Major Issues with Band Leader

[RabbleScabble]

Am I right in saying that there doesn't appear to be a way to switch the band leader? I ran into this problem earlier today. I started playing World Tour the other day with one of my brothers. I created the band as guitarist, and he joined in on the drums. Tonight, my other brother wanted to play drums, and I wanted to sing, but we couldn't continue the world tour because my band leader character was not on the guitar.

What's the deal with that? Does this mean that I have to create two separate bands in order to switch up the instruments I want to play? Even though we would all want to play in the same band, just maybe at different times, we can't play that band unless someone is playing guitar. I'm sorry but if that's the case then it's poor, rushed design. It seems entirely counter-intuitive to the entire basis of the game. We were so frustrated trying to get it to work without having to restart all over again and lose all our previous progress - just because we wanted to mix up the band composition a little, that we ulitmately decided not to play.

Is this something that could ever be addressed in a patch?

This, the poor menu UI navigation system, and the fact that both my guitar and drums are faulty, are all factors making me seriously consider returning the product to the store. It just seems like a broken game in more ways than one. It's unfortunate, because when it's all working properly, Rock Band is one of the greatest gaming experiences I've had.

[zDisturbedOnez]

At first I loved it, now the more I play it and discover more faults in it I am dissapointed. Bass pedal has snapped in half, Strat strum bar is not working correctly, no BWT online, fan base is maxed out within first 2 cities due to the fact other members of my local band are not as expierenced as me. All these things are making me rather unhappy in the game play.

[stickshady2007]

yes The band leader is always that character !what ya need to do Is make 4 solo character of your self (you can use them in mulitplayer) but only on their original instruments and make as many bands as you need. With each one being a leader on the different instrument not really that difficult.

[Se7enLawliet]

yes The band leader is always that character !what ya need to do Is make 4 solo character of your self (you can use them in mulitplayer) but only on their original instruments and make as many bands as you need. With each one being a leader on the different instrument not really that difficult.

That doesn't help this guy.

It really doesn't make sense that the band leader can't change. Sure you can make 4 separate bands but then that would mean you'd have 4 separate bands with few fans/stars instead of one band with ALOT of fans/stars.

[stickshady2007]

Yes the band leader is the same character on same instrument ya created them on, just use each other characters and trade instruments that what we did. Sorry if i confused any one with my last post.

[RabbleScabble]

That's what I'm saying.. it just doesn't make sense that I can't change the leader. The problem would be solved if they just offered a simple "transfer leadership" option in the menu somewhere.

I consider myself to be a fairly experienced gamer. Aside from having played games since the Atari days, I play every platform and genre, and I work professionally in the industry. If I'm having issues figuring this stuff out, I can't imagine how bad it must be for the more casual gamers who are going to be buying Rock Band.

Seriosuly, Rock Band was probably my most aniticpated game of the year, and all of these issues are starting to kill my interest in it now.

[stickshady2007]

We didnt know we had to have the controller on to run the mic lol my wife was getting upset for like 10 minutes casue she didnt want to play drums lol.:)

[Riggz13]

Yeah, this is a huge pain. I made the mistake of making my lead band member my drummer when my roommate and I started playing. No idea about the max fan base while he's on expert and I'm on medium. I'm working my way up to hard, but it's going to take some time and in the mean time we can't really progress without starting over.

[stickshady2007]

medium caps round 260 ,000 fans and if I'm correct it goes off lowest player so I'm trying to master medium to move up to hard guitar switching to bass made it alot easier. My wife is getting killed trying to do expert vocals in the solo tour tho.

[espher]

That's a design decision. The leader isn't playing, the band isn't playing. *shrug*

[RabbleScabble]

That's a design decision. The leader isn't playing, the band isn't playing. *shrug*

A truer statement could not be said. All things considered, there is no benefit to this design decision, and it only serves to impede people's gameplay experience, so it's still a particularly poor design decision. It should be rectified, or at least addressed in some manner.

[Maggot_Brain]

A truer statement could not be said. All things considered, there is no benefit to this design decision, and it only serves to impede people's gameplay experience, so it's still a particularly poor design decision. It should be rectified, or at least addressed in some manner.

Yeah, I don't know why things have to be made so damn difficult for the end user.

[jmiscavish]

I think there has to be a band leader because the game needs to save the band profile somwhere. That's the game's way of making you choose where to save it.

However, the band leader should absolutely be able to change isntruments. Or maybe the save file should be located in a user's profile as opposed to one of said user's characters and instruments.

[Jinky Williams]

I think that, like so many of their decisions, they wanted to make the experience similar to a real band experience.

However, it is because of this basis that I think a band should indeed be able to change leaders, as real bands can. However, like in a real band, this decision does not come without a cost. I think a hefty drop in fanbase would be a legitimate cost for this (perhaps a portion of your present amount).

Also, as an other facet of realism, I think band members should be able to play two different instruments. I know that many artists play two instruments well. However, I think that if this were the case, that guitar and bass would be separate instruments. I've thought it curious that they chose to make the assumption that someone who could play bass could play lead equally well (and vice versa), but not be able to sing. Coincidentally, I have a friend who plays lead and sings, but doesn't really play bass.

In addition to keeping an amount of realism, it would also bring much joy and happiness to those who want to switch it up once in a while, or who legitimately need to replace an absent band member.

I have some other concerns, but that said, I really love this game. I and some friends played this for 22 hours, this weekend. Instruments held up great. I was especially impressed with the drums. My friend played three songs on Expert, whanging away on the pads and pedal just like he would behind real drums.