Why don't more NZism people use GGPO?

[Lennysaurus]

Was chatting a bit about GGPO today on the chat, and it got me thinking...  Why dont more people in our little community use GGPO and the vent server to play games?  It perplexes me a bit, and given how much our community could benefit by playing some of these great games online I was wondering if people could answer these questions:

Why don't you use GGPO?
Why don't you use the vent server?

What can we do as a community to start getting more people onto GGPO and playing?

[samurai black]

sub standard hardware.

[Chuckk]

i dont want to play with lag.

[Lennysaurus]

i dont want to play with lag.

Yeah I can understand this, as I don't play SF4 online at all because of the lag... but with GGPo the netcode is a lot better.  And I'm not advocating that it is as good as playing offline, but isn't it better than nothing?

I'm not being argumentative btw, just trying to get some discussion going.

[geneterror]

Set time for games via this board? I could do most weeknights or Sunday afternoons if it was organised.

I know one of the main reasons I'm not on a lot is I don't have a lot of spare time and whenever I have jumped on at random I haven't seen any of you guys on there. I don't tend to be near my PC unless I have work to do.

If there was a set time I could make an effort to be on otherwise I just tend to play SF4 where I can almost be guarenteed comp or just play  games on the PS3 in the lounge with the Mrs. We're playing God Of War 3 AND Final Fantasy XIII.

[electric]

For me, there's a few small details that make using GGPO/Vent a bit of a mission

1) I use Macs. I'm a web developer by trade, and therefore only own a Macbook and an iMac. Yes, you can dual boot/virtualise Windows to get around this, but in practice, I just find myself actually ENJOYING using Mac OS much more than Windows. It's a personal preference, but it's an a prominent part of what I do for a living as well as a hobby. Because GGPO isn't cross platform, it makes it a bit of a chore to boot up my Windows partition and fire up GGPO for...

2) ST/Alpha 2. Yes, these are great games... I actually really enjoy playing ST. But it's a whole new game at a whole new speed. The characters don't particularly appeal to me, and despite the play mechanics being quite similar to SF4, I just feel like a total scrub even going NEAR it... had I played more ST before I picked up SF4, I'm sure this wouldn't be so much of a problem, but I still don't like the characters very much. As for Alpha 2, I just don't have the time to learn the ins and outs of the game to actually feel comfortable that I'm actually on an even playing field. Learning the match ups and knowing what is safe/unsafe etc. is a big time commitment that I just can't afford.

For me, it seems as though #1 is directly related to #2 - because it takes annoyingly long to get GGPO to a state where it's playable, learning the games seems like more of a chore, whereas with SF4, I can just turn on the PS3 and jump into training mode while I wait for someone to come online or whatever - and because I already learnt the game when I had 3 months off due to being made redundant, I feel like I already know the ins and outs, whereas I would need a similar 3 month time period to learn the older games, which are - lets face it... old.

Hope that sheds some light on why I personally don't use GGPO as often as I would ideally like.

[fluxcore]

Why don't I use ggpo?
No-one to play against, all you auckland fags complain about lag. I don't have the luxury of offline play and now don't have any online play either.

Why don't I use vent?
Every time I go on there, the only people on are talking about WoW, which is a pretty massive turn-off.

Having said all that, if anyone actually jumps onto the chat and goes OI ALAN PLAY ME AT A2 I would absolutely go on.

[massi4h]

What if I said OI ALAN PLAY ME AT PUZZLE FIGHTER! Would you play? I'm keen to play some organised 3s I guess. Or any of the marvel games.

[fluxcore]

I just find myself actually ENJOYING using Mac OS much more than Windows.

This makes absolutely no difference if all you are doing is loading up GGPO and playing.

[fluxcore]

What if I said OI ALAN PLAY ME AT PUZZLE FIGHTER! Would you play? I'm keen to play some organised 3s I guess. Or any of the marvel games.

I like puzzle fighter, so yes. I would balk a bit at xmen though because I never learnt how to play it.

[Lennysaurus]

For me, there's a few small details that make using GGPO/Vent a bit of a mission

1) I use Macs. I'm a web developer by trade, and therefore only own a Macbook and an iMac. Yes, you can dual boot/virtualise Windows to get around this, but in practice, I just find myself actually ENJOYING using Mac OS much more than Windows. It's a personal preference, but it's an a prominent part of what I do for a living as well as a hobby. Because GGPO isn't cross platform, it makes it a bit of a chore to boot up my Windows partition and fire up GGPO for...

2) ST/Alpha 2. Yes, these are great games... I actually really enjoy playing ST. But it's a whole new game at a whole new speed. The characters don't particularly appeal to me, and despite the play mechanics being quite similar to SF4, I just feel like a total scrub even going NEAR it... had I played more ST before I picked up SF4, I'm sure this wouldn't be so much of a problem, but I still don't like the characters very much. As for Alpha 2, I just don't have the time to learn the ins and outs of the game to actually feel comfortable that I'm actually on an even playing field. Learning the match ups and knowing what is safe/unsafe etc. is a big time commitment that I just can't afford.

For me, it seems as though #1 is directly related to #2 - because it takes annoyingly long to get GGPO to a state where it's playable, learning the games seems like more of a chore, whereas with SF4, I can just turn on the PS3 and jump into training mode while I wait for someone to come online or whatever - and because I already learnt the game when I had 3 months off due to being made redundant, I feel like I already know the ins and outs, whereas I would need a similar 3 month time period to learn the older games, which are - lets face it... old.

Hope that sheds some light on why I personally don't use GGPO as often as I would ideally like.

Didn't realise it was so difficult on MAC.  When I was running linux I would just kick VMware in the guts, and then load up GGPO.

Hmm... its a pity more people don't want to learn alpha2.  I guess I'm lucky cause I grew up playing all the fighting games, so they are all like second nature to me. 

For what it's worth, alpha 2 is very easy to learn, imo as easy as street fighter IV.

Thanks for your insight though.  Helps a bit. You too Graham.  Also I don't agree about a game being old being a negative.  There are plaenty of old games that people still play e.g.:chess, checkers, etc.  I guess it is more a perspective thing than anything else.

[electric]

This makes absolutely no difference if all you are doing is loading up GGPO and playing.

That's the thing. I find it very hard to give up my normal desktop environment JUST to use GGPO. If there was a native Mac client I'd be more likely to use it - hell, I jump on Mame OS X from time to time to fuck around in 3s and ST because it's right there, and I can still chat/surf/whatever I want without feeling dirty

Didn't realise it was so difficult on MAC.  When I was running linux I would just kick VMware in the guts, and then load up GGPO.

It's not so much that it's difficult, as like you said, it's just a matter of launching VMware (or in my case, Parallels) and then loading up GGPO - but it's a bit of a system tax even with 4gb of ram to spare - I'm one of those people who really, REALLY hates waiting. Waiting for Windows to boot while sitting there eagerly, waiting to play is a huge turn off... Yes - I'm fucking impatient lol

Also I don't agree about a game being old being a negative.  There are plaenty of old games that people still play e.g.:chess, checkers, etc.  I guess it is more a perspective thing than anything else.

I guess what I meant to get across was, if I had the choice of learning an older game like A2/ST or a newer game (maybe BlazBlue/KOF13 or whatever) I'd be more inclined to pick the newer game. I absolutely have nothing against old games, as like I said earlier, I really like playing ST - just not as much as I enjoy the convenience of SF4 and the PS3

[zos'la]

lol guess I'll put in my bit.
I use vent, not all teh time but only when I am hanging knowledge and thoughts with people (Euan) as he seems like the only one ever asking.

GGPO - I don't know how to use it that well, I could play offline but not fimiliar with online play.
Also I will have to relearn another game which I don't have time to of course.
And ther eis NO competitions in the older games, so it makes me reluctant in trying to push myself to get better at it.

[xpunch]

I only played on GGPO while my xbox's were being repaired, had some good games with stu on Alpha2.

But other times i jumped on there were no NZism dudes playing, only brazil players.

My computer is ultra old and ultra slow and ultra kaka needa upgrade.

[kingpiccolo]

no ones on when im on.