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Dow · 07-01-2009

Alright, so something has been bugging me ever since the dashboard re make. I can handle the change in dashboard, even though everything is geared toward you spending money in the marketplace, it doesn't bother me. What DOES bother me is parties.

Some people love them, and I can see why. You can talk to friends that aren't in your game, without having to leave your game. However, this feature comes at a cost. I have some friends that are under the impression that the ONLY way to talk to ANYBODY is to be in an xbox party. This takes away from the gameplay experience for everyone else.

For example let's say you are matchmaking in MLG, and you decide you are ok with having a random team. The 3 people you are matched up with happen to be in a party. Communication is what MLG is all about, so the fact that you cannot talk to your team completely ruins the game. This isn't limited to just MLG either. Almost every time you enter a matchmaking lobby, 90% of the people are in parties, or don't have mics.

This brings me to my second point. Custom Games: My personal passion in Halo 3. An experience that has narrowed my community of fellow custom gamers an a large scale. This is because if I join a recent players game, I either A) Get booted because the party leader is in a party and won't tell me what to do or B) Can't talk to anybody and again, have no idea what to do (unless it is a conventional gametype in which case it still gets somewhat lonely).

Ok ok... So I get can even get over that. But what my BIGGEST problem is when I or one of my friends is the party leader, and somebody joins and is in a party. It is IMPOSSIBLE to explain the game rules, or honor rules to them, and most of the time, they will try to get you to join their party. Now let me ask you, what happens when you have a lobby with about 12 or so people, and 8 of them are in a party? Of course they don't want to leave, because most likely the people inside the party all know each other. The answer is either boot them all and be stuck with a party of 4, or play the game with everybody being confused, and unable to communicate with each other.

I feel it is necessary to address the point of "push to talk" in Halo 3. Some people complain that parties help to get rid of this nuisance. I completely disagree. First of all, if you are to lazy to touch an extra button, you don't deserve to be playing xbox, and should probably be on a treadmill. Second of all, the push to talk actually helps to keep the game less chaotic. A party of 16 people with a bunch of squealers (little kids) with unlimited talking ability, is a VERY VERY BAD thing. Also, don't try to say that it helps gameplay because you don't have to press the extra button, because a party big enough to have push to talk, is most likely not playing a competitive game.

NOTE: If this subject gets a little heated, I would like to move it to debates, but for now, I think it belongs here.

07-01-2009	#1 (permalink)
Dow Heroic Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Gamertag: DoWw Location: Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here? Posts: 1,108	Microsoft's "talking parties" Alright, so something has been bugging me ever since the dashboard re make. I can handle the change in dashboard, even though everything is geared toward you spending money in the marketplace, it doesn't bother me. What DOES bother me is parties. Some people love them, and I can see why. You can talk to friends that aren't in your game, without having to leave your game. However, this feature comes at a cost. I have some friends that are under the impression that the ONLY way to talk to ANYBODY is to be in an xbox party. This takes away from the gameplay experience for everyone else. For example let's say you are matchmaking in MLG, and you decide you are ok with having a random team. The 3 people you are matched up with happen to be in a party. Communication is what MLG is all about, so the fact that you cannot talk to your team completely ruins the game. This isn't limited to just MLG either. Almost every time you enter a matchmaking lobby, 90% of the people are in parties, or don't have mics. This brings me to my second point. Custom Games: My personal passion in Halo 3. An experience that has narrowed my community of fellow custom gamers an a large scale. This is because if I join a recent players game, I either A) Get booted because the party leader is in a party and won't tell me what to do or B) Can't talk to anybody and again, have no idea what to do (unless it is a conventional gametype in which case it still gets somewhat lonely). Ok ok... So I get can even get over that. But what my BIGGEST problem is when I or one of my friends is the party leader, and somebody joins and is in a party. It is IMPOSSIBLE to explain the game rules, or honor rules to them, and most of the time, they will try to get you to join their party. Now let me ask you, what happens when you have a lobby with about 12 or so people, and 8 of them are in a party? Of course they don't want to leave, because most likely the people inside the party all know each other. The answer is either boot them all and be stuck with a party of 4, or play the game with everybody being confused, and unable to communicate with each other. I feel it is necessary to address the point of "push to talk" in Halo 3. Some people complain that parties help to get rid of this nuisance. I completely disagree. First of all, if you are to lazy to touch an extra button, you don't deserve to be playing xbox, and should probably be on a treadmill. Second of all, the push to talk actually helps to keep the game less chaotic. A party of 16 people with a bunch of squealers (little kids) with unlimited talking ability, is a VERY VERY BAD thing. Also, don't try to say that it helps gameplay because you don't have to press the extra button, because a party big enough to have push to talk, is most likely not playing a competitive game. NOTE: If this subject gets a little heated, I would like to move it to debates, but for now, I think it belongs here.