Disappointing Multiplayer Experience

I bought my first xbox (360) probably about ten years ago and have been a loyal xbox gamer since then. The issues with xbox live and the party system in general have just continued to degrade steadily since then. Its to the point that I'm taking 10 minutes
out of my day to write a pointless post to a forum just so I can get it out of my system. (this is saying a lot)

This is how multiplayer gaming should work:

1. Turn on xbox

2. Look at dashboard, see friends, invite them to a party.

3. "Can you guys hear me? Ok cool lets play. Ill join the game you are currently playing" No one needs to back out to a lobby or restart anything. Just one click to talk to them and one click to pop into whatever game they are currently in.

4. Have fun playing games and talking with my friends.

It should be that fast and that simple. Thats why people want. Why has this been so difficult for xbox to figure out and get working?

This is how the scenario actually plays out.

1. Turn on xbox

2. Look at dashboard, see friends, invite them to party.

3. Can't hear anyone even though they have joined the party so send them a text to see if they can hear me. They can't hear me either. Ok, leave the party and have them send me an invite to another party that they start. This works occasionally for some
reason.

But most times that doesnt work either, so we'll have the third guy start a party and send us invites. More texting. Nope still cant hear anyone.

4. Restart xbox. Start new party.

5. Ok can hear one guy now. Have third guy restart and join up.

6. Now we're all back at the dashboard so we have to start a new game up and try to join each others games. Same thing happens with the games. Have to send multiple invites from multiple accounts before we find the secret combo that allows us to both
play the game together and hear each other.

Recently bought the New Call of Duty and this second scenario happens every single time we want to play and typically the time between when I first turn on my xbox and the time we are all in a game together is about 20-30 minutes. This is ludicrous.

When we first starting playing World at War about 10 years ago we would get the occasional issue like this but since then it has been getting progressively worse. I don't have as much time to game as I used to and I don't want to have to waste time dealing
with these kind of issues. I just want to talk to my friends and play games. In ten years xbox hasn't been able to figure out a good way to do this? The dashboard layout is updated every couple months. Why is so much time spent re-arranging the layout
of a bunch of apps when the core product is still so buggy? Why isn't the party and gaming experience getting more and more streamlined with every new console and update?

I don't know if Playstation has similar issues or not but its to the point that I'm considering spending a few hundred bucks to find out. It should take ~1 minute after firing up my console to be online, playing a game, and communicating with the other
people I am playing with.

Please give me a reason to believe that I will be better off continuing to be an xbox gamer.

:)

 

Disappointing Experience with Customer Support

[quote user="whitewater152"]

Thanks for the offers of help, everyone. Here is my issue:

My xbox stopped recognizing discs the other day...[/quote]

Okay here is the problem. First, there are a couple of things to try and trouble shoot what exactly is wrong;

• Disconnect everything and reconnect everything and try again
  
• If the problem persist, Clear the Cache on the HDD and try again
  
• If the problem persist, Disconnect the HDD (Hard Drive) and try again
  
• If the problem persist, Sign Out of your Profile (without any Storage Device again) and try just using the Console as a Stand-Alone Console
  
• If the problem persist...

Sorry but if you get to that point, it's more then likely a Disc Drive that is not working properly. You will either need to contact Support to have the Console Repaired or decide if you want to purchase a new one.

I'm sorry and I can understand your situation. My first Xbox 360 (a Launch Core Console from 2005) "died" the same way. It sucks but there is no "fix" nor was it the fault of any Update. Sorry but Support is a little "wrong" and "off" sometimes. It was not
at fault of Skyrim (or any other Game) as well. I have logged hundreds of hours on Skyrim and it works fine along with any Update.

If I could recommend, if you do not have a Xbox 360 S (the "slim") Console, I would highly recommend one of those as a replacement. Overall the "slims" have shown to be much more reliable then the "old fat" Xbox 360. It will run quieter and overall should last
much longer. I'm not going to lie or tell any stories in regards to the "fat" Xbox 360 quality, they're pretty bad.

Finally, one last thing you can try (it's not a solution but might help) is to try Installing the Game to the HDD. It might help you "get by" at least until a new Console is purchased. But even if you do decide on a new Xbox 360, you should always Install Games
that you plan on playing a lot of. The Install Feature will help keep wear and tear from the DVD Drive and only helps to make your Console quieter and potentially last longer.

 

Disappointing Experience with Customer Support

I am sorry you have experienced such issues with our support team.

I am a proud member of our XBOX Support Team, and I would love to try and resolve the issues of all our customers. I do apologize that you feel as though we aren't meeting your needs and concerns with a helping hand and a smile.

If you would like you can list your concerns here and I would love to touch base with our Superiors to get any concerns addressed.

~Day

 

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