N+ Interview: MS hates User-generated content?

Good job MS!!! Thank God I got a PS3 too!

They're too afraid someone's gonna come up with something to hack the 360 with, like a downloadable level or something, but modified to have code injected into the game when loaded.

I actually thought there was something wrong with my download after I made a level and didn't see an upload or share button. I thought that would have been the hole point of the level editor. MS suck sometimes!

What the fuck am I paying 50 buck a year for? The worst thing is that I really don't have much choice.MS seems to lock any forum threads that bashes lack of Xbox Live content. I remember them locking the Dedicated Server thread just as it was about to get really hot.

Wait...what the hell happened to "Reply" buttons!?

I pay fifty bucks a year becuase i know xbox live is secure.I use my credit card to buy points i dont need people hacking my shit buy installing trojans in level edited maps.Just wait till the ps3 virus's start popping up you will wish you download user generated shit.Remember ps3 and 360 arent really pc's capable of running virus scanners etc.You get a virus in a console your screwed there goes your hdd and possibly your system.

Thats why ms chose not to include a web browser etc becuase they know from experiennce what zit faced nerds with no lives and a bit of programming knowledge are capable of.

Actually that's a lie. 99% of time you get viruses because you are dumb. I've spent a year without using an anti-virus because I was too lazy to install one.I didn't download any porn, WoW Keygens or Money-making programs. And if I did have to do some "shady stuff", I used trusted website. And guess what: When I finally installed Avast, I had two little spyware bugs.

If you got a virus, chances are that you're just plain dumb(hence the WoW Keygen). I doubt that eg. Popular UT3 fansite would have viruses in their maps(or at least nobody would notice)

The only reason MS are against user created content at this time is money plain and simple. They forced Epic to charge for the Hidden Fronts map pack when Epic were quite happy to release it for free.

Microsoft profit from micro transactions and when other people are creating maps (mods) for games where anyone can just look up a list and dl a user mod where is the incentive to by from them, marketplace is there to sell you stuff be it gamer pics, maps, video content, etc - it's all profit to them why would they undercut themselves with free user content.

Sometime I really regret not getting a PS3. I'm 14 so unfortunately, money WAS an issue :(

This is why N+ is going to PSN and praising Sony for their online structure. MS your not going to stay on top unless you stop running Live like the Gestapo

This does not make any sense especially in light of what MS showed at GDC regarding XNA games.

Plus they wont get Unreal Tournament unless they allow user generated mods, which would be a big loss for MS if they did not.

I'll tell you one thing. The level editor is one of the best things about N+. I was really sceptical about the game as a whole prior to downloading it. But after trying it I thought it wasn't bad. But the thing that I really enjoy is the level editor. When I saw their was no share feature I was greatly disappointed. Figures that it was MS that ripped the feature out. You can share everything in halo 3 why can't we share our tiny file size maps in N+.

I know there are issues with user generated content, but Microsoft is going to have to face them at some point. Perhaps a family rating system on content... or whatever.

Anyway, it's strange that Microsoft lead the charge with their online service, but when it comes to sharing online, they're following.

I think Epic is kind of special case since, you know, MS helped fund Gears of War with a significant amount of money. In some ways I can understand them stepping in and saying it needs to be charged for... not that I love that decision or anything.

This sharing stuff I simply just don't understand. It's the single biggest thing that makes me regret getting the system. Even the freaking DS allows people to share puzzles and stuff people make over WFC.

The ESRB already states that online functions cannot be rated by them. What could really happen in N+ though? Some idiot can make a level shaped like a penis, while 50 times as many people make ones that are actually normal? That's worth tossing it away for? Just institute a report button and it's done with.

I mean, seriously, literally anything can be uploaded to most sharing/social Web sites on the Internet, but I can't recall the last time we've heard some majorly horrible thing happening on them. YouTube isn't full of porn. There are ways around this stuff and there are ways to set up a well balanced place for creativity. MS has to realize this.

You can still play your created levels with friends online so they can see all the effort, sweat and tears that was put into it. But past that I've noticed noone ever wants to play them because you will tend to make them near impossiable to complete.
I would actually like to see the makers of N+ hold an xbox live arcade contest for level design. That would inspire me to make more.

I really think this boils down to eliminating the possibility of a player creating a level that contains racial epithets, inflamatory language, or delivers private information to a large section of the xbox live populace. In N+, I could easy cause havok by creating a level with blocks spelling out a phrase insulting some religious faith or race. I think Microsoft is just covering their asses. If I could avoid having to respond to reports that my online service is fraught with racists (which, if anyone has ever played cod4, knows it is) than I would. Its just not feasible to police every game on XBL. To be profitable, XBL needs to be somewhat autonomous, and having to hire a goon squad to make snap decisions on what is obscene is just asking for trouble and profit-loss.

MS needs to open up. Yes there will be some inappropriate content or whatever, but that's a chance to take to make open games like this better.

Nothing to do with viruses, they just give you a map editor to use on a computer, giving you all the tools and do it that way.

If theres no coding involved it's safe, this isn't hard to do. COD4 is requesting user made maps to be submitted for them to put on Live, just do it like that it's simple.

I think they are afraid that some douchebag (you know who you are) would use that feature to release a Penis level and then some parent would use that as an excuse to sue MS.

Okay it sucks that we don't get to upload our levels like in Megaman Powered up! but why the hell the co-op mode doesn't works?

I mean I can still create my own levels and share them with people who feel like playing co-op but it sucks even more that the game doesn't save my progress.

I said it back when they first floated the idea, that microtransactions were going to be the death of Mods and user generated content just as consoles are reaching a level where these things become possible.
MS won't be the only one guilty of it soon enough as well. Once Sony sees the kind of money to be made milking users for every dime, you'll see the same thing on PSN. They'll give you the crack for free now, but just wait until you're hooked. Call me spoiled by my 20+ year free ride on the PC platform but this is just shitty.

I'm glad i bought a Ps3 over christmas in case developers start to leave arcade and go for PSN. They really need to loosen up some of their restrictions before that happens.

wtf happened to that big speech about user generated content? so gay...

As a software system designer, sounds to me the reason they don't allow it is pretty simple. MS is probably missing a few things in the system and I'm guessing they are frantically trying to address this quickly. They are missing a way to uniquely identify content and a way to mark content as inappropriate (which in essence would shutdown all uses of that content). I'm guessing they just hadn't thought of it in the latest iterations of Live. For managability issues this has to be a Live wide system, not per game. Otherwise that is just too much work for both MS and/or the game makers (e.g. Turn 10).

This isn't the same as, say, YouTube videos. Microsoft CAN uniquely identify and pull down games (say bad demo, or so)...that is more like YouTube. User generated content in game is different. What MS will do is create some libraries that all games with user generated content MUST implement. That library will properly wrap the user generated content with unique identifies and ability to pull (maybe even allow gamers to rate the appropriateness of the content).

SO, I don't believe MS is trying to prevent anything, they just need to build the system and tools for it. What is more curious is why they aren't talking about the issue and letting people know more openly that the issue is in fact being addressed.

And let's be clear, as much as everyone says the PS3 is more open, there are more games on the 360 that allow for user generated content than on the PS3. Yes, it is more restricted (ie no Unreal 3 mods), but MS DOES want it, they are just figuring out how to do it in an appropriate fashion. Which brings me to Halo 3 and the Forge...remember MS has commonly used Halo as the game to test new Live features. Expect their learnings from Halo 3 (and Forza 2), to be strong learning/starting points.

I think we saw the signs of the user-generated content at GDC. If you've downloaded the XNA titles, you'll see a splash screen that says something like Create : Play : Review or something.

I expect you'll see user generated DLC appear in the games tab, along with some way of rating it, this might be games, mods, or levels. Remember, we've got the spring update to come and my money is on more community stuff.

MS want everything to be more unified, I expect they want all DLC to work the same way, and be able to keep content under control. Remember all the fuss people made about cars in Forza 2 with nazi symbolism on them?

So now the trolls can say that I have to pay for a service that prevents me from doing things that are free to all on PSN... great.

It's getting harder and harder to watch MS completely blow the excellent start the 360's had (minus the rrod stuff).

Ya gotta give people what they want, and frankly, user generated content sharing should've be in the feature set since Oblivion was released.

If the software can pass cert it should be available to users, period. This is just stupid.

You never know....this may be a feature they're working on for the spring update - a user created section for rating user created content for games. It may even have a marketplace set up - that way, they can advertise on the section that is hosting free content to help pay for it

Yes it sucks, and I bet the PS3 version will have a community share (eventually...), but I see a little of Microsoft's point. You know the first time somebody makes a level that spells out "WHITE POWER" in walls or something, Jack Thompson will be all over that shit. Of course, that already happens every day on Halo voice chat, but you can't put a screenshot of voice chat on the 11 o'clock news and get some hysteric on to rant about it.