Online: Why do hosts not start the game?

[Jon Weaver]

I don't know if its just me, but has anyone else found that when they try to play online, they go into a 'room' of people, who are waiting for the game to start, but the host never 'ticks' his box, so the game never starts.

It doesn't happen every time, but its now too often to be a co-incidence.

Last night, I realised what the flashing cross means (if anyone hasn't worked it out, its the number of people who have voted to 'kick' him) and now know that I can 'kick' him.. But I don't enough people know this, to get the majority.

Do you think that tw*ts simply do this to annoy people? They just set themselves up as a host and leave it there, so that upto 15 other people join his game and never get to play?

Annoyingly, it seems that unless you have a headset, you can't hear the other people who are talking.. Where as other games, put 'chat' through the headset if its available, and then through the TV if its not, GTA doesn't seem to do this.. So unless everyone has a headset, you can't even talk to them to get them to 'kick' the host.

Is this simply another example of people just trying to annoy others, or is there another reason that I am missing?

Jon

 

[MattDX]

The host could be waiting for a mate who he has sent an invite to.

 

[llol_slim]

i wondered as well if the host realises they also need to press X?

 

[Jon Weaver]

i wondered as well if the host realises they also need to press X?

I have been thinking that.. But last night, there was a guy who had a rating of 2 (which I think means that he is pretty good), so he must have known.

Plus, if anything, its more obvious for the host that he needs to press X, as he is the one in control of the menus.. Once you have set what you want, its kind of intuative that you need to press something to 'accept'....

At first, I thought its was a one off, but now I see it so often that I think that either people are stupid, or are deliberatly doing this to annoy people!

Jon

 

[llol_slim]

rating of 2 is good?! I have a rating of 1 ithink, so i must be mediocre

 

[neil.atkins]

Ah, thanks I hadn't realised what the "X" meant!

Am I right in thinking that the rating is reset back to "0" every day as I've been on "2" before but the next day drop back?

 

[chui]

or he could be smilpy waiting for the lobby to fill up a bit more before launching game?

Not everyone is trying to annoy you!!!

 

[Jon Weaver]

or he could be smilpy waiting for the lobby to fill up a bit more before launching game?

Not everyone is trying to annoy you!!!

I have been in several games where the lobby has been completely full... People are shouting in their mikes to start the game (but only the other headset users can hear them) and the host just sits there.

I am not being paranoid about this.. At first I thought it was just people didn't know how to start the game.. But i see this so often, than I can't help thinking that its the **** (insert your own word here) mentality that ALL on-line games appear to suffer!

Jon

 

[Darth_terra]

what's the big deal, the host will start when he or she is ready to do so, if it bothers that much then host your own game then you can start when you want.

 

[rickinyorkshire]

what's the big deal, the host will start when he or she is ready to do so, if it bothers that much then host your own game then you can start when you want.

But it does take quite a while to exit multiplayer and then restart multiplayer.

The best way to start your own is to reserve one slot when starting it, this has been working 100% for me.

 

[Jon Weaver]

what's the big deal, the host will start when he or she is ready to do so, if it bothers that much then host your own game then you can start when you want.

Why is everyone so defensive about this.. I am just posting my observations and asking whether anyone else has seen it.

It does bother me.. I have spent ages waiting for a game to start, where there is a full lobby of people and the host won't hit start. If I quit and look for another, I then have to wait again whilst the room populates, or if the host is too quick, start the game with only a small number of players.

I can't host my own game, as this would be selfish for everyone, because my upload speed is so c**p, the game will probably be laggy and unplaying. Aslo assuming GTA tests your bandwidth first, it might not even let my host a big game!

I just don't understand the mentality of someone creating a room, and then not starting the game.. Whats the point... But I think I know the point.. Its another example (like in all games) where people take delight in p**sing other people off!

It just doesn't make sense.. Its not like you can choose a game (like for example Warhawk).. You are just thrusted into a game, where you give the host the decision of WHEN he wants to start it!

Jon

 

[rickinyorkshire]

I can't host my own game, as this would be selfish for everyone, because my upload speed is so c**p, the game will probably be laggy and unplaying. Aslo assuming GTA tests your bandwidth first, it might not even let my host a big game!

It's my understanding that you don't actually host the game from your connection, they are hosted on external servers where you get to choose the game options etc.

 

[Jon Weaver]

But it does take quite a while to exit multiplayer and then restart multiplayer.

I found something last night, which makes things better.. if you press 'select' it brings up a list of game types, so you can select another quite easily, without quitting the Online mode.

But I am still finding this a pain in the a*se!

Jon