New to XBox MP

[Barstow]

Hi All,

This seems like a very experienced, dedicated group and so I thought someone here might be willing to entertain a few questions from this XBox MP noob - especially if you're a former (or current) PC MP Gamer. If so I'd be extremely grateful for the info. First a few points of background.

Back in the early 00s I spent several years managing clans (Dwarf's House, The DC Crüe) and associated web sites, admin'ing multiple dedicated servers, creating/editing mods, managing web-based admin tools and stats, running matches and somehow also finding time to actually play. This was all on PC-based games with dedicated servers, primarily MoH (AA through Breakthrough) and CoD (through CoD4:MW).

As game publishers began actively abusing PC gamers with virus-like DRM, reduced (or eliminated) modding capability, ranked servers, "affordances", resume-enhancing gimmickry that seemed to require a system upgrade with each new game but which added little or nothing positive to the gameplay experience and, finally, reduced (or eliminated) support for dedicated servers, I lost interest in the FPS genre and haven't played a PC-based MP/FPS for years.

I missed Halo and a couple other games, however, and I finally broke down and bought an XBox 360 about a year ago. I have stuck solely to SP and found early on that I pretty much hated the console controller mechanics. I was pleasantly surprised to find a keyboard/mouse adapter called XIM3 (now XIM Edge). That system has been excellent, and has been perfectly compatible with all the games I've tried so far (Halo 3/Reach/ODST, Gears', Battlefield BC, etc.).

So... the questions... if you're inclined to answer, please be as brutally honest as you can -

1. How many players, max, (counting both teams) are you folks able to get into a game using XBox's peer server technology? What sort of lag / dropout / delay issues do you encounter, and how often?

2. Is the use of a system like XIM or other mouse/keyboard adapters frowned upon or disallowed altogether from any/all XBox clans/matches?

3. What do you use for voice comms?

4. How are individual player stats maintained / published, if at all?

5. How often do you have to deal with Micro$oft stepping on your neck? What sort of issues? I note that someone here recently posted a message stating that they'd had it with the XBox and were moving to PS3. Not sure I want to spend $$ on a Live subscription if the Live community is ruled by politically correct fascists.

6. Anyone done much/anything with Halo's Forge?

7. Anything else you really like / really hate about MP gaming on XBox?

I guess I'm initially mostly curious about #2, although if it sounds like it'd be worthwhile, I might consider going back to try the controller again. I just spent so many years using the mouse/keyboard that I found it insane trying to get the coordination down, plus ended up with serious RSIs if I played intensively.

Thanks in advance for any information anyone feels like passing along!

cheers,

B

[CAG CheechDogg]

Wow!

Welcome to our site and forums Barstow. Well that was a pretty long post with a lot of questions and I am going to try and answer them all for you as best as I can.


1. How many players, max, (counting both teams) are you folks able to get into a game using XBox's peer server technology? What sort of lag / dropout / delay issues do you encounter, and how often?


It depends on what game you are playing, most games it is just 6 vs 6 unless you get a ground war which is 9 vs 9 on most COD games. Some games have up to 32 players and one has up to 64 but its about 3 years old.

The servers for these games are nothing like the servers you can have on PC. It doesn't matter if a game as dedicated servers you will always get lag or a migration of hosts if they don't have the required bandwidth to host the lobby. The lag is in almost every game and dropout is rare but does happen.


2. Is the use of a system like XIM or other mouse/keyboard adapters frowned upon or disallowed altogether from any/all XBox clans/matches?

You are good to go with that XIM as long as it is not modded, meaning that it does not have rapid fire, drop shot and other modded features to give you an edge.


3. What do you use for voice comms?

We all use headsets like Turtle Beaches, Trittons, Sharkoons, bluetooths.

4. How are individual player stats maintained / published, if at all?

Individual stats are maintained withing each game's leaderboards. Because you can't access those servers publishing those stats is impossible unless you create an account on their websites and figure out a way to call out the stats onto your site.


5. How often do you have to deal with Micro$oft stepping on your neck? What sort of issues? I note that someone here recently posted a message stating that they'd had it with the XBox and were moving to PS3. Not sure I want to spend $$ on a Live subscription if the Live community is ruled by politically correct fascists.

Microsoft is a joke and they are easy to work with at all. They will ban you for having gamertags that they think are offensive or if someone complains about your gamertag being offensive you might get banned and asked to change your gamertag. It happens to a lot of people but most of the time it is someone's fault for actually using offensive gamertags.

I have never had problems with Microsoft except when my Son's account was hacked last November. But that was fixed and we are good now.

6. Anyone done much/anything with Halo's Forge?

I have not played Halo Forge at all.

7. Anything else you really like / really hate about MP gaming on XBox?

The servers for console gaming are nothing compared to PC servers, they are very primitive in terms of what you can do with them. The thing I hate most about MP gaming on consoles is the servers and not being able to play large scale games like you can on PC.

Instead of taking steps forward it seems that every year they take steps backwards with the servers more than anything else.

Just a couple of months ago Ghost Recon: Future Soldier came out and the poor quality of servers they used for that game completely ruined everyone's experience and now that game is really not one that many play at all. It is very disappointing to see such a great game get ruined because it's developers and publishers are too cheap to rent servers that can actually handle the games.

What I like about console gaming is that you can use a console opposed as having to use your laptop or pc and having to upgrade software and graphic cards and what not every so often, but then again you get a new console every few years and you have to upgrade here too.


Barstow hopefully I answered your questions and you get a better idea of MP gaming on consoles. I personally would love to have the servers you PC gamers have but we don't.

[Barstow]

Yes! Thank you CheechDog - that is exactly the sort of info I was hoping for. Your reply is very much appreciated!!

On the voice comms thing - I guess this means you're using the XBox's built-in chat function, yes? I mean, as opposed to a separate system running TeamSpeak or Ventrilo.

On today's PC gaming servers thing: in a lot of cases they're also moving to peer-based or similarly hamstrung architecture. Game modding and custom maps are a thing of the past, which is part of what led me to drop PC FPSes and eventually get a console. Like you, I don't care to upgrade my rig every year with each new batch of games. Personally, I think the industry could have done at least as well by NOT pushing so hard on the bleeding edge technology and just concentrating on designing better, more playable, more entertaining games. But... what the heck do I know...

Anyway, thanks very much again. I probably will hold off on getting into console MP, especially with XBox Live. It still frosts me that they expect you to $ubscribe just to communicate with other gamers in order to play together online. That said, it doesn't look like XLink or XBConnect (free?) have provided much of a practical alternative, so I guess people just pay Micro$oft's jizya as a 'cost of entertainment' and get on with it.

All the best,

B

[CAG CheechDogg]

It is really not that bad playing on consoles Barstow. You should give it a shot, you can subscribe for a month and see how you like it and if you don't you can always sell your xbox or keep it and use it for other great games that you can play in single player mode at home by yourself.

[Barstow]

It is really not that bad playing on consoles Barstow. You should give it a shot, ...

Thanks CheechDogg, I'll definitely give it some thought. And thanks again for taking time for such a thoughtful reply.

cheers,

B

[CAG CheechDogg]

No problem Barstow , that is what I am here for.