Home Gaming Is the Xbox One friends system broken?

Is the Xbox One friends system broken?

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shirtThe one thing that differentiated the last generation of consoles was the fact that Microsoft’s operating system and software functionality was leagues ahead of the PlayStation 3. Yes the PS3 stuff all worked but it was clunky and difficult to use. Exactly what you expect from a hardware company though.

However, if a thread on Neogaf is to be believed, then Microsoft could have broken the part of the system that is crucial to the enjoyment of online gaming. The friends and party functionality.

It all revolves around the fact that the Xbox One doesn’t have a guide system anymore. If you want to access software functionalities you need to go back to the main dashboard or snap to a feature. Now unlike in the last gen we don’t need to close our game to head back to the main menu but at the same time is sounds cumbersome.

You can’t simply bring up your friends list while in a game…..unless I’m missing something you either have to go back to the home screen and click on the friends tile or you have to snap the ui and bring the party tab into the second window…both methods are cumbersome and one of the best features of the 360 was how you could simply click the orb button..bring up the friends list and invite to party or join party . Another rather annoying thing is that I have to filter to online only every time I go into my friends list…it should be showing the online guys first and the offline second.

And it sounds like they have somehow broken the notification system as well, where in the 360 world once your friend came online it popped up saying HornyRabbit69 is online. You could then click the Orb and invite them in. However now it works entirely differently

Not sure what they have done here but you can’t set the notifications to show when your friends come online…instead of this they have put some retarded system which prompts other people on your friends list to join into a party if they happen to be playing the same game…this would not be a problem if I was chummy with everyone on my friends list but I play with some friends on some games and some other friends on other games

So now instead of you inviting them the system will automatically invite everyone who is playing what you are playing. Again this is idiotic as I’m often playing a single player game while waiting for someone to come online to play GTA V or something against.

And he doesn’t hold back when talking about the invite system specifically.

Probably the biggest pile of crap in the whole thing…you can’t simply click on a friend and invite to game……try setting up a private lobby in forza5…you will go insane…you cant even join a session in progress….there is no option too unless the game you have has it built into their matchmaking system….you get the invites late,the pop ups to join the party game put you into lobbys of the people who are playing it on your friends list (who you may not want to play with) and sometimes it decides to randomly kick someone which causes the game to crash for one or two people in your party.

All in all this worries me a lot as if it becomes a problem to invite people into games and join people then the enjoyment of online gaming will suffer severely.

This can at least be fixed with a patch, but only if Microsoft admits it is a problem to start with. But for now the Xbox One could maybe be the perfect console for someone with no friends or social skills… Hey Darryn we found your perfect console.

Last Updated: November 25, 2013

41 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief Duke

    November 25, 2013 at 10:32

    But can’t you use the EierDoos commands to do this?

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      November 25, 2013 at 10:41

      Maybe you can? After the next seven updates?

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Duke

        November 25, 2013 at 10:41

        “Eierdoos, update patch”

        “I’m sorry, I can’t understand you, please update the patch before command can be implemented”

        Reply

    • Weanerdog

      November 25, 2013 at 11:01

      It says you can snap your fried list so yes but the guys are complaining that it is cumbersome, whatever that means.

      Reply

  2. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    November 25, 2013 at 10:35

    Lol. That last jibe at Darryn made me lol.

    In all seriuosness though, did they not QA the biggest features of their own console?

    Surely someone testing this should have gone “heeeeey. Why can’t I invite people? And why the duck am I being put in to a game I don’t want to be in? What’s going on here?”

    Reply

  3. Hammersteyn

    November 25, 2013 at 10:37

    Fortunately they will have plenty of time to fix this before it launches here.

    Reply

    • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

      November 25, 2013 at 10:39

      It’s ok. We won’t need it fixed as we wouldn’t have the functionality here anyway #trollol

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        November 25, 2013 at 10:41

        LOL!

        Reply

  4. RyseandRepeat

    November 25, 2013 at 10:37

    Ouch Gavin, too early on a Monday for Darryn jokes!

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      November 25, 2013 at 10:38

      Xbox “One”, because forever SP 😛

      Reply

    • Vampyric Squirrel of the Sith

      November 25, 2013 at 10:43

      It’s never too early for Darryn jokes

      Reply

      • ToshZA

        November 25, 2013 at 10:44

        Even when Darryn’s too early. 😉

        Reply

        • RyseandRepeat

          November 25, 2013 at 10:45

          OUCH!

          Reply

        • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

          November 25, 2013 at 10:47

          apply cold water to burn

          Reply

        • Admiral Chief Duke

          November 25, 2013 at 10:49

          To bee too early will have to imply he GOT there…

          Reply

          • ToshZA

            November 25, 2013 at 10:51

            They’re working on something for him. The Occulus Rift.

      • RyseandRepeat

        November 25, 2013 at 10:45

        Shame!

        Reply

  5. ToshZA

    November 25, 2013 at 10:41

  6. Skyblue

    November 25, 2013 at 10:57

    Lost me at “thread on Neogaf is to be believed”

    Reply

  7. Alien Emperor Trevor

    November 25, 2013 at 11:01

    Friends are microtransactions.

    Reply

    • John's (JJ's) Annihilation

      November 25, 2013 at 11:05

      So says #foreverSP

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        November 25, 2013 at 11:08

        Quiet R0.15!

        Reply

        • John's (JJ's) finest excuse

          November 25, 2013 at 11:09

          Ouch! If it was dollars it would still be okay, but Randelas. Sheesh.

          Reply

  8. TiMsTeR1033

    November 25, 2013 at 11:06

    Imagine trying to get Get Gta Online working with Xbone UI flipping hell never get online!

    Reply

    • John's (JJ's) finest excuse

      November 25, 2013 at 11:08

      Easier than doing it with a pc. 🙁

      Reply

      • TiMsTeR1033

        November 25, 2013 at 11:17

        I guess so.. Still its lekker to be playing something else, check and see who is online and playing without even leaving your game.

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          November 25, 2013 at 11:20

          Shift-Tab.

          Reply

          • TiMsTeR1033

            November 25, 2013 at 11:21

            It looks prettier with xbox 360 Ui

          • John's (JJ's) finest excuse

            November 25, 2013 at 11:29

            If it helps you sleep at night, sure.

  9. Unavengedavo(aka. MadeYouLook)

    November 25, 2013 at 11:48

    So is MS trying to outdo Sony with launch issues?

    Reply

  10. Sageville

    November 25, 2013 at 12:33

    Software issues get patched….

    Reply

  11. DrKiller

    November 25, 2013 at 14:06

    lol so we all focused on the specs, meanwhile in the friends list department…

    Reply

  12. raceReady

    November 25, 2013 at 14:18

    ahahahaah make the user go back to the dash just to invite friends

    what a load of crap, its all to FORCE users back into an “ad space”

    enjoy the microsoft’s d in your ass

    Reply

  13. Crapgamer

    November 25, 2013 at 19:57

    It’s not broken, you can still send invites in game and set up lobbies fine. In fact you can now do 32 person Party Chat which is weird since they originally said it was only going to be 8 at launch. “Broke” would mean it doesn’t work.

    I think there is some things they can do to make it easier, but it works perfectly fine. Just because it’s different than we’re used to doesn’t make it broken or bad.

    Reply

  14. jlcurtis

    November 26, 2013 at 06:38

    Snaping has the same affect as hitting the guide button on the 360 , “xbox snap party” brings up the party system and “xbox snap activity” brings up the friend feed. Its the same bc your control goes to something other then your game but the difference is you can still see what is going on in your game in ?aše you need to switch back. Now i would have liked to have a command like” xbox snap friends” and it would snap your online friends list to the side with shortcuts to invite to party, ect on it such as with the old system but it is far from broken

    Reply

  15. Andy Moore

    November 26, 2013 at 21:57

    I have noticed this problem. It’s rubbish

    Reply

  16. Andy Moore

    November 26, 2013 at 21:58

    The simple friends list on 360 is much better. I can’t see one of my friends online either

    Reply

  17. vezayar

    November 28, 2013 at 06:42

    it’s genuinely broken. Most of the times the invites don’t even send and when they do they often don’t take you anywhere. Add to that, games like COD are detecting my NAT as strict (while it was open on 360 version) and the XB1 picks it up as Open is really frustrating the absolute f*** out of me and my friends. Regularly spend 10-15 minutes trying to coerce the stupid f***** thing to join each others lobbies. Ridiculous. MS need to up their game and do it quick.

    Reply

  18. Lex Mastermind Lotharr

    November 30, 2013 at 22:40

    Xbone, what do u expect?

    Reply

    • Not A PC Gamer

      December 6, 2013 at 09:55

      For them to always show up half-cocked maybe?

      Reply

  19. Not A PC Gamer

    December 6, 2013 at 07:04

    They have broken everything I’ve seen with the 3 hours I spent with it and a friends house. It’s not like I would have ever bought this thing myself because I’m not an inept, gullible and Naive MS drone that supports anti consumer business practices and criminally hides free apps behind a gold paywall. It only took the Reveal for me to make my decision.. After the DRM was announce I sold my 360, games and my Xbox live account to someone for $500 on Craig’s list. Yeah I have tons of games, DLC and Tv shows so I got a lot for it.

    I guess I’m much wiser than most.. probably because I have a brain, and actually possess principles.. something most Xbox supporter don’t even possess. 🙂

    Reply

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