PS2 online

[Myth]

coming out in late May for a charge of £45 (not sure about US). What do you expect of an online gaming experience, where the only means of interaction is most likely a set of chosen sentences which an be used

Examples:
Good shot!
Nice dodge!
run!

and other unimaginative monotonous droning annoying sayings which will just flood a crappy little text box.

all be it, the gaming experience from the ADSL will be semi-decent, the best online action being with FPS's which honestly is crap with the fidgety joypads =/

[firebug]

it's out in america.. not sure how much, but i've only played SoCom(sp.?) and let me tell you.. it kicks ASS! no.. no preset statements.. you can buy a headset and talk to other players that are online. too bad i don't own a PS2 :(

[AlexMax]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the PS2 has been online for a long time. And it's one of the funnest things I've ever done on a console in a long time too. Having played SOCOM, I can say that headsets are all right, but if you use CHAT-TEST with Tribes: AA, you won't miss it too much. Almost all my PS2 games are online, and it was well worth the 45 bucks the adapter cost, because unless it's a specialty game that charges like Everquest, playing online is FREE! FREE as in no monthly charges after a year of free gaming.

[firebug]

hell yes :) now i have to go buy a PS2.. if for nothing but FF11 :D

[sagelink]

Yeah i cant wait untill FF11.... man its gonna rock. I wonder if they'll charge for playing online though.

[firebug]

god i hope not. it would be so much better if they just charged for the disc(s) and let you play free.

[mike5000]

Originally posted by AlexMax
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the PS2 has been online for a long time. And it's one of the funnest things I've ever done on a console in a long time too. Having played SOCOM, I can say that headsets are all right, but if you use CHAT-TEST with Tribes: AA, you won't miss it too much. Almost all my PS2 games are online, and it was well worth the 45 bucks the adapter cost, because unless it's a specialty game that charges like Everquest, playing online is FREE! FREE as in no monthly charges after a year of free gaming.

That scares me when you say a "specialty game" because every big name game that comes out for online, might charge money! and that could add up real quik!

-correct me if im wrong, but does Xbox charge a flat out rate for XboxLive and then you can play any game? I think the PS2 should use that method.

[El Oso Verde]

Thing is, with the Xbox, you pay a rate for using it online at all, and you STILL have to pay fees for games like Everquest.

[mike5000]

Originally posted by El Oso Verde
Thing is, with the Xbox, you pay a rate for using it online at all, and you STILL have to pay fees for games like Everquest.

OH well that really sucks!
Is it possible to rent everquest and would you only pay for a week? how does that work?

[Myth]

damn, not out in UK yet =/

well ive read in ps2 magazine that most game swill have pre-set text.. but the head phones sound pretty funky :)

[War Lord]

Playing online for free isn't usually a cost effective option unless a company has shitloads of money to blow. Online games require servers, and those servers require a lot of bandwidth and superb uptime. All of which cost money. Which brings me to wondering why users bitch and moan about games charging a small fee per month or perhaps per year. Those servers have to get paid for somehow.
*shrugs*
I do understand the reasoning of most of you though, is that you have no cash to pay for it, however if you had a job and the cash to cover the fee I'm sure you'd see different.

[Cronic]

They bitch because theyre used to things like Battle.net I know I'm spoiled, but with Xbox live (The only qauility means of online gaming via console) I got over it =)

[AlexMax]

I do understand the reasoning of most of you though, is that you have no cash to pay for it, however if you had a job and the cash to cover the fee I'm sure you'd see different.

I do. I still dont get it. The monthly fee is the reason I don't play Everquest Online Adventures.

And what exactly do you mean by 'spoiled by battlenet' Sure, battlenet is nice, but nothing that a master server and an fan run online community can't handle for other games that have less sophisticated online play.

[Cronic]

I don't play EQ because it's gay as fuck, and as for battle.net I was reffering to the fact that it's common, and well known. Most of us I'm sure have used it because it's a free qaulity service and offers a lot of users.

Can't handle and willing to handle are two different things.

[jman2050]

Last time I checked, battle.net wasn't a quality service, unless it was fixed from when i used it last.

[Cronic]

It's always worked for me :shrug:

[AlexMax]

Except it was full of "OH MY GOD I CANT BELEIVE THIS britany69.com" lamers.

I also think it has more to do with the size of the network too. Amplitude.net (which is free)...face it....doesnt have a whole lot of people on it, maybe a thousand or two. But the nice thing is that I could speak to a Harmonix employee within an hour (Hell, find anyone with an HMX before their name on ampnet, its easy, and its guarenteed to be a harmonix employee). They even listen to every remix uploaded to their servers individually and post the best ones in a repository. Guess what, THEY CARE ABOUT THE GAME, and it's a pleasure to play online.

Likewise, TribesAA probably only has 20 servers up at any given time. Yet I can talk to almost any of the admins of any of the dedicated servers just by leaving them a PM and they will respond. Same with the TribesAA tournament staff.

Ditto with ZDaemon (Internet DOOM) staff, just join a chatroom and *poof* someone's there.

You might just say I play online gaming's best kept secrets. ^_^

But money has another downside. Lets say that I pay to play a game online. Let's say that Joe Lamer also pays to play a game online. Lets say Joe Lamer TKs out of his ass and tries to make your online play as miserable as possible. And lord knows you PAID for this service and arent going to waste it by quitting so you complain. Now, what will the admin do? Investigate a player, make sure its not someone backstabbing another guy, and disable a paying customers account? Or just sit back, do nothing, keep the money from Joe Lamer and hope you go away? Money talks. Sure, people would get banned in EXTREME cases, but still...

Now I know that being free makes it easier for Joe Lamer to get online in the first place. But TAA server admins will feel no shame in banning you. After all, you already paid for the game. And with the somewhat small community of TAA, if you are known as a screw up, people find you out fast and you cant join a server without a vote to kick being called against you...if you even get the oppertunity to join at all.

Or maybe I'm just stuck on how much Tribes AA kicks ass. You decide.