Lobbies, Hosts and Party Chat

I've been thinking about why I love Burnout Revenge online and loved Burnout 3 online, and why I can't seem to get into other online games in the same way... I have come to the following conclusions;

The Lobby and Hosts

With the lobby system on Burnout 3 and Burnout Revenge you have a host whose name is the name of the room, or in the case of Burnout 3 the host was able to give the room a name. Having a set host means that player has the power to define the atmosphere of the lobby. They have the power to kick players who are not talking or contributing to the social aspect of the game, and those who have a negative impact on the lobby. They have the power to start the race, or to not start the race. This means when players need to go to the loo, get something to eat/drink or to deal with their kids/pets/parents they were able to ask the host to delay the next race for them and they didn't have to quit out of a good lobby just to go for a wee!

More recent games like blur and Split/Second don't have hosts, and have very short breaks between races. Although Paradise had Hosts, the lack of a Lobby meant that there was too long between set activities for my liking in most rooms I joined.

The lack of Hosts means that nobody is responsible for the Lobby. Disruptive players can not be dealt with, other then muting etc... and if you have a few muted players in a Lobby with you, it kinda defeats the whole social gaming thing!

This leads me nicely onto...

Party Chat

Since Party Chat was introduced I have found that Lobbies are less talkative... I am guilty of using Party Chat, I love the feature as it means I can talk with just Xandu and Suffur or other close friends about family/personal stuff without the risk of random people interupting... but it has changed the way I play. It means I don't jump from Lobby to Lobby trying to find the most friendly racers and as I am in a Party Chat, I no longer find a great room that I want to stay in because the atmosphere is really FUN!

The whole point of playing on Xbox Live for me, is social gaming. Having no Hosts so no personal responsibilities and having Party Chat which divides the Lobby is anti-social.

Luckily, Burnout Revenge online is still going strong and I had a great time racing in a couple of talkative rooms yesterday... although the flip side is with hosts and game chat with a small community there are personality clashes and there can be ugliness... but at least there is a community, and that at the end of the day is why the game is still going strong!