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Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Depends on the game though.
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Major Nelson Comments on Xbox One features (and also a general bit of commentary).
- Thread starter Steve Youngblood
- Start date
Depends on the game though.
This is one of the reasons all my day one purchases will be digital.
MinnesotaFatz
Member
So basically the XB1 can multitask while matchmaking. It's not the most amazeball features in the world, but it's nothing to complain or nitpick about either. There's been several times when I would switch over to the TV to get a glimpse of college football or whatever and then frantically switch back to my game when I thought a match was made. If I run my TV through my Xbox, I'll never need to worry about this again.
NullPointer
Member
This is mostly my experience too, but I've had times when Halo 4 would take a couple of minutes or more. But in each case I'm in a lobby with friends so we're all shooting the shit anyway, topping off our beverages, whatever. In this case I can only see snapping to the browser to look something up being useful, but its hard to say without having the chance to get used to it.
If this thing can queue up the next match while you're playing the current one wouldn't that be a dramatic improvement to perceived matchmaking times? Why aren't they screaming about that from the hills?
Done right, you probably still need a small QC staff to handle a representative sample of cases, but there's a lot of reason to think that you can do community-enforced reputation pretty well. League of Legends is a pretty good real example, where a lot of bans are essentially handed out by the community (this would be a binary reputation system). I've heard that TF2 does something similar. A sufficiently terrible median player can screw up a purely community-based system, but a very small number of players and raters who are deemed to be decent can give a Bayesian system the starting point it needs to work even if most players' feedback is unreliable.
Edit: The main problem facing actual implementations is that the people running the system often have an incentive not to do a very good job. You don't want to ban all people who should be banned if those same people are potential customers next time around.
jstevenson
Sailor Stevenson
matchmaking can be fast. But it depends on player counts and how "good" you want the match to be. If you now have to wait longer, but can do other things in the interim, and get better matches, it seems like a total win.
Goto major nelsons blog and scroll down to his "matchmaking on Xbox one with smart match" article. 2nd section titled "frees up time". Specifically mentions it in there.
I'm on my phone or I'd find a link.
SenjutsuSage
Banned
Awesome, they hit the reset button. 
Looking forward to seeing how this all comes together.
Looking forward to seeing how this all comes together.
Meus Renaissance
Member
Excellent moderating. I was getting tired of the "lol PR" mantra on this forum
30 seconds? You must only play CoD.
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Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Really the clincher for me is that it gives me more time PLAYING or doing something I want to do instead of waiting. As a grown-ass man, my time is important and I want to milk it for what its worth.
The background matchmaking will be more useful in games with low population.
The enforcement stuff is what really intrigues me. I wonder if this will usher in a more lenient Microsoft in terms of user created content as that content will ultimately be looked at by these ambassadors.
The enforcement stuff is what really intrigues me. I wonder if this will usher in a more lenient Microsoft in terms of user created content as that content will ultimately be looked at by these ambassadors.
soundscream
Member
Ever joined a match in a racing game?
Nothing worse then joining a lobby just after the race starts. I would rather be able to do something else on the console and be notified when it starts up again then wait 6 min for the race to end.
GalacticMouse
Member
Thanks, that clears it up. Works for digital titles.
Source: http://news.xbox.com/2013/07/games-smartmatch-feature
Oh of course. I assumed they'd still have a s,all team, I was just saying that if the system happened to be fully automated that would be a real feat.
Since you're here - when are we going to see the real Sunset Overdrive? (i.e not just a pre-rendered trailer) That game could make me pick up an Xbox One.
I just think if it take longer than 30 to 40 seconds to find a game, chances are it will be a terrible game ( ping, player levels, not to your liking settings)
In 30 seconds, what can you really do on the console?
Currently when I do choose quick join in games ( hardly ever, since most games have server browsers on the PC) I just go get a drink of water or something and when I get back, it is already in a game.
Just force all devs to have a server browser with filters, MUCH better idea personally.
The other side of the match making ( finding better games) I do think is cool but again something games like BF and COD already do more or less ( same rank players, good ping) don't see how it can be improved but looking forward to see it happen.
The better rating of players is a brilliant idea and having such idiots online be separated ( so you don't join server with shitty rated people) is great to see and a worthwhile addition, I assume this is what the better match making will be doing too when it is match making.
UnholySpectacle
Member
My only issue with the feedback system is that it is currently a failure. Last time I checked I had a 56% feedback rating on XBL with most of the negatives saying I was docked points for "cursing" or "unsportsman-like conduct." I rarely curse while playing and I assume the "unsportsman-like" behavior was because the other team did not like getting dominated in Halo or CoD.
It seems like nobody uses the option that says do not pair me with this person due to the skill level gap. Instead, most players choose the "this guy was a cheating ass" option. I am unsure of how to resolve this without some sort of option for the person receiving the negative feedback to contest what the other players are saying. The last thing I want is to wind up in a pool of players who really are the bottom of the XBL food chain that use hacks, swear like sailors, or are just poor sports. If this system works the way they say it will, that is what will happen to people like me who receive negative feedback for no good reason.
The best scenario I can think of is if the feedback system works than hopefully an equal amount of good players will wind up in the same pool to balance out the rejects.
It seems like nobody uses the option that says do not pair me with this person due to the skill level gap. Instead, most players choose the "this guy was a cheating ass" option. I am unsure of how to resolve this without some sort of option for the person receiving the negative feedback to contest what the other players are saying. The last thing I want is to wind up in a pool of players who really are the bottom of the XBL food chain that use hacks, swear like sailors, or are just poor sports. If this system works the way they say it will, that is what will happen to people like me who receive negative feedback for no good reason.
The best scenario I can think of is if the feedback system works than hopefully an equal amount of good players will wind up in the same pool to balance out the rejects.
crazygambit
Member
But how long are we expecting match making to take if we have time to watch a movie while we wait?
This stuff should be near instantaneous right?
John Caboose
Member
I think they're sort of redefining/broadening matchmaking with this. From what I understand you can tell the system you want to play a game (sort of like a beacon on Xbox 360) and then the system pops up "Match ready" when there's a good match available. There is most likely some way to tell it you want to play right now too. We'll see closer to launch/when the system is available exactly how it works.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
He is probably the smartest mod.
I don't think it can run two games, no. But there are plenty of things the XBO can do that are not related to games which you can quite clearly participate in while you're waiting. Hell, I bet you can browse the internet on your Xbox One while you wait for the game to matchmaking, and I think you can agree with the internet there is limitless short entertainment possibilities.
But even without an internet browser that works with Smart Match, I can, say, watch five minutes of a show and then have it pause when the game is ready again. This way, no down time ever. Always constantly doing something you enjoy.
Frankly, I'm shocked anyone can find something negative to say about this. This is an unbelievably cool and utilitarian feature. And if I have trouble finding something negative to say about it...
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Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Not if you're playin Culdcept Saga :/
The matchmaking is done on the OS level I believe. So you're not actually IN the game you're matchmaking for. You switch to it when your game is ready.
Who is to say it is going to be a bad match just because it has taken longer? Outside of FPS titles like CoD or BF, the queue system can be quite long and annoying. Especially with lobby systems that you requires everyone to load in and be ready.
Honestly, the idea that I can just queue up for one game while playing another is awesome. It may not be a nice feature for you, but for others this could be a breaking point.
crazygambit said:
You don't need to watch an entire movie. You can choose to simply watch a slice of a TV show while you wait. Or utilize one of the many other non-gaming Xbox One features while it is going on. And I think this is a "just in case", they're making an argument that shit happens, and in the event shit DOES happen, you now have something to do when it's going on. When Gears of War 2 first came out sometimes I waited thirty minutes or more before I was matched with anyone. Was fucking insane. Now I don't have to get frustrated at moments like that.
weekend_warrior
Banned
I'd be a lot more interested in this if they came out and said that all these servers would be used for server lobbies instead of more matchmaking even if it is better and faster. I can't believe that more people can't see the problem with most online griefing stems from the anonymity that comes with matchmaking.
akachan ningen
Member
There's not really anything smart about it. It just matches in the background while you do other things. They should have called it backgroundmatch or something.
I have absolutely no idea what MS is actually doing, but in theory what you could do is give each player a reputation score and a reliability score, plus a stickiness score for both of those. Any or all can be hidden. When you receive some new piece of negative feedback, it has an impact on your reputation score which depends on your current reputation score, your current reputation stickiness, and the rater's reliability score. As you receive more feedback, your reputation stickiness increases. When you give feedback, your feedback is compared to the person's reputation score and reputation stickiness, and your reliability score is adjusted based on how good you are at predicting the person's actual reputation (so you get points for saying that a player with a good reputation is good, and the effect is magnified if they have a high reputation stickiness). As you give feedback your reliability stickiness increases.
Edit: What this does is make it so that if you have a record of giving wrong feedback - you keep downvoting people who other players like - your feedback gets discounted. If you have a record of consistently rating people in agreement with the broader community, then new feedback you give out matters more.
As long as most players are decent people, that works fine. Even if they're not, if you have a few QC staff whose reliability scores are simply set to be very high, the system can work itself out.
That is all assuming that it works as advertised/intended.
UnholySpectacle
Member
I thought one of MS' PR team said you could play another game while waiting for a match to be found? If I die early on in a round based objective match with no respawns I could see popping into another game while I wait for the next round to start.
frankthurk
Member
Now you might have to worry about people joining into matchmaking then getting stuck into a show or something and not coming back once the match has been made... hopefully wouldn't happen much but I could see it happening.
Smart Match sounds awesome but for me is more a wait and see feature, I can already switch to my tv while waiting for a match or browse my messages from my friends on Live or PSN, I guess this just makes it more seamless.
And about grouping people based on skill I'm really curious about what variables are in place for this since different variables determine skill in different games, I guess this system will need input from the game itself to determine this.
A little off-topic why does he calls himself Major Nelson?
And about grouping people based on skill I'm really curious about what variables are in place for this since different variables determine skill in different games, I guess this system will need input from the game itself to determine this.
A little off-topic why does he calls himself Major Nelson?
CitizenCope
Member
Will be good for Arcade games that have much smaller communities. He'll I'd wait 15 minutes to play against someone in Robotron back in the day. Now I can do other stuff instead of staring at the searching icon.
Do the people questioning the worth of this realise most online communities are tiny outside CoD? He'll, even Halo's numbers are shitty right now and it can take a loooooooong time to find a match in any Halo game right now.
Let alone if I decide I want to play a game of......Driver? Split Second? Gears 1? All these communities are on the brink of non existence, so a match could potentially take half an hour if at all. I HATED that I really wanted to play a certain game online only to be forced to wait forever for a match. If I know I can play KI (a game ill own digitally) while my disc based game finds a match no matter how long it takes, that is fucking awesome.
Let alone if I decide I want to play a game of......Driver? Split Second? Gears 1? All these communities are on the brink of non existence, so a match could potentially take half an hour if at all. I HATED that I really wanted to play a certain game online only to be forced to wait forever for a match. If I know I can play KI (a game ill own digitally) while my disc based game finds a match no matter how long it takes, that is fucking awesome.
I could almost see a cottage industry of small indie games pop up that are "during matchmaking" compatible. Games that can be played in really small bursts like Super Meat Boy or Pac-Man CE.
If it's possible to play any downloaded game, even better, but if there were just certain games that could be played only using the OS-allocated side of the RAM pool, that could be awesome. It would basically be a way to get around Namco's game-during-loading-screens patent, since you'd be launching a separate game.
Xbox Live continues to be Microsoft's greatest asset and is still something Sony really has to work hard to get parity with on a feature and functionality standpoint.
As someone who is moving to the PS4 from the Xbox 360, my hope is that the online experience holds up. Adding cross-game chat is a start, however, they need to make sure the experience around game invites, network speed and ease of use improve over the PS3.
As someone who is moving to the PS4 from the Xbox 360, my hope is that the online experience holds up. Adding cross-game chat is a start, however, they need to make sure the experience around game invites, network speed and ease of use improve over the PS3.
This is true, but you can matchmake any game from the OS directly. So you could play AC4 and queue up a CoD match and instantly switch when it finds one.
This of course if you've gone digital.
This would be a pretty silly thing to falsely advertise.
Agent Icebeezy
Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
Smart match sounds great. Might get me back into multiplayer gaming.
I have no reason to believe something like this won't work as advertised.
How would that work? Could the Xbox One actually run two AAA games simultaneously, even if one was put into the background? If they manage THAT one, I'll be truly impressed.
I don't think the Xbox One or the PS4 has multitasking between games, at least as far as I know but maybe someone can prove me wrong.
Of All Trades
Member
Server browsers don't really fix the problem if the game isn't popular or if the settings you want aren't popular. I play Chivalry but when I look at the server browser organized by ping the vast majority of servers seem to be TD/FFA, while the Objective servers are full. This means that if I want to play Chivalry then I probably have to play a mode I don't want to, which in turn creates a feedback loop where it appears that those modes are more popular, leading to more of those servers, etc.
One thing that matchmaking (theoretically) does well is obfuscate trends.
I guess the longer waiting time could be to find that more perfect game, which makes sense I guess and in that way this does make sense to add.
I think it is a nice feature, just not sure how useful it can be ( again, happy to be proven wrong. If for example I notice to have a lot better experience in online games on the XBONE over the ps4 and PC then I would happily praise it)
I guess I am just a little sceptical.
How could I forget, defiantly agree with some games having terrible server browsers ( Chivalry being one of them) so yea, it could have its place and be useful ( I know I questioned it's usefulness but I am a little sceptical still)
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Deleted member 98878
Unconfirmed Member
I'm really excited for this Smart Match thing. Sounds awesome.
The Smart Match function seems alright, but I was actually hoping that it would be something like faster and more efficient matchmaking. When it doesn't actually seem to shorten the time it takes to get you into a match it doesn't seem all that useful. I have a phone, tablet, or a laptop laying around to pass the time if it really takes that long. Nevertheless it's a nice, but small bonus.
The reputation system, if it works as intended, sounds a lot more interesting. Every platform should be trying to do this.
The reputation system, if it works as intended, sounds a lot more interesting. Every platform should be trying to do this.
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Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
For sure - even $5 mini-game or "buy new redeem code for game" spin-offs for people with the same franchise but will keep people engaged in that particular brand while waiting.