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[nicholasbrutal]

Is the music store within the game any quicker than in Rock Band 3? I enjoy trying to find new songs but the process of waiting for everything to load up and then fifteen seconds for a preview to start playing kills a lot of enthusiasm for trying to dig through unknown music for something I'll enjoy.

I own hundreds of songs already, so it's not like I don't deal with the store, but I'd love to see that get an update where things load more speedily.

Edit: And since there's the Harmonix person in the thread I have to add to the majority opinion that having consumable power-ups sounds absolutely terrible. I can understand giving out powers over time and replaying songs with more time and skill but how does that come into play five hours into the game and you're out of coins so you know that playing songs aren't going to give you a chance on the leaderboards. If the point of the game was to just "have fun" and not work on high scores why even have us see a score at all? The real reason people play the games so much is to improve and play better and the score is what we have to show for that.

Duly noted there's been some bummer town feedback on the "grinding" of having to earn the use of Power-ups. I hope that the majority of players will not find this to be a burden, and so far that has been the case (at least of the handful of folks who have played the game). But, sure, it's a valid concern; hope it doesn't ruin the entire experience for you.

As for the speed of the Music Store, we're absolutely aware that it could be faster. We're looking into making that experience speedier in the future, but that's not as straightforward as it might seem!

 

[vg260]

Edit: And since there's the Harmonix person in the thread I have to add to the majority opinion that having consumable power-ups sounds absolutely terrible. I can understand giving out powers over time and replaying songs with more time and skill but how does that come into play five hours into the game and you're out of coins so you know that playing songs aren't going to give you a chance on the leaderboards. If the point of the game was to just "have fun" and not work on high scores why even have us see a score at all? The real reason people play the games so much is to improve and play better and the score is what we have to show for that.

Hm, I'm really not not liking the sound of this part either. FB dependency especially. I don't want to have to use something I don't enjoy using to enjoy my game more.

 

[DrAndonuts]

Wish this was on sale right now - I'm buying this on PS3, and gifting a few PSN cards to buddies to pick it up too. Can't wait to play it - the FB features seem pretty interesting, and a cool way to link 360 and PS3 players together.

 

[toythatkills]

I cannot stress enough how necessary Facebook is to getting the full experience with blitz. The coin deficit I mentioned in my review and that people are talking about here is alleviated somewhat by accepting and completing challenges there.

There's really no good reason why it had to be done on Facebook though. I have a friends list on my Xbox. Why can't I just start and complete goals and score wars with my friends on there? Why do I have to play the game with a computer open at the side so I can constantly start goals when it'd be 100 times quicker if the option was in-game?

 

[S1kkZ]

There's really no good reason why it had to be done on Facebook though. I have a friends list on my Xbox. Why can't I just start and complete goals and score wars with my friends on there? Why do I have to play the game with a computer open at the side so I can constantly start goals when it'd be 100 times quicker if the option was in-game?

wait: you still need your pc to use this? not everything can be handled in-game?

 

[toythatkills]

wait: you still need your pc to use this? not everything can be handled in-game?

Yep, or whatever you use for Facebook apps.

 

[S1kkZ]

Yep, or whatever you use for Facebook apps.

i cant believe this....who came up with this shit?
will still try the demo but man, this fb thing sucks.

 

[thekonamicode]

Out of curiosity, what exactly bothers anyone about the Facebook integration, other than

A) You don't use Facebook

or

B) It's not convenient

This is a serious question, and I'm not being judgmental or anything. I'm just wondering.

 

[toythatkills]

Out of curiosity, what exactly bothers anyone about the Facebook integration, other than

A) You don't use Facebook

or

B) It's not convenient

This is a serious question, and I'm not being judgmental or anything. I'm just wondering.

Are those reasons not enough? Not only is it not convenient in an "I need two screens instead of one" kind of way, it's also slow and cumbersome. You have to go through screen after screen to start a goal, and when you finish a goal you have to wait five minutes for the app to catch up with the game before you can start a new one. If this was done in game, you'd be doing it in seconds.

 

[Wario64]

Out of curiosity, what exactly bothers anyone about the Facebook integration, other than

A) You don't use Facebook

or

B) It's not convenient

This is a serious question, and I'm not being judgmental or anything. I'm just wondering.

You basically have to use it to get more coins? It seems like it's a trojan horse to get people to use the FB app. It's completely optional though but who wants to pass up on more coins

 

[toythatkills]

You basically have to use it to get more coins? It seems like it's a trojan horse to get people to use the FB app. It's completely optional though but who wants to pass up on more coins

I don't really see it as optional, because if you don't use it you're not going to be able to play the game properly about 50% of the time.

 

[S1kkZ]

Out of curiosity, what exactly bothers anyone about the Facebook integration, other than

A) You don't use Facebook

or

B) It's not convenient

This is a serious question, and I'm not being judgmental or anything. I'm just wondering.

-forcing the player to use an external app/website to get access to all of the games features, is not ok. the fb features seem to be pretty important to the game itself, which makes it even worse.

i dont hate facebook, i even have an account. but that doesnt mean that i should have to use it in a game to get the most out of it.

 

[vg260]

-forcing the player to use an external app/website to get access to all of the games features, is not ok. the fb features seem to be pretty important to the game itself, which makes it even worse.

i dont hate facebook, i even have an account. but that doesnt mean that i should have to use it in a game to get the most out of it.

This sums it up for me. 1st part especially.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

-forcing the player to use an external app/website to get access to all of the games features, is not ok. the fb features seem to be pretty important to the game itself, which makes it even worse.

i dont hate facebook, i even have an account. but that doesnt mean that i should have to use it in a game to get the most out of it.

From what I understand, the facebook stuff is to keep track of how your friends are doing/challenge them and win coins. Can't this also be done w/o Facebook?

 

[thekonamicode]

I only have one friend in Rock Band World, but once the game comes out I think I'll be checking it out more often to see goal progress, and I actually think it's a great way to browse the music store. I've already added about 20 songs to my cart which I later bought through the Xbox.

 

[AlexBasch]

Yay, I won a code for the game in the giveaway, just waiting for it to finish downloading.

 

[Wario64]

From what I understand, the facebook stuff is to keep track of how your friends are doing/challenge them and win coins. Can't this also be done w/o Facebook?

Theoretically it could. But I think it's just to get people to use their Facebook app. Also to compare scores with RL friends (and it effectively increases your 'friends list' for the game)

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Theoretically it could. But I think it's just to get people to use their Facebook app. Also to compare scores with RL friends (and it effectively increases your 'friends list' for the game)

but if you have "RL friends" who play this, wouldn't you also have them on your XBL/PSN friends list and track your scores that way? I mean, the way people are reacting you'd think that they are forcing you to unlock songs or levels using facebook or something. All the Facebook features sound very secondary to me.

 

[toythatkills]

but if you have "RL friends" who play this, wouldn't you also have them on your XBL/PSN friends list and track your scores that way? I mean, the way people are reacting you'd think that they are forcing you to unlock songs or levels using facebook or something. All the Facebook features sound very secondary to me.

No, they're not secondary. If you don't use Facebook you will only be able to actually play the game every other song, which means half of the songs you play are just completely pointless because you'll have no power-ups to use.

The game is designed to force you to use Facebook because without it you won't have enough coins to do anything.

 

[S1kkZ]

but if you have "RL friends" who play this, wouldn't you also have them on your XBL/PSN friends list and track your scores that way? I mean, the way people are reacting you'd think that they are forcing you to unlock songs or levels using facebook or something. All the Facebook features sound very secondary to me.

but you need them to unlock (more) coins, which seem pretty important to the gameplay. i dont want to "grind" to be able to play the game as it should be played (with the power-ups, that cost coins).

in gh/rb i played a song and played it again if i wasnt happy with my score/rating. here, this is not possible when you run out of coins.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

No, they're not secondary. If you don't use Facebook you will only be able to actually play the game every other song, which means half of the songs you play are just completely pointless because you'll have no power-ups to use.

?

Explain.

but you need them to unlock (more) coins, which seem pretty important to the gameplay. i dont want to "grind" to be able to play the game as it should be played (with the power-ups, that cost coins).

in gh/rb i played a song and played it again if i wasnt happy with my score/rating. here, this is not possible when you run out of coins.

But can't you get coins by playing the proper game? I was under the impression that Facebook stuff just made it easier to get them.

 

[Wario64]

At the very least, you should have enough coins to use 1 powerup on every song you play. But if you use all 3 powerups for every song (which is critical if you want the highest of scores), mathematically I think you'll run out of coins eventually. The FB integration will let you earn a lot more coins with the RB World challenges (which can only be accomplished by the FB app)

The whole coins system can change how you play since (I believe) if you restart a song, it deducts coins from your coin stash.


I feel like we're the only people complaining about this cause I hardly see any reviews mention this problem. aegies's review is probably the main review out there that mentions the coin thing

 

[Ninja Scooter]

The grind-y nature is what turned me off on that quick look to be honest. Maybe the Facebook intregration is a symptom of that, but I just don't like how you have to replay songs to get a high score and use powerups. In Amplitude IIRC the powerups were simply earned over the course of a song.

 

[toythatkills]

?

Explain.

Power-ups cost coins, it'll cost you 750 per song. If you don't spend those coins, it is literally impossible to set high scores. Setting high scores is the only point of the game.

I'd say the average amount of coins you'll win from 5 or gold starring a song is probably around 400/500, which means you will never be able to cover your outlay. This means that you'll constantly have to play songs with no power-ups so that you've got enough to play the next song with a power-up, making about half of your time in the game just worthless.

Unless you use Facebook.

 

[Xevren]

This whole power up shit costing coins sounds retarded. So you have to grind for coins before you have a chance of doing well? On top of that you have to have facebook to get more of said coins, that's stupid. Why not just make the power ups be available and let people just play the damn game instead of making us grind for them. Bleh.

 

[waypoetic]

Does this game play like Rock Band : Unplugged? Like, when you change the track/instrument the other instruments volume get lowered and if you miss a "note" the note doesn't play at all. Hm?

 

[Wario64]

Does this game play like Rock Band : Unplugged? Like, when you change the track/instrument the other instruments volume get lowered and if you miss a "note" the note doesn't play at all. Hm?

As far as I can tell, the current instrument just plays louder than the other instruments

 

[PedroLumpy]

Am I understanding this right? The game requires you to grind out exp for the powerups, and then grind gold to be able to use them consistently in your loadout? That sounds like madness, how does that make things better for the player? I'd love to hear the design reasoning behind that. I'm not missing something am I? Frankly it sounds one step away from coin purchasing micro-transaction land...

 

[toythatkills]

Am I understanding this right? The game requires you to grind out exp for the powerups, and then grind gold to be able to use them consistently in your loadout?

That's exactly how it is, yeah.

I'm amazed how few reviews seemed bothered by this. It's just free-to-play shit in a $15 game.

Obviously everyone should still buy it, but do so as a track pack rather than a game, unfortunately.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Am I understanding this right? The game requires you to grind out exp for the powerups, and then grind gold to be able to use them consistently in your loadout? That sounds like madness, how does that make things better for the player? I'd love to hear the design reasoning behind that. I'm not missing something am I? Frankly it sounds one step away from coin purchasing micro-transaction land...

The more I read the more it does sound like it was built around the Facebook stuff. I don't care for the grinding mechanic period, facebook or not, but the way they built it if you can never feel like you can build up enough coins to get in a good multi-song session w/ powerups unless you use Facebook that sucks. I'm gonna pass on this game. Loved Amplitude because I could pull it out for 10-15 minutes at a time and play a few songs and even beat my own scores.

 

[waypoetic]

As far as I can tell, the current instrument just plays louder than the other instruments

But nothing happens when you fail to hit the notes, it just keeps on going? That sounds like RB/GH on super-easy mode. I wan't the game to tell me i fucked up, not just "oh you missed a point right there buddy!".

 

[Wario64]

Just for reference, these are the type of goals you can see on the FB app.

But nothing happens when you fail to hit the notes, it just keeps on going? That sounds like RB/GH on super-easy mode. I wan't the game to tell me i fucked up, not just "oh you missed a point right there buddy!".

I *think* so. I forget but all the notes are played regardless if you 'own' the track or not. Which you're not really owning, think of each instrument as having their own meter kind of like the Rock Band games. If you fill up each meter, you get multipliers for that track. Get all of them filled and you boost your overall multiplier for the song by the next checkpoint

 

[PedroLumpy]

The more I read the more it does sound like it was built around the Facebook stuff. I don't care for the grinding mechanic period, facebook or not, but the way they built it if you can never feel like you can build up enough coins to get in a good multi-song session w/ powerups unless you use Facebook that sucks. I'm gonna pass on this game. Loved Amplitude because I could pull it out for 10-15 minutes at a time and play a few songs and even beat my own scores.

You know, I suppose I've put up with my fair share of grinds, but I'm just getting so tired of it all. Every single time it's 'Oh well, it's not that big a deal, only <X> hours to grind through'. I can never come up with some sort of explanation like 'This exp grind makes the game better for reasons x, y, and z!' It's like the devs just make their game worse for no reason. Why do I have to suffer? Just stop doing it!

Ugh, I'm probably going off the rails. Just surprised to see this stuff in this game in particular.

 

[thekonamicode]

If you miss a note there is "Failed attempt" sound effect that corresponds to the instrument you are playing, but you can faintly here the actually note (lyric) under it, just like Rock Band.

 

[vg260]

The more I read the more it does sound like it was built around the Facebook stuff. I don't care for the grinding mechanic period, facebook or not, but the way they built it if you can never feel like you can build up enough coins to get in a good multi-song session w/ powerups unless you use Facebook that sucks. I'm gonna pass on this game. Loved Amplitude because I could pull it out for 10-15 minutes at a time and play a few songs and even beat my own scores.

This is awful. I was pro-Blitz as a game, but after this, I can not recommend it.

There's also the idea that some people don't want their real-world personal info tied to their gamertag. So you have to do this in order to essentially progress with the game? Ridiculous.

 

[Curufinwe]

Still getting it but... geez, Harmonix really doesn't respect their customers at all.

 

[xJavonta]

Out of curiosity, what exactly bothers anyone about the Facebook integration, other than

A) You don't use Facebook

or

B) It's not convenient

This is a serious question, and I'm not being judgmental or anything. I'm just wondering.

I don't use facebook. It's a piece of shit and ever since I got rid of mine I've been much more productive and oddly happier. The Facebook thing isn't a deal breaker for me, but knowing that I won't get the full experience since I don't have one is disheartening.

Edit: Wait, if we have a Rockband.com account that was synced with Facebook before getting rid of our Facebook page, can we still get the benefits?

 

[woodypop]

From what I've been reading, I'm glad I'm buying this primarily as a track pack.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Gross.

I guess I'll continue to be a lapsed rock band fan. This seemed like an easy slam dunk that they somehow managed to fuck up.

 

[thekonamicode]

I don't use facebook. It's a piece of shit and ever since I got rid of mine I've been much more productive and oddly happier. The Facebook thing isn't a deal breaker for me, but knowing that I won't get the full experience since I don't have one is disheartening.

Edit: Wait, if we have a Rockband.com account that was synced with Facebook before getting rid of our Facebook page, can we still get the benefits?

You have to actively log in to Facebook to sign up for the goals, so no.

 

[bonesquad]

After watching the GB QL this was taken off my 'to buy' list. Which is too bad because as a fan of Amplitude (and RB) I was looking forward to it. But the reliance on power-ups that depend on consumable coins? WTF? I could live with FB crap, but having all those challenges outside of the game for no real reason is pretty weak. Since I don't already have 300+ RB tracks this game isn't for me.

Instead I'll pull out Amplitude and try to better my score on Rock Show

 

[Cartman86]

So do I need Rock Band 3 to get the Rock Band 2 export or does this game have an option to "import" songs? I'm assuming not considering it doesn't have RB3 import. I never exported my RB2 songs because my friends borrowed (stole) my Rock Band stuff and I just used my roommates set up.

 

[thekonamicode]

So do I need Rock Band 3 to get the Rock Band 2 export or does this game have an option to "import" songs? I'm assuming not considering it doesn't have RB3 import. I never exported my RB2 songs because my friends borrowed (stole) my Rock Band stuff and I just used my roommates set up.

Rock Band 3 is required to import Rock Band 2 songs.

 

[AlexBasch]

I haven't used the Rock Band FB app (I will, don't mind it) but I have been managing to get five stars on most songs using the stock power ups. Double drum points+bandmate on Everlong got me an insane amount of points, I was just working to keep it activated and it worked great. No need for coins either, I win enough to keep those on every song too.

 

[GroundCombo]

I haven't used the Rock Band FB app (I will, don't mind it) but I have been managing to get five stars on most songs using the stock power ups. Double drum points+bandmate on Everlong got me an insane amount of points, I was just working to keep it activated and it worked great. No need for coins either, I win enough to keep those on every song too.

You're probably gaining right now because you're playing new songs for double coins. When you run out of those, it's a slow descent into poverty followed by an irritating grind for powerups, unless you actively use the Facebook stuff.

I don't remember if force-feeding FB was on last year's worst gaming trend list, but it is easily the worst trend for me right now. I was really looking forward to Blitz, and now I'm holding off until Harmonix gives some kind of indication about their future plans with this coin crap.

 

[marjo]

The only reason I can think of for putting that shit in facebook instead of in game, is as a form of viral advertising. Which means that harmonix pretty much sacrificed our game experience in order to get some free publicity.

Screw it, I'm not willing to put up with the inconvenience. As others have stated, the coin stuff really does feel like FTP garbage.

This could have been the game that got me back into Rock Band (and got me to start buying DLC again), but instead, I'm now going to skip it completely.

 

[vg260]

The only reason I can think of for putting that shit in facebook instead of in game, is as a form of viral advertising. Which means that harmonix pretty much sacrificed our game experience in order to get some free publicity.

Screw it, I'm not willing to put up with the inconvenience. As others have stated, the coin stuff really does feel like FTP garbage.

This could have been the game that got me back into Rock Band (and got me to start buying DLC again), but instead, I'm now going to skip it completely.

As a huge RB fan this post really disappoints me because I want RB to continue and maybe even thrive again. I don't blame you or others that feel this way one bit. I would feel the same way in your shoes. This is probably going to be the gaming bummer of the year so far for me.

 

[Baconsammy]

The only reason I can think of for putting that shit in facebook instead of in game, is as a form of viral advertising. Which means that harmonix pretty much sacrificed our game experience in order to get some free publicity.

That seems to be the case. And it's working against them since I'm no longer interested in buying the game. Include Facebook garbage all you want, but don't make it essential to getting the most out of the game. That's just horrible.

 

[XShagrath]

You anti-facebook people obviously didn't see Microsoft's last E3 conference. Interfacing with a tablet while using the 360 makes the game/TV/sporting event more immersive!

HMX are just ahead of the game on this.

 

[thekonamicode]

If Harmonix implemented Rock Band World on Facebook to advertize Blitz to non Rock Band players, they didn't do a very good job since it will never notify anyone on your friends list that you used the application.