Looking to get into this game. A few feeler Q's...

Dedication
There seems to be a huge dedicated community here for this game. Does this message board dedication translate to the actual game? Will there always be someone to play against or will I find myself waiting in a lobby more than actually playing?

Connection
Are there any connection issues or anything? For example, In theory a game like NBA 2k11 should have been my favorite online sports game of all time, but connection issues made it a complete bust.

I mean what else is there to ask? The game looks like a blast. If there are people to play and no connection issues (and I would imagine this forum wouldn't be so popular if there were no people playing and insane lag issues), I don't see what would keep me away.

I just sort of wanted to ask before I go spending money.

I can't speak for the Xbox version because I play on PC, but there are no connection issues besides just bad hosts.

Well, I tried to "not" reply to your questions and querries first, but apparently I may be the most positive ambassador of this game right now, and as this game becomes an investment in a small denomination of currency from your own wallet, I will try to remain as non-bias and stay as honest as I can about this game.

Dedication - There most definitely Is (or was) an amazing amount of dedication to keeping this game afloat from gamers and this community. Viewing some threads, you will find that it has been a little while since the masses got the updates or DLCs they were hoping for, so some people are kind of getting bored of the game at the moment. Some of us still play very frequently, but the "new game buzz" of Brink has at least temporarily taken away some of it's current magic.

The community still cares, and obviously the forums are still active, but I would caution that not every single person that is still active in these forums is super-active on MNC on XBL right now. A few of them had organized teams and played in structured private matches and competitions. But, many of these teams no longer exist. It kind of seems like it's 50/50 between people that are playing the game actively, and people that just can't stop throwing hate bombs back and forth at each other, and don't even play the game much anymore.

Outside of that, we move onto the next topic.

Connection - There will be the occasional game that you think, "GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!". But after you get past that, for the most part, connection is a non-issue with this game.

All that aside, if you are thinking of picking up the game, and havnen't downloaded the trial yet, you basically get full access to the game for at least an hour of online play. If you want, sent me a FR, I'll hit you up when I'm available, and you can play your trial time with somebody who has actually played the game, and not be stuck in a chat-less session with a bunch of un-tutored rookies = no fun.

In short:
There is a big enough playerbase that finding games is not a problem as of right now.
As with most Xbl titles MNC is Peer 2 Peer. So a bad host means everyone will lag but those are few and far between.

Also the game demo comes with a 1 hour online trial. You could always boot it up to test for yourself.

game is awesome. one of the best arcade titles ever.

there are a decent number of people playing the game. most are pub stompers. the rest are just pubs who don't know what they are doing.

connection issues. this game has one of the worst matchmaking systems of any game i have played*. when it doesn't blue screen you, you will probably be booted back to lobby because someone ragequits(due to pub stompers) lag is horrible if more than one person juices at once. i'm talking frame rates drops out the ***. if you pull host, with a decent skill level, you are god. most of the 'greats' pull host and then pubstomp. to pull host, you just try to find a game and back out a few times.


this game is so good that once you get into it, you forget how bad the bad parts are. but you are a little late to the party. i'd say get the demo if it still exists. it's free and you get an hour of online play. learn a class in blitz first. if you like that, get the game, get familiar, and try to be better than the wave of new players that will come on when the new dlc arrives. otherwise, i'd wait till the dlc comes out before anything. i sold reach, red dead redemption, mw2 and mass effect 2 because this game was more fun and time consuming(for me) than those games. they were literally collecting dust.

now i'm only really on black ops or netflix. if i want a fun time just ******* around, i play sticks and stones with knife kills and bankruptcies only. gears beta was kinda cool too but ehhh... :|

EDIT: my use of hyperbole in the matchmaking section may paint it as really god awful, but i think that since you said the issues with 2k11 were bad enough to make you groan, that's important to you. just know that i'm really conflicted with this game right now. since that seems like an important issue to you i won't downplay it, like others here may be apt to, it's a real thing that holds this game back. not saying it's not enjoyable, but it does affect the experience on average of once an hour. that's being kind. honestly, when this game was at its highest with traffic, it was worse somehow(more people, more variables, changes to code in update.) It's still not something to shrug off. seriously if you play for two or three hours in a giving session, you will probably have to go back to the dashboard or sign out of your profile at a blue screen at least once, probably twice. i have absolute doubt it's my connection, i have never had a problem in ANY other game.

Fun fact: If you get the blue screen, press the Back button, followed by the Start button, then Help & Options > Play Tutorial. Once the Tutorial loads up, exit out of it and it'll bring you back to the main menu. It's faster and easier.

Also, So as not to start an argument about whether or not MNC is a good investment, I agree with everything everyone ever says about this game, ever.

Good day sir.

MNC has framerate issues. Not lag issues.

Matchmaking is not based on connection.

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I agree.

Holy crap, Jon...I never knew that! Learn something new everyday.

TC - Be prepared for a learning curve. If you think of this as a typical TPS, you're missing out on 75% of the game. Take an experienced player's offer to team up with you. You won't regret it.

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I agree.

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Look at this guy

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I agree.

Oh great, another mclovin.

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I agree.

I can't recommend this game enough, it's easily the best $ spent on a game in years. I agree that there are issue that you forget about because the game is so addictive.

conn:
I play at all times of day, all days of the week and I'm always able to get a match, but yeah, the matchmaking isn't good and seems to stack teams the majority of the time. I don't have the same 'blue screen at least once in 3 hours' as reanimated, my rate is probably once every 20-30 hours. During hectic on-screen times the framerate drops in about 1/5 of my matches, and I have unplayable laggy matches maybe 1 in 40.

comm:
The community kinda blows goat tbh, there are a ton of good guides and if you get the game I'd recommend picking a class you like the look/idea/feel of and read up.

I don't see a reason to wait until dlc; I say get in while the getting is good, you really don't want to miss this game.

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I am inclined to agree with this

Jon is an idiot.