Be Excellent To Each Other

Is it just me who gets those ads a lot? No? Yes? Oh.

That plus your avatar just screams "PAY-PER-MINUTE WEBCAM" to me.

I am also gooing to be online momentarily, but may not be on later. Catch me while you can!

Gah! Why do you people do this at tea time?! I ask you....

*opens beer* *sparks up* *queues up TV stuff downloaded today* See you a bit later on lads, it's tea-time now.

I've already gotten in from work and eaten my repast of beans and toast. Guess we're all just more efficient than you, eh, Dimrill?

I am reluctant to buy them before I know if I actually like the game.

I will be on at 8pm.

I will be on at about 9, probably. I will be along eventually.

3 hours later...

Blow me, COD4 is an awesomely excellent game in online multiplayer. After 30 mins or so of 'getting used to it', I loved that. Fantastic stuff.

*looks at box, remembers awful singleplayer campaign, looks baffled*

>< STOP TEMPTING ME WITH YOUR WORKING BOX OF DELIGHTS.

Hopefully Shewolf is bringing hers down here tomorrow so I shall have a REPLACEMENT BOX OF DELIGHTS while Microsoft sit on their hands.

That really does suck Sheepeh A shame, I was really enjoying saying 'Sheepeh' too.

Unrelatedly, this isn't the clip I wanted from The Fast Show, but it will do:



No offence meant

LIES. I know you did something when I connected. It's all to do with that virus you inserted in to WoS. It's infected my network and is taking down 360s so that CUS can claim complete ownership of the Live Leaderboards! I KNOW! I SEE!

On a related matter, how do I get me one of those funky clan tags next to my name? I was going to ask...but...you know...*cries in to his cup of tea*

You have to level up to rank 12, then you get the clan tag.

Danger! Incoming TEXT ATTACK!It must be good because it's even bearable on public servers despite the high level of cuntery Live continues to enjoy. Not that I ever play much beyond Team Deathmatch on public Live, admittedly, as I don't credit most of the houseplants playing to co-ordinate themselves on a more tactically difficult gametype.

The gaming last night was top notch though. I was particulary impressed with how solid the matchmaking and party systems were, and how well the game scaled. Early on with four of us we could go onto 6v6 public servers, top our team up with some randoms, and still feel like it was us-versus-the-world (I do feel slightly sorry for the randoms who have to put up with our occasionally vile banter though). Later as people came online we could move up to the 9v9 public servers, and when even more people appeared that meant just as we were overflowing the max team size on public servers we had enough for some sensibly sized team games on private servers. That's very good game design.

I particularly enjoyed Domination, we should play more of that. It has the same appeal as CTF in most other FPSs: there are distinct roles (defense, offense, flag runner, hassling the enemy, sniping) that you can switch between as the mood takes you but give you a different experience of the game. It injects some variety.

Edit: I forgot to mention, the ranking up system is pretty clever. You're never more than an hours play away from the next rank up (well, up as far as level 18 where I am now anyway), the next reward is always something useful, but they are not so game unbalancing that playing as a n00b I felt utterly helpless. There is an element of that but it's not overwhelming. It's the first time I've played any sort of shooter with this faintly MMORPG aspect and I do think it's a good idea.

I quite enjoyed the single player. I don't care for Infinity Ward's structure, specifically the endless-respawn-until-you-push-past-this-line thing common to all the Call of Duty games. To me it's just too artificial; I'd prefer Half-Life, which is just as linear but does a much better job of hiding the rails. I also found it intensely frustrating at times, where getting past a certain bit required me to essentially learn that I couldn't go this way, it had to be that way, crounching, then sprint past that bit, turn, shoot two guys. I find this rote learning aspect, this bare, exposed game mechanic, jarringly at odds with the very cinematic presentation.

However, it certainly had a number of awesome moments, like crawling through the grass in the sniper level while an armoured platoon walk by only a few feet away, or the end of the middle Eastern campaign (avoiding spoilers), or, well, any number of other bits. On the whole it felt better than the (admittedly limited amount) of the other CoD games, and was probably much better being 5 hours or so in length.

That was a really fun time last night. I hope the other people playing for the first/second time enjoyed it and weren't put off by the high level of dying.

I can't say I ever encountered endlessly respawning troops in CoD4. I cleared the TV station on veteran by sitting in the back room with the computers, sniping heads when they popped up until there was no-one left. I could see there was staggered spawns, sure, as they appeared as 1 RPG guy and 4 regulars shooters, I think either 4 or 5 times.

OMG! a 3 and a 2. We are going to pwn you! (Oh, how I laughed)




edit: Oh, look at that, I completely failed to reply here. What I'd meant to say is that the ranking system works better here than in Halo3, as there's better incentive to go up ranks (Better wepaonry and stuff) so that you don't find people who spend their life playing it, but maintaining a low rank just so that they can absoultely cane the people who have never played it before.

Although I wasn't impressed by the first match. I can't help but feel that a private server would've been a better introduction to the game.



Sadly, my usually role of back line defense doesn't seem to be a good way of whoring experience points. Although I did an excellent job there by killing about 6 would be flag capturers by hiding in the grass.

Overall, I did enjoy it, and would like to play some more, despite a couple of reservations I have with it.
Edit2: I also liked it enough to buy the map pack. So people, invite away.

I would be WELL UP for playing this for quite a bit more this weekend, by the way. Ooo yeah. OMG U R ONLY A 3 AND A 2 YOU GUYS SUCK!!!!

Turn on your xbox then, a huge team game is in progress. Except for me, I'm off for a dhansak.

I have 0 people playing call of duty. I don't believe you.

Did it break up just before you came on? I signed off around 5pm or so I think, the game might have broken up after that. We were playing from about 12:30 on, between 4 and 9 of us. 'Twas awesome. Think I'm gonna get the map pack after payday.

Yes. That was splendid fun. The map pack is pretty good (Chinatown & Broadcast are excellent while Creek is a shitty sniper-thon...yes, I am rubbish at it)

Come. Come to our CoDfest. Now. At Mark's house.

Good god, peeking at live.xbox.com suggest you lot are still playing! Guess I'm some kind of shandy lightweight or something.

I don't want to play bloody Ground War any more... It really fucks me off. Too many people for the maps, and 50% chance of fucking Domination... nah.

I accidentally quitted out of the party, and couldn't be arsed to go back in, instead being owned by Ikaruga for 10 minutes. Managed a 23 chain though! then fucked up at the boss. Gah.

I quite like Domination -- see my notes elsewhere in the thread -- but I agree with the overcrowded thing. I guess we need to take it to private servers once we have more than 6 people. 4v4 is OK for team deathmatch, I think, and it might be a nice change of pace actually. With slightly more peaceful maps, you can spend a little more time planning and sneaking and less time respawning. I think it would place an emphasis on the teamwork aspect. Could be a good thing.

Sorry lads, connection dropped, just come back up again. Bah :/

Thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon games yesterday.

Some more good shooty fun this afternoon, including an epic Domination win at the last second on Ambush. I'm logging off now as I'm getting connection issues, and really should do some other things. I'll be back on at around 8pm.

Grr, I didn't need to get addicted to this game at the moment. Knowing you're only so far away from your next rank makes you want to carry on, even when you can't see because of tiredness.

I'm only annoyed at it's quite buggy party system. That's twice when I've been hosting and it's effectively kicked me out.

That's it I'm never playing Ground War ever again. I'd rather play with a bunch of strangers. Holding down the right bumper is more fun.

I got "dropped" for no apparent reason quite a few times.

Now I've ranked up just enough to get the N00bCannon of Shotgun Power, I'm actually starting to scrape a positive K/D ratio...woo!

I find myself in the amusing position of loudly hating COD4 (though I'll prob go back to it now...), but absolutely loving the multiplayer experience.

Just wish that a) the helicopter fucked off sooner, and b) the maps were a bit bigger. Several times I've spawned, died, spawned, died, spawned, in mere seconds.

Other than that (and the spacky server/lobby issues), it's all peachy.

I think this may be because we're playing Ground War a lot though. I don't think the maps are really big enough for 9v9. I agree with Pundy, we should consider more private games. Admittedly there is no XP but I think it'll be more fun.

Anyone fancy Frontlines tonight?

*hand waving in the air like a call of duty 4 lacking jerk that doesnt care*

Yep, sure.

Curiosity's CoD4 tips.

#1 - If you want to level up by gaining decent amounts of XP a match - play Headquarters. You only get 5 XP per kill instead of 10, but when your team captures one of the headquarters, you gain 5 XP every few seconds. Of course, if you die whilst holding the Headquarters you don't respawn until the enemy have destroyed the HQ, but you continue to gain 5 XP every few seconds. Also, since both teams are frantically trying to storm one particular position, you can get a lot of kills in the meantime. If you want to be tremendously sneaky, you can get to the HQ first, lob in some C4, go hide around and corner and then set the C4 off when the enemy arrives to capture it.

#2 - When learning the game, it is wise to use the Juggernaut perk. You will get yelled at by people on their seventh turn around the prestige modes, but, to be blunt, fuck them. It gives you a second chance against non-headshot sniper fire, and an advantage in a stand-up fight.

#3 - Use your grenades. If you're playing on Wet Work (the boat), Shipment (with the crates), or any other small level, it is a crime to die before using your grenades. Even if you have no idea where the enemy might be, pick what looks like a good spot, cook your grenade for a second or two and then lob it. You'll get a surprising amount of kills. Once you learn where people tend to hide on those levels, you'll get LOADS of kills in this fashion.

...more to follow, if anyone is interested...

My CoD4 tips:

Once you unlock Martyrdom, use it with short ranged weapons. You have to be close to the enemy anyway, which puts them in prime 'nade death range.

When sniping, take a shot, then move. Try to make sure your shots count.

When in doubt take Stopping Power. The more damage you do to the enemy, the better.

Don't be afraid of firing speculative shots into sniping positions.

.50cal fixed machine guns are the quickest way to take down helicopters.

Don't underestimate the UAV Jammer perk combined with a silenced weapon. I've been in the same room as several enemies, and they didn't know I was there, till I killed them all.

The easiest way of killing people: be where they don't expect you, even if it means running round the entire map.

Hardcore is a completely different game. Don't bother with Stopping Power or Double Tap. Your weapons are incredibly deadly without them. Oh, and never, ever take Martyrdom into a Hardcore Match. FF is On.

For those who can bear to read a 360 FPS thread that ISN'T about Call of Duty 4, can I just say that the skill-ranking thing in Halo 3 appears to be total and utter bullshit.

I just played with Dimrill, myoptika and a random in a game of ranked Team Slayer. We lost by about five points, but I had perhaps the best game I've had of it, absolutely slaughtering the enemy team and accounting for over half our kills.

And yet, in spite of this, my skill ranking DROPPED from 13 to 12.

What the fuck?

Is it based on some ridiculous 'it all depends on whether your TEAM wins' calculation, or worse, like Call of Duty 3's kill/death ratio?

Yeah, IIRC you can only lose ranking points if your team loses, no matter how well you did. Even if you got all but one kill of your team's tally, and your team loses by one point to an opposing team ten ranks above you, you still lose rank or break even at best.

It is based on how your team does, and then I think some slight amount on how you did within your team.

Though Kill/Death differential is always a better indicator than Kills. Going 14 - 2 is way more use to a team than 30-32.