Half-Arsed XBL Matchmaking: Developers, Please Just Get It Right

gaminoz - 244 days 8 hours ago

Yeah I'm not big on Live myself....partly because it intimidates me with all the overly intense serious players out there and poor understanding of how it works, partly because of previous bad experiences with players, partly because it is hard for me to get solid un-interruptable periods of time, and partly because I prefer single player experiences.

I really think Gold should be discounted in Oz when you can't have the same experience or even the same features (where are the movies?) as North America.

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kwicksandz - 244 days 7 hours ago

COD4 For example on both 360 and ps3 is unplayable for aussies because of the matchmaking. if we cant get a local host you may as well not bother. Gears 2 ... is horrible and left 4 dead a glitch is needed to get a green bar game.

I read on the AUS xbox forums that the gears 2 devs flat out told forum posters that they arent going to implement a local search feature because our population is too small to justify. I felt like trading that game in the next day.

Halo 3 and Cod5 have a local search feature that allows good connection games, as does rainbow 6 vegas-s and frontlines fuel of war but sadly this isnt the norm

PSN unfortunately isnt much better. I think their was a grand total of one aussie warhawk sever last time i checked and most other games use P2P despite what the fanboys say.

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GrathiusXR - 244 days 7 hours ago

Even with left4Dead for Australians is weird.. During our OXCGN Community playdate i hosted a room full of 7 other Aussies and we all had red bars. which is completely strange..

and as you said to achieve full green bars and no lag you need to glitch the system by Pressing A every few seconds until you apparently see a countdown timer which means you have host.

Battlefield: Bad Company is another exception where the matchmaking system for it worked for a while though until the game got to a point where no matter how many bullets you think you put into someone they just won't die.

It's that kind of lag that ruins the game for you that type of misjudgment.

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king dong2 - 244 days 4 hours ago

i'm in the eu, and it's bad enough when you get put with an american host, so i'm sure it's terrible for you guys. and dont listen to all this"dedicated servers" bollox. if there's no dedicated servers in your region, and you're forced to play on them in the eu or the us, then you will experience the exact same thing.....you're f"cked basically.

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Kushan - 244 days 3 hours ago

L4D is hosted on dedicated servers, which is why you can be with 7 of your mates and still get red bars. It's a little bit unrealistic to expect Vavle to plop up servers all around the world, or even Sony for that matter, when you're not paying them a penny for the service. In theory, a P2P system like Live (Or indeed PSNs own P2P networking) SHOULD be able to overcome this, but it seems either developers just don't care or Sony/Microsoft haven't got a great backed for local matchmaking. Or a bit of both.

It still strikes me that some people use "Dedicated Servers" as part of their "PSN vs Live" debates, they don't seem to realise that not all games have Dedicated Servers and not all players benefit from them, especially if the servers are all hosted in the one place. Plus, L4D is proof that live can have dedicated servers as well, but in your aussie cases, it shows that they're no use at all.

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XboxOZ360 - 244 days 8 hours ago

What IS this thing with "how gay it is" . .

You do realise what Gay means . . It's not a term that should be used it that context . .

You could use something much more descriptive, and something that would mean more such as How futile, how rediculious, how frustrating etc, but Gay. really . .??

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Godem - 244 days 8 hours ago

im allowed to rant! leave me alone! lol... everyone uses it nowdays.

alright ill take gay back.... and say lame. happy? :)

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The Dark Knight - 244 days 6 hours ago

you gay or something? leave the guy alone were not writing english essays, were on a video game website, lighten up abit xboxoz

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Shepherd 214 - 243 days 15 hours ago

Gears 1 multiplayer was absolutely amazing. I played it for 2 years and its safe to say im a great player. When it comes to the first Gears, i know my stuff.

But Gears 2 multiplayer is so bad that is, indeed, gay.

Horrible changes, horrible matchmaking, horrible lag even if your in North America, and many more horrible things that need to be added or taken out.

P.S. It is good to see that this article constantly refers and compares other games to Halo 3. When it comes to matchmaking and multiplayer overall, Halo 3 really is the cream of the crop, id like anyone to name a game that nails the superior matchmaking and sheer amount of variety, multiplayer content and developer support that Halo 3 has and will continue to have until ODST comes out.

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gaminoz - 244 days 8 hours ago

Yeah and not just say: PSN is soooo much better and free.

That's getting old.

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Kyur4ThePain - 244 days 7 hours ago

That must be the worst attempt at stirring I have ever seen.
Sit down, mate. You're not ready for the big time.

ON TOPIC
Wow, I didn't realize you guys had it so bad down there.
But hey, at least your teams did better than the South African teams this weekend in the Super 14.
Good on the Brumbies after a sad week.

@Below
Are you for real?

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Eiffel - 244 days 7 hours ago

I sense mass butthurt.

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gaminoz - 244 days 7 hours ago

@ Kyr4ThePain

LOL. Yeah, well I was expecting it to break out, so I figured I'd get in first and be a smartarse and say it's probably going to happen!

Seriously, all console online seems to suffer something, which is why if the future is online multi only, I'm not interested.

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Kyur4ThePain - 244 days 7 hours ago

I most definitely agree on the multi online thing.
I use my gaming time to chill, and having to go through struggles to hook up with others or dealing with idiots is not my idea of chilling.
Single player makes up 90% of how I judge a game and whether I want to get it or not.

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GrathiusXR - 244 days 7 hours ago

Lately i have been seriously only playing Single Player side of gaming left4Dead Campaign witht he exception of co-op campaign *note still get red bars*..

As well as The Godfather II single player.. i gave multi a go and matchmaking again as well as red bars and lag.. unleahsed a wholw clip[ of my tommy gun on a guy only to not kill him as well as some random..

American who kept on killing his own teammates.. i sent him a message saying now why on earth would you do that for? Continue to do that and you will get some complaints your way for bad sportmanship..

His reply " NWS I WILL DO THAT YOU STUPID BRIT "

Put's you off multiplayer especially matchmaking games when that happens. AL more reason to bring back gears 1 Player Hosted matches.

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N2NOther - 243 days 19 hours ago

Exactly. I've been saying this for years. Matchmaking is terrible. You have zero control over who you play with if you just want to play a few quick games before your friends get on. COD 4 is loaded with people who have NO concept or care on how team based games work. They either suck, don't talk, or worse talk to their friends about dumb sh*t, only play for their kill/death ratio and so on.

In Vegas the host can kick people out and thus it makes the game a much more fun experience.

If MW 2 continues this matchmaking BS I'm not playing it online unless every single one of my friends has it so I can guarantee a good team no matter the time zone.

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HDgamer - 244 days 6 hours ago

dedicated servers make the game better.

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Superfragilistic - 244 days 2 hours ago

Just play Warhawk on PSN or Left 4 Dead on 360... If the server's in the US and you're in Australia you're still back at square one.

The real problem, like the article points out, is the inability to search for matchmaking and hosts in your local region.

I gave up a long time ago so invested extra in better broadband for when I do multi and simply play more single player titles or local co-op. ;)

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Steven Colbert - 244 days 5 hours ago

Having a 360 on Silver is not bad.I mainly play single player games like Fable 2,Mass Effect,Star Ocean 4 or Fallout 3 so I don't miss out too much.I have been Silver for 4 months now :)

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SpoonyRedMage - 243 days 23 hours ago

Silver's pretty sweet for me too. I only want to download the free stuff for my RPGs.

I can be a guest on my Bro's profile if I want to play online.

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XboxOZ360 - 243 days 23 hours ago

Send OXCGN a request to be placed on our Blogroll, or to help spread the word etc . . the email addy in in the contact us icon on the top righ-thand side, or add yourself to the OXCGN Feedburner update in the right column as well.

We are out to support all xbox sites, and especially Australian sites. You may even be able to hook up with the XCN (Xbox Community Network)

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GrathiusXR - 243 days 23 hours ago

Most Xbox Live Subscriptions down here in Australia cost around $80 in the shops and $69 on Ebay..

It seems that you completely missed the whole point of the article. in Gears of War 1 you were able to host your own Ranked match and that allowed other Australians to search for a specific Ranked match then join it at their own free will...

They would know the match is Aussie hosted because of the 4 or 5 can't remember silver bars that were displayed on the right of the match name.

This allowed every Aussie in Australia to have a flawless XBL experience and get to chat and have a laugh with fellow Aussies..

With Gears of War 2 regardless of private or Ranked the only way to meet new Aussies have a good laugh, chat and so forth is matchmaking...

But with out a Local/Country Filter chances of that are slim so you are restricted to hosting a private match with people you probably have game with every night... like i said there is only so many times you can game with the same people day in day out...

Gears 2 has become anti-XBL-social.. again as i said in gears 2 gone are the glory days of searching for a specific match joining and having a good time with random Aussies making new friends on XBL..

Now days with broken matchmaking systems it is non-English speaking gamers who abuse and whinge or certain foul mouth Americans who think we are Brits and continually blab on the mic about hopeless stuff and abuse abuse abuse..

And for Australians and certain other parts of the world this just doesn't cut it.

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XboxOZ360 - 243 days 23 hours ago

"--- Lazy mother fnc%3$ !!! ---

and

"ok there is something wrong there >>> $80 <<< where in the damn world do you live? Because in my world its only $50."

And this IS half of the problem . . . not all Australians or New Zealanders etc want to swear or call every one "Lazy mother fnc%3$" .. and we (other ppl in the world) do not live in the USofA.

So not everything is based on the $US . . . we have our own currency, and believe it or not . . . it costs most countries 2 times as much as it does you those in the USA.

Grab a currency converter ( http://www.xe.com/) and do some checking, you'll be shocked at just HOW LUCKY you really are, when our games cost between $A100 - $120 for normal RRP (recommended Retail Price) for games, be they PS3 or Xbox 360. SO consider yourself lucky.

Check this ( http://www.xe.com/) currency calculator and workout the difference between $AU1120 and the $US and also $AU80 and the $US . . you'll be surprised my friend.

So in effect, US players pay less that the rest of the world, get a fare better service, than the rest of the world, and complain it costs them too much, yet the rest of the world gets sub-standard service, and pays more for that priviledge.

Yes, there is a world outside of the US.

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XboxOZ360 - 243 days 12 hours ago

Thanks for not taking the reply the wrong way mate.

Yes, in fact, when compared to the UK, Our $AU is valued far less, so if we say import a game from the UK that we can't get here, because it gets banned, or simply is not released here, we pay upwards of THREE times the value of the UK£

Making the game the same price or more than it would cost us here. And getting a "bargain" is getting a USED game at say $AU80 and Trade Ins go fro around the $80 - $100 mark . . . Now that IS shocking, wouldn't you agree.

Especially when you think we can buy a 360, 2 games and 3 months live for $AU259. The whole thing just doesn't add up really, does it?! Se do live in a great country, but it is in the arse end of the world, and gets treated like that . .

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Diselage - 243 days 9 hours ago

I'm actually surprised that people out side of NA actually gets gold. I mean i know you love the xbox games or at least must but why do you guys keep buying it?

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Superfragilistic - 243 days 3 hours ago

Check out the site you recommended. 1UK pound = AUD$2, not 3! lol

I import most of my games and get new releases for around A$60 including shipping.

In fact just picked up Fallout 3 for a sweet 50! :D

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XboxOZ360 - 243 days 3 hours ago

It's a rough estimate mate, not a fact drawn in stone, as it changes daily as we all know. It is usually a commonly known fact that the $AUD works out to between 2.5 - 3 times difference when worked against the GBP£ to get a "rough idea" and "roughly" around 2 times mark against the $US greenback - for a rough estimate of course . . .

But the Xe.com sites gives exact exchange rates in real time for exact figures naturally.

But even on the lower end of the scale, Australians basically do pay a great deal more for their games than many other countries, especially when looking at games from Nth America.

Plus I am simply trying to point out the RRP's not what a "good shopper" can get games for. When ppl do quote prices, they almost always quote the full street price. I too used to get my games via import or other means, as I've never paid full RRP on any game unless absolutely necessary.

But the "average, lazy gamer" simply wants to walk in then out of the shop with the minimum amount of fuss. For some, even hunting down a local bargain is way too much work. Which I think is just dumb and pure lazziness in the extreme.

So we're talking more RRP prices here than "special" or imports . .

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