Having spent quite a few hours on Test Dive Unlimited 2 in the past few days (now that Atari have seemingly sorted out their servers) it has become apparent that a number of fellow users of this game lack the etiquette for MMO's.
This afternoon in particular I seemingly had more than my fair share of idiots deliberately knocking me off the road or even more annoying those that keep harassing you to race them online. What makes this even more irritating is that they tend to be those kitted out in a Bugatti or Ferrari whilst I am going off road in my Land Rover. Tempting me with large stakes if I win the race is not going to suddenly make me stupid. Fools are easily parted from their money and I would like to think that I have some sense as not to think that, on asphalt, a Land Rover is a match for a thorough bred sports car.
One refusal should be enough, but they persistently kept firing the same request over. Should I try and escape their clutches they follow me still firing the same message! Whilst my Land Rover can hold it's own on the dirt, I as a driver cannot and it is only a matter of time before my bottle goes I make the school boy error of finding myself on tarmac or more likely ending up driving into a tree, a rock face or rolling over multiple times! Arggh, go away! My eventual tactic was to 'teleport' myself to the other side of the map. Thankfully they don't appear to have the technology to track me and I am able to make good my escape whilst they scour the map like some crazed Mad Max road gang member looking for someone else to leap on.
Say what you like about the World of Warcraft crowd, in my time of playing it I found that a certain etiquette existed between players roaming about in the world. Often a passer by would boost my stats with a handy spell of if they could see that I was getting my arse kicked (a frequent occurrence) they offer a helping hand. If someone suggested a duel and I declined, I was tended to be left alone to continue my aimless wanderings, not stalked for the next hour whilst I try and make good my escape! I would like to say that the stalking/battering thing was an issue with the console community, but I have not had these issues with DC Universe Online on the PS3. I wonder if cars bring out the worst in people?
I know the nature of these games is to play with one another online, but sometimes, it's just nice to cruise around the island with your window down listening to some large tunes on the radio. Finding myself upside down in a ditch with the car spinning round is not the ideal way I would choose to spend an evening!
For me, the appeal of MMOs is not necessarily to interact with other people, but just to know what those around me are in fact real. I agree with you about WoW too. While I resent any game forcing me to team up with people I wouldn't piss on if they were ablaze, I found interacting with others quite pleasant usually. I think the fact is that "the devil makes work for idle hands". In a game like WoW, they're so focussed on their own objectives they won't take as much time to annoy you. Can't speak for car games though.
ReplyDeleteI think you have hit the nail on the head there. I think a game like TDU2 owes itself more to people just wandering around in cars looking for trouble!
ReplyDeleteI have played a few aimless hours on the PS3 version and had only a handfull of challenges and not once have i been hasstled. Maybe it's the 360 crowd lol.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot to be said for spending your afternoons spinning on your roof by the way :D