A question about Xbox Live etiquette

[Papageno]

If one's inviting someone to play a particular game on Live, isn't it incumbent on one to first make sure that the invitee has that game in his collection? I hate turning down game invites, but I've had to a couple of times recently, not to be an A-hole, but because I simply don't have the game. Unfortunately the "Decline game invite" option doesn't have a way to explain why you're declining.

[Pogue Mahone]

Whoops, was that me? I sent an invite to TF2 out to everyone logged into Live on my friends list Friday night, but I tried to go through the 'Compare Games' list first to be sure I was catching people who at least played the game. Maybe I wasn't thorough enough.

Anyway, I decline games too, particularly if I'm in the middle of something already. Or at least try to catch up with whoever invited after I'm done with what I'm doing. I don't think an invite creates any sense of obligation, at least not for me, more an indication of interest I think.

[Papageno]

Going by your GamerTag, it wasn't you, no worries.

As far as obligation, I just feel bad not replying, too, because at least by declining the other person can move on with an SP game or invite someone else.

[BlueJackalope]

If I'm in the middle of something, or know I wont be on long I decline invites, but usually try to leave a voice message to explain myself. (got your mic yet Pougue?)

I wouldn't feel too bad about sending invites or declining them, even without explanation, I don't think anyone takes offense either way. (at least I don't)

[Justin Fletcher]

I really wish that invite declines came with the option of giving a reason. It could have a few standard explanations as defaults that could be appended to the decline. I always feel like a dick just sending the decline alone, so I have to stop everything and send a note.

I also wish there were some options for setting up stock messages. My machine has been crashing a lot lately during Rock Band, so I want to let people know I'm not quitting on them. But two hours have passed by the time I type in my message because I have to use the guitar.

[Papageno]

The chatpad is very handy for inputting text. Also, supposedly you can hook up any old USB keyboard and it works anywhere other than in-game (you of course wouldn't be able to use the USB keyboard on the fake internet in GTA IV, for instance).

[Justin Fletcher]

Unfortunately with the weirdness that is the interface of Rock Band, my chat pad won't work if the guitar is connected to the console first. Argh.

[merryprankster]

Nope, Decline just means your doing something else. If you really feel bad send an invite to the person when you finish your round, that way they will know you are not avoiding them. But seriously I wouldn't worry about it.

[Rock8man]

I wouldn't do it so someone I don't know personally, (for example, someone from Qt3), but I do invite my friends to games they don't own all the time. It's our way of saying "Get your ass to the store and buy this game, so we can play it".

It also works as peer pressure if you decide to download additional content for a game, like Rainbow Six, for example, and then you select a map from the new content on the designated night for play, and then you invite your friends to play it. They try to join and find out, they don't have the map. HA! Take that!! Now get your ass to marketplace and download some content you stingy bastard! :P

P.S. It works every time. This is how I ended up buying Rainbow Six Vegas 2, even though I really didn't intend to buy it. Peer pressure rules the universe.

[JetLagger]

The chatpad is very handy for inputting text. Also, supposedly you can hook up any old USB keyboard and it works anywhere other than in-game (you of course wouldn't be able to use the USB keyboard on the fake internet in GTA IV, for instance).

As a lark I hooked up a regular usb keyboard up to my 360 to see if it would work and the keyboard worked splendidly. Also the USB keyboard works fine in GTA IV. You can type a url out on the usb keyboard in the address bar of the browser at tw@ just like normal and also works in the police car when you are attempting to find by name. Totally awesome, because I'm really slow at controller typing.

But back on topic, I am always hesitant about blind inviting people to a game. It kind of feels like just showing up at someone's house without calling first. Though I almost always accept an invite, if I can't stay long in game I can just say so over the mic after I join in.

-Tim

[Papageno]

BTW is anyone here still playing GTA4 multiplayer, or has everyone moved on to Bad Company or something else (or back to CoD4)? I haven't had a chance to more than scratch the multiplayer.

[Rock8man]

BTW is anyone here still playing GTA4 multiplayer, or has everyone moved on to Bad Company or something else (or back to CoD4)? I haven't had a chance to more than scratch the multiplayer.

Same here, I felt we moved on too quickly. But I suspect that me and my friends will go back to GTA multiplayer, since we had such a blast with it. As for the game we moved on to, believe it or not, it's Halo 3. We hadn't played it since Call of Duty 4 came out, but after a few weeks of GTA IV, I was surprised at how quickly we transitioned back to Halo 3. That game is such a blast.

As for the Qt3 hivemind..... it seems to have split up. As far as I can tell from my friend's list, there is no "game du jour" for multiplayer get-togethers right now at Qt3. I'm following the same trend. I'm enjoying a lot of single player games like GRID, catching up on a lot of back logged games like Lost Odyssey, and going back to Halo 3 for the Friday Night fights.

[HFL99]

I'd love to try the multiplayer -- I actually posted something in the GTA IV multiplayer thread about a week ago. I've only played a couple games of Team Deathmatch with strangers, which was just okay, but it seems like the other modes could be a lot of fun. Anyway, I'm going to sleep soon, but possibly sometime this week? My gamertag's EnricPDX -- send me an invite if you see me online.

[EvilIdler]

I'd like to at least try the co-op achievements sometime, but I'm generally only around for multiplayer during the weekends.
Although now I have plenty spare time in the middle of the week again. I'm generally up for any game I still have in multiplayer.

The list of games on a user profile is supposed to show what's most recently played, and trial XBLA games don't show up anymore.
That's a good guideline to help you invite people. On Xbox Live, the only good invite IS the blind invite :)

[Papageno]

I'd love to try the multiplayer -- I actually posted something in the GTA IV multiplayer thread about a week ago. I've only played a couple games of Team Deathmatch with strangers, which was just okay, but it seems like the other modes could be a lot of fun. Anyway, I'm going to sleep soon, but possibly sometime this week? My gamertag's EnricPDX -- send me an invite if you see me online.

Cool, I'm in Portland as well. Gamertag is FreshQu33blets.

[BlueJackalope]

Yez all can invite me as well, I got locked into finishing the single player and haven't really explored the multi.

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm interested in playing GTA IV multi as well. I have actually had my copy for a few weeks but didn't jump into it because I felt guilty about my backlog (and I can't resist picking up the latest Arcade games). I'll move GTA up to the top though.

[Marcin]

If I'm online, I'm up for GTA IV multiplayer - Team Mafiya work is great fun. In PNW as well :) Tag in Location.

In fact, how about tonight?

[ProStyle]

Well, there isn't really an "Invitation Outbox" for the sender, so whether you decline the invite or leave it lingering in your message queue is a moot point. The weekend Vegas 2 came out I got a few invites for that even though I'd never played it, figured it was just a global ping of sorts. I figure at the very least if they don't know I'm lacking the game in question they probably won't be missing me when I fail to show up.

[Rock8man]

Btw, if you guys are trying out Team Mafiya work, one of the games you should try is what I call the "Omega Man" aka "I am Legend" version of Mafiya Works. In other words, you get rid of pedestrians, and you set traffic to parked cars only. It gives the city a completely different, creepy vibe that's worth experiencing at least once, if you've never tried it. Plus the gameplay is interesting too, since vehicles aren't as readily available, and acquiring and losing vehicles becomes a significant part of the game.

[Greedo]

I'll usually try to send a quick note with a reason for the decline . . . but honestly, most of the time I just miss invites when they first come through.

Several times I've ended a play session to see that there's an invite from someone from like 2 hours earlier that I never saw.

My friend list is probably about 98% QT3'ers, so I know nobody takes non-responses personally, but I still feel bad :(

[Pogue Mahone]

Several times I've ended a play session to see that there's an invite from someone from like 2 hours earlier that I never saw.

Yeah, just happened to me unfortunately. Sorry HFL.

[RobotPants]

I've declined quite a few Qt3 invites in the past simply because I was in the middle of a boss fight or something.