grab your Copper Vein before you can get there, but no big deal.

 

[Orius]

It's not FREE, but you can get Halo2 pretty cheap used. I imagine most of the world has moved on to Halo3 or CoD4, but it's still an option.

That reminds me of something else about online gaming that irritates the hell out of me: older games are forgotten. Too many players like to move on the the latest thing, and communities of older games die out from attrition. As someone who doesn't have deep pockets to spend on high-end gaming systems and the latest games, this is very frustrating, because it's harder to find players after a few years for these games.

 

[trancejeremy]

I'll put it this way, ENWorld has a large group of jerks, but that doesn't mean folks should label it as a bad place. If you came to ENWorld and tangled with some of them in your first thread or two, you may get that impression.

Yeah, but RPG.net would be a better comparison to XBL,


Well, I wouldn't quite go that far. But I think XBL's very nature draws more competitive, wound up people. Because more casual relaxed players probably aren't into it enough to pay $50 a year to subscribe to it. Same with the constant ranking and gamerpoints. People get cuthroat over games like Uno. (Actually, I've heard a lot of horror stories about the camera support of that game)

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I put on the Lost Planet demo and it dumped me right onto a map with 15 other guys, no idea how to control the game or what the map looks like, and I think i died 14 times in 15 minutes with 2 kills.

anyone want to suggest a nice FPS online demo to try out or hold my hand while I learn the ropes on one? Or if you're new to FPS online battes too, we can group up?

Honestly, just keep at what you're doing. Eventually you'll figure stuff out.

I was playing CoD4 with some friends at a LAN party, and for the first few games I was pretty much a free kill, to the point where I wasn't even sure who I was supposed to be shooting. But I got better, and actually did decently. The same happened with DotA.

Brad