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[SapientWolf]

They are saying it ruins the game's multiplayer for them, and makes it unfair. Kind of like how being called a *********jew in Halo ruins the multiplayer for me.

How bad is the advantage? I have yet to play a PC game where all the pings were even, and it isn't unusual to see players with over twice the ping as others. Would it be like a 60 pinger playing 125 pingers or even worse?

 

[chriskun]

How bad is the advantage? I have yet to play a PC game where all the pings were even, and it isn't unusual to see players with over twice the ping as others. Would it be like a 60 pinger playing 125 pingers or even worse?

Its pretty bad. I don't know much about ping(not a pc gamer) but if you are playing against a host in a different country it is almost impossible to take them down with any of the mid/long range weapons. That all can be somewhat compensated for if you know who the host is though.

 

[Gigglepoo]

No, I don't think that, but thats what I want. Look at the consistancy and quality of franchises like Tony Hawk, Splinter Cell, and last but not least, Fusion Frenzy.

Wait, you're actually for yearly sequels? You think full priced, incremental updates every 12 months is something we should endorse? I would rather Epic focus on making a real sequel for November of 2009 that actually builds on the game rather than kill the franchise with three lifeless sequels in the same timespan.

 

[Space Runaway]

How bad is the advantage? I have yet to play a PC game where all the pings were even, and it isn't unusual to see players with over twice the ping as others. Would it be like a 60 pinger playing 125 pingers or even worse?

Well it's basically his server so it would be something like a 0-20 ping. How bad it effects you also depend son the hosts connection. If he has a crap connection the lag will effect you quite a bit the host advantage will be that much bigger.

The game has some really blatant flaws because of the glitching but for me it's fun enough that I'm able to overlook them. I stick to ranked so you tend to find players more serious about having a good game than you would in player matches.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Wait, you're actually for yearly sequels? You think full priced, incremental updates every 12 months is something we should endorse? I would rather Epic focus on making a real sequel for November of 2009 that actually builds on the game rather than kill the franchise with three lifeless sequels in the same timespan.

it looked like sarcasm to me

but who knows nowadays...

 

[Gigglepoo]

it looked like sarcasm to me

but who knows nowadays...

I must not be keeping up - is Splinter Cell good or crappy? I thought all the Tom Clancy games were pretty well received.

 

[chriskun]

Wait, you're actually for yearly sequels? You think full priced, incremental updates every 12 months is something we should endorse?

Hell yes, especially if a game can do it like tony hawk, offering up sik trix, a killer soundtrack, and the most exxxtreme sk8ers around, year after year.

 

[Gigglepoo]

Hell yes, especially if a game can do it like tony hawk, offering up sik trix, a killer soundtrack, and the most exxxtreme sk8ers around, year after year.

Ok fine, I get it.

I stand by my point, though...

 

[chriskun]

Ok fine, I get it.

I stand by my point, though...

haha, sorry to string you along, I actually agree with you, but the guy with the Kramer avatar is completely off the mark. For a game that sold as much as gears, I'm sure they can manage making a sequel and tweaking the current product.

 

[goldenpp72]

gears can't be done yearly, id question bi yearly. Epic isn't a very large studio when it comes to actual game making and they always have more then one project going, so gears of war 2 isn't gonna happen.

As for splinter cell, those aren't consistent in quality because it's not the same team who does each one.

 

[chriskun]

It was a joke

 

[radeonxt]

I prefer to play with bots than with people with host advantage, so, when will we have some bots to practice offline?

 

[Gigglepoo]

gears can't be done yearly

If I get my wish, Halo, Gears and Perfect Dark will alternate every three years. These are all unique shooters with very talented developers behind them. If they could have three years to make these games, they should be able to push the genre forward in unique ways rather than rehash popular conventions again and again.

I realize I'm probably the only person on GAF who would throw PD in there, but I still think, with plenty of time to develop the game, Rare could make something on par with the other premier shooters.

Can't wait until next year!

I prefer to play with bots than with people with host advantage, so, when will we have some bots to practice offline?

Any word on Bots in Unreal Tournament 3?

 

[Skilotonn]

Greeeaaaaaat topic, especially since it was just a couple of days ago when they announced that a new update with fixes and new Achievements were coming... nice research there... hell, even Borys is in here doing his usual thing!

As for all the glitches, they actually DID manage to kill off the majority of them in the first update, but there were two ways to do that stupid weapon-slide glitch (the most annoying of all), and Epic only stopped one of them, probably because they didn't know of the other one since it was "harder" for people to use than the others...

About the lag - yes it's there, and it's annoying, but I've had plenty of matches where the host didn't have some cheap-ass internet connection, and I've been able to get my headshots and one-hit shotgun kills with ease - I play everyday and I haven't hosted a match in over a month...

And if 2 free maps, minor updates, a new free mode, 4 DLC maps for 800 points, AND an announcement for a new free update with new Achievements, all within the first 6 months, relying heavily on MS's certification process isn't support, then you need to quit gaming...

If anything, I'm grateful for Epic keeping their promise for support, it's just a shame that they couldn't do it as freely as they would want to themselves...

 

[Bowen_B]

Before the release of Gears of War, Mark Rein stated numerous times in press interviews that Epic was going to live up to their reputation (established on the PC end) for supporting their games well after release. I'm assuming he meant this in the form of gameplay tweaks, patches, updates, balancing, netcode adjustments etc. Now, I do understand that Epic has released 2 free maps, a new game type and DLC maps for Gears of War but what about support for the community and the general health of the game online. Did they just throw in the towel? Are they too busy with getting Unreal Engine running on PS3 for Unreal Tournament? Did MS tell them to move onto Gears 2?

Who here is happy with the way Gears of War performs online? Do you find the latency and host advantage acceptable for such a premiere online title? Did you appreciate the tweaks made in the latest update? (wall-sticking etc) Do you find the framerate for Host during Annex playable? I mean, hosting in Annex results in the game running at about 5 fps. Do you just not care anymore, and have moved onto the Halo 3 beta? Don't you think this game has been kind of abandoned? And to Microsoft: why aren't you better supporting the game that put Xbox 360 on the map this holiday season?

Oh god, you Sony fans never stop do you?

 

[SapientWolf]

I prefer to play with bots than with people with host advantage, so, when will we have some bots to practice offline?

 

[bumpkin]

Gears was nothing more than a diversion until the real king arrived, so I could really care less now, it's pretty obvious they don't give a shit about the awful host advantage or the lag in general.

I prefer Gears to Halo any day.... Though Halo 3 will be pretty sweet.

I prefer to play with bots than with people with host advantage, so, when will we have some bots to practice offline?

If the bots are as brain-dead as your teammate in the solo campaign, I don't want them. Trying to beat RAAM on Hardcore with the CPU as your backup is torture.

 

[Safe Bet]

I cannot believe people here are willing to defend a broken game...

If somone from Epic had warned me before Gears' release that it was unfit for competitive online play, I would not be upset but they did not.

Instead they took my money and then said it was my fault I was unhappy with the game because I should have known it was never meant to be a competitive online game...

That it complete and utter bullshit and the fact so many here would defend the practice of deceving gamers affirms my fears that my time here at GAF is coming to an end...

 

[Tieno]

I love Gears of War, especially when playing competitively online.

 

[bumpkin]

That it complete and utter bullshit and the fact so many here would defend the practice of deceving gamers affirms my fears that my time here at GAF is coming to an end...

Maybe I'm not in the same demo as you, but I bought Gears expecting a shooter with online play, and that's exactly what I got. Is the game "broken" for "competitive" play? I wouldn't know, and I'm sure there's a great portion of the Gears owning populous who are in the same boat.

Quit being dramatic. :lol

 

[lexi]

Gears was nothing more than a diversion until the real king arrived, so I could really care less now, it's pretty obvious they don't give a shit about the awful host advantage or the lag in general.

The real king being UT3 right?

 

[Safe Bet]

I love Gears of War, especially when playing competitively online.

I am glad you enjoy the game.

 

[Bojangles]

Speaking of support, when is Sierra/Wanaka going to fix the Coop code in Assault Heroes :lol

Ah well, I haven't played Gears in a while - to many other games keeping me busy. Maybe I should run through it again just to jog the ol' memory.

 

[joelseph]

Kind of a chicken and the egg question, but do you think everyone left GOW because of host advantage/bugs or because the next big thing came along?

I left because of Burning Crusade. Now that I am back on Live, if my friends still played I would too. Host and bugs aren't too bad as long as you stick to your friends list.

 

[REV 09]

They threw up a patch that fixed none of the known game-breaking glitches. They threw up a patch that made wall-sticking worse. They threw up a game type that is unplayable for the host. They threw up 2 free maps (that no one plays) and they sat on 4 good maps for months while the community sat on its hands. They have not addressed host advantage. They have not done anything of significance to improve the netcode.

yet the game is still probably the best 3rd person shooter on the market...that is the world of videogames. The great games are just the games with the "fewest" problems. They all have problems. Gears was and still is an overall amazing achievement, and i've had a lot of fun playing it on and offline. I wouldn't expect the entire netcode to be rewritten for Gears to make up for their mistakes with the host advantage. Instead, i'm expecting Gears 2 to learn from Gears 1 and build off of it. If it's present in Gears 2, then i'll be a little upset.

 

[dskillzhtown]

Oh god, you Sony fans never stop do you?

So that is what this thread is about? I was wondering as 3 patches in 6 months sounds like some good support to me.

 

[Proc]

Ya I think Gears is fine as is but I don't play competitively so I guess my opinion is ignorant. I agree that they should focus resources on a sequel or a huge DLC expansion pack that continues the story. God that game left me wanting so much more in a good way.

 

[Diablohead]

I love Gears of War, especially when playing competitively online.

Does not compute.

 

[Razoric]

So that is what this thread is about? I was wondering as 3 patches in 6 months sounds like some good support to me.

Yeah JB has seriously been drinking the Sony kool-aid for the past few months. Not sure why you can't just be a fan of both systems. :\

 

[manxor]

My friends and I often play Annex, I'm always host, and I never get lag. Annex isn't "unplayable for the host" for everyone, probably only for hosts with lousy upload speeds. Also, Old Bones rocks!

Sadly, I doubt client-side hit detection (host advantage), much like party matchmaking could be added at this late stage. Equally important (to me) would be changing game options in the lobby and editing starting weapons! Back to your issues, Mark Rein has said that wall-sticking should be "fixed" in the next patch. Support seems pretty solid... 6 DLC maps within ~6 months, a weapon tuning patch, and a new gametype puts Gears ahead of Halo 2's DLC release calendar.

 

[macksplack]

I cannot believe people here are willing to defend a broken game...

If somone from Epic had warned me before Gears' release that it was unfit for competitive online play, I would not be upset but they did not.

Instead they took my money and then said it was my fault I was unhappy with the game because I should have known it was never meant to be a competitive online game...

That it complete and utter bullshit and the fact so many here would defend the practice of deceving gamers affirms my fears that my time here at GAF is coming to an end...

I just want to quote for mother****ing truth!!!

 

[Fus]

:lol

But it's true. Anyway, Xbox gamers will totally forget about Gears as soon as H3 launches. That's how they rolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

I already forgot about Gears.

 

[JdFoX187]

JB isn't a "sony fanboy" or anything of the sorts. He calls it out he sees it and frankly, Gears of War has the WORST online service I have ever seen for a flagship title.

I remember CliffyB talking about circle strafing in games and how he wanted to avoid that with Gears. Look what happened...you have everybody pulling out shotguns as soon as the game starts, they all shoot their shotguns to get the active reload, then they charge into each other blindly firing hoping to hit something. When all but two people are dead, it turns into a camp fest. That may be the fault of the gamers, or it could be the fault of the developers and the designers. But that's only one problem with the game.

I quit playing online for a while mainly due to other games including the Halo 3 Beta. I got tired of being glitched, having shotgun blasts point blank not do anything to somebody, emptying entire clips into the enemy who just stands there, pistol whipping people two and three times who don't go down, etc.

Most people won't notice the problems and will just chalk it up as randomness. But there are a lot of glitches and some severe netcode issues that need to be fixed and even put some of Halo 2's "WTF" moments to shame.

And my biggest complaint is the matchmaking. C'mon, this is a MGS funded game. Why didn't they take Halo 2's matchmaking set up? Or at least adapt it to Gears? Not being able to go into games with friends is something I can somewhat live with, despite the game being built around TEAMWORK. But when it takes FOREVER to get into a game because of connection errors and little messages saying the game is no longer available, I'm tired of it.

I'll go back and play for a while after some more title updates have come out and the maps are free. I'll give Gears another shot in Sept. But if it's still broken, I have Halo 3 and Unreal Tournament III this fall to get my shooter fix.

 

[manxor]

Yeah, I totally hate the shotgun being a starting weapon, the lack of client-side hit detection/host advantage, having to remake a lobby just to switch gametypes, and the lack of create-a-party ranked matchmaking truly blows!!! But what do these things have to do with "Where is your support for Gears" when Epic has already stated that these things can't/won't be added to the game through DLC? Unless they're still working on it... http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3157348

Epic HAS been supporting Gears, by quite a large margin. While they may not have addressed (or be able to address) the more in-depth complaints, they have extended the MP with a new gametype, weapon/game balancing, and another MP gameplay patch is on it's way. For this they're getting called out for non-support??

 

[Diablohead]

My friends and I often play Annex, I'm always host, and I never get lag. Annex isn't "unplayable for the host" for everyone, probably only for hosts with lousy upload speeds. Also, Old Bones rocks!

Sadly, I doubt client-side hit detection (host advantage), much like party matchmaking could be added at this late stage. Equally important (to me) would be changing game options in the lobby and editing starting weapons! Back to your issues, Mark Rein has said that wall-sticking should be "fixed" in the next patch. Support seems pretty solid... 6 DLC maps within ~6 months, a weapon tuning patch, and a new gametype puts Gears ahead of Halo 2's DLC release calendar.

Annex for the host isn't a problem with lag, its more to do with the framerate dropping a little more then normal, thats what the complains are about.

Not to say you don't know, but so many people online confuse lag with framerate drops.

 

[manxor]

Yeah I used to see that, back when Annex first came out. Not all the time, but often enough I would get major framerate issues when hosting Annex games. The whole game looked to be running at 15fps or something. It felt like a lag/host communication issue. I'm not sure if there was a patch/title update or what, but I haven't seen the framerate drop while hosting Annex matches in a long time. This tells me that Epic must have fixed it. Is this still a widely spread issue?

 

[AndyPants]

I think the problem is MS's serverless game structure, not Epic's game coding as much.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Am the one of the only ones here that doesn't give 2 shits about if the online modes are borked?

I'm trying to remember the last time I put in Gears and even played it! Probably at least a couple months and I've heard the annex mode but don't even know if it's out and/or played it.


If you hate the new mode, then don't play it, if you like the old DM maps, play them. I know I haven't spent jack$hit on DLC for Gears because eventually it's going to be free and ultimately there is no point.

Blame MS for pushing Epic into selling their maps for 800 points, blame MS for having Epic hold off on patching the game while the Halo 3 beta is out, Epic has done nothing but good things for the game community in a whole (PC and Console) and Gears really shows their commitment to keeping the game fresh.

Sure, might be "broken" as some of you say, but chances are, that will be fixed this fall.

Have faith, there were times that UT/UT2k3 went through similar fates and came out awesome on the other end. Gears is to much of a flagship title for the "problems" most of you say the game has to slip quitely into the night.

 

[FFChris]

I think the problem is MS's serverless game structure, not Epic's game coding as much.

Not really, R6:V and GRAW have both been pretty lag free for me. It can be done.

 

[JdFoX187]

Yeah, I totally hate the shotgun being a starting weapon, the lack of client-side hit detection/host advantage, having to remake a lobby just to switch gametypes, and the lack of create-a-party ranked matchmaking truly blows!!! But what do these things have to do with "Where is your support for Gears" when Epic has already stated that these things can't/won't be added to the game through DLC? Unless they're still working on it... http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3157348

Epic HAS been supporting Gears, by quite a large margin. While they may not have addressed (or be able to address) the more in-depth complaints, they have extended the MP with a new gametype, weapon/game balancing, and another MP gameplay patch is on it's way. For this they're getting called out for non-support??

My point with that semi-rant was Epic hasn't fixed any of those which could easily be fixed.

They can easily change the shotgun out as a starting weapon, you can do it in party matches. They can easily implement a new party system. They can do all of these small tweaks to the game to really make it so much better. But they don't. I'll agree that six maps for 10 bucks six months into the game was great. Bungie only released four maps in that time period for Halo 2. And there have been two title updates. But nothing, to me, changed in the updates with the exception of Annex. I still got glitched, there was still a shitload of host advantage and the game was still broken online. The only thing that I noticed that was changed was the lobby had "HOST" instead of the name of the host. Even then, I still went into many games and had an entire team stacked against me.

 

[Bowen_B]

They are saying it ruins the game's multiplayer for them, and makes it unfair. Kind of like how being called a *********jew in Halo ruins the multiplayer for me.

If they can tell you're a Jew over Xbox Live maybe you should tone down the Jewishness slightly, this is all your fault!

 

[radjago]

I'm guessing it's in the same place as the promised support for Unreal Championship 2.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

 

[Sean]

hell yeah man, im ready for some yearly updates a la tony hawk

I never said I wanted yearly Gears of War games. I just want Epic to use their resources on a sequel instead of patching this game forever. GoW multiplayer is broken beyond repair IMO. Asking for major things like a matchmaking system, party system, and new netcode in a patch seems unrealistic expectations. I've never seen a game get brand new netcode in a patch, I doubt it's even possible for them to fix things like host advantage. (Bungie never fixed the host advantage with the shotgun in Halo 2 for example even though they updated/balanced just about every other weapon in the game).

And even if Epic are able to fix things, it'd require lots of testing and then have to go through certification etc. We wouldn't see it for a few months at least. By then what would be the point since people will have moved on to Halo 3 in September anyway. It would be wasted effort I think.

It would be nice if Epic can fix it for the people that still play Gears, but it should not be their priority IMO. I'm sure they've learned from their mistakes and will make GoW2 a better online experience.

 

[dakiparu]

My point with that semi-rant was Epic hasn't fixed any of those which could easily be fixed.

They can easily change the shotgun out as a starting weapon, you can do it in party matches. They can easily implement a new party system. They can do all of these small tweaks to the game to really make it so much better. But they don't. I'll agree that six maps for 10 bucks six months into the game was great. Bungie only released four maps in that time period for Halo 2. And there have been two title updates. But nothing, to me, changed in the updates with the exception of Annex. I still got glitched, there was still a shitload of host advantage and the game was still broken online. The only thing that I noticed that was changed was the lobby had "HOST" instead of the name of the host. Even then, I still went into many games and had an entire team stacked against me.

EXACTLY!!!! Epic has no excuses for me. Before thinking to sell new maps they should have fixed host advantage and above all the damned glitches! Moreover I am absolutely frustrated by the fact glitchers/cheaters aren't banned just like console modders!

 

[MercuryLS]

:lol

But it's true. Anyway, Xbox gamers will totally forget about Gears as soon as H3 launches. That's how they rolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

That's funny, the H3 beta came out but a lot of people still play Gears. I remember people here saying the Gears fanbase would dry up instantly :lol

 

[ToyMachine228]

I actually played like 3 hours of Gears online the other night. Mostly Annex. I had fun. Still annoyed at quitters, but that's the case with almost all popular online games.

 

[unomas]

That's funny, the H3 beta came out but a lot of people still play Gears. I remember people here saying the Gears fanbase would dry up instantly :lol

I thought the same thing, but just checking my friends list throughout the night I noticed I had 4-5 people on playing Gears and only 1-2 on the Halo 3 beta. I thought for sure I'd dump Gears having the Halo 3 beta, but glitches or no glitches Gears for me is a better online experience. The actual online gameplay beats it for me even with the host advantage and glitches. My copy of Crackdown is going Gamestop today or tomorrow, I'm not that impressed with the Halo 3 beta and I racked up 18,000 kills in Halo 2.

 

[dskillzhtown]

EXACTLY!!!! Epic has no excuses for me. Before thinking to sell new maps they should have fixed host advantage and above all the damned glitches! Moreover I am absolutely frustrated by the fact glitchers/cheaters aren't banned just like console modders!

One thing to say the fixes YOU want aren't done. But the OP's point is that Epic has not supported the game at all. That is just not true. The game has been supported pretty well. So to say they haven't done anything is a lie.

Who in the **** is calling the game broken? I played a few hours yesterday and it was great. I ended the night playing with Gunstar and his friends and had a blast. So no, the game is not broken, not for me atleast.

 

[sega4ever]

am I the only one who hates the server list system? It takes forever to refresh the server list and then you only ever get a max of 10 servers shown when I know there are a ton more hidden.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

The game is fun online and everytime I log on there's more maps and modes to get, honestly I don't see any difference between their support here and the support for UT2004, any difference is imagined or based on the platform (you obviously can't include player made maps because it's a 360 game)