Multiplayer Gaming: What am I missing?

[TwistedBishop]

Depends on your setup, but WoW is very forgiving on system requirements. That's one of the reasons it's popular, because it looks decent on even low-end systems.

As for server populations, there aren't that many people on a server. I'd say, at most, about 20,000 players at any one time, and even that's stretching it. (If someone has better data, that'd be cool) I do know I see the same people over and over in Shattrath, and the zones are big enough that you don't really run into people much except in high-traffic areas.

Truth be told. WoW ran fantastically on my old Gateway with integrated graphics.

As far as population numbers, WoW never seems more busy than EQ did back in the day, and that was with 5000 people on any given server at peak. Blizzard has a huge number of servers spread across multiple regions, the dungeons are instanced, and I'm sure the casual nature of the game plays a part.

 

[Felon]

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.

You must be used to these sorts of posts, since it seems you didn't read far into mine to note that I acknowledged the jerks need not be representative of the whole. The insidious thing about jerks is that they don't have to represent the majority in order to ruin things for the majority.

I'm not sure how you ignore someone screaming into their mike unless you just don't use headphones and forego communication.

 

[Felon]

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.

ENWorld is moderated. There's some consequence to being a jerk, some useful mechanism for reporting uncivil behavior.

And that was the problem with TF2. If someone was acting like a twerp, all you could do was request or demand that they cut it out, or just quit the game yourself. There needs to be a voting-off mehanism.

 

[Modin Godstalker]

Those online shooters remind me of live paintball with no consequences.

People never play with any real tactics. I always like playing those games in campaign mode, because the enemy ai acts more logicly than humans.

 

[Vocenoctum]

Those online shooters remind me of live paintball with no consequences.

People never play with any real tactics. I always like playing those games in campaign mode, because the enemy ai acts more logicly than humans.

That's my main problem with it really. People talk about yelling profanity or such, but heck, there's no tactical talk on the thing anyway, so why bother listening?

I could see if it was "man, I can't hear our team planning over the kid singing", but it's not. It's just background noise.


The actual gameplay has no bearing on reality, and no purpose for me, I guess, so it's hard to get into.

 

[Felon]

That's my main problem with it really. People talk about yelling profanity or such, but heck, there's no tactical talk on the thing anyway, so why bother listening?

I could see if it was "man, I can't hear our team planning over the kid singing", but it's not. It's just background noise.

True enough, IME. People get mentally stuck playing in deathmatch mode, even in a game like TF2 where there are clear objectives and killing lots of other players won't necessarily accomplish them.

And for most folks, deathmatch mode amounts to scurrying around trying to get on the drop on someone before they get it on you. When your luck runs out, you respawn and go right back to doing the same thing. It reminds me of an old blue-haired lady playing the slots in Vegas with a bucket of quarters.