Support NeoGAF

[dfyb]

Oh I'm sorry. I didn't realise that people were sliding weapons, hiding outside of maps, using standby, two-piecing and boom shield glitching when the review event was going on..

The day Gears 2 came out I gave it a 9.5/10 too. Now? More like a 4.5. Try again.

sooo why don't they update their reviews? they can update it again once it's working as intended. the reviews are supposed to reflect the product.

 

[Haeleos]

So there’s a brief status report on the next title update. At some point I expect we’ll post a more detailed list but I assure you we’re working hard to get this out the door and once it’s done we’ll start working on the next update. We’ll try to do a better job keeping you informed of our progress on future updates and we’ll try to be a little more active in the forums once this update is released.

3-4 years ago, I'd say this was posted on a UBIsoft game message board... but an Epic game? Jesus. I popped Gears 2 in to play some deathmatch for the first time today and facepalmed at how long it takes to get a game going. Back to Horde mode with my friends...

On a side note: I don't think I can spot one example where a game didn't feel rushed in some way this holiday season (besides Dead Space). Capcom is going to fucking dominate in February/March while the other big studios will be trying to pick up the pieces...

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

sooo why don't they update their reviews? they can update it again once it's working as intended.

probably because the people who reviewed this game have long since forgotten about it and moved onto something else. You think this is the first game that had been reviewed well and then shipped with broken online multiplayer? If someone held off their Gears 2 review until a week ago, it would not be getting high scores considering the online multiplayer doesn't work.

 

[dfyb]

probably because the people who reviewed this game have long since forgotten about it and moved onto something else. You think this is the first game that had been reviewed well and then shipped with broken online multiplayer?

i never said this is the first game, the only game, or the last game to have this happen. but this is one of the clearest examples. a game with an average score of 93 has had broken multiplayer, and it's been over two months. most of the game's likely lifetime sales have already happened.

but for everyone who looked to gears 2 reviews to make their purchasing decision, they've been duped -- not just by the game, but by the game journalists.

and your justification is that the game reviewers are too lazy.

sigh

If someone held off their Gears 2 review until a week ago, it would not be getting high scores considering the online multiplayer doesn't work.

right. and wouldn't this be more accurate? they don't need to hold their reviews -- it could be as simple as updating it at the end of the review with a sentence explaining the broken multiplayer and adjust the score. patch comes out and fixes everything? edit the sentence/adjusted score out.

basically, it comes down to this -- if people have to go to forums for an accurate idea of what the game is like (a review), the actual reviews aren't serving their purpose.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

but for everyone who looked to gears 2 reviews to make their purchasing decision, they've been duped -- not just by the game, but by the game journalists.

Until the game gets patched properly or if the consumer don't play the game online competitively, then of course they have duped. I'm still waiting for a good reason from you that counters this. Online multiplayer is currently broken and relatively unplayable is it not?

and your justification is that the game reviewers are too lazy.

It's pretty clear that:
A) None of the glitches or matchmaking issues were present when the media reviewed the game.
B) If it had been at the time or if they reviewed the game today, said problems would greatly affect the score.
C) Are the reviewers lazy? No. They get pushed into beating GTA4 in a hotel in a day. Do they work in an industry that is forward-moving? Yes. No one wants to read a Gears 2 re-review so they don't publish it. If this isn't the case, where's the Little Big Planet re-review? Or Burnout Paradise? The media and the consumer are more worried about Street Fighter 4 than a game that came out in November. Sorry you fail to see that.

basically, it comes down to this -- if people have to go to forums for an accurate idea of what the game is like (a review), the actual reviews aren't serving their purpose.

And? I'm not arguing with this. Then again, living off Metacritic averages is the better way right?

 

[Zezboob]

It has to do with the game because every other game has host migration and gears does not.

Dreamcast games ran better online than Gears 2. It's CliffyB's fault that the game is easily exploitable and that the netcode is garbage.

Men, if you had followed this thread, you would knew that it was sarcasm


(btw, DevelopmentArrested you are really exaggerating about the Dreamcast part )

basically, it comes down to this -- if people have to go to forums for an accurate idea of what the game is like (a review), the actual reviews aren't serving their purpose.

Wait, do you really pay attention to reviews ?

Personally I find already stupid to put a score on it.

 

[Skilotonn]

Ok sorry, I misunderstood.

It's like glitches, it has nothing to do with the game, but with dicks who uses it. Or lag, nothing with the game either, it's me that is stupid for not living in US or having a fiber connection.


But I still don't get why you are asking something to CliffyB that has nothing to do with the game.

Oh brother.

Again, don't play smart because you never once complained about people getting their ass handed to them and quitting out...

On top of that, I don't live in the US either, so stop whining that YOU don't have a decent connection while others living in Europe like myself do, and have lag-free matches...

Damn.

 

[TOAO_Cyrus]

It has to do with the game because every other game has host migration and gears does not.

Are you sure? Because I have never been in a Gears 2 game that ended because the host quit. Quite often four or five people quit but the game keeps going. One everyone on the other team quit but thats it.

 

[NIN90]

Spoiler

What the hell happenend to Dizzy after Act 1?

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Are you sure? Because I have never been in a Gears 2 game that ended because the host quit. Quite often four or five people quit but the game keeps going. One everyone on the other team quit but thats it.

How much do you play? I get 'connection to host lost' errors all the time when the host quits.

 

[whitehawk]

Are you sure? Because I have never been in a Gears 2 game that ended because the host quit. Quite often four or five people quit but the game keeps going. One everyone on the other team quit but thats it.

Youère probably always host then. Do you have a fiber optic cable connectionÉ

 

[RSTEIN]

Spoiler

What the hell happenend to Dizzy after Act 1?

He said "fuck this shit" and returned to his cattle farm.

YEEEHAW!

 

[Zezboob]

Again, don't play smart because you never once complained about people getting their ass handed to them and quitting out...

Uh ? And if I never had this problem, it would give me the right to ask you to stop whining and laugh about your problems ?

Unlike you, I don't decide that something isn't rant or fix worthy only because I don't have the problem.

Just funny to see you laughing to people that have problems that you don't seems to have, and after to complain about your problems :lol

On top of that, I don't live in the US either, so stop whining that YOU don't have a decent connection while others living in Europe like myself do, and have lag-free matches...

Damn.

Because I am the only one to have lag on my matches ? That's it ? :lol
And every people complaining about it here, on other videogames forums, on Epic forums and on the live are multiple accounts that I made, right ? Don't you feel ashamed to write so silly things ?
I have absolutely no problems with other games, I have a more than decent connection for online gaming.

I already told you, but it seems that you don't understand, you shouldn't make your own case a generalization.

 

[RSTEIN]

Alright Zezboob and Skilotonn, it's time to put your chainsaws away. You're both right. There are horrendous fundamental flaws with this game's netcode. There are also lots of stupid people out there trying to find and exploit any glitch they can. There are also quitters. Do the quitters create the bad gaming experience or does the game's netcode issues push people to quit? Are people just quitting pussies who don't like to lose? Or do they quit because they know the game doesn't punish quitters? It doesn't really matter. The game has issues, period. More so than any other AAA game released in recent memory.

When the patch is released hopefully the majority of the game's problems will cease to exist and we can all get back to killing each other.

 

[goldenpp72]

Men, if you had followed this thread, you would knew that it was sarcasm


(btw, DevelopmentArrested you are really exaggerating about the Dreamcast part )


Wait, do you really pay attention to reviews ?

Personally I find already stupid to put a score on it.

sadly the dreamcast thing is pretty spot on, I played quake 3, UT (lol epic), pso, etc online and got occassional disconnects or lag.. less than gears 2. Even more laughable, alien front online had 8 players with very well done client side hit detection so it didnt feel too laggy and...

VOICE CHAT! I mean come the fuck on here, 8 players, visibly little lag, voice chat, dreamcast, fucking dial up > gears stability.

Gears of war 2 is just terribly embarrassing for epic I would hope. it has 10 players yet can not simulate a lagless environment, has constant host disconnects killing the game, etc. In 2008, this garunteed to sell over 5 million game is in this condition. Note epic was famous for UT, an online game.

lets roll back to 2005 when Rares SECOND online game (and note it was done in the same year as their first, the same 6 months even!) has 32 players and NO LAG AT ALL online at launch day, host migration, everything.

WHAT THE FUCK EPIC?

 

[h3ro]

OK, once the patch goes up, I'm sure we should be able to get some GAF rooms going again. Should we do a Hammerburst only rule or something when we have 5 on 5 GAF rooms?

 

[Skilotonn]

Uh ? And if I never had this problem, it would give me the right to ask you to stop whining and laugh about your problems ?

Unlike you, I don't decide that something isn't rant or fix worthy only because I don't have the problem.

Just funny to see you laughing to people that have problems that you don't seems to have, and after to complain about your problems :lol


Because I am the only one to have lag on my matches ? That's it ? :lol
And every people complaining about it here, on other videogames forums, on Epic forums and on the live are multiple accounts that I made, right ? Don't you feel ashamed to write so silly things ?
I have absolutely no problems with other games, I have a more than decent connection for online gaming.

I already told you, but it seems that you don't understand, you shouldn't make your own case a generalization.

If anything, my focus was on the quitters themselves - seems that it didn't come across that way to you... oh well.

I never intended to drag it out until our little discussion - compared to the amount of times a single person goes on about the same thing in this thread...

Anyways, as RSTEIN noted, I also think it's time to stop, or else I'm going to be guilty of the same thing I accuse people of in this very thread...

 

[dfyb]

And? I'm not arguing with this.

so then don't pointlessly argue with me. that was the entire point of my argument.

 

[AndresON777]

Spoiler

What the hell happenend to Dizzy after Act 1?

Didnt he try to fight off Skorge?

I'm guessing he got killed though I doubt it since he's a very likeable character.

I always pick him in MP

Although shit I aint played in 5 weeks

 

[TOAO_Cyrus]

How much do you play? I get 'connection to host lost' errors all the time when the host quits.

I dunno, 10-15 matches several times a week maybe.

 

[Falagard]

Are you sure? Because I have never been in a Gears 2 game that ended because the host quit. Quite often four or five people quit but the game keeps going. One everyone on the other team quit but thats it.

Gears 2 does NOT have host migration. Maybe you have been the host when everyone quit, which is why the game keeps going for YOU.

 

[TOAO_Cyrus]

Gears 2 does NOT have host migration. Maybe you have been the host when everyone quit, which is why the game keeps going for YOU.

Im sure thats true but its kinda funny that I have never had a game end when the host quits.

 

[Falagard]

Im sure thats true but its kinda funny that I have never had a game end when the host quits.

I'll put it this way - if there is host migration, it has never worked for me. I can't say for sure that there is not some sort of attempt at host migration in Gears 2, but if there is, it doesn't work. Since I've had it happen to me and my party of friends at least a dozen times, I say that Gears 2 has no host migration and almost everyone agrees.

Google "Gears of war 2 host migration".

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&r...ars+of+war+2+host+migration&btnG=Search&meta=

 

[RSTEIN]

Im sure thats true but its kinda funny that I have never had a game end when the host quits.

How do you know it was the host who quit?

 

[DubloSeven]

*Very* soon.

Any chance of you being able to comment on if there's a region filter at all?

If there's not, this game will be unplayable for me (and thousands of others).

 

[smik]

Any chance of you being able to comment on if there's a region filter at all?

If there's not, this game will be unplayable for me (and thousands of others).

ditto

No Region Filter ='s even more fail

but its to late anyway, Gears 2 has already sadly past alot of my friends

 

[Tomcat]

I dont think there will be a region filter or ping meter (I hope i am wrong)

 

[Kill Your Masters]

Mark Rein posting today on the official Gears forum:

Folks,

The title update is still in testing. It is not out yet and we don't know for sure when it will be.

 

[Dosia]

Hopefully the patch hits by Thursday.

 

[Gig]

I hope the patch levies stiff penalties for quitting Horde matches.

It's gotten so fucking ridiculous now.

"I didn't get the map I wanted, I quit."

"Someone took the weapon I wanted, I quit."

"I'm half way across the map and no one is reviving me, I quit."


I can't even remember the last time I got to wave ten and we still had all five people.

 

[mernst23]

It's so sad that in order to have a good gaming day in gears you have to bridge host yourself to make sure you don't get invisible glitched or standbyed. Yesterday i played 24 matches. 22 where we bridged host, and 2 where we rolled out without it. Went 20-2 when my buddy had host and never glitched once, went 0-1 (they standbyed) with a host drop in the other 2 games. It's sad really. I'll always be stuck on my rank 4 because I don't quit games when i lose and take huge penalties for leaving games where the host cheats. I wish they just kill off the ranking system and about 50% of the cheating community moves on because they get no stupid reward symbol for all the headaches they cause.

 

[StriKeVillain]

Will the patch allow players to join mid-game?

 

[JonAmikar]

Post your GamerTags!

Should I get the Combustable map pack?

 

[Dosia]

Post your GamerTags!

Should I get the Combustable map pack?

I would wait and see how the update affects the game before you buy the maps.

 

[bumpkin]

"I didn't get the map I wanted, I quit."

I see this all the fucking time. You forgot one though...

"I didn't get the match type I wanted, I quit."

Which nine times out of ten is some asshole being pissed that they didn't get King of the Hill. Almost every time I play matches in Territories, if King of the Hill is one of the two, it ALWAYS wins the vote. It makes getting the achievement for playing Submission near fucking impossible because the match type never wins the vote; or at least not very often.

 

[Shoogoo]

Will the patch allow players to join mid-game?

:lol

 

[Falagard]

Will the patch allow players to join mid-game?

I think people need to lower their expectations for this patch.

I'm expecting a few bugs to be fixed, and some minor tweaks.

I highly doubt we'll see massive changes to the networking code for things like joining mid game or host migration, or even major fixes to hit detection. (They mentioned some changes to shotty hit detection but I'm skeptical). I doubt we'll see a region filter as that'd require UI changes and changes to the matchmaking system.

 

[ZROCOOL]

That's a good mofo!

I haven't traded in Gears 2 (never will) but for now Gears 1 is giving me my Gears fix.

Let's hope that changes "Very soon"

Same here, and it hasn't crossed my mind on trading it in. But if the patch doesn't deliver I just might.

But for now gears 1 will do. Maybe we should get a game or 2 going.

 

[whitehawk]

I see this all the fucking time. You forgot one though...

"I didn't get the match type I wanted, I quit."

Which nine times out of ten is some asshole being pissed that they didn't get King of the Hill. Almost every time I play matches in Territories, if King of the Hill is one of the two, it ALWAYS wins the vote. It makes getting the achievement for playing Submission near fucking impossible because the match type never wins the vote; or at least not very often.

You should play players choice, means a lot less quitters since it should mean you don't care what gametype your playing.

 

[bumpkin]

You should play players choice, means a lot less quitters since it should mean you don't care what gametype your playing.

The problem is Warzone, Execution and Guardian come up a lot, and I simply don't have much fun in those modes. I'm not a great player, so I like modes that have respawn. That way when I get taken out, either honorably or by glitching or two-piecing, I don't have to wait for the round to end to get back into the action. :lol

 

[WickedLaharl]

I think people need to lower their expectations for this patch.

some folks really need to lower their expectations.

the upcoming patch isn't going to fix all the glitches, add a region filter, drop in/out matches, a server list ect. like some are hoping.

 

[Dosia]

some folks really need to lower their expectations.

the upcoming patch isn't going to fix all the glitches, add a region filter, drop in/out matches, a server list ect. like some are hoping.

The sad thing is that those things should have all been included in the product that was purchased on Nov. 7. If I am expected to lower my expectations from what you just listed I most likely wouldn't have purchased the game in the first place.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

The sad thing is that those things should have all been included in the product that was purchased on Nov. 7. If I am expected to lower my expectations from what you just listed I most likely wouldn't have purchased the game in the first place.

So true. I just hope the patch at least makes the game PLAYABLE.

 

[ashism]

Good to know I am not the only one that wants to like the game.
Too bad that isn't the same as, you know, liking it.

 

[-PXG-]

Guess who's back

 

[DubloSeven]

So true. I just hope the patch at least makes the game PLAYABLE.

Exactly. I want to be able to play a match without 3 second shotgun lag. I want to be placed in a game with a decent fucking connection.
That's all I want.

 

[Tomcat]

The patch is out

 

[F#A#Oo]

The patch is out

Really?

 

[Kill Your Masters]

It's out.

New achievements, the achievements details page now contains the number of needed kills/wins etc. (x/10 etc.)

Edit: I'm having a 4vs1 match right now :lol

 

[FFChris]

Found the changelist:

Gears of War 2 Title Update 2 Detailed Release Notes

The following fixes and improvements are included in Title Update 2.

Exploit Fixes

Title Update 2 fixes these possible exploits, where under certain circumstances:

* A player could melee or grenade tag through certain walls.
* A player could equip a shield and a two-handed weapon simultaneously.
* A player could make their shield invisible.
* A player could become invisible.
* A player could do a "super" mantle or "kung fu flip," flying high into the air.
* A player could gain unlimited ammo with the Lancer Assault Rifle.
* A player could fire while roadie running (also known as "crabwalking").
* A player could pick up a weapon while sliding into cover.
* A player could walk forward while firing a deployed mortar.
* A player could force an opponent to be stuck in the down but not out (DBNO) position.
* A player could prevent other players from picking up a heavy weapon.
* A player could pick up a dropped meatflag without having to knock him down.
* A ragdolled player could be killed without ever going DBNO.
* A player could roadie run while firing the Scorcher Flamethrower.
* A player could get stuck while evading, though they could continue shooting in any direction.
* A player could concuss themselves under the stairs on the River map.


General Fixes

Title Update 2 fixes these other issues as well:

* An issue with client-side hit detection of the Gnasher Shotgun. The fix makes the shotgun more reliable in high-latency situations.
* An issue where players could have shotgun or Boomshot rounds fire into the ground when shooting from the hip.
* A split-screen issue where one player transitioning to the death battle camera disrupted input from the other player.
* An issue that could cause players' Look sensitivity to be changed to their Zoom sensitivity while zooming in, zooming out, and firing.
* An issue that could cause players to get stuck if they tried to pick up a heavy weapon while firing the shotgun at the same time.
* An issue where players could become stuck if they kicked over a shield while ragdolled from a smoke grenade.
* An issue where bots were unable to kick over a shield that was planted backward.
* An issue where players who quit during voting didn't show up in the end game stats, which meant other players couldn't easily provide negative feedback on them.
* An issue where players couldn't chainsaw enemy meatshields if the meatshields were already damaged.
* An issue where some players would not see the animation of a meatshield being chainsawed.
* An issue where players could not chainsaw an opposing team meatshield in a game type that doesn't allow respawns (for example, Warzone and Execution).
* An issue where a player partway through the act of raising or lowering the chainsaw did not transition into a duel when attacked from the front with a chainsaw.
* An issue where occasionally a player waiting to respawn could not respawn when repeatedly hitting the left trigger to switch cameras.
* An issue where some teammates couldn't communicate between rounds in games type that don't allow respawns, because dead team members were left in the dead radio channel until the next round started.
* An issue where a DBNO player could be seen as standing if knocked DBNO while reloading the mortar.
* An issue where a player joining a Private Xbox LIVE game in progress from another specific type of game could potentially lose HUD functionality.
* An issue on the Flood map where a player's dying from Imulsion did not trigger a death message or penalize the player as other environmental deaths did.
* An issue with Guardian games where if the leader is the last player killed on a team, the round may not end, due to the respawn timer.
* A campaign issue where the gamer picture would not be awarded when the game is completed on Insane.
* An issue where a player would continue to fire the flamethrower and damage other players if that player was knocked DBNO while firing it.
* An issue that could cause a player to get stuck while moving and quickly attempting to aim the mortar at the same time.
* An issue with Horde games where clients didn't receive the "waiting for host" message after they failed a wave.
* A Horde split-screen issue that could cause a team to get –2 billion in score, which when posted to the leaderboards looked like +2 billion.
* An issue where dead players may not show up in the metadata for multiplayer photos.
* A system link issue where if a multiplayer match and a co-op game were hosted at the same time on the same LAN, neither could be joined.
* Additional miscellaneous bug fixes.


Balancing

Title Update 2 makes these balancing changes:

* Made planted proximity grenade mines much easier to shoot off the surface they're planted on, by giving them 50 percent less health.
* Set grenades to respawn less frequently. When a player picks up grenades from a spawned location, a new set of grenades does not respawn until the previous grenades have been used.
* Increased the penalty to rank for players who quit Public Xbox LIVE matches early.
* Buffed the flamethrower to have stopping power (to slow a charging enemy) and to cause a chainsaw interrupt (to force the opponent to lower a revved chainsaw).
* Removed the ability to instantly shoot coming out of a roadie run.
* Added additional spawn protection to prevent proximity grenade mines and chainsaws from killing a player within 5 seconds after spawning.
* Balanced grenade spawn cycling on the Hail map so that both teams have equal access to both types of grenades.

We continue to test internally and monitor online gameplay to determine what else may need adjusting.

Improvements

Title Update 2 makes these new improvements:

* Changed Annex games to use execution rules, to prevent players from leaving DBNO opponents on the ground to bleed out.
* Made Horde waves count toward the "Party Like It's 1999" achievement. Each wave is counted as one round.
* Added the ability, during Submission games, to see the flag's final destination by using Tac/Com.
* Increased the frequency of most of the toasts for in-game achievement progression.
* Added achievement progression numbers to the War Journal.
* Added 7 new DLC-based achievements worth 175 points (progress toward them starts after Title Update 2 is applied):
o "Skeletons in Your Closet" (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Flashback Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
o "Trial by, and on, Fire" (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Combustible Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
o "More Mystery, Less History" (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the 5 Flashback Map Pack maps (any mode except Wingman).
o "The Roof! The Roof! The Roof…" (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the 3 Combustible Map Pack maps (any mode except Wingman).
o "Bound by a Shared Past" (15 points): Win a Wingman match on each of the 5 Flashback Map Pack maps.
o "Forged in the Fire" (15 points): Win a Wingman match on each of the 3 Combustible Map Pack maps.
o "Annex: Now with Execution Rules" (75 points): Win an Annex match on each of the Flashback and Combustible Map Pack maps (Public only).