Gears of War suffers at the hands of Microsoft
Well, it had to happen didn’t it? After all the great and exciting news on GoW lately, there was always going to be a setback. Sadly, it’s in the multiplayer department, and sadly, you won’t be playing tactically with any of your Xbox Live friends.
Unfortunately for the guys at Epic and us gamers, Microsoft have a policy that states that all ranked matches must be based on skill. Therefore, playing ranked matches with your clan or friends is down to chance (or pretty much impossible, since getting the eight people you want in the same room would take some doing), much unlike the system of Halo 2 that everyone raves about.
The problem is Microsoft don’t want friends boosting their own rank with each other and getting achievements and so on. The TrueSkill ranking system, that matches you with other players of roughly the same ability, is there to make sure you have a fair game (supposedly). It is now required for all 360 games to come with a ranked multiplayer that picks “random” people to play against (it’s not truely random, as it picks the people closest to your skill). Games that do not feature such a system don’t ship, hence why Epic had to do it the way no-one really wanted.
Yes, it’s a cert requirement. You may not choose who you get to play with in a ranked match and you may not keep the session together. The theory is this prevents collaborative cheating (I kill you ten times, now you me, etc.)
The players you’ll meet aren’t random. They are the best fit for your skill level.
This came straight from a programmer at the official forums, named joeGraf. And if you keep reading, it sounds as if he would rather it wern’t like that:
I can put the code in. Then the game won’t ship. I prefer to ship the game. Maybe you have a different view
It’s a shame, because Gears of War sounds like the perfect game for teamwork. I do understand where Microsoft are coming from, but I think common sense is needed. With a game like this, it surely requires you to be playing with people you know, right? I can see the problem here though: every developer will claim that their multiplayer requires the teamwork, then MS won’t know what to do. I just think there has to be some other way around it. After all, the only reason I play in ranked matches is for achievements, not for my rank. Personally, I think if you just reset the leaderboards evey month, people will realise it’s a waste of time. Does rank really bother any of you, readers?
“Hmmm, there must be a way around this…”
The other thing I find strange is that Saints Row actually allows you to play in ranked matches with people you know. You go into a lobby, the host sets the game as ranked and away you go. Could GoW not have something in the same vein?
Many thanks to Mikeawesome for finding this.
i dont see how this is a cert requirement.. Saints Row lets u do ranked clan matches
That’s what I said
yup
old xbox live system was the best. Now with this new features it really sucks !!!
atleast if u have friends …
Why not create achievments that are only available in random ranked matches? You could still get your friends together but not get any achievments for it. That would be totally fine by me. Stupid Microsoft.
I agree. it really anoys me when the achievements are all in ranked only matches. What’s the point? People still cheat after all.
I will certainly pass on this game if it is true. Its a true deal breaker for me. Forget it. Absolutely a NO SALE, if this is in fact true, and not addressed and fixed before release date.
My clan osogo.com will pass on this as well. Long Live COD3! I had high hopes for GOW too.
I’m passing this negative news to all the people I know and the message boards I frequent.
In that case, you and your clan won’t be playing many games anymore, since it is a requirement that MS insist on. I don’t understand why Saints Row gets away with it, but more games will be like this. Besides, what difference does it make for you? Does ranking matter to you?
I know that in GRAW it is not an issue. It wasn’t an issue in any of the Ghost Recon titles on the original Xbox, and on Halo2. It can be done.
Jim your a tool. You will be able to invite your friends to play in an unranked match. Iit will be similar to the way COD2 works with ranked and unranked. Also, COD3 is going to work the same way so you better pass the negative news on that too.
Who gives a shit… it’s just a game man.
You can still invite your friends in non-ranked matches… who gives a shit about those points?
Maybe nolifers, but I have zero(!) respect for those people
it’s all about the fun..
So there will be non-ranked matches that you can set up? Who cares about Rank anyways, as long as you get away from Joe Public in public rooms. TeamKills/loud on the mike/glitchers/poor sportsmen.
I concur. I really don’t understand why people make this sound like such a big deal anyway. The ranking system is about matching you up to PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW, and basing that on measured skill, so that everyone has the best time playing that they can.
If you want to play with your friends, you can still do that unranked. Do you not play with your friends if they have different skill levels than you? Of course not, playing with friends is not about that. It’s about enjoying a game with people you enjoy interacting with.
Much ado about nothing.
This doesn’t effect me because I never play their stupid ranked matches anyway. Guess I am the kind of gamer that wants to forget about rank and kick back and have a good time. I mean come on. How many of you people out there actually care about someone else’s rank other than your own?
I’m a little confused. Why can’t you have a party like Halo 2? The entire other team will still be matched up according to skill right?
True, but the idea here is that they don’t want people level-boosting like in Halo 2. Get one person of high rank and one person of low rank, so the high person plays low-rank people and they trash them. It is in the best interest of the players, even if it also ends up being an issue to the players as well.
Personally, I think it’s not only a terrible idea, but it crushes the very core of the gameplay, since it’s supposed to be all about the team play.
As for Saints Row, is it possible that it’s something that went unnoticed or something? I can’t really see Microsoft come off as such a stickler for this to just allow this to happen. I too am hoping that they plan on doing something similar with GoW.
I don’t live and die by the rank, but I love being able to compare with friends in Halo 2 because it’s a simple measure of your skill in the game.
As long as there is an option to form a party, and then join random unranked matches, this isn’t a deal breaker for me. I don’t really see what the big problem with boosting is anyway, the reason it was so prevalent in H2 was because they showed you what your rank was.
Someone at Epic is very confused. CliffyB better take his asshat off and get this shit fixed ASAP. This can be done without screwing up Truskill.
Likely this is a new cert that Microsoft now requires in games. Games like Ghost Recon and Saints shipped several months back, thus did not have that cert they had to follow. Any new game will require this cert - from what I have read in this news posting.
soooooo i can’t play a ranked game with my friends. there should still be an option to play unranked games or private games with your friends. having ranked games as your only option for multiplayer is bulls***. the whole point of xbox live is to be able to play with your friends, not to see who is the best, if you’re not able to play with your friends then never mind not buying g.o.w. i’ll be cancelling my xbox live subscription.
you can play unranked with your friends
Something sounds fishy about this whole situation.
It seems everytime there’s a potential problem with GoW, Epic seems to place the blame on Microsoft. First, it was Microsoft’s decision to charge $60 for a first party title. Now its Microsoft’s decision to adjust how ranking works out.
It almost seems like Epic wants to keep their credibility without wanting to admit that they may have had their hands in these decisions, even if slightly.
Either way, I don’t play Ranked matches in any games so this change has little effect on it. Sorry to all those it hurts however.
This can’t really be true. The whole appeal of the game, at least for me, was the fact that it looked like a great online team game. Why would Microsoft neuter their biggest potential blockbuster? And why would Epic stand for it? Surely they have a lot of pull.
all i can say is that this is really limiting the true potential that XBL can offer. Not allowing to play with your friends pretty much is entirely opposite from what microsoft has always publicized about their service. and if Halo 3 is going to go through these same rules, im pretty sure i’m going to s*** myself
The reason I play ranked games is not for my rank, nor for the achievments. The reason I play ranked games is because I am a competitive player and I like a challenge. I want be able to play with my friends, and I want us to be challenged. The problem with non-ranked has always been that its hard to get a serious, and well skill matched game in. I stopped playing GRAW right away because when my friends and I want to take a gamer seriously, and we start winning, the other team just starts messing around, killing each other, quiting out, just really making it not fun. Reason is cuz noone gives a f*ck about unranked games. Noone cares, so noone plays serious. With Microsofts new rule, I can no longer be matchmade into competitive, fun, match with my friends. I have been on Xbox Live since the beta testing days, and this is the worst move for Xbox Live that I have ever seen.
“I can put the code in. Then the game won’t ship. I prefer to ship the game. Maybe you have a different view”
2 words. Live Update!
I’m pretty sure he meant that MS wont allow them to…
Time for some people power me thinks, forum swampage protests etc.
Well to be honest its a good move.
The amount of people that use the ranking system to just boost and cheat is totally out of control in games that need to you get ranked achievcements.
Just like GRAW there is absolutly NO PROBLEM with this.
Your a squad you wanna play ranked you server, you punt players till your squad find the server.
if your just messing about whats the harm in playing Player… or one of you can make a server if you REALLY wanna play ranked.
Tru Skill system has been implemented in many games.
And in GRAW and many other games I have no problems getting friends to join me in a Ranked server. It takes time but if it stops boosters from ruining leaderboard its a good move.
blame the cheaters from halo2 for this
Plus Ranked Achievements are a joke, if you put them into a game thats enough incentive for people to cheat the system to get them.
JUST LEAVE ONLINE ACHIEVEMENTS OUT OF THE GAME!
Lets be honest here.Halo2’s matchmaking is the best multiplayer fun on any console.But ruined to often by teams of Kids who just want to cheat and piss people off.Thats its big problem.This will stop that problem to a degree seeing how those people wont be able to show off to their little buddies anymore.I’m sure this will also popularise any ranked clan system they implement.Think about it.
why should we suffer for a few cheaters?
Because you’ll suffer more if they pretend that cheaters won’t cheat.
think about if they didnt implement this…say in a game like street fighter, you would be able to play your best friend in a ranked match and if he had an account on a free trial that he didnt care about he could just let you wail on him all day and get a perfect rating, that to day the least would suck. END ‘O STORY
Just to be clear, for those that seem slightly confused.
Unranked matches will still be in the game, where friends and clans can be invited; it only applies to the ranked side of things. So don’t panic too much, the game does have unranked matches.
(I thought that was so obvious I didn’t need to write about it?!)
I was noticing the same thing.
You can still play player matches with you friends so who cares!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is not news. Just setup a non-ranked match and play with your friends. That’s how it has been on the 360 since it came out. Who gives a shit what your rank is in a dumb game.
If you have friends that are good and you want to play together it will be difficult to get a competitive match.
Balls! You obviously just play with children.
RANKED MATCHES IS TEH GHEY!!111
Just play for fun people, who cares about a silly rank.
and for the guy worried about noncompetitive, unranked matches, bungie confirmed that even in gametypes that are unranked like rumble training, you still have a ranking that is unpublished. so as long as you play well in unranked, you should play against progressively better opponents, without seeing delevelers and other cheaters. so maybe epic is doing something similar.
Devs can add clan support after the next dashboard update. I don’t know whats up with that guy from Epic. So stay tuned it’s in the hands of the developers to add such features.
http://www.xbox-archiv.de/?p=3750
All slides from Gamfest
Look in the File “Gamefest 2006: Developer Tools: XNA and Visual Studio Track”
BOO
He sounds like Gord from Acts of Gord. One of the best quotes ever.
It’s fair to say that I like the level of competition that ranked games inspire. At th esame time, there are those who view competition not as a way to test their ability against others, but as a rank to hold over the heads of others, which cheaters are drawn to like maggots to garbage. Halo 2 is my favotite game, but it’s also a hot bed for cheaters with no skill who boost and mod to gain a rank that they didn’t earn and then grief the legitimate players. Frankly, I’ll take the Tru-Skill limitations over the pricks who ruin my fun any day. If there is a better way, I’m all for it, but if this is what it takes to keep the jerks trolling Live from ruining the game - so be it. I know a good number of people who won’t play Halo 2, not because of the game but because of the legion of idiots who scream and act like they have no idea what self control is.
I totally agree with Neurothustra, and just look at it this way, it’s a great way for you to meet new ppl to add to your Friends list. While i doubt this will stop cheaters, it will makes things very uncomfortable for them, at least. maybe all the cheaters will pass this one over since it doesn’t cater to their tastes and I can play a game with people who actually want to earn a rank…
I’m going to be really honest here. FarCry:IP has the same set up. You can’t make parties in ranked matches. Guess what happened. NO ONE PLAYS RANKED MATCHES. Guess what effect it had on fun factor. NONE. I still play the game rabidly, as do many other people I know. Rank doesn’t fricken matter. In Halo2, since there was no way to see how good you were in Halo1, it became essential to test your strength for a good year or so. I don’t care about rank anymore. No one does. Stop bitching, you can have parties, your skill will show up through how good you are. Not a fricking number.
I dont think Ill ever get the online achievemetns in saints row becasue the extreme lag that those fuckers seem not to ccare about but also the fuckers who use standby and kill your whole fucking team while u cant do anything.
i KNEW it. see! this is why i am more excited about viva pin….i … i mean rainbow six vegas.
I agree that the ranking number doesn’t matter. But ranked matches DO matter because, as others have mentioned already, the ranking system should be able to match your team up against similar opponents. TrueSkill does allow for calculating the effective rank of a team, and it even does it much better than Halo 2’s system (which is still pretty good). I don’t see why this would be a cert requirement. And I don’t see why all of us are taking this one dude’s forum post as gospel.
BOO-HOOOOO get over it and just enjoy the DAMN game!!!! Some people are F!cking impossible to please!!!!
You really are lame aren’t you. No-one finds you even remotely amusing.
Come on I thought you Brit’s had a sense of Humor!!!! Bloody Wankers!!!!
Well, the “funny” (hoho) thing is, humour and laughing apply when things are funny. You are not, sadly. You provide no intelligent comments, nor do you ever have anything interesting to say. I do have a sense of humour, but I don’t wish to waste it on you.
I also don’t want to have an arguement with you in a comments section. Please contact me in another way if you want an arguement, but lets keep it private ay
What are you GAY or something???? Just kidding ,I say lets bury the hatchet-what do ya say. Put-her there pal????
Wow now we’re bitching that they are matching us with people that are in our skill level
Give me a break guys, there preventing stat cheating with friends which im 100% behind and they are going to be putting you up in RANKED MATCHES against those in your skill level… tahts what TRUESKILL was invented for … for ranked matches where randomness and skill are the most important….
Its still a team game but its a team game where you get to play with people of your skill levell… its not really fair to have a bunch of newbies with 1 really awesome guy on the team that wins it for them simple as that!
Yes perhaps they should to team clans etc… but theirs no saying that wont come down the line
WHY IS IT PEOPLE IGNORE THE REAL CLIFFY!
He has already said it depends how things go and demand, they have the ability to add new multiplayer maps as well as release new multiplayer war types and i can almost guarantee that includes abilities to add team ranking etc… so stop worrying if its really that big of demand they will probably add it.
and
“Devs can add clan support after the next dashboard update. I don’t know whats up with that guy from Epic. So stay tuned it’s in the hands of the developers to add such features.
http://www.xbox-archiv.de/?p=3750 “
Why can’t anyone learn. halo 2, number 1 game, and still is. humm. wonder why. maybe because you get get someone you’ve played with before and work tactically with them. that sucks reall bad. i fucking hate microsoft. how stupid can you be.
IF YOU DON’T PLAY RANKED MATCHES YOU CAN STILL PLAY WITH YOUR CLAN AND ALL.
Halo has the best matchmaking I’ve ever seen, but, you can’t really compare Halo w/ GoW.They can make the matchmaking just like Halo, but, even in Halo you could still cheat. I see this pointless in Microsoft and if this keeps going like this, Microsoft’s interferience will dub the game(steal the fun).
Personally, I don’t see the issue. Play non ranked then
That way you can play with your mates.
I personally am quite happy with this arangement. Halo 2 was full of idiots with inflated ranks spoiling it for other players who worked on there own to get there rank. There is nothing worse than being paired up with someone whose rank says 40 (whatever) and you find they actually suck and whats worse is that they still think their the shit becuase their mates carried them through previous ranked matches.
if this is the issue, why is there even gonna be ranked matches? i wont play em without my friends, and it sounds like no one else will. i dont like playing without people i dont know, so this thing really shut out the ranked match thing. fuck the online achievements, if they wont be fun to get, whats the point.
*i dont like playing without people i know*
Quit your crying, and bitching. It’s a good thing to keep the cheaters at bay!! I, as well as many friends play together for fun, and to dominate others. I understand that if my clan gets together and plays people aren’t part of a group, they are at a disadvantage. Microsoft is doing the right thing, and you can still play with your friends and dominate, just not in a ranked setup.
Why is everyone saying “Saints Row had it so why doesn’t Gears of War?” Is everyone that blind to see that Saints Row has clan support and Gears of War does not? Without a reliable clan support system this is the only way to go and I am in favour of that.
If players and there friends can join me and my friends in unranked matches, Then Im ok with it
you can right?
Yep.
ok thnx, then there’s no problem for me
For God’s sake, practically everyone knows that the ranked play is bullshit anyway. It’s crammed full of hotheads who scream and bitch and moan and try to Hitler their own teams when they’re paired with random people, or you run into (constantly) clan-fags who’ve smuggled their buddies into the game and pull that stupid point-farming bullshit. I played maybe a dozen ranked games and after about a half dozen times of being told by some hothead jock wannabe piece of shit to move over to the other team so his buddy could come in or he wouldn’t start the game, I decided fuck it. I’ve never really been into the ranked shit anyways, but I always give them a try. I just like playing the game. I’m not some loser obsessing over some worthless fictitious rank that emphasizes my (gasp!) True Skill! Hell. I know I’m good. My friends know I’m good, and they’re good, too. And I’m happy with that. Let the point-whores with no social lives and the achievement fags with no girlfriends stay in ranked. Come on over to unranked! It’s a helluva lot more fun!
Unranked matches allow for joining whenever you want and you can invite your friends to them. You can get up to a group of 8 of your friends in the lobby before the match even starts, or you can just have them join later. This is a little suckier than the “party” system for Halo 2 that allows you to move around, but you can see where they’re coming from. Unranked ftw.