No Online Band World Tour = * (tear)

[Kirksplosion]

Am I crazy? I thought I just read in an interview that the Band World Tour won't be available online (yet). Has this been known for awhile, and I have just been avoiding the fact like the plague? I really hope it's not true and I'm just completely delusional. I really want to go through the campaign with my friends that are about 2 hours away! I mean, playing the songs in a Quickplay Online option will be fun, but I want to be able to travel the world with my online bros. Guitar Hero 3 is doing the same thing - no online co-op mode.

-Sad Panda :(

[ThePaska]

You aren't crazy, the discussion of this is going on in another thread as well (http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=5687&page=3). It is a bit disappointing, but it isn't terrible. You can still play Band Quickplay online. Also if you even have one friend that wants to play Rock Band with you, you can do Band World Tour Mode, just not online.

[Xzyliac]

No online Band World Tour.

I need a hug.

[Magnet]

Yeah, it is odd that both GH3 and RB would end up not supporting multiplayer campaigns online. BWT not being online is a bit of a let down, but there's gotta be some room for improvement when the next Rock Band comes around. I don't mind too much since Band Co-op Play will be online. BWT would have just been a bonus. Playing the songs online is the only really important thing to me.

[Bakkster]

Unfortunately that is correct. :(


Band World Tour (and consequently the endless setlist) doesn't have an online mode. It was something we really wanted in there but the time to do it (and do it right taking into account all sorts of mostly unforeseen but very important things) was seriously prohibitive. It is something we are totally working for in the future as not only do you want to play it but so do we (more than you know). That said we do have our band quickplay and the competitive modes online and it they are amazing. Sorry for the confusion.

I had been wondering what they would do about all the potential issues with online BWT for a while, so I can't really blame them. It'll still be an awesome mode, and this is the only mildly disappointing thing I've heard about the gameplay.

Unlike GH3, though, you can still play quick-play co-op both online and off. :p

[Kirksplosion]

/hugs all around

Yeah, I hope I can talk my roommate into playing with me some. He isn't really into rhythm-games. :(

[Doshin]

Am I crazy? I thought I just read in an interview that the Band World Tour won't be available online (yet). Has this been known for awhile, and I have just been avoiding the fact like the plague? I really hope it's not true and I'm just completely delusional. I really want to go through the campaign with my friends that are about 2 hours away! I mean, playing the songs in a Quickplay Online option will be fun, but I want to be able to travel the world with my online bros. Guitar Hero 3 is doing the same thing - no online co-op mode.

-Sad Panda :(


i'm kinda bummed too, but, you know whats worse than no BWT online?

broken BWT online.

could you imagine the cluster..fudge-tastic time we'd all have if it was put in and not finished/done correctly?

i'm pretty sure i'd stab someone the fourth or fifth time the band leader d/c'd and no one could play in the band.

[Eman311]

For a lot of people it is really gonna prevent them from being able to consistently play that mode, which is easily the coolest part of the game so far.

[peachpunker63]

so like you cant start a band with online people in that other discussion part where you start bands?

[Eman311]

You can, but just not career mode. Quick play only.

I wonder if you can still make a "band" in the sense of a clan.

[hmxsean]

so like you cant start a band with online people in that other discussion part where you start bands?

You can using Band Quickplay online but not BWT. As I stated in the other thread is something we loved and wanted to be awesome but was very time intensive and impossible to get done (in any playable sense) in time.

[Royges]

What , No online Band World Tour and no GHII online co-op mode. :(

http://card.mygamercard.net/ES/gelsig/ROYGES.png (http://profile.mygamercard.net/ROYGES)

[TheRocker]

Well from my perspective The World Tour isn't as much fun unless you have your Band members in the same room.You just dont get the hype you would with your friends/family next to you singing along or headbanging to the songs.

[sporkBrigade]

Here's one way to think of it. How many First Person Shooters do you see with an online compaign mode? It's very very very rare. Only recently are we starting to see it with any regularity, and FPS games have been around for over a decade. It's really hard to program this kind of gameplay, it always has been. GH3 is a brand new engine, and RockBand is practically a whole new f'ing genre. Fitting in an online "Campaign" of any sort was a dream.

Anyhoo, it's a shame, but the REAL game is still going to be online. Playing 4 instruments without lag is what counts, and they got that working. Just be patient for the bells and whistles that follow.

[stiper327b]

Here's one way to think of it. How many First Person Shooters do you see with an online compaign mode? It's very very very rare. Only recently are we starting to see it with any regularity, and FPS games have been around for over a decade. It's really hard to program this kind of gameplay, it always has been. GH3 is a brand new engine, and RockBand is practically a whole new f'ing genre. Fitting in an online "Campaign" of any sort was a dream.

Anyhoo, it's a shame, but the REAL game is still going to be online. Playing 4 instruments without lag is what counts, and they got that working. Just be patient for the bells and whistles that follow.

That's a good point, but the only thing that differentiates this situation is we don't get to do a Solo World Tour. I know there are solo campaigns for each of the instruments, but it doesn't sound like they're going to be anywhere near as in depth as the BWT. I can appreciate the lack of on-line, but is there any reason why we can't do it solo? From everything I've read, the BWT is just like Madden's Franchise mode, just with a band instead of a football team. Now, how silly would it be if EA just allowed you to play single seasons by yourself, but the Franchise mode could only be experienced with another player in the same room.

My only fear is that my friends won't want to invest as much time into this as I would like to invest. They've got babies and wives and mortgages and overtime laden jobs, not to mention that we don't really live all that close to each other anymore.

I'll play the solo tours, I'll play on-line co-op and enjoy the hell out of it all, and I might even give a go at playing guitar and vocals (on easy, of course) for the BWT, but I don't know if I'm ever going to get to experience what others will.

Oh well, this is no way diminishes my hype for this game. HMX has worked too hard, has devoted so much time to give us all the awesomosity they could fit in and still bring it out this year, and I'm damn well going to appreciate them, and the game, for it.

On a side note, has anybody ever stopped to think how quickly this game came together? I know they've probably been working on it for awhile now, but they couldn't have been doing much work on it while still making GHII. That means that most of the work on this game has happened within the last year or so. For HMX to give us all that they've given, in a year's time, is absolutely insane and should be infinitely commended.

[Keebler]

Well from my perspective The World Tour isn't as much fun unless you have your Band members in the same room.You just dont get the hype you would with your friends/family next to you singing along or headbanging to the songs.

Right. I mean, offline bands are inherently more fun than online ones, just cause you don't feel the same camaraderie. Not to mention you can't even hear vocals online.

It's disappointing to hear this, but I'm not sure I would have explored BWT online much anyways. I do hope that HMX continues to work on this and offers it as a downloadable patch in the future (as opposed to waiting until RB2).

[milkman4591]

That's a good point, but the only thing that differentiates this situation is we don't get to do a Solo World Tour. I know there are solo campaigns for each of the instruments, but it doesn't sound like they're going to be anywhere near as in depth as the BWT. I can appreciate the lack of on-line, but is there any reason why we can't do it solo? From everything I've read, the BWT is just like Madden's Franchise mode, just with a band instead of a football team. Now, how silly would it be if EA just allowed you to play single seasons by yourself, but the Franchise mode could only be experienced with another player in the same room.

My only fear is that my friends won't want to invest as much time into this as I would like to invest. They've got babies and wives and mortgages and overtime laden jobs, not to mention that we don't really live all that close to each other anymore.

I'll play the solo tours, I'll play on-line co-op and enjoy the hell out of it all, and I might even give a go at playing guitar and vocals (on easy, of course) for the BWT, but I don't know if I'm ever going to get to experience what others will.

Oh well, this is no way diminishes my hype for this game. HMX has worked too hard, has devoted so much time to give us all the awesomosity they could fit in and still bring it out this year, and I'm damn well going to appreciate them, and the game, for it.

On a side note, has anybody ever stopped to think how quickly this game came together? I know they've probably been working on it for awhile now, but they couldn't have been doing much work on it while still making GHII. That means that most of the work on this game has happened within the last year or so. For HMX to give us all that they've given, in a year's time, is absolutely insane and should be infinitely commended.

I agree with you 100%, and can only hope that they are working on making it single player and allowing it to be online as well. All I can say is future updates (if this is possible) don't let me down, give my single player and online BWT!

[JackBNimble]

Can you create a setlist online of 5 or 10 songs with your band or is it just 1 song in quick play and then back to the lobby?

[MartyMcFly]

Can you create a setlist online of 5 or 10 songs with your band or is it just 1 song in quick play and then back to the lobby?

Setlists :)

[MartyMcFly]

Also, I am upset no online BWT, but thinking about it, that's okay. People have their own crazy schedules, you never know when people will be online. Who knows the time allowance people have to contribute to a career mode.

Also, those online you obviously don't talk to as much as you do with local friends who you can invite over when they have the time, so you won't know when they're available as often.

So I guess this all works out then. I'd still like to fill in "off the bench" and play with some of you guys in Band Quickplay sometime. As long as I can do that, I'm a happy panda :D

[Edgehopper]

That's a good point, but the only thing that differentiates this situation is we don't get to do a Solo World Tour. I know there are solo campaigns for each of the instruments, but it doesn't sound like they're going to be anywhere near as in depth as the BWT. I can appreciate the lack of on-line, but is there any reason why we can't do it solo? From everything I've read, the BWT is just like Madden's Franchise mode, just with a band instead of a football team. Now, how silly would it be if EA just allowed you to play single seasons by yourself, but the Franchise mode could only be experienced with another player in the same room.

My only fear is that my friends won't want to invest as much time into this as I would like to invest. They've got babies and wives and mortgages and overtime laden jobs, not to mention that we don't really live all that close to each other anymore.

I'll play the solo tours, I'll play on-line co-op and enjoy the hell out of it all, and I might even give a go at playing guitar and vocals (on easy, of course) for the BWT, but I don't know if I'm ever going to get to experience what others will.

QFT in all respects. How many people are able to get together groups of 4 that will meet offline for the many, many hours required to play through the Band World Tour? And with such a big impediment to playing through BWT, why not allow it for single players. Not all of us work in an office with tons of musician/gamers willing to spend days playing Rock Band, sadly. Fortunately I should be good enough to enjoy it as a guitarist/vocalist, but very few people are that good. This is the first big disappointment I've seen in the previews.

[sporkBrigade]

That's a good point, but the only thing that differentiates this situation is we don't get to do a Solo World Tour. I know there are solo campaigns for each of the instruments, but it doesn't sound like they're going to be anywhere near as in depth as the BWT. I can appreciate the lack of on-line, but is there any reason why we can't do it solo? From everything I've read, the BWT is just like Madden's Franchise mode, just with a band instead of a football team. Now, how silly would it be if EA just allowed you to play single seasons by yourself, but the Franchise mode could only be experienced with another player in the same room.

My only fear is that my friends won't want to invest as much time into this as I would like to invest. They've got babies and wives and mortgages and overtime laden jobs, not to mention that we don't really live all that close to each other anymore.

I'll play the solo tours, I'll play on-line co-op and enjoy the hell out of it all, and I might even give a go at playing guitar and vocals (on easy, of course) for the BWT, but I don't know if I'm ever going to get to experience what others will.

Oh well, this is no way diminishes my hype for this game. HMX has worked too hard, has devoted so much time to give us all the awesomosity they could fit in and still bring it out this year, and I'm damn well going to appreciate them, and the game, for it.

On a side note, has anybody ever stopped to think how quickly this game came together? I know they've probably been working on it for awhile now, but they couldn't have been doing much work on it while still making GHII. That means that most of the work on this game has happened within the last year or so. For HMX to give us all that they've given, in a year's time, is absolutely insane and should be infinitely commended.

Well slap me silly, that's a damn good point. I wasn't really looking at it from a Solo Tour standpoint, just the online multiplayer view. If anything else, it seems like it would take extra development time to design a dumbed down Solo Tour. I truely don't know why they'd do that.

It's possible that the "Solo Tour's more like Guitar Hero" statement was an over exageration, and the solo Tours will be much more like World Tour then we currently realize. But if not, I agree, that's a mistake on HMX's part to design a simplified Solo Tour.

[HeXcoda]

...well, that just deflated the joy out of my day.

Here we have this awesome BWT mode, which from the sounds of it is a LARGE! chunk of the game. And it's going to be completely inaccessible to many players, myself included, due to having no local friends to extensively play it with.

All we've got left is a glorified Guitar Hero playlist-grind with various alternative instruments. Unless I see differently, and I've seen NOTHING to the contrary, that's what I'm expecting. No bus, no van, no plane, no cities, no roadies, no nothing... maybe not even the ability to form a band of NPCs.

Sad face. :(

[TheTogfather]

Guess I need to cut Neversoft some slack then, since it must be pretty tough to implement right, or HMX would have got it done. Not the end of the world, but it does kinda suck for me, as I won't have a lot of chances to have people over to join in for band world tour. Dunno if I can get my wife into it or not, and my daughter is much too young...so solo and online quickplay for me most of the time. I guess that'll keep BWT newer for a long time for me...

[JackBNimble]

So online will you be able to create a setlist and play it with out being kicked out into the lobby after every song?Can anyone answer that question please?

[Edgehopper]

So online will you be able to create a setlist and play it with out being kicked out into the lobby after every song?Can anyone answer that question please?

Yes, you can. I forgot which thread it was confirmed in, but you can do that.

[Bakkster]

Again, if finding a group to play BWT with is not an option, you still have the option to play an instrument and sing at the same time. You may need to drop the difficulty, but it's a new challenge for you.

I guess what I'm saying is you can adjust. It's what I plan to do until I'm back at school and will have a group of people to play with.

[JackBNimble]

Yes, you can. I forgot which thread it was confirmed in, but you can do that.

Hey thanks for that answer.BWT would be the sh!t but as long as you can make a setlist with your buddies thats all I'm really looking for.I'm sure that given a little more time HMX is going to give us everything we want out of RB.....RIGHT HMX!!

[R0ck3r]

No online Band World Tour.

I need a hug.

Me too :(

...and so does the panda...
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee215/Buck3thead/sadpanda1.jpg

[TheTogfather]

Again, if finding a group to play BWT with is not an option, you still have the option to play an instrument and sing at the same time. You may need to drop the difficulty, but it's a new challenge for you.


That's true. I guess I can get my BWT fill that way, and it will give me extra incentive to try hard at doing that...should be interesting at least...heheh.

[SmokaCola]

I hope this doesn't have the ****ty match making saints row did. I rather have the option of seeing rooms and a latency. Knowing who I'm going to be playing with and such. Sure you could invite your friends to matches, But I want to be able to pick the room I want to play in. Not have the machine do it for me for the best "performance". Half the time it doesn't even match make properly.

[Nfsjunkie91]

I'm going to be honest. This effing sucks. I had looked forward to playing through career with my friends online, but that's shot to hell now.

Best I can hope for now is for it to be in a patch, but I doubt that'll happen.

[nofx2007]

Guitar Hero 3 is doing the same thing - no online co-op mode.

-Sad Panda :(

guitar hero does have online co-op its quick play not story mode

[JackBNimble]

Yes, you can. I forgot which thread it was confirmed in, but you can do that.


I'm going to be honest. This effing sucks. I had looked forward to playing through career with my friends online, but that's shot to hell now.

Best I can hope for now is for it to be in a patch, but I doubt that'll happen.

HMX wants WBT online, they are just out of time.I am willing to bet we will see it soon enough.HMX could delay for how ever many months it takes to bring WBT online ,but are you willing to wait ?I'm not! They have taken this game above and beyond any game in the music genre.But we have asked for alot and they have given alot in a short period of time.I'm willing to wait for a patch!Either way this game is going to kick the SH!T out of GHIII.

[SoraRikuVGM]

I'd be willing to wait 6 more months. I would have for the Wii version.

[Edgehopper]

HMX wants WBT online, they are just out of time.I am willing to bet we will see it soon enough.HMX could delay for how ever many months it takes to bring WBT online ,but are you willing to wait ?I'm not! They have taken this game above and beyond any game in the music genre.But we have asked for alot and they have given alot in a short period of time.I'm willing to wait for a patch!Either way this game is going to kick the SH!T out of GHIII.

If a Harmonix rep comes out and says, "We want this in the game, and will get a patch out as soon as we can; it'll be one of our top priorities after release"--then I'll shut up and be extremely happy :)

And yes, either way the game will kick the sh!t out of GH3, I couldn't agree more.

[AdamBomb629]

That's sad... I guess it'll be just me and the wife for BWT! Oh well!

[AdamBomb629]

Am I crazy? I thought I just read in an interview that the Band World Tour won't be available online (yet). Has this been known for awhile, and I have just been avoiding the fact like the plague? I really hope it's not true and I'm just completely delusional. I really want to go through the campaign with my friends that are about 2 hours away! I mean, playing the songs in a Quickplay Online option will be fun, but I want to be able to travel the world with my online bros. Guitar Hero 3 is doing the same thing - no online co-op mode.

-Sad Panda :(

GH III doesn't have online career too?

[bumbousdude25]

Well, I guess it's not all bad. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think it sucks ass, but if we still have quick play for coop, and tug-o-war for competitive... I think that's fair enough. We shouldn't complain: look at the rest of the game HMX is giving us! :D

[LegolElf]

This sucks, but it will all work out in the end. There is way too much to do in the game with beating all the different solo careers, playing new downloadable songs for each instrument, etc. If people come over, play Band World Tour, or just create setlists and play that. You can always do like I'm planning on doing and buy a mic stand and do Band World Tour by yourself as the singer and guitarist/drummer. That would definitely be a challenge, and be really fun.

I would love to see a one player World Tour mode though, just so you can get that part of the game without having to take this route, but it is an alternative. It would be nice to have HMX put out a patch shortly after release that will at least let you play BWT as a single player using the instrument of your choice. I know this is what the solo careers are for, but after that you have no other options other than to invite friends over... which is kind of lame if you don't all have the time.

[HeXcoda]

GH III doesn't have online career too?

I don't call GH3's "career" mode a career at all, any more than GH2s was. It's just a progression from tier to tier up a playlist. You make money but that's just another form of score, and the new scenery is just window dressing and has no impact on the gameplay whatsoever. ...and unfortunately I also just described RB's solo "career" to a T as well.

Also, I don't suggest too much optimism regarding patching in SWT or online BWT. That's the kind of major feature that usually gets held off for the next year's retail release. Unless an HMX rep comes in here and says Yes, there are plans to patch that in at some unspecifiable point (because honestly, we can't expect them to give us an ETA, software development doesn't work like that) it'd be a bad idea to bank on having it at any point in the next year.

Edit: Post below mine (so I don't flood): Unknown. But for sanity's sake I hope there are no BWT exclusive unlockables. That'd just be madness. Not Sparta, just madness.

[balarren]

So this leads me to have one important question: Can all songs be unlocked via the solo career mode(s) if need be? Or are some only unlocable through band world tour? Like most of the posters in this thread, without online it's unliekely I will have all that frequent a chance to work on the band tour (short of guitar and singing at the same time).

Thanks!

[AdamBomb629]

I don't call GH3's "career" mode a career at all, any more than GH2s was. It's just a progression from tier to tier up a playlist. You make money but that's just another form of score, and the new scenery is just window dressing and has no impact on the gameplay whatsoever. ...and unfortunately I also just described RB's solo "career" to a T as well.

Also, I don't suggest too much optimism regarding patching in SWT or online BWT. That's the kind of major feature that usually gets held off for the next year's retail release. Unless an HMX rep comes in here and says Yes, there are plans to patch that in at some unspecifiable point (because honestly, we can't expect them to give us an ETA, software development doesn't work like that) it'd be a bad idea to bank on having it at any point in the next year.

Edit: Post below mine (so I don't flood): Unknown. But for sanity's sake I hope there are no BWT exclusive unlockables. That'd just be madness. Not Sparta, just madness.

SEE OTHER POST FROM HMXSean regarding possible updates: http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=5687&page=3

[HeXcoda]

Uh, yeah, I know. I've known that for hours.

But he just said "in the future". Not "in a patch" or "as DLC". It may be coming in Rock Band 2. May even come in Rock Band 3. Until we have some confirmation I'm going to assume it's not coming anytime soon and I shouldn't bet on it gracing my system. All past experience with 360 games suggests that MAJOR features like that are not downloaded, but sold at retail one year later.

[BiffMan]

You can using Band Quickplay online but not BWT. As I stated in the other thread is something we loved and wanted to be awesome but was very time intensive and impossible to get done (in any playable sense) in time.

While I'm fully sympathetic to the realities of development cycles, this does kinda blow chunks. I can still play my own 2-person band and see BWT mode, but when I, my friend, and my sister all have families and can't often, if ever, get our schedules together to play, this will effectively mean we'll not be able to play BWT together. Online play would open up a whole world of opportunities for people who can't often get together face-to-face to have a band and connect.

I know it's exceedingly unlikely, but here's hoping we can see online BWT sometime before Rock Band 2... :(

[BarryC]

Ouch, I was damn hyped about this game and my friends were too, but if there's no online band world tour mode online, I definitely won't be picking up the game and neither will anyone I know because we are all single kids and we don't have enough time to drive to each other's house when we want to play.

Sorry, Harmonix you had to make this choice, but I can't stand not being able to play one of the most hyped modes in the game, so I will stick with the Guitar Hero franchise.

[ThePaska]

Ouch, I was damn hyped about this game and my friends were too, but if there's no online band world tour mode online, I definitely won't be picking up the game and neither will anyone I know because we are all single kids and we don't have enough time to drive to each other's house when we want to play.

Sorry, Harmonix you had to make this choice, but I can't stand not being able to play one of the most hyped modes in the game, so I will stick with the Guitar Hero franchise.

You can still play online with them, you just cant play tour mode with them, there is still Band quickplay, so you and your friends can still all play together.

[The_Vampire_Lestat]

I thought HMX had some big solution for the online latency issues for the band career online?

All of these people making online bands is kind of pointless if they can only play together in quickplay.


We can play with our friends in quickplay right?

Can anyone officially confirm that we can at least do this?

[BarryC]

You can still play online with them, you just cant play tour mode with them, there is still Band quickplay, so you and your friends can still all play together.

The reason I was excited and kept telling my friends about the game was the thought that we all could play in a band and progress the way they kept describing it, but obviously if there's only a quickplay mode (Will there even be rankings, money, or anything in a quick play?) and I can't find someone to play with, I'm playing a gimped version of the game, no thanks.

I think it's pretty bull**** they waited until now to tell us it was only a quickplay feature for online bands, when they know not even 95% of the bands made in "Bands Wanted" want to play only quickplay, they wanted progression.

[BiffMan]

I think it's pretty bull**** they waited until now to tell us it was only a quickplay feature for online bands, when they know not even 95% of the bands made in "Bands Wanted" want to play only quickplay, they wanted progression.

Maybe this was the big exciting announcement that was hinted at?

Sorry, couldn't resist. :D

[Apples]

Oh dammit, this is disasterous news. :( :confused: :( I have very few local co-op partners and even fewer who could do something like the "endless setlist" which takes hours.

[steelcurtain187]

Wow, I find this really lame. I don't even know anyone else who plays these types of games in person who would be able to do a world tour mode with me in person. I was banking on having a band online and go through it that way since that was what was hinted at for the longest. This is really a bummer to find out, especially this close to release :mad:

[BarryC]

Maybe this was the big exciting announcement that was hinted at?

Sorry, couldn't resist. :D

Yeah, if I was the company I would of waited until the game was out and let people found out, because they probably didn't gain many fans with that statement :P

Oh well, I'm still super-hyped for Guitar Hero 3's online modes and scoreboard and I won't have to wait as long. Too bad Rock Band is finished, I would buy it if they pushed it back to Quarter 2 or 3 of 2008 and came with an online mode.

And to the people hoping for a patch to bring it, don't get your hopes up. That's way too much code to change and how would the console load it seamlessly with the game? Remember the Guitar Hero II multiplayer we were promised? It won't happen.

[Magnet]

Ouch, I was damn hyped about this game and my friends were too, but if there's no online band world tour mode online, I definitely won't be picking up the game and neither will anyone I know because we are all single kids and we don't have enough time to drive to each other's house when we want to play.

Sorry, Harmonix you had to make this choice, but I can't stand not being able to play one of the most hyped modes in the game, so I will stick with the Guitar Hero franchise.

Your loss. It's primarily a rhythm game completely about interacting with music. Online quick-play, BWT, and everything else are just bonuses on top of that. I'm not buying Guitar Hero 3 for the BWT that it doesn't have, the co-op career that's not available online either, or the repulsive battle mode that it has. I'm buying GH3 for the music. If you're not buying a rhythm game for the music first and foremost, I think you need to rethink your priorities.

[Nechronox]

Your loss. It's primarily a rhythm game completely about interacting with music. Online quick-play, BWT, and everything else are just bonuses on top of that. I'm not buying Guitar Hero 3 for the BWT that it doesn't have, the co-op career that's not available online either, or the repulsive battle mode that it has. I'm buying GH3 for the music. If you're not buying a rhythm game for the music first and foremost, I think you need to rethink your priorities.

Why does he need to rethink his priorities? I think there are a lot of people who are or were planning to buy Rock Band *because* of the BWT and its Band-RPG aspect. If it were solely another rhythm game, I don't think I'd pick it up as simple quick-play multiplayer doesn't interest me. The lack of an online component for the world tour is a pretty harsh blow to those of us who are primarily interested in watching the band grow from garage to stadium-sellouts.

[The_Vampire_Lestat]

The lack of an online component for the world tour is a pretty harsh blow to those of us who are primarily interested in watching the band grow from garage to stadium-sellouts.

That summed up how I think most people feel about this subject.

[Rocker2]

I'm disappointed that Band World Tour won't be online. I thought it would be awesome to play world tour mode with someone that wasn't standing right next to you. Well at least you can still do other game modes like quick play online so it's not a total loss.

[BarryC]

Your loss. It's primarily a rhythm game completely about interacting with music. Online quick-play, BWT, and everything else are just bonuses on top of that. I'm not buying Guitar Hero 3 for the BWT that it doesn't have, the co-op career that's not available online either, or the repulsive battle mode that it has. I'm buying GH3 for the music. If you're not buying a rhythm game for the music first and foremost, I think you need to rethink your priorities.

You should be a spokesperson for their ****ty advertising. I was planning on buying the game because I thought I would have fun playing with my friends with this highly promoted World Band tour. I don't care what the music is, if it was an entire Blink-182 soundtrack, I wanted to have fun with friends.

I bought Guitar Hero II to have fun by myself and I wasn't told at the time of release it would have an online mode.

[HeXcoda]

BWT is no minor part of the game -- it IS the game. It is what separates it from other music games. There's been drumming games before and karaoke games before, and yes, it's nice to play those instruments here, but there's a reason it's called ROCK BAND and not Various Rock Soloists... BWT mode.

I'm hoping that Harmonix does right by this and patches it it in, rather than holding off a year like was done for GH2's lack of online play. Patch in a solo BWT more, or an online BWT mode, either, or, both... just something, so the most unique and wonderful aspect of the game is not MIA for a large portion of the audience.

I honestly can't recommend this game to my friends anymore, especially not in bundle form. If they already had a guitar, I guess it makes a good Guitar Hero 3.5, and there's always solo drumming later, but without a large and frequent local social circle... why bother?

[toefer]

Why does he need to rethink his priorities? I think there are a lot of people who are or were planning to buy Rock Band *because* of the BWT and its Band-RPG aspect. If it were solely another rhythm game, I don't think I'd pick it up as simple quick-play multiplayer doesn't interest me. The lack of an online component for the world tour is a pretty harsh blow to those of us who are primarily interested in watching the band grow from garage to stadium-sellouts.

I don't really know who's to blame here. I'd like to think I keep pretty up to date on the forums, and it was only very recently that details about the Band World Tour were released. Maybe it's partially our own fault for making assumptions about what we would/wouldn't be able to do in that mode.

I'm still on the side that thinks its not a huge deal. Granted, I've got plenty of people who can stop by and play, and my roommate is even pretty big on music (or at least big on dating musicians...she tells me some great stories about people she's met, and I get a little jealous). But even worst case scenario, I can always play guitar and vocals, and learn a new skill. Or maybe I can channel Phil Collins, and swap guitar for drums. Who knows.

Yeah, it sucks that you can't do BWT with friends online, but I don't think thats a reason to make rash decisions.

[BarryC]

BWT is no minor part of the game -- it IS the game. It is what separates it from other music games. There's been drumming games before and karaoke games before, and yes, it's nice to play those instruments here, but there's a reason it's called ROCK BAND and not Various Rock Soloists... BWT mode.

I'm hoping that Harmonix does right by this and patches it it in, rather than holding off a year like was done for GH2's lack of online play. Patch in a solo BWT more, or an online BWT mode, either, or, both... just something, so the most unique and wonderful aspect of the game is not MIA for a large portion of the audience.

I honestly can't recommend this game to my friends anymore, especially not in bundle form. If they already had a guitar, I guess it makes a good Guitar Hero 3.5, and there's always solo drumming later, but without a large and frequent local social circle... why bother?

And that makes me think further on the single player mode. It's even more gimped for us who wanted to play Lead Guitar, I had no problem the charts were simple and easier than the other games, but if I have to play by myself and the charts are still that easy, it's a step down. I won't buy the game no matter what now, but this is just a thought I'd like to throw out there to diehard Guitar Hero fans without friends who can travel back and forth to play the game.

[Magnet]

The lack of an online component for the world tour is a pretty harsh blow to those of us who are primarily interested in watching the band grow from garage to stadium-sellouts.

I agree, and I feel for you all. But if some bad news had to come about the game before its release, I think this is better than other possibilities. At least there is still a BWT mode in the game and still band co-op quickplay online. There won't be the online experience of moving up from nobodies to stars as a band, but the online gameplay won't change. You can still play the music with your friends online. It may not be all that matters to you, but it really is the essence of the game for most people. If you're not having fun actually playing the music with other people online, then the online portion of the game is pointless even if BWT happens to be online and fully functional. BWT online would have been really nice, but I don't think its absence is as game-breakingly bad as some people are quick to believe. I really think the story element - whose plentiful details are barely even a week old - needs to take a backseat to the gameplay and music.

I do think, though, that the fact of BWT not being online should've been announced straightforward from the very beginning when details about BWT started to go in-depth (unless it was very recently when HMX realized they couldn't get it to work flawlessly in time). At least we're getting this info from Harmonix now rather than some review a day after the game is released.

[BathTub]

Well this does blow. Since you can play the songs in quickplay online it must be the interface for all the decision making during the campaign that is the issue?

[BiffMan]

Well this does blow. Since you can play the songs in quickplay online it must be the interface for all the decision making during the campaign that is the issue?

Or possibly a problem with where the savegame resides or other such things.

[Nechronox]

I agree, and I feel for you all. But if some bad news had to come about the game before its release, I think this is better than other possibilities. At least there is still a BWT mode in the game and still band co-op quickplay online. There won't be the online experience of moving up from nobodies to stars as a band, but the online gameplay won't change. You can still play the music with your friends online. It may not be all that matters to you, but it really is the essence of the game for most people. If you're not having fun actually playing the music with other people online, then the online portion of the game is pointless even if BWT happens to be online and fully functional. BWT online would have been really nice, but I don't think its absence is as game-breakingly bad as some people are quick to believe. I really think the story element - whose plentiful details are barely even a week old - needs to take a backseat to the gameplay and music.

I do think, though, that the fact of BWT not being online should've been announced straightforward from the very beginning when details about BWT started to go in-depth (unless it was very recently when HMX realized they couldn't get it to work flawlessly in time). At least we're getting this info from Harmonix now rather than some review a day after the game is released.

Don't get me wrong, I'll still be buying the boxed set come November 20th. It'll just mean that my 'bandmates' and I won't be able to play the World Tour nearly as much as we'd hoped. We're all a good thirty-to-forty minute drive from each other's places, and we don't always have that much time. That's an hour tacked on to whatever gaming we try to get in, and that's a pretty significant span when there's work, schoolwork, family, etc in the picture.

While that lack may not be deal-breaking to you, and I'm sure that opinion is held by a large portion of the target audience, there are a number of us who might not want to spend the money on RB without it. Some people enjoy the rhythm genre but can't justify buying a rhythm game for just traditional rhythm genre gameplay. I liked GH2, but only playing it at a friend's house for limited time and certainly not enough to buy it for my home. It's the World Tour that makes Rock Band a worthy purchase for me, and the missing online component is a bitter pill to swallow.

Another thing that kind of gets me is that Harmonix wasn't going to mention that fact. It was only in response to an offtopic post in an unrelated thread that it came to light. All of the huge previews I've read about the WT neglected to mention that it was local-only. That's the kind of thing that really should have been upfront in any information about the mode.

Anyway, like I said, I'm still buying it. What Harmonix has done here is something that hasn't been done before. It's still an amazing product, and it makes GH3 look pretty sad. There just might be others out there who maybe can't get their friends in the same room for the amount of time necessary to really enjoy the WT. Hopefully HMX has at least given us the ability to transfer band data via memory card or some such thing so we don't have to bring our console with us every time we want to play the WT elsewhere.

[BiffMan]

What Harmonix has done here is something that hasn't been done before. It's still an amazing product, and it makes GH3 look pretty sad.

That's pretty much the point. It's still an astounding, ground-breaking game. Nothing short of reducing the number of players to 2 or taking BWT mode out all together would have stopped that.

But with online BWT mode, it could have been perfection. So I guess it's not that it's necessarily less without it, even though we'd all been led to think it would be there, it's that it could have been so much more with it.

[steelcurtain187]

Another thing that kind of gets me is that Harmonix wasn't going to mention that fact. It was only in response to an offtopic post in an unrelated thread that it came to light. All of the huge previews I've read about the WT neglected to mention that it was local-only. That's the kind of thing that really should have been upfront in any information about the mode.



Seriously man :mad:

[AdamBomb629]

Seriously man :mad:

DOUBLE DITTO.

[Paakaa10]

But with online BWT mode, it could have been perfection. So I guess it's not that it's necessarily less without it, even though we'd all been led to think it would be there, it's that it could have been so much more with it.

I don't know if it's just me and not getting more exposure to news outlets, but the first descriptive mention I'd seen of anything regarding the BWT mode came this past week from IGN and Gamespot. Prior to that, I had understood online play as something that would only be done through Quick Play, and I was absolutely fine with that, to be honest. I'm still in college and will have access to people to play locally with, but I am also looking at a move to Japan in the near-future that will leave me in the same position as many of my older forum members here. That there isn't online play for BWT isn't a deal-breaker for me.

It's just humorous (in a way that makes me sick) that GH3 can't code online co-op for just guitars and people are fine with that overall, for all sorts of excuses from the game being tougher to having online leaderboards. But Harmonix makes a game with two significant pieces added (drums and vocals) and try as hard as they freakin' could to get not just quick play co-op working but also BWT, and since they failed that latter part, everybody turns their back when they'd been generously ladling praise on the game the day (or perhaps even minute) before.

This is like going back to the time of the invention of the wheel and getting upset when the bumpy-@$$ rock doesn't provide as smooth a ride as promised in your personal picture of how things would turn out. No need to rag on HMX here for putting a concerted and legitimate effort into providing this mode in the game, even though it wasn't successful--I guarantee that the main proponents of this mode in the company (if Sean's reaction shows any indication) are probably far more disappointed than anyone who has come and posted their anger in various threads over the past day.

So the mode didn't get into this game. There will be a Rock Band 2. There will presumably be updates through DLC. If you don't want to play this amazing game right now, I'm sure somebody else will be more than happy to spring for the bundle you don't want to get now.

As it is, this reaction is (for my English major sake of comparison) likened to my thesis committee being ultra-hyped about the promise of my work and then being overwhelmingly disappointed because I got sick and couldn't write one of my chapters as well as they thought it could be done, despite my best intentions. Don't use the metaphor, "Well, online BWT would be the largest chapter in that book, they'd have a right to be disappointed"--I didn't even know the specifics about this mode until this past week. The logistics of the mode on a local-play level blow my mind as it is anyways--I can't even imagine what a freakin' nightmare it would be to program it for everyone playing online to navigate menus and decide on the various BWT "Rock Moments".

Yeah, I know, what a rant. Flamebait, probably. But reading some of the scathing messages about this game because of this hang-up literally makes me sick to my stomach thinking about how much effort and love HMX has put into this game and getting it done so that we can enjoy it just a little over a year after they released Guitar Hero II. I cannot wait to get in line at my local GameStop before it opens on November 20th to rush home and enjoy this game.

[AdamBomb629]

I'm still really excited about the gamel, don't get me wrong, it's just that I'm stuck having to play the BWT with my wife instead of my gamer friends. Oh well.

[Drossvirex]

I just don't understand the big draw of online play. Is it just me or does it sound totally not fun to play in a band over the internet?

I do understand if you have friends that live far away. That's all good but I still don't see how it will be fun online. You can't see your friends move around, play the drums or anything like that.

The reality is you won't pay attention to their screens at all. It's a chat room while you play your game.

I guess the Quick Play option is there, so why not have the career mode. Don't expect a patch. Anytime there is rumors of patches that add such big claims, they usually don't happen.

[BiffMan]

It's still an astounding, ground-breaking game. Nothing like it and if I had to pick only one game to buy over the next 2 years or so, this would be it.

But that doesn't mean that we can't be at least a little disappointed when we visualize what could have been if we had BWT online and think about how much more difficult it's going to be for some of us to get friends together on a regular basis to play BWT without it being available online.

Not having BWT available online does nothing at all to detract from how cool it is, it just means that we may not get to play it as often as we would have if we could have hooked up online and therein lies the disappointment.

[Paakaa10]

But that doesn't mean that we can't be at least a little disappointed when we visualize what could have been if we had BWT online and think about how much more difficult it's going to be for some of us to get friends together on a regular basis to play BWT without it being available online.


I can understand this sentiment. What I can't understand is going off on the game and the production team over something like this. After all, since the details of BWT weren't public until recently, it isn't as though HMX had dangled this out for us and said that it would be available for co-operative play online. Had they done that and then had this situation arise, it would be more egregious. Since this isn't the case and there was an effort made to have this mode, even though it was unsuccessful, one can be afforded a measure of disappointment at what could have been--this is not an allowance to damn all the men and women who likely had to foresake sleep and friends at times just to get this game to us on the timetable they wanted. I'm not saying that you (Biffman) are guilty of this, it's more of a general reaction to the state of the forum recently.

[Nechronox]

I can understand this sentiment. What I can't understand is going off on the game and the production team over something like this. After all, since the details of BWT weren't public until recently, it isn't as though HMX had dangled this out for us and said that it would be available for co-operative play online. Had they done that and then had this situation arise, it would be more egregious. Since this isn't the case and there was an effort made to have this mode, even though it was unsuccessful, one can be afforded a measure of disappointment at what could have been--this is not an allowance to damn all the men and women who likely had to foresake sleep and friends at times just to get this game to us on the timetable they wanted. I'm not saying that you (Biffman) are guilty of this, it's more of a general reaction to the state of the forum recently.

I'd say disappointment far outweighs anger in the posts I've read. Most of the people upset over this revelation have said they're going to buy the game anyway.

Besides, as Harmonix has claimed all along that there would be competitive and co-operative gameplay online, it was a reasonable assumption that the Band World Tour (being co-operative gameplay) would also have online capability.

I think painting us all with the same broad brush is a bit much. I haven't demanded Harmonix' collective head over this slight. I, and my fellow disappointees, are simply that. Disappointed.

[The_Vampire_Lestat]

I can understand this sentiment. What I can't understand is going off on the game and the production team over something like this. After all, since the details of BWT weren't public until recently, it isn't as though HMX had dangled this out for us and said that it would be available for co-operative play online. Had they done that and then had this situation arise, it would be more egregious. Since this isn't the case and there was an effort made to have this mode, even though it was unsuccessful, one can be afforded a measure of disappointment at what could have been--this is not an allowance to damn all the men and women who likely had to foresake sleep and friends at times just to get this game to us on the timetable they wanted. I'm not saying that you (Biffman) are guilty of this, it's more of a general reaction to the state of the forum recently.

As far as most people were concerned... while the exact details of BWT weren't known.. it was known that there would be a progression of a band from playing the smaller clubs.. to the bigger venues. No one told us this would not be online. Obviously most of us thought it would be... hence the reason a lot of us already created bands for the game.


And it is likely they knew this for quite some time... before they started the Rock Band tour.

[Paakaa10]

I'd say disappointment far outweighs anger in the posts I've read. Most of the people upset over this revelation have said they're going to buy the game anyway.

There are, however, those who have said they would not be buying the game as a direct result of this new bit of knowledge. My feelings are more directed in their direction. Sure, they number fewer than those who still plan to purchase, but they are certainly vocal.



Besides, as Harmonix has claimed all along that there would be competitive and co-operative gameplay online, it was a reasonable assumption that the Band World Tour (being co-operative gameplay) would also have online capability.


And Harmonix wasn't misleading anybody by claiming what you've mentioned here:
Online Competitive: Instrument Battles Online
Online Cooperative: Online Band Quick Play



I think painting us all with the same broad brush is a bit much. I haven't demanded Harmonix' collective head over this slight. I, and my fellow disappointees, are simply that. Disappointed.


There's a marked difference between being disappointed by the news and blatantly trolling in reaction. I don't think of your reactions in terms of somebody who is trolling. As I said in my first message of this thread, there is a bit of disappointment for me as well as I will likely be moving out of the country and away from friends and family not too long after the game is released. Such will limit my ability to play BWT mode--but at least I will still have online play to some capacity to play with my fellow PS3 Rock Band owners.

So, my apologies if you felt targeted by my posting. There's a big difference between the posts which get me going and what you're saying.

[Reaper0563]

quick question:

If you form a band locally with some friends, lets say a full band of four, but they can't play regularly. Will you be stuck with four players in the band or can you change the number of players? For instance, one day me and friend play then the next day its me, a friend and a friend, would that work or the number of human band mates static?

[BiffMan]

quick question:

If you form a band locally with some friends, lets say a full band of four, but they can't play regularly. Will you be stuck with four players in the band or can you change the number of players? For instance, one day me and friend play then the next day its me, a friend and a friend, would that work or the number of human band mates static?

The number of players can vary as long as the leader of the band and at least one other member are present.

[Reaper0563]

The number of players can vary as long as the leader of the band and at least one other member are present.

what do you mean by "leader of the band" a particular character or the owner of the game?

[Paakaa10]

what do you mean by "leader of the band" a particular character or the owner of the game?

The owner of the game would be a smart call, but it could be any member of the band. If it is your copy of the game though, it'd be smartest to have your character as the leader, that way you can continue your BWT progression regardless of who is around.

[MountainKing]

I don't know if it's just me and not getting more exposure to news outlets, but the first descriptive mention I'd seen of anything regarding the BWT mode came this past week from IGN and Gamespot. Prior to that, I had understood online play as something that would only be done through Quick Play, and I was absolutely fine with that, to be honest. I'm still in college and will have access to people to play locally with, but I am also looking at a move to Japan in the near-future that will leave me in the same position as many of my older forum members here. That there isn't online play for BWT isn't a deal-breaker for me.

It's just humorous (in a way that makes me sick) that GH3 can't code online co-op for just guitars and people are fine with that overall, for all sorts of excuses from the game being tougher to having online leaderboards. But Harmonix makes a game with two significant pieces added (drums and vocals) and try as hard as they freakin' could to get not just quick play co-op working but also BWT, and since they failed that latter part, everybody turns their back when they'd been generously ladling praise on the game the day (or perhaps even minute) before.

This is like going back to the time of the invention of the wheel and getting upset when the bumpy-@$$ rock doesn't provide as smooth a ride as promised in your personal picture of how things would turn out. No need to rag on HMX here for putting a concerted and legitimate effort into providing this mode in the game, even though it wasn't successful--I guarantee that the main proponents of this mode in the company (if Sean's reaction shows any indication) are probably far more disappointed than anyone who has come and posted their anger in various threads over the past day.

So the mode didn't get into this game. There will be a Rock Band 2. There will presumably be updates through DLC. If you don't want to play this amazing game right now, I'm sure somebody else will be more than happy to spring for the bundle you don't want to get now.

As it is, this reaction is (for my English major sake of comparison) likened to my thesis committee being ultra-hyped about the promise of my work and then being overwhelmingly disappointed because I got sick and couldn't write one of my chapters as well as they thought it could be done, despite my best intentions. Don't use the metaphor, "Well, online BWT would be the largest chapter in that book, they'd have a right to be disappointed"--I didn't even know the specifics about this mode until this past week. The logistics of the mode on a local-play level blow my mind as it is anyways--I can't even imagine what a freakin' nightmare it would be to program it for everyone playing online to navigate menus and decide on the various BWT "Rock Moments".

Yeah, I know, what a rant. Flamebait, probably. But reading some of the scathing messages about this game because of this hang-up literally makes me sick to my stomach thinking about how much effort and love HMX has put into this game and getting it done so that we can enjoy it just a little over a year after they released Guitar Hero II. I cannot wait to get in line at my local GameStop before it opens on November 20th to rush home and enjoy this game.


Amen. Harmonix have done their best to make this the best experience possible. I'm sure they are just as upset as any of you are about this and we WILL see this mode in the future. Whether its a patch or a sequel..who cares?

I'm sure most people here (including myself) used to play GH1 and 2 and think about how kewl it would be to have a game like Rock Band. We actually get it, with a hell of a lot more features than any of us would have expected...AND alot sooner than expected, and all you guys can do is cry about something like this?

As far as I'm concerned you're all ungrateful and not true fans. Go ahead and play NeverSoft's hacked up version of a good franchise and piss and moan to them that you don't have online..OR a full band mode at all. Boohoo
"

[Reaper0563]

The owner of the game would be a smart call, but it could be any member of the band. If it is your copy of the game though, it'd be smartest to have your character as the leader, that way you can continue your BWT progression regardless of who is around.

so do you have to declare a "leader of th band" at the beginning of BWT mode?

[AdamBomb629]

so do you have to declare a "leader of th band" at the beginning of BWT mode?

Yes, so that members can come and go as they please.

[BiffMan]

The owner of the game would be a smart call, but it could be any member of the band. If it is your copy of the game though, it'd be smartest to have your character as the leader, that way you can continue your BWT progression regardless of who is around.

Regardless, all of the characters are going to reside locally so you could use anyone if you designated them the leader, but I'd agree that having the owner of the console have one of their characters as leader would make the most sense.

Back to Reaper's question, when you create a band, you designate one of the characters as the leader. HMX hasn't yet stated whether that leader can later be changed or not.

[Nechronox]

There's a marked difference between being disappointed by the news and blatantly trolling in reaction. I don't think of your reactions in terms of somebody who is trolling. As I said in my first message of this thread, there is a bit of disappointment for me as well as I will likely be moving out of the country and away from friends and family not too long after the game is released. Such will limit my ability to play BWT mode--but at least I will still have online play to some capacity to play with my fellow PS3 Rock Band owners.

So, my apologies if you felt targeted by my posting. There's a big difference between the posts which get me going and what you're saying.

Fair enough, and no apology required. We're all big fans here.