How far could they go with online modes in Rock Band?

[Magnet]

In an interview two months ago:


Alex Rigopulos: Right now, all I can say is that the online feature set of Rock Band will be quite substantial—way beyond anything that's been done previously in the music category. Stay tuned for more details!

I'm expecting standard cooperative and competitive play online. Does "quite substantial" imply that there may be more? (Or maybe Alex is mostly referring to all the DLC planned and not something else.)

I'm just waiting for a mode with power-ups to be announced. I loved the slo-mo and such from Amplitude. Of course, it would be in addition to regular competitive play.

Can anyone think of more online play ideas?

[Xzyliac]

In an interview two months ago:



I'm expecting standard cooperative and competitive play online. Does "quite substantial" imply that there may be more? (Or maybe Alex is mostly referring to all the DLC planned and not something else.)

I'm just waiting for a mode with power-ups to be announced. I loved the slo-mo and such from Amplitude. Of course, it would be in addition to regular competitive play.

Can anyone think of more online play ideas?
HELL NO! This ain't GHIII

[Akaymay]

HELL NO! This ain't GHIII

First off. Agreed. NO POWER UPS!!

Second, I think I might know. Battle of the Bands (AKA Band vs. Band)

I am just really good at noticing things. In the interview with IGN

(http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/810/810634p1.html)

Greg LoPiccolo is very excited to talk about anything online when they talk about anything that refers to the single-instrument or just the whole band rocking out online. He can't seem to get enough of talking about it. But the second the interviewer mentions Band vs. Band, he automatically responds:


We are not releasing detailed information about the online feature set at this point.

Oh reeeeaally? Seems like he's HIDING something! :D

[Omega20mm]

Band vs. Band would be great!!!! There could be clan matches even! However i agree entirely NO POWER-UPS they nothing but flashy little easter eggs that make the game seem complex from far away, but when looked at closely they are seen for what they truly are. Nothing but unnecessary boosts that allow less than skilled players to get the upper hand and potentially win. Ultimately the take away from gameplay and are actually advocated cheats.

[Seroth]

I don't see a problem with power-ups if they have their own mode. I'm intrigued about battle mode in Guitar Hero III. Could be a lot of fun.

But I'm confident that Rock Band will be loads more fun, regardless.

[Magnet]

What's with the rampant opposition to power-ups? You do realize they can make the game more fun and are for more than letting less skilled players win?

Honestly, what's with the huge backlash? Nowhere am I saying make it default. I'm giving the idea for an optional mode. You don't have to play it. Ever.

I think the power-ups in GHIII are kind of stupid. But when it comes to power-ups, the actual power-ups determine if they'll be fun, not just the general idea of using power-ups. The broken strings don't do it for me, nor does lefty flip. But something like the slo-mo from Amplitude actually affected the song and was interesting.

A well thought-out, optional power-up mode with fun and engaging power-ups would be cool. I don't see how anyone could see otherwise. Just because GHIII's power-ups are silly and useless, doesn't mean Rock Band's would be the same at all.

[Brad_Lee]

What's with the rampant opposition to power-ups? You do realize they can make the game more fun and are for more than letting less skilled players win?

Honestly, what's with the huge backlash? Nowhere am I saying make it default. I'm giving the idea for an optional mode. You don't have to play it. Ever.

I think the power-ups in GHIII are kind of stupid. But when it comes to power-ups, the actual power-ups determine if they'll be fun, not just the general idea of using power-ups. The broken strings don't do it for me, nor does lefty flip. But something like the slo-mo from Amplitude actually affected the song and was interesting.

A well thought-out, optional power-up mode with fun and engaging power-ups would be cool. I don't see how anyone could see otherwise. Just because GHIII's power-ups are silly and useless, doesn't mean Rock Band's would be the same at all.

Most people here haven't played Amplitude or Frequency so they think GH3 and Neversoft started the power ups and not Harmonix and Frequency.

[Omega20mm]

thats true i had no idea what u were refering to as amplitude; sry

[ThePaska]

I assume online play is going to consist of a few things.

Online Band Tour, aka World Tour Mode, you go online, put a band together, and start the play the world tour mode together etc...

Co-op, you and 1-3 other people get together, and basically just jam, play all the songs you want, in any order, trying to get high scores etc...

Head to head, guitarist vs guitarist, vocalist vs. vocalist, drummer vs. drummer, and bassist vs. bassist, no cross instrument head to head. Either play full songs out (pro face-off) or take turns going back and forth (face-off)

I don't think there will be much more than that, but that is really cool to me, and more than enough things to do online, besides download songs! Online mode is going to be huge in this game, especailly when it comes to completing your band (especailly if only you and one other friend wants to play you can go on and get 2 more from the internet) and will be so great, it's really going to bring people from all over together.

The big thing about their online plans, is they are able to accomplish all of this, while mainting little to no lag at almost all times, which is huge for a rhythm game, and well any online game!

[Electric_Zen]

No power-ups, it detracts from the core music experience.

Now XBox Live does not currently have clan support. Microsoft is going to have to roll that out in the Fall System Update before Halo 3 is released on September 25th.

So, I hope very much that Harmonix will have time to integrate with XBox Live clan stuff to support the concept of persistent bands.

Regardless, on both XBox and PS3 I expect the online stuff will have some level of integration with Harmonix's online community stuff.

[TheRocker]

No Fancy Battle Power Ups.. I Just Want To Play Face Off , or Pro Face Off :D

[KingColon]

Power-ups? I don't need no ****in' power-ups to rock.

[Blue88]

No one wants to play Capture the Flag?

[devo193]

No one wants to play Capture the Flag?


Hahahaha! Nice!

[Blue88]

Hahahaha! Nice!

I'm serious.

[Xzyliac]

thats true i had no idea what u were refering to as amplitude; sry

I played and own both and in the right title it's fine. But this is Rock Band and it would be quite random and out of place. We have the RB equivalent to star power and freeform. How many gimmicks do you need before it become unimersive?

Amplitude and Frquency used DualShock. It felt like software. But RB uses these add-ons to feel real. Power-ups close that thin and fragile gap in the line of reality|game.

[Seroth]

A battle mode would not detract from the game... It's just a mode you can or cannot play. Maybe it might make you mad if your friends suck at Guitar Hero, and they beat you in battle mode because of the power-ups, but that's the nature of the mode (I know I get a little irked when my friends beat me in Guitar Hero II...but only because they played on Medium and I played on Hard or Expert).

[Rascash31]

HMX wants a very authentic feel to this game. They want this to be a new and leading way to experience music. Gimmiky power-ups provide nothing to support this, therefore detracting from the overall goal of the title. If you want to play a "toyish" video game RB is not for you.

[Seroth]

Oh, come on! "Toyish video game" sounds kinda redundant, 'cause...well, it's a video game! It's pretty much a toy. If I wanted something less "toyish", then I'd go out and get a real guitar and drum set... I like "toyish."

I'm not a big music person (I mainly listen to video game soundtracks) and I'm looking forward to Rock Band because I see it as a great multiplayer party game, not a new way to experience music...

[TheRocker]

Having a battle mode defeats the purpose of the game , wich to me is listening to music and simulating the Real Life RockBand experience.

[KingColon]

I'm looking forward to Rock Band because I see it as a great multiplayer party game, not a new way to experience music...

There's your problem. HMX is intending Rock Band to be both.

You've just got to deal with it, I guess.

[Seroth]

There's your problem. HMX is intending Rock Band to be both.

You've just got to deal with it, I guess.

You think my looking forward to the game is a problem? It's no problem at all if Harmonix wants to make a game that everyone enjoys...

But, seriously, I really don't see why more is worse than less. If Rock Band had a battle mode (I'm not saying it ever will), that wouldn't prevent you from listening to the music or anything like that. It wouldn't ruin the whole point of the game if it's just one little option that you don't even have to play with. It's just as silly as the people complaining about hyper speed.

Video games...serious business.

[KingColon]

Well hell, you can ignore the people who don't want power-ups just as much as they could ignore said power-ups, but you don't seem to be doing that. It's not like they're the ones making the game.

[Xzyliac]

I like the logic this forumite presents despite my dislike of the idea.

Let me say I honestly see power-ups as breaking the game but this is totally becoming relevant debate. I never thought that'd happen. This morning the mere thought of this debate being worth the words would've been hilarious but it's intriguing. Nice Seroth.

Still I find the given gimmicks perfectly balancing game with sim, work with play, and skill with chance.

[Eman311]

If they want to add a power up mode then let them. I wouldn't play it extensively, but it would be worth a few laughs

[Magnet]

No power-ups, it detracts from the core music experience.

That just seems outright silly to say. There's already freestyling present in the game. There's already a star power effect in there. There's even pick-ups (at least for the guitar) that change the way the guitar sounds. How are these detracting from the core music experience at all? Everything about these suggests that it's enhancing the music, not detracting from it. There already are these power-up elements in the game, but no one seems to be complaining about them because they're all good choices.

I'm not suggesting the addition of any power-ups that have nothing to do with the music. If it doesn't affect the music at all, it probably doesn't belong in the game. The bumper, crippler, autocatcher, etc. from Amplitude would not fit in this game much at all, I agree. But something like the slo-mo could definitely work. And if they thought of more ways to interact with the music via power-ups, those could work too.

I don't want these to be part of the natural gameplay, so there's absolutely no way it could make the game any less authentic than they're aiming for. I'm merely posing that they could be part of a different mode on the side of the main game for people who would enjoy using such power-ups. This would attract people who are still quite interested in this being a video game for the fun ways it can be played. It wouldn't detract at all from the integrity of the game since this would be completely optional. Someone mentioned Capture the Flag earlier, and it's really a sensible comparison. You can have your Deathmatch and Capture the Flag as options for common shooters and play whichever you prefer while ignoring the other or you can play a bit of both. Here, you could have your standard multiplayer gameplay and the power-up multiplayer gameplay and play both, one, or neither.

I just can't fathom anyone claiming that adding more options could make the game less authentic or worse. All this is doing is catering to more people and offering different modes for people who like choices in ways to play the games they love.

[Electric_Zen]

I very much like the freestyling, and the effects switch on the guitar. These increase personalization of the core music experience, and are not what I was considering as 'power-ups'.

What I get concerned with is Guitar Hero 3, where they give you power-ups that obscure the fretboard, or 'break a string', or otherwise detract from the music play experience in the interests of making it play more like every other videogame out there.


I just can't fathom anyone claiming that adding more options could make the game less authentic or worse.

I think it comes down to an issue of prioritization. I'd rather not see development work on power-ups that detracts from work spent on the music gameplay, interface, and online elements.

[Magnet]

I think it comes down to an issue of prioritization. I'd rather not see development work on power-ups that detracts from work spent on the music gameplay, interface, and online elements.

I agree that they should not spend time adding in another mode like I'm suggesting if the time could be better spent polishing up or working on the basics. From what it sounds like, RB is nearly completed and if they did have some spare time before they complete the game, they could add in a new online mode or two (not necessarily having anything to do with power-ups - I didn't really intend for this topic to just go in the direction of power-ups) just to supplement the material already on there, provided the new modes wouldn't take too much time or effort to add in.

I'd only expect more online/multiplayer modes if they were either planned from the start or added in during extra time left over after the game is for all intents and purposes completed. I would never want them to diminish the quality of the core game just to spend time on something like a battle mode. I also hope the quality of GH3 won't be hurt by their time spent on the battle mode in that game.

[Brad_Lee]

Yes boys and girls... star power is in fact a power up.