Playing medium online

[switchdoc]

Hey all,

I tried playing online last night for the first time and had a pretty bad experience. I just wanted to see if this is par for the course or not.

I got in, did quick play, and waited for 3 other people to join. I set myself to medium and two of the others set themselves to expert. I picked a song, and after about 1 minute the two 'experts' left. We of course failed out and after the retry the last guy left too.

I couldn't find another group so I signed out. Thus ended my online career so far :)

I'm going to go back and look to see if there is a way to say "I am looking for people playing on medium", but it seems like HMX went out of its way to make it so beginners can play with experts. The only reason NOT to play with a beginner is points. Are people really so lame and worried about their position on the leaderboards that they'll quit in the middle of a song because I'm not Greg Eklund yet?

Those of you who don't play expert drums (or whatever instrument) have you had this problem? How has your online experience been?

Since It looks like out guitar is getting ready to go and I won't be able to put 125 bucks on a card until next week, I was hoping I could at least play online with folks until I can get the replacement guitar arranged so my wife is back into the game. I was kinda bummed when this happened.

Thanks for your input,

Switch

[mastergamer1231]

ppl dropping out sucks, in games, schools, and life, it just sucks.

i had this done in halo 3 a couplae times, the game just restarts cuase someone ditches the game, its annoying.

my advice is to keep trying till u get a good group, then create a band, or play wit ure friends so when they exit, you can yell at them by phone :D

[Joten91]

If you add me and have this game for ps3 I'll play you in like 3 weeks. I'm in no "rock god" shape to be playing on Hard or Expert yet so yeah I'll be playing on Medium. I'll probably have a friend over when playing so you'll 2 people for sure. PSN:Joten

[Ventura]

I got in, did quick play, and waited for 3 other people to join. I set myself to medium and two of the others set themselves to expert. I picked a song, and after about 1 minute the two 'experts' left. We of course failed out and after the retry the last guy left too.


It's almost like people go out of their way to prove that with increased playing ability comes a decrease in personality. People have been writing of this happening a lot.

I don't understand though. We don't have online band world tour or anything like that, so it's just quickplay. What difference does it make what skill level the other members of the band are playing at? Your character doesn't get anything from it anyway, right?

Oh yeah, I'm on the psn network too, name is Venturai. I haven't even looked for a game online yet though since I've only completed maybe the first couple sets in solo tour for hard for both drums and guitar, so I'd pretty much be sticking with medium too, for the time being.

[switchdoc]

Thanks for the replies guys, I am adding both of you now. My PSN name is switchdoc00.

I'd invite anyone else interested in playing just for the sheer joy of it to add me as well. :)

I mainly play drums right now due to broken guitar but I have been working on singing as well. That cracks me up... my pitch is good enough to score 5's but I can hear myself. There is NO WAY a crowded auditorium does anything other than throw tomatoes and demand a refund. Yet there they are, clapping and screaming for more.

Ahhh... fantasy life...

-Switch

[Ventura]

Got your invite mate. Couldn't find you at first, thought it was cause I'm in Australia until I saw that 00 at the end of your friend request.

Will play medium anytime :)

Edit: Added you too Joten.

[loweredd]

I don't know why people do that either. It's not like the score counts for anyting when playing Quickplay. I don't care what level people pick when playing online. I just think it's fun to jam with someone.

[Manda]

It's a common issue to have people dropping out of quickplay for various reasons. When the person or persons I'm playing with leave for whatever reason, I just go right back on and find more players. Eventually I find a good group or even one other person to jam with. I don't find that attitude is solely in the more advanced players, though. I'm #3 (yeah, I got bumped down) on the Vocal Leaderboards and I don't give a crap what difficulty you're playing on, as long as it's not out of your league (had a few bad experiences with medium-level players trying to play hard and expert). Yet I find players leaving if they get below 90%, or are playing on a higher or lower difficulty than everyone else. Sure, I'm usually getting 95% or more, but that's because I'm only bad at the less-played songs, sometimes I can be caught with an 80% score. I said this in my thread (which was fairly similar to this one), but however well or badly you're playing is probably a lot better than what I can do - I play easy drums and medium guitar.

[WiseOldUnicorn]

It seems to be some law in the world of music games that if you progress to the point of being able to kick ass on the highest level, you immediately forget about all the hard work you put forth to get there and become a complete ***** to anyone with less skill than you.

But yeah, I really don't see why it would matter in quickplay, of all things. It's not like it's BWT and you're going to get stuck at a fan cap because you're jamming with less experienced people.

[Ventura]

It seems to be some law in the world of music games that if you progress to the point of being able to kick ass on the highest level, you immediately forget about all the hard work you put forth to get there and become a complete ***** to anyone with less skill than you.


Very well said :)

To anyone else who reads this, if you fancy playing online on the Playstation network and don't care what other skill level everyone else plays at - or even better, want to be able to play with those who don't care what skill level you want to play at - feel free to add me as a friend. Once again, Venturai is my PSN name.

That said, I'm still playing to get better at the game (on both guitar and drums), so every so often I'll be more than happy to give hard a shot. It ain't fun unless it scares you a little, and challenging yourself is the only way to get better at it.

[Dabog666]

You can all add me if you want, my PSN name is ChazzlaWazzla, I play mostly expert or hard, but will play with anyone:D

[Graybeard]

I dont think it is just a matter of score though for people that drop out in this game. I believe you get ALOT more drop-outs becuase only one person gets to choose what songs your playing. So with that said we ALL know not everyone is going to have the same tastes in music ex. The leader may be playing drums and may be not to great at them so they want to play something easy like Hole, but being a Singer (and Male to boot ) There is NO WAY I'll be busting that song up. Yes I know you say well all you have to do is say something BUT, not alot of people talk online making it REALLY hard to get songs EVERYONE will enjoy playing. I have told people VERY clearly if you choose that song I am out yet people still seem to do just that.

[loweredd]

This is the reason I always pick random song.

[Graybeard]

Random song isnt always the best to choose though I mean if Flyleaf came up in random no matter how fair the situation is I doubt alot of people would be playing it.

[Thats_Bull]

Personally, this has only happened to me one time, where a singer left, and that was kind of funny to replay the song with no vocals... but it will probably start happening less as you get to add friends and start only playing with people you know don't leave.

And if you have a PS3, you should head over to http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=12444
It is the PS3 Rock Band Friends forum... just post your ID and what you can play as a 70 other people have. Well worth it from experience.

[_epacs_]

I hate when people leave on me aswell. But I personally never leave in the middle of a game, even if I'm getting beat horribly,and I'll never leave if someone can only play easy while I play on expert. I try to be fair to everyone.

[Strutter]

Yeah it does suck. I play guitar on hard mostly, and I don't care if everyone else is playing on easy. It's just fun playing the song with others, regardless of the difficulty settings.

What I hate is when you're at the player selection screen, waiting for there to be 4 people ready to go, and for some reason whoever the band leader is suddenly decides to kick me out of the session. Yeah whatever buddy..

Anyhow yeah, any 360 players wanna rock out my gamertag is Rockford Punch.

[Odwill]

Some people just have a different idea of "fun". I play 75% of the songs on expert and can play the rest on hard but to be honest, some songs just are not fun on expert or hard. It seems some of the charts are made difficult just for the sake of being so (fall out boy anyone?). For those types of songs I just play on medium because it is more fun to play on medium.

Two days ago I was playing with this expert guitarist and bassist. We played 4 songs all of us on expert. We were all getting 95% + and all was good. Then the guitarist picked "run for the hills". I have beaten this song on hard in solo tour but it is a major pain in the ass for me, it makes me so tired I want to take a break after playing it so I dropped down to medium so I could relax a bit. We finish the song then the guitarist kicks me. I don't get it but whatever floats their boat.

If anyone on the 360 just wants to play to have fun. Any skill level add me. GT = Odwill69

[Kinnetik]

I'll add my opinion in here in that I play for *fun*.

I mostly play hard (medium on the top tier drum songs still), and it really doesn't matter to me what level the other people are playing as. As long as you're having a good time who cares!

It's just fun to play with people!

I am also on PSN if anyone wants to add me.

PSN ID: Kinnetik

[TheHorde]

PSN = Pitrat3

im usually always on when im not at work hehe

[Frederf]

Does cooperative quickplay online even get leaderboard scores? I didn't think so. It's more annoying to fail a song because the singer thought he/she could do one more difficulty than he/she actually could. And then does the same thing 3 more songs in a row.

The only time I've dropped out of an online game before is the 3rd time the Konks song came up (ugh) and like the 7th (out of 7) M4T3LLLL!!!11 song in a row.

Bye.

[CowboyGP]

I've noticed that most posters on this thread are on PSN. I have a 360, so I don't know if PSN has the same features or not. On XBL you can report this sort of behavior, and it will effect the players reputation for view by all.

Rockford Punch and Odwill69, I've made note of your GT's. If you see me on XBL before I send a FR, feel free to send me one.

GT: CowboyGP

Drums: Med/Hard
Guitar: Med/Hard
Bass: Med/Hard
Vocals: Easy/Med (don't usually sing online, tho)

I never drop out, and ONLY play for fun.

[switchdoc]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the feedback and for those that sent me friend invites. I've added or will be adding all the PSN folks that responded as well, so thanks!

I played some more online tonight and it went a little better at least. I still never managed to keep a group together in quickplay for more than 2-3 songs though.

I think, unfortunately, quickplay is a little flawed or at least lacking some basic features that would make the experience more pleasant.

1) Let the leader hand off song-picking rights, or let it go round robin or something. I was actually stressing out trying to find songs that I thought people would like. I mean I can feel the beady little eyes of these 3 other people scattered across the US staring at me and I'm thinking "Whats gonna happen if I pick Bon Jovi?"

2) We really need the abilty to chat somehow. I'd love to have been able to say "What do you guys want to play?" or "Nice set guys" or "Way to shred that solo".

3) I know this would cause lag and require bandwidth, but I'd love to hear the singer and the drum solos. Well I'd like to hear the singer if I wanted to. If they sang anything like me then I'd want an insta-mute option :)

4) Add more options to the quick play menu. instead of "Find Players" I'd love something like:

Find a group, medium-hard preferred, round robin song selection.

Of course they'd have to add idea #1 first but this is pretty basic for most other online games.

5) if someone drops out, let the leader go back to the search screen and pick someone eles up. I couldn't find a way to do this when I had a great group but the guitar player bailed.

Oh, and to the person I acidentally disbanded on when I tried to do this, sorry about that.... :D

To whoever was asking about the leaderboards, you are right I was incorrect when I mentioned leaderboard scores in quickplay. That makes it even dumber when someone drops out if your not playing expert.

Oh and lastly, to the person who picked Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld as the first song and then disbanded when I played on easy:

"Screw you, no human can play the drums on that song on anything above medium" :D

-Switch

[Lucent Beam]

It's because people are elistists and jerks.
I have a friend who won't play with anyone unless they play on Expert.
I think it's fun to play with anyone, even if they aren't too great at the difficulty they picked... that's what your band mates are there for.. to rescue you!

I hate jerks online!

[shoombabi]

I am an elitist. I can do everything except for maybe one song 95%+ on Hard (mostly 98s and 99s, a few 100s thrown in for good measure), and about 75% of the songs on Expert (about 60% of those I do "well"). I play drums, and I've worked at getting better at the drums because it's the glue that binds the group. If the drummer starts to flail around and the drum line drops out as a result, I know I would lose my place as a guitarist.

That said, specifically when I play guitar, I will leave if our drummer is playing on Medium and only getting 80% of the notes. Heck, regardless of difficulty, I'll leave if someone's only getting 80% of notes. At that point, it's not about the score, it's about playing the damn game. I just can't do my part effectively if you're not doing your part effectively.

On the other hand, I've had many fun bands where people are playing on Medium. Reason? Because they know where their skill level is and they're not trying to show off. The way I look at it is, if I ever have to waste half an overdrive bar or complete a fill to save you, I'm probably not going to be playing with you again. I think I've failed out of two songs online since playing this game, and they were prefaced with: "Guys, I don't think I can do this, but if you really want me to try, I will." Setting expectations is a priority.

Also, even without being an elitist - and I'm about to ask this with the utmost sincerity - is it not more fun to get ridiculously high scores? If you're playing with a group of people in the same room, okay, the high scores aren't necessary, because you're all talking and laughing and cooperating together in the same area. You have visual and other aural cues. But when you're online and you can't really talk with the headset or you can't hear it because the music volume is too high, the way I see a band communicating is in the overdrive usage. If people are just throwing up overdrive for no good reason, I'm probably not going to play with them too much longer. That just means that they're in it for themselves and not the group. On the other hand, proper overdrive usage, even when nobody's talking to each other, makes the game infinitely more fun. It's a little nod to each other saying, "Yeah, I'm paying attention. Way to rock out guys."

Case in point(s): You've seen people leave. Perhaps that's for one of the reasons I've mentioned. Another case-in-point: The other night I was going to sign off and go to bed and I got a random invite from a group of very talented individuals. I decided to play a little more, and in our very first song ever playing together, we broke the #1 high score on the band leaderboards and collectively all got our first 5 gold star in online play.

People are elitist for a reason. Mostly because they earn it.

I can understand if that's not your idea of fun. We're not hating on you for not matching to our idea of fun, we're just choosing not to play with you. What should be a mutual understanding between the groups always ignites into some heated argument of casuals vs hardcores. Your idea of having fun may be struggling through a song and helping each other to finish it. That's great, and you may very well be one of the best saviors in the game. To me, I have fun by being efficient in gaming. It's not always about competition, but it definitely is always about efficiency. I'm not going to play the game if i'm not going to attempt to do my best, plain-and-simple. When other people hinder that, I just choose not to play with them.

Hopefully that made sense. It's late :(

[Ventura]

The way I look at it is, if I ever have to waste half an overdrive bar or complete a fill to save you, I'm probably not going to be playing with you again. I think I've failed out of two songs online since playing this game, and they were prefaced with: "Guys, I don't think I can do this, but if you really want me to try, I will." Setting expectations is a priority.


Setting expectations is a two-way street. The problem is that most elitists will just leave a game if the other players are only on a difficulty level like medium, which sets the expectation that unless you can step up and play on a tougher difficulty, you're not welcome in the game atall. So that's why people try, and then they inevitably need to be carried through the song. And as much as that isn't fun for you, it's not fun for them even more.

There's actually a great level of respect in there that the less experienced players have for those that are better at this than the rest of us. I don't want to risk disappointing you, so I'll try and play on a difficulty level closer to what you're playing on. That's got to make them feel really uncomfortable. Have you ever gone that far out of your way to accomodate someone you've played with? No, I didn't think so.

And that would be why I find the dropping out of the game mid-song frankly insulting. Most songs last what, 5 minutes tops? Would it really kill you to stick it through until it finishes?

Honestly, sometimes I think people use the internet to get away with being as rude to other people as they can. If you were all playing the song locally, would you still just put your controller down and walk off?

No, I didn't think so.

[UserName1]

:rolleyes: alright

[KingNuclear]

I am an elitist.

Shoom.
"
Case in point(s): You've seen people leave. Perhaps that's for one of the reasons I've mentioned. Another case-in-point: The other night I was going to sign off and go to bed and I got a random invite from a group of very talented individuals. I decided to play a little more, and in our very first song ever playing together, we broke the #1 high score on the band leaderboards and collectively all got our first 5 gold star in online play."

Great post! Good read.


Shoom+Nuke+ Arms + Y.H.D. = look out people :p!

For real, I can be a big ******* but it is only because people who play beyond themselves is paradon my french, ****ing selfish!

I have no problem rocking out with 3 friends if they are on easy or medium, long as they are 100%'ing and having a good time, no one likes to bail the looser out of jail, who drops out.

Before I even play with random people online, I'll talk to them in the lobby first and get a feel for them.

Case in point, find people that are compatible with your personality and your skills.



for some reason, me and kev switch up accounts/guitars and they think I'm the newb playin sometime >_> ( aka the one not getting FC, or 99%) lol.


-Nuke-

One Day Shoom were challenging College Dropouts & Wulfe79's band :D

[Manda]

Honestly, sometimes I think people use the internet to get away with being as rude to other people as they can. If you were all playing the song locally, would you still just put your controller down and walk off?

No, I didn't think so.

QFT! I've been going to forums for 6 years and I know just how rude some people can be. I doubt people are half as rude in real life as they are online, and it's so unneccessary. But at the same time, some people are just as rude in real life, and would ditch you in the middle of a song if even when you're in the room with them.

But at the same time I get what shoombabi is saying, as rude and obnoxious as it sounds.

Actually, the first time my sister played the drums she said "screw this" in the middle of In Bloom on Easy, threw the drumsticks across the room and went back to her computer. But you should know that when it comes to my sister, if she's not the best at something on her first try, she won't do it again... and it suddenly sucks and isn't worth her time.

[KingNuclear]

post recalled.

[steelcurtain187]

Setting expectations is a two-way street. The problem is that most elitists will just leave a game if the other players are only on a difficulty level like medium, which sets the expectation that unless you can step up and play on a tougher difficulty, you're not welcome in the game atall. So that's why people try, and then they inevitably need to be carried through the song. And as much as that isn't fun for you, it's not fun for them even more.

There's actually a great level of respect in there that the less experienced players have for those that are better at this than the rest of us. I don't want to risk disappointing you, so I'll try and play on a difficulty level closer to what you're playing on. That's got to make them feel really uncomfortable. Have you ever gone that far out of your way to accomodate someone you've played with? No, I didn't think so.

And that would be why I find the dropping out of the game mid-song frankly insulting. Most songs last what, 5 minutes tops? Would it really kill you to stick it through until it finishes?

Honestly, sometimes I think people use the internet to get away with being as rude to other people as they can. If you were all playing the song locally, would you still just put your controller down and walk off?

No, I didn't think so.

Damn...great posting my friend!

[switchdoc]

Everyone here on both sides of the equation has valid points, and those who mentioned that different people play for different reasons are certainly not incorrect. Regardless though, as others have also mentioned, I don't think there's a reason for anyone to drop out in the first 90 seconds of a song. I mean even if I suck (which I don't when I play at my current skill level) 5 minutes isn't going to kill anyone, and it's just courtesy.

As I mentioned in my last post I think part of the issue, at least with the PS3 is I have no way of communicating. The group can't decide on a song together, I can't explain that "I'm pretty sure I can play <insert song> on Hard but haven't tried before, mind if I give it a shot".

More communication would definitely help in some of these areas.

One thing that strikes me is those who came in and said they were elitests sure seem to have put in a lot of thought as to who they will and won't play with. I'm not trying to start a fight with that statement or anything, it just reminds me that I personally never sat down and spent even a second trying to come up with a set of rules to govern who is good enough to play with me. Heck, most of the times when we didn't get 5 stars I was relieved to see it was the other guy that got 85 percent and not me!

I just want someone to play with.

-Switch

[shoombabi]

I agree with this sentiment.

Even if I don't like the way a group is functioning, I will finish the song before leaving. I'm not going to make you fail intentionally because a member drops and you can't even save them. But if you fail on your own, I'm out.

The thing with Elitists are: We don't need to be impressed. We're where we are because we've seen it all. Have fun in your way, we'll have fun in ours, and if ever the two should meet, great. If not, so what?

[Parodygm]

switchdoc, feel free to add me to your friends list (PSN ID: parodygm).

There are times when what I really would like is to hook up with three other people playing Expert and try to really nail a set. I hope that doesn't make me elitist. I'm happy to play along with anyone at any level as long as they're comfortable with the difficulty level they're playing at. Rescuing people is fun and part of the game, but having people failing out constantly is a drag.

People, if you insist on playing at high difficulty levels but you're not able to avoid three failures, PLEASE get some more solo mode practise in or step it down a notch.

My other pet peeves are the same as most of you:

People quitting in the middle of tracks - Obviously sometimes you have to duck and run to deal with real life issues. But if you don't like the way a band is progressing, wait out the current song and then move on.

People attempting to hog guitar in a full-band setup - Okay, some people like playing bass for 10 songs in a row. I'm only occasionally in the mood for that. If I'm outmatched in an all Expert affair by another guitarist I'll happily take bass duty. In that case it's all about the group effort. Worst offenders? People arriving last to join an established 3-piece and then forcing you off guitar. Horrible, horrible, horrible. I'm always going to give the established members first pick.

Just to follow up on your comments switch:


1) Let the leader hand off song-picking rights, or let it go round robin or something. I was actually stressing out trying to find songs that I thought people would like. I mean I can feel the beady little eyes of these 3 other people scattered across the US staring at me and I'm thinking "Whats gonna happen if I pick Bon Jovi?"

I know exactly how you feel! My recommendation is to use the Random feature. It will effectively absolve you from blame! *laughs*


2) We really need the abilty to chat somehow. I'd love to have been able to say "What do you guys want to play?" or "Nice set guys" or "Way to shred that solo".

Yes, yes, yes!


4) Add more options to the quick play menu. instead of "Find Players" I'd love something like:

Find a group, medium-hard preferred, round robin song selection.

Unfortunately, since you can select difficulty on a per-song basis (which is what I'd rather have) this isn't going to work too well unless it forces us into a hard cap (options disabled). This would fracture the online community and ruin the spirit of the game. If people are playing truly for the band concept, difficulty level shouldn't be an issue as long as they're playing within the realm of their abilities.


5) if someone drops out, let the leader go back to the search screen and pick someone eles up. I couldn't find a way to do this when I had a great group but the guitar player bailed.

Okay, don't choose the "Exit" option! Simply choose "New Song" and then step back out a level (red button) to the player selection screen and do a Find Player. Problem solved! :o

[Thrashdragon]

I play on Expert (well, Hard if I've been drinking) and have absolutely no problem playing with people on lower difficulty levels. People playing above their level is annoying if we can't make it through the song, but it can also be a lot of fun to be the guy that's always able to save the band.

People that are silly enough to think that there's anything "elite" about playing a pretend guitar on the highest difficulty level should gather a group of like-minded friends and use the Invite Friend feature to fill their bands. Starting a random band and then kicking players for anything other than abusive communication or constantly failing the band is completely ridiculous.

[Parodygm]

Starting a random band and then kicking players for anything other than abusive communication or constantly failing the band is completely ridiculous.

Absolutely agreed. I've only once used the kick feature and that was playing with two guys that constantly picked levels above their abilities and failed out thrice within a minute of starting.

On the flip side, I've been kicked numerous times for daring to play guitar once in four or five songs in someone else's band. :(

[dfjdejulio]

The way I look at it is, if I ever have to waste half an overdrive bar or complete a fill to save you, I'm probably not going to be playing with you again.
See now, I like playing with people who are just on the edge of their difficulty level.

I think it's fun to get the "band savior" title after a song, so I will save my overdrive to rescue people. After a gig, I'd rather be feeling "whew, we had a rough time there but managed to pull it out of the fire!" than "oh boy, look, the number's bigger".

[switchdoc]

Parodygm,

Thanks, I'll be sure to add you tonight (and everyone else who has responded that I haven't added yet).


Unfortunately, since you can select difficulty on a per-song basis (which is what I'd rather have) this isn't going to work too well unless it forces us into a hard cap (options disabled). This would fracture the online community and ruin the spirit of the game. If people are playing truly for the band concept, difficulty level shouldn't be an issue as long as they're playing within the realm of their abilities.

I can see what you mean here. I was just thinking that if you were a super shredder and only wanted to play with other super shredders then being able to search for groups that were only full of other super shredders would help you to avoid getting stuck with me... and vice versa.

I'm more like a salad shooter than a super shredder :)

Also thanks for the info on how to pick up a new member if someone drops.

I was curious... if you have a friend and they are online and you invite them, do they get an invite in game? When I was trying to invite people last night it was sending them emails? That doesn't do me a lot of good. Does that feature only really work on WBT maybe?

dfjdejulio, I agree with you I like saving people and, I like it when other people save me. The other night my wife took a turn on the drums (she hasn't played nearly as much as me) and hit medium by accident. She struggled, of course, and I was delighted when someone saved her from failing out. It took a bit to get her to try playing online and if she'd felt like she was mocked and discarded I'm not sure she'd have tried it again.

And yeah, I think it's alot more fun to get that "WOW we pulled that out at the last second" feeling rather than the "meh, last time we got 50 billion and EIGHT points..."

:)

-Switch

[Manda]

Starting a random band and then kicking players for anything other than abusive communication or constantly failing the band is completely ridiculous.

Lol once I got kicked out of a band because I was getting 95-100% on expert vocals and the other guys were playing easy and getting 70-85%. But they played a few songs with me and probably wanted to play with someone around their difficulty range, so it didn't upset me at all.

[Manda]

Thought this was funny: I was just playing in a band with a couple medium/easy guitarists and an expert drummer. The one guitarist liked to jump up to hard and kept failing but that's besides the point. When we started Say It Ain't So I had this sudden urge to run for the bathroom, but because of this thread, I stuck it out right to the end of the song. Of course afterwards I left the group and made a mad dash for it, and the leader (the one who was failing on hard) probably thought I left because of him, which wasn't the case.

[Syd]

Hello all. First time poster, long time lurker. :D

When it comes to the issue of people dropping out mid-song, quitting abruptly, or kicking you for no apparent reason nothing could be more annoying. Its hard to take a side in this argument as every post I've read so far has had some valid points. The truth is you never know whats going on with the people you're playing with. It could be something as innocent as their phone rang, they could enjoy the game for different reasons than you and to get the best online experience wish to play with people at their particular level, or they might just be jerks. Who knows. I try not to form a negative opinion when someone does this to me online because I don't know what their circumstance was for dropping out.

I only wish more people would use their headsets (I play on 360) so we could communicate what songs to play, etc. a little better. It makes being the leader so frustrating. I hate choosing the song knowing whatever I pick may cause my band to dissipate. Since I enjoy playing pretty much any song I like it so much better when I'm not the leader. Every 360 console comes with a headset (I believe). I know some people might have a problem with theirs but I've played with a considerable amount of people online and can count on one hand the times I actually got to speak with someone. That many people can't have broken headsets. When I'm ready to quit playing and I can't actually communicate this I never just quit mid-song. If I'm the leader and am done playing I usually hover over the exit option for a few moments to let everyone know..."hey, I'm leaving now", kind of a non-verbal goodbye. You have to get inventive to communicate with other players and not seem rude. Like with guitar/bass selection, I flip back and forth between the two options trying to say "whichever is fine with me" and let them choose first. I don't know if anyone gets that or not, lol. Unless of course I really like the song then I'll go ahead and choose guitar if they haven't already.

I guess I'm pretty easy going all around. I enjoy playing with an all expert band to really get the most out of the song and see other players with a lot of skill. But I enjoy playing with medium players just as much. Its all fun to me.

And Manda, I know how you feel. I've wriggled on the edge of my seat during a song because I desperately needed a bathroom break. :p

[Parodygm]

I was curious... if you have a friend and they are online and you invite them, do they get an invite in game? When I was trying to invite people last night it was sending them emails? That doesn't do me a lot of good. Does that feature only really work on WBT maybe?

Yes, they should get a message flash up that appears to be a mail with an attachment when they check invitations. Using it should take you directly to the character selection screen where you can pick your character and then join the band.

[Darpan Zind]

Hey switchdoc,
I'm looking for someone to play with online as well. I have that same problem with people dropping out on me or in some cases, kicking me out because I am not playing on Expert level. I like to play medium/hard on guitars and can do medium on drums right now. But most importantly, I too, just want to jam with someone for the fun of it and also to improve my skills so I can eventually get to expert. My PSN ID is: pdx_zindagi