Online Gaming

[poissonsouriant]

What are you guys' opinions on Online Gaming? Is it the wave of the future, or just a fad?

Myself, I enjoy it. I have both Xbox Live and Playstation 2 Online. Xbox Live costs less money to get started, but there is that $49.99 a year cost to subscribe. Microsoft runs all the servers, so I guess that just paying one yearly fee is better than monthly fees for 5 different games. I paid $70 for the starter pack, and got a 12-month subscription, an XBox Live Communicator (Headset), and a full copy of Crimson Skies, an online enabled game.

PS2 Online costs a lot of money to get started. I had to pay $30 for the Network adapter, $25 for the Headset, and $40 for an online enabled game, Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal. The big upside to PS2 Online is that since each game manufacturer must maintain servers for their own games. This means that while some games charge monthly fees, a great many are free to play online.

There is a thrill to playing people that you don't know from all over the country (or the world); it also makes the single-player game look very easy. I have no trouble breezing through the single-player Ratchet and Clank:UYA, but the last time that I played online, I think I got one kill.

So anyway, please give me your opinions.

[SamuraiCatJB]

Interacting with humans give an unpredictibility factor.... Although computer AI is getting very sophisticated, you are still limited to the thought processes of the programmer(s) involved. Once you learn how they thought, you've mastered the game before you finish it.

Although you can get a majority of people to react one way to a situation, there will always be a minority reacting another way and a few stragglers that find creative and independant solutions. This is more of a challenge.

It will also eventually be the learning tool for AI. So I don't think it is going away, it has actually been here since the 90's and the DOS based BBS modem days. It has changed its image and capability, but it is still the same concept. Until Computer based AI reaches a sophistication equal to human, online game play will be around. After that? who can guess... we might all be extinct. ;)

[Cyker]

Wave of the Future? Wave of the past more like it...

On-line gaming has been around for ages. I still remember playing DOOM over Kali!

It's definitely hear to stay, but the corps are really milking every penny they can out of us for the privilage...

[Bionic Antboy]

I think online gaming is going to continue to grow.

Although I remember trying a couple of MUDS, I didn't get into it too much until id software came along. In the Quake 2 days, I was WAY into it. We had custom clan skins and models, voice commands and our clan had bowling shirts made with our clan logo and call signs on them. Was WAY cool at the LAN events we went to. I think we were the first ever to have bowling shirts. :)

On the flipside, being the organizer of a clan can take a LOT of time out of your life... heheh...

Right now I do subscribe to Xbox Live, though I only play 2-3 times a month. It's been pretty seamless, and from an end user point of view easier to manage than fees for individual games. Of course, I have no experience with PS2 online.

As SamuraiCat mentioned, the human factor is

[strider_mt2k]

For me there are two times, the time before online play and the time since.

The time since has been much better!

As was stated, human players are the best by far.

[JackAxe]

Blah. I watched my friend make food for about 10 minutes in Everquest 2. :rolleyes: :) But it was funny watching him yell a the NPC when it didn't pay that much for what he had made. :)

On-line gaming is.... I only like Battle.net, because it's free. Call me cheap, but it's a matter of time. I like multiplayer games, but I have more fun when I pack up my Powerbook or PC and head over to my friends for a LAN and that's not to often.

<]=)

[Homie S]

I recently got a new PS2 slim, but the online stuff doesn't work cause of college firewall issues. I R pissed.

[poissonsouriant]

Homie S,
If you can get a PC to connect to the internet at your college, you can use your PS2 Online, but you will need to get another network interface card and a crossover cable. You just connect one NIC to the campus network, then connect the other to your PS2's network port using the crossover cable. Setup Windows to share the Internet Connection from the campus network with the new network set up between the PC and the PS2.

It's how mine works. If you any more detailed instructions, please PM me.

[Homie S]

Homie S,
If you can get a PC to connect to the internet at your college, you can use your PS2 Online, but you will need to get another network interface card and a crossover cable. You just connect one NIC to the campus network, then connect the other to your PS2's network port using the crossover cable. Setup Windows to share the Internet Connection from the campus network with the new network set up between the PC and the PS2.

It's how mine works. If you any more detailed instructions, please PM me.

I've got a laptop. I don't know how I could do it with that.

[poissonsouriant]

That may complicate things. But as long as you can get two NIC cards in it (PCMCIA cards, USB adapter or whatever) you can use Internet Connection Sharing through Windows.

[Homie S]

Hrm. Well I have a wireless router. Can that do me any good? My laptop can go wireless with a wireless card, and maybe I can plug the ps2 into the back? Problem with that is I lose iTunes sharing capabilities because the router can't seem to forward correctly.

[poissonsouriant]

That uncomplicates things, assuming you get your internet access from the Wireless router. Go into "Control Panel > Network Connections". You should have two networks, one wireless and one wired. Right click on the wireless and select "Properties". Click the "Advanced" tab, and check "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection" Hit OK and you should be sharing your internet connection with anyone who connects through the wired network port.

Just connect your PS2 to the PC with a crossover cable and connect to PS2 Online as normal.

[hucsman]

Is it really necessary to run a server? Can't you just fish out people that want to play in a website, and then go P2P?

[poissonsouriant]

Is it really necessary to run a server? Can't you just fish out people that want to play in a website, and then go P2P?

What are you referring to? Surely not my last post?

[hucsman]

Lol, no, actually I was referring to the first post, regarding the service prices and all...

[poissonsouriant]

That's cool.

Well, it makes it a lot easier for the casual gamer who has much less computer experience. You also don't need to organize a game beforehand, you can just select "Quickmatch" and join a random game that's setting up.

[poissonsouriant]

I think online gaming is going to continue to grow.

Although I remember trying a couple of MUDS, I didn't get into it too much until id software came along. In the Quake 2 days, I was WAY into it. We had custom clan skins and models, voice commands and our clan had bowling shirts made with our clan logo and call signs on them. Was WAY cool at the LAN events we went to. I think we were the first ever to have bowling shirts. :)

On the flipside, being the organizer of a clan can take a LOT of time out of your life... heheh...

Right now I do subscribe to Xbox Live, though I only play 2-3 times a month. It's been pretty seamless, and from an end user point of view easier to manage than fees for individual games. Of course, I have no experience with PS2 online.


I'm captain of a clan on Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal. I don't have any members yet, but I just started it.

[NJL!2016]

I just got a Wireless G adapter for my Xbox. It works great when I set my router to G only, but when I have it running in B and G, it lags and I have to turn on QoS. Other than that, I love it.

I mostly play Halo 2 on team slayer. I'm trying to think up a name for a clan I want to start someday.

P.S. My gamertag on XBL is NJLx016

[poissonsouriant]

My gamertag is "Smiling Fish". Of course, the only Xbox Live games that I own are Crimson Skies and Mechassault.