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[GroundCombo]

I meant to stay away from this thread, but I've been vainly hoping for a fix that would allow me to play without having to worry about the mental stress of a dwindling coin supply. No such luck, I guess.

The coin system is not a carrot; it's a gigantic fucking stick. Playing RBB without powerups is like playing an early pinball machine with a couple of ramps and a few banks of drop targets - mildly amusing for the first couple of times, but gets boring very quickly. And as I said earlier, Bejeweled Blitz left my iPad in a hurry when I saw how the coins worked.

This whole thing ticks me off in so many ways (partly because I own just about every other Harmonix game and really wanted this, partly because of the ridiculous coin/FB integration) that it's better for my blood pressure to just stop ranting and unsubscribe. I'm both happy and sad that I didn't buy the game.

 

[marjo]

I'd like to add that this doesn't fix the problem for me.

I play this game with my 8 year old son. When he plays, he, justifiably, wants the chance to use all power ups, however he usually only gets 2 stars on a song. So for every song he plays, we still end up loosing 350 coins.

Why not remove the coin cost from power ups completely and make coins something you can spend on the Facebook app for 'prestige' type rewards (i.e. 1 million coins can buy you the title of 'Wizard').

 

[Mister Game]

...(Though, I would be happier if there were some way to accept/see status of goals IN the game.)

If you have active goals you should have an inbox message listing them, and on the results screen we show you whether a song play gave you progress towards goal completion.

But if you mean show you your specific progress on a goal, you are correct that we don't do that in game.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Well sometimes the truth is harsh. The problem with gaming at the moment is not enough people are calling out companies for their bullshit and anti consumer practices. Instead you have fools on the Internet that will defend anything to the death.

Harmonix knew exactly what they were doing when they designed the coin economy: trying to milk customers for DLC through the coin incentive, free Facebook advertising and artificially increase the game play length through grinding. Regardless of the band aid fix you still lose coins and the competitive aspect is still locked behind forced Facebook integration.
If they had more faith in the quality of their own game they wouldn't have resorted to these tactics.

Maybe Harmonix is hurting for money now that they are independent, they would be much better off releasing a Rockband 3 lite/free version and getting people back to the music genre and driving new DLC sales that way.

Sometimes you just have to tolerate minor things from companies that are in business to make money.

Even if one thinks that Blitz is utter shit, it's still a $15 25 song track pack for RB3. They aren't ripping anyone off. I think it's completely understandable that they want to push people to get DLC, as it's probably the life blood of RB since the genre is basically dead. You can't even find Rock Band 3 in places like bestbuy anymore. I've had to look on Craigslist just to find guitars to play the games with, no one sells them anymore.

Sure, this game has some issues, but Harmonix has been pretty open to feedback and already adjusted the game a bit. That's more than you can say for a number of companies.

 

[Baconsammy]

Sometimes you just have to tolerate minor things from companies that are in business to make money.

Even if one thinks that Blitz is utter shit, it's still a $15 25 song track pack for RB3.

Unless of course you have no desire to sit in front of your TV and play fake instruments. In which case it's 15 dollars for 25 songs using the poorly conceived coin system.

 

[Mister Game]

We just pushed an update to the Facebook app that should fix most of the issues people have been having with the Goals: specifically not seeing friends or groups of friends on the join page.

 

[thekonamicode]

Hey gang,

We just deployed a new, AWESOME, update to RB World!

Firstly, we've added a cool new feature to Score Wars. Currently, for 20 coins (because of Nord's magnanimity, we may UP the cost.) you can pay to see your Score War opponent's power-up loadout for 20 seconds. This is a BIG DEAL. Nord's already griefing me about it.

Secondly, we've added the ability to leave goals. If, like me, you accidentally started the Grohl Goal all by yourself and would rather join friends, you can now quit any goals you have started, then jump back in with friends.

Related to that last one, we've fixed a bug where your friends weren't all showing up as Join-able when you click on a goal to join. Now they should be there!

Go forth and prosper. Wage all of the Score Wars.

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=231649

Nice.

 

[Plaguefox]

.

 

[jgkspsx]

I am obviously speaking in general terms do not try make it personal.

General terms like "Harmonix is scum" while there are two HMX reps here taking our feedback back to the team and making changes in short order to address our complaints. Yeah. No harm intended.

 

[Monkeylord]

Clicking on "Leave Goal" does nothing for me :-(

 

[AlStrong]

Clicking on "Leave Goal" does nothing for me :-(

Hm... Worked for me (FF14.0.1). Try clearing cookies? Flash update? Another browser?

 

[FyreWulff]

There's one visual hitch that we know about: when the track curves way up above the city (We call it "The Overpass") there's a little bit of stuttering.

This actually isn't a framerate hit, it's the camera not being smooth about moving up and down. (Not trying to make excuses, just explain why we didn't catch in during optimization.)

Is that maybe what you say? "Massive" slowdowns isn't something that I've heard much about, nor did we see big persistent performance issues on either platform.

I experienced a lock up for about 5-10 seconds while playing Blitz on a friend's Xbox. We were wondering what was happening, and it'd happen about 5 seconds before a popup for a song pack being downloaded finishing.

The sound would loop as it was doing it, the screen would stop updating, but it was clearly continuing to check the controller for inputs because if I pressed a button during the freeze, it'd make the miss sound and I'd lose combo.

Halo 3 Xbox 360, for the record

 

[Monkeylord]

Hm... Worked for me (FF14.0.1). Try clearing cookies? Flash update? Another browser?

Ah, that did the trick. Thanks.

(Chrome)

 

[SuperPac]

If you have active goals you should have an inbox message listing them, and on the results screen we show you whether a song play gave you progress towards goal completion.

But if you mean show you your specific progress on a goal, you are correct that we don't do that in game.

Yeah, I meant show your specific progress on a goal. That is what sucks. :\

 

[The Crimson Kid]

It appears that they have made some tweaks to the coin system:

The cost for individual power ups has been reduced. 550 coins for using all three powerup slots.
Coin reward is 100 coins per star per song (it appears regardless of difficulty)
Score War rewards are increased to 1500 for win and 500 for loss.

I like the changes because it encourages starting more Score Wars as a good way to make coins. It also makes it much more doable for players who don't have a large supply of new songs to keep using powerups.

 

[Roto13]

It appears that they have made some tweaks to the coin system:

The cost for individual power ups has been reduced. 550 coins for using all three powerup slots.
Coin reward is 100 coins per star per song (it appears regardless of difficulty)
Score War rewards are increased to 1500 for win and 500 for loss.

I like the changes because it encourages starting more Score Wars as a good way to make coins. It also makes it much more doable for players who don't have a large supply of new songs to keep using powerups.

Thank you, Kotaku.

 

[web01]

General terms like "Harmonix is scum" while there are two HMX reps here taking our feedback back to the team and making changes in short order to address our complaints. Yeah. No harm intended.

That "in general comment" was in reply to a specific poster "Montresor" who thought I was attacking him personally. So do not come here trying to spin my words into something they are not.

I stand by all the Harmonix comments. They are scum as far as I am concerned the system was design with a very specific purpose in mind that ruins the entire point of a score attack game so they can seek more DLC sales and free advertising. The game is broken by design and has basic features locked behind Facebook integration.

I have nothing against DLC sales, I have spent thousands of dollars on all the Rock Band games instruments and DLC but when you gimp your game on purpose
with the purpose of driving DLC sales through a coin and time saving less grinding incentive you have crossed the line.

And frankly I couldnt really give a crap about Harmonix guys that come here to do damage control. Its not going to change the problems with the game. They way they tried to defend it on there own forums was pathetic.I cringe whenever I see a dev post on Neogaf and then a train of people start sucking up to them. It is embarrassing. People shouldn't have to worry about posting how they feel just because a dev is also here.

 

[AlStrong]

hm... any plans/possibility for adding more power-ups?

Was thinking about mixed instrument boosts e.g. 1.25x for drumtar etc, multiple pinballs ;D, more band members (shorter time).

How about a powerup for a bigger blitz bar (or last longer)? Could make it cost a lot more coins, but I dunno, it'd need a separate category or something.

Also wondered if there would be goals to get you to use specific powerups... mm...

------

Need more variety eventually, right?

 

[FyreWulff]

How does the FB app determine ownership of a song? I let a friend play with his gamertag on my songs and now he's marked as owning the entire Green Day Export when setting up a Score War.

 

[Mister Game]

How does the FB app determine ownership of a song? I let a friend play with his gamertag on my songs and now he's marked as owning the entire Green Day Export when setting up a Score War.

We don't really know what songs you "own" (as in bought from Xbox Marketplace or PSN). Only Sony or Microsoft know that and they will only tell us under certain very strict conditions, for example: when you are in our ingame store

What we do know is what songs you can play, as in: what songs are on the console the last time you started the game? The next time your friend logs into another console with a different list of songs his song list for the FB app will change.

It's not a perfect system, but it's pretty good, because most people play on the same console most of the time.

 

[Mister Game]

... People shouldn't have to worry about posting how they feel just because a dev is also here.

It's certainly not inhibiting you.

 

[FyreWulff]

We don't really know what songs you "own" (as in bought from Xbox Marketplace or PSN). Only Sony or Microsoft know that and they will only tell us under certain very strict conditions, for example: when you are in our ingame store

What we do know is what songs you can play, as in: what songs are on the console the last time you started the game? The next time your friend logs into another console with a different list of songs his song list for the FB app will change.

It's not a perfect system, but it's pretty good, because most people play on the same console most of the time.

Thanks for the info. It wasn't world ending, just wondered

 

[AlphaTwo00]

So...

720,430 stars out of 750,000 with 1 hour to go. Not looking good for the community goal. I wonder if this is going to seriously dampen people's moods in attempting the next global challenge. I swear I've done at least 50 songs within the last 2 hours, and it looks like it barely made a dent.

 

[AlStrong]

Yeah... it's going to be pretty close. We're probably going to miss it by just a tiny bit.

Not quite 10,000 coins in the past 20 minutes.

 

[jgkspsx]

So...

720,430 stars out of 750,000 with 1 hour to go. Not looking good for the community goal. I wonder if this is going to seriously dampen people's moods in attempting the next global challenge. I swear I've done at least 50 songs within the last 2 hours, and it looks like it barely made a dent.

That's only 250 stars (300 maybe if all gold), so, yes, you barely made a dent. I guess I'll join you. It would be nice if they extended it an hour or three :|

 

[AlStrong]

I wonder if folks have given up. lol It's been stuck at 729,540 for the last few minutes (AFAICT).

edit:

731K, 18min Yeah, not getting it.

 

[Roto13]

"Cut it really close with the '80s goal, you guys. Let's see if you can't crush the 1970s at a faster pace!"

 

[AlphaTwo00]

"Cut it really close with the '80s goal, you guys. Let's see if you can't crush the 1970s at a faster pace!"

Really? Serious? I have even less songs for the 70s.

 

[jgkspsx]

That implies we got it. I don't see how. Did anybody's coins go up? I have so many I can't tell.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

That implies we got it. I don't see how. Did anybody's coins go up? I have so many I can't tell.

It was at 731k with 5 min to go.

 

[firehawk12]

Like the Mass Effect goals, I assume they'll fudge it to say it succeeded. lol

 

[Monkeylord]

My mate wants to get the previous RB titles, mainly (but not exclusively) to export for use in Blitz. How feasible is it that if he gets 2nd hand copies he'll be able to get export codes from EA/HMX/Madcatz?

(UK, BTW)

 

[AlphaTwo00]

My mate wants to get the previous RB titles, mainly (but not exclusively) to export for use in Blitz. How feasible is it that if he gets 2nd hand copies he'll be able to get export codes from EA/HMX/Madcatz?

(UK, BTW)

Highly unlikely, outside of Rock Band 1, all of them have an actual code printed on the back of the manual. You'll have to pray that no one used it.

 

[Monkeylord]

Highly unlikely, outside of Rock Band 1, all of them have an actual code printed on the back of the manual. You'll have to pray that no one used it.

I know, but I thought I read somewhere that you can pay to get a working code. Maybe I dreamed it.

He's looking for new copies, but I thought I'd ask on the off-chance.

 

[Maastricht]

Really? Serious? I have even less songs for the 70s.

I have way more ... all those Jimmy Hendrix songs. But I don't get to play this as often, as I have all the Rockband stuff on the livingroom PS3, which is frequently occupied ...

 

[FyreWulff]

Highly unlikely, outside of Rock Band 1, all of them have an actual code printed on the back of the manual. You'll have to pray that no one used it.

You can ask EA for an RB2 manual code for free. However, they're specifically designed to be given out that way, so you can't get the 20 free RB2 song pack off that code.

 

[U2NUMB]

My mate wants to get the previous RB titles, mainly (but not exclusively) to export for use in Blitz. How feasible is it that if he gets 2nd hand copies he'll be able to get export codes from EA/HMX/Madcatz?

(UK, BTW)

My friend borrowed my older RB discs and they all exported for him. I exported the same games years ago so it is possible. He paid to get them to export of course but you do that either way. You can find new copies of the games on amazon fairly cheap considering how many songs you get so that is also a way to do it.

 

[Monkeylord]

You can ask EA for an RB2 manual code for free. However, they're specifically designed to be given out that way, so you can't get the 20 free RB2 song pack off that code.

Good to know. I shall inform him.

My friend borrowed my older RB discs and they all exported for him. I exported the same games years ago so it is possible. He paid to get them to export of course but you do that either way. You can find new copies of the games on amazon fairly cheap considering how many songs you get so that is also a way to do it.

I thought the export codes were one-time use only?

RB1 isn't a problem, he can borrow mine plus it's reasonably easy to find. RB2 is a bit harder if you want a new one. Even more so if you want a new one at a reasonable price. Lego RB can be had new for around £6-£7 so that's not a problem. Green Day is still about £30 if you want a new one, but I don't think he cares about Green day too much.

 

[FyreWulff]

http://apps.facebook.com/rock-band-world/!/goals/join/208

A goal where you have to 5 star every RB2 export song?

Are they trying to kill people?

 

[jgkspsx]

Rock Band 2 throwback challenge completed itself and awarded me no points. WTF. Also, I 5 starred Who'll Stop The Rain and Grapevine and gold-starred Looking Out My Back Door, and I only have 5 stars towards the 70s goal.

 

[Monkeylord]

http://apps.facebook.com/rock-band-world/!/goals/join/208

A goal where you have to 5 star every RB2 export song?

Are they trying to kill people?

Probably trying to get people to gang-up on the goals. RB2 export is, what, 40-odd songs? If 4 of you did it that's only 10 a piece.

Of course, you all only get a portion of the coins, but I bet that's the intention.

Rock Band 2 throwback challenge completed itself and awarded me no points. WTF. Also, I 5 starred Who'll Stop The Rain and Grapevine and gold-starred Looking Out My Back Door, and I only have 5 stars towards the 70s goal.

The goals update really randomly for me. Some update the star count within a few seconds of completing the task, whearas others have taken anything up to half an hour (sometimes more!) before RBW picks up on the fact that I've played something towards a goal.

Another thing to be wary of is if you already have stars in a song before you accept the goal then re-playing won't add anything unless you exceed your previous star count.

It's made me pissed off at the Avenged Sevenfold goal as I had already played the few A7X songs I have before I saw the goal there.

 

[FyreWulff]

Probably trying to get people to gang-up on the goals. RB2 export is, what, 40-odd songs? If 4 of you did it that's only 10 a piece.

Of course, you all only get a portion of the coins, but I bet that's the intention.

79 songs, and yeah, this one seems to be one that forces doing it as a group (if you wish to retain your sanity)

 

[Monkeylord]

79 songs, and yeah, this one seems to be one that forces doing it as a group (if you wish to retain your sanity)

79!? Blimey! I didn't think they approached that many till RB3.

In all fairness, I've exported everything (RB1,2,Lego, Green Day, plus AC/DC for good measure) so they all sorta blur together for me, lol. With that lot and a ton of DLC too the origin of each song is lost to me.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

Another thing to be wary of is if you already have stars in a song before you accept the goal then re-playing won't add anything unless you exceed your previous star count.

It's made me pissed off at the Avenged Sevenfold goal as I had already played the few A7X songs I have before I saw the goal there.

Holy shit what? Really? I've 5 stared a bunch of RB2 songs already. Am I screwed?

 

[Hop]

Holy shit what? Really? I've 5 stared a bunch of RB2 songs already. Am I screwed?

No, that doesn't seem right at all. Especially on scavenger goals; I know I got Bang Your Head on the Parenthetically Speaking goal the second time I played it, since it was the first time I played it with that goal active.

I think what Monkeylord is thinking is that, once you start a goal, you can only get up to 6 stars per song (per game). So if you 4-star it, you won't get more until you 5-star it. And that only matters if it's a star-counting goal.

 

[Monkeylord]

No, that doesn't seem right at all. Especially on scavenger goals; I know I got Bang Your Head on the Parenthetically Speaking goal the second time I played it, since it was the first time I played it with that goal active.

I think what Monkeylord is thinking is that, once you start a goal, you can only get up to 6 stars per song (per game). So if you 4-star it, you won't get more until you 5-star it. And that only matters if it's a star-counting goal.

That's right. I'm just shit at explaining stuff, sorry.

If you have 4 stars in a song and then start a goal that is a Star Counter that could include that song, then it won't count any stars until you've exceeded what you've already gained.

For example, if you start the easy 80's goal and have 4 starred Shout, it will say 0 of 12 until you get 5 or more stars.

 

[Hop]

That's right. I'm just shit at explaining stuff, sorry.

If you have 4 stars in a song and then start a goal that is a Star Counter that could include that song, then it won't count any stars until you've exceeded what you've already gained.

For example, if you start the easy 80's goal and have 4 starred Shout, it will say 0 of 12 until you get 5 or more stars.

I think we're still contradicting each other. I'm suspecting that if you 4-star a song, start the goal, and 4-star it again, the goal will count 4. That won't go up until you do better or play another song.

Nord! Clarification needed.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

Well in my mind, it's worked like a "max score for song for challenge". So you can't just spam the same song over and over for stars: you score 4, you get 4 stars; you get 5 stars in the next run, it's a +1 to your star total.

 

[FyreWulff]

After I sleep today, I'll overhaul the OP to add more information that was unclear before the game came out. And also to hopefully just clean it up visually. I am including the current Double Coin Week right at the top of the OP, and am planning on keeping a perpetual list at the bottom. I did it before, I can do it again.

 

[thekonamicode]

This new Rock Band 2 challenge will be a chore!