Does anyone else think broadband games stink? (1 Viewer)

[Michael G Jones]

I have yet to experience the online gaming. Main reason being, there has not been any games that have compelled me to make the jump.
I'll have to upgrade my PC for the jump into BattleField, which is the big one right now. For the PS2, I'll wait and see what happens when Resident Evil & Final Fantasy make the jump to Online.
Half-Life LAN over lunch hour at work ranks up there. You know the people you are playing and no one cheats.
Like Scott said, "it will only get bigger and more involving." For the next gen consoles, this is their first shot at online, so it can only go up from here.

 

[paul h]

Interesting write up on cheaters here:

http://forums.xengamers.com/showthre...threadid=74491

 

[Scott L]

Paul that article makes me wince. It's a shame that there are so many deadbeat gamers out there that like to eliminate any chance of competition they might have. I think a lot of it has to do with kids that have nothing else to do with their time and think getting a better rank will automatically make them a better player.

That article pretty much sums up console online gaming, which is still in its infancy. Behold the beauty of the PC patch. Console developers will learn from their mistakes though and slowly we'll see the console cheaters fade away (but maybe not completely).

Though with PC games cheating is more deceptive. Someone could have wallhacks or neon skins that let the cheater see where everyone else is on the map. It's not uncommon to see veteran players with great skill be accused of cheating by someone who has been playing the game for only a month.

 

[Jeffrey_Scotts]

I think a lot of it has to do with kids that have nothing else to do with their time and think getting a better rank will automatically make them a better player.

I have a novel idea, how about parents actually taking responsability for their kids and parenting. Their time should be spent getting better GRADES not rank, which will make them better educated rather than a better player. Maybe they should focus more on college so they can afford anything they desire to purchase when they are adults instead of saying they can't afford it.

 

[Phil Florian]

...and on that note, isn't it cool that the US Army paid a ton of money for an online game for kids to play? I am surprised that the media didn't run around with this. This isn't a politica bash, admins, just a point about online gaming. Both dems and reps argue in Congress about a variety of ways to reduce or even prevent violent games and then the Army goes and spends around $7 million to develop a fine online shooter. Violent, but it forces one to play by the rules (not just physics and stuff, but actual army procedures). Maybe if more online games took this tact it would make gaming easier. Who knows.

But kids aside, I think most of the foul mouthed cheaters aren't the teens, but at the earliest college kids and worse the 20 somethings (or older) who make up the brunt of the PC gamers. Teens are playing consoles, I would think.


Phil

 

[Graeme Clark]

Online gaming can be a frustrating experience, especially if you let it get to you. Sure there are immature, annoying, cheating brats out there, but there are also people that aren't. Once you find some of those people, the experience is far more rewarding than pretty much any single player experience.

And you don't need to be on HTF for that to happen, most people, if they try just a little bit, can find a group of people that they enjoy playing games with. I personally have a number of different groups that I play games with, and almost always have a good time with them.

Lately I've hooked up with a couple guys that I play MotoGP with nearly every night. I've been having so much fun with them that I can hardly stand to play any other game (online or not), and can hardly wait until I can log on again to do some more racing.

The main issue that I have though, is with the games themselves. Community is a very important part of online gaming, and except for maybe MMORPGs (where community is almost everything), no game has really done this correctly. They try with things like supporting fan run websites, modification tools and editors, and even tournaments and such, but usually fail when it comes to the game side of things.

For the most part, getting together with your friends online, or to even get a game going with a stranger, can be an extremely frustrating and time consuming experience. We've been promised the moon so many times in this department, yet when the game actually ships, the features have usually been cut back due to time constraints.

You: "Let's play Quake!"
Friend: "Alright"
You: "I'll find a server"............."How about 128.12.12.12?"
Friend: "Nah, i've got crappy ping to that one"
You: "104.345.243.1?"
Friend: "I think it's full now"
You: "204.335.67.3?"
Friend: "Not enough people on that one, how about 24.35.6.31?"
You: "That looks good"
So you join game and...
You: "This is way too laggy, I'm quitting"
Friend: "Ok, I'm going to play for a bit"

Now wasn't that fun!!

And that's not just in games like Quake, you can have similar experiences on Battle.Net, Westwood Online, EA Online, and the almighty XBoxLive (Good god is Mechassault's lobby bad!!).

Things are starting to look up a bit though, Battle.net's Friends list, arranged teams, quick match and now (in the Warcraft3 Expansion beta) Clan support is making getting into a game with your friends, and non friends alike less painful. And if every XBox Live title used MotoGP's Lobby system as a minimum for what they should do, and them improve on that, things would be a heck of a lot better.

And, as far as pure cheating goes, just look at the top times on the world ladder for MotoGP. NONE of those guys are truly racing the tracks without taking the "glitches".

That may be, but most of those guys are still some of the top racers, despite using glitches. Only 3 or 4 of the tracks actually have a useful glitch, yet the top players manage to be fastest one all the other tracks as well. There's not much doubt in my mind that the top 10 or 20 players overall would remain very similar even without the glitches.

If they're one or two seconds better than you, then it's probably just better racing (unless you're going to count corner cutting also). If it's 10-15 seconds, then yes, they probably "glitched".

 

[Josh Lowe]

3. Mostly kids/teens playing. Grown-ups hardly have the time required to become a master at Quake Arena, Unreal Championship, etc. Therefore many don't want to play with you or they have poor personal conduct when playing.

So am I reading you correctly in that you're stating part of the reason online gaming "stinks" is because you feel you're not very good at it?

Maybe the problem is you're taking the games (and your involvement in them) too seriously. They're just games, dude.

 

[JoshF]

Exactly what I was thinking, Josh. Not to be rude or anything, but I think the "suckage factor" has a lot to do with it. I too hate Quake 3 Arena, but that's probably just because I blow at it.

 

[Jeffrey_Scotts]

Josh Lowe:

So am I reading you correctly in that you're stating part of the reason online gaming "stinks" is because you feel you're not very good at it?

Not at all, please go back and read my posts word for word. The reason I think online gaming stinks is because of the reasons that I have already pointed out. It's hard to matchup as I stated with those that are adults and non-cheaters, plus other factors others pointed to as well, like finding a good server with ping times that work.

My other point being that games are dull for the most part. No innovation in the market, just mainly shooters. I get board real quick by the variations on these themes. They are a different title, slightly changed, but still the same.

Time that adults have with real jobs and a real life to live can't take hours playing games, getting involved in a team, etc. When we can play it needs to be quick and simple, which rules out on-line gaming for the most part due to reasons already pointed out in my other posts.

A return to single player games that show true innovation is what I feel will come back around. Sure, there will always be broadband gaming, but I just think the hype of it will die down and people will return more to classic gaming. In fact, in a recent report I read in one of the game magazines, they said the exact same thing (almost). People want shorter games they can pick up and put down and play in one hour increments, save and come back to. Adults don't have the time and game companies are realizing they have two target audiences now, the kids/teens and those of us that now have real jobs that grew up playing them and want something different.