Jimquisition: Friends

[omicron1]

Friendships are precious things that allow us to get through this horrific maelstrom we bitterly call life.

Fair warning, Mr. Sterling: You may have a reasonable point somewhere in there, but every time you go off on a Christophobic rant I stop watching your video.



On topic: This seems to be another area where consoles deviate from PCs for no other reason than because they can - along with things like proprietary 200%-markup hard disks and ads-on-the-dashboard. The Wii U sort of puts a cap on the whole affair - Nintendo had six years to learn from its predecessors' mistakes, and what did it do? The same thing all over again. Bad N. Bad. Being a generation behind graphically doesn't mean you have to be a generation behind functionally, too.

 

[juyunseen]

You like your two dollar gloves don't you Squidward?

 

[uguito-93]

who the hell has 100 friends on a console? The most I ever had on xbox live was 5. Honestly, the only people who I think are affected by this are the same kind of facebook friendwhores with over a thousand friends who just get off on showing other people how many friends they have.

 

[manic_depressive13]

I think the friend limit should be 10 so that people might stop abusing the term "friend" to mean "people I've not exchanged ten words with and don't give a shit about". Not only would increasing the friend limit hardly qualify as innovative, it wouldn't even affect 99% of the player base. While I would agree that the industry is stagnating in a lot of ways, I don't think this is an example of that stagnation. A bad example on which to base your argument, although I have a feeling this was more of an apology video explaining why you haven't added your fans as friends.

 

[orangeapples]

This friends number thing seems to be a famous people problem. I have 10 friends that I play games with regularly. I see no reason to add random people I come across.

 

[theultimateend]

Your outfit is nice, probably the third best thing about the show.

I think the first is the topics.

Second being you?

I think that works.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

This is an interesting point that I've never thought of... that doesn't affect me. =(

I wish I could be like Jim at the end, showing my massive friends list to my mother.

*obligatory Forever Alone*

 

[Nikolaz72]

Snip

I heard that PS3 has steam, couldnt that possible work as a temporary work-around? Youknow, extra friendlist and group-making tools.

If you have a PS3... And have the same problem on the PS3.

 

[Madman123456]

I should be able to use the Friends system to add many many people for different games; some of my friends don't like this game so they wont play it with me and others don't like that game. I should be able to have a System that allows me to play with random People and follow those with which i had a good Experience. Not everyone of which would be necessarily my Friend as it where and why would anyone assume to be able to assess who and why i would declare a "Friend".

In Reality, i have a lot of Aquaintances and few good Friends. I couldn't even keep up with all of them if i had 100 Friends. But i'd like to use the Friends system to get together with the People that play this game and then the other Game.

About the intro bit, People who laugh at you for buying new shit: I am one of those People.
We have quite a fast technology cycle already and if throw many at a Company with questionable Business politics despite not really needing their Product, you deserve to be laughed at.

Bought new Iphone5? Why? Is the old one broken? If that's the Case, why not buy any other Phone instead that thing which is apparently far too flimsy for a device that you should be able to carry around whereever you go. And if the old one is perfectly fine, do you really need the new Functions bad enough to warrant the Money you throw at the company?

That goes for every Phone and pretty much everything. I'm constantly annoyed at the buildquality of many modern devices and People who are ready to buy replacements whenever the Company says so aren't really helping the Case.

So, Mr. Quisition, Jim, you're welcome to try and slit my throat. But be warned that a human throat might be too sturdy for modern cheapo knives to slit.

 

[Urh]

Ok I have to ask, if you could have 10,000 friends how many of those would you actually keep up with? I mean really? Like maybe 10. 20 at most. I'm surprised if you keep up with all 100 that you've got. Having more "friends" is mostly for bragging rights, it's not as though you keep in touch with all of them or even most of them.

Let's be honest. When it comes to gaming platforms, "friend" basically means "somebody who I enjoy playing games with." It doesn't necessarily mean you want to get to know each and every one of them personally. And that's more or less how I treat my gaming friends lists - much the same way a philanderer keeps a little black book of booty calls. Sometimes I just want to somebody to play Left 4 Dead with at 2am and have some fun. I'm not much of a multiplayer gamer, and I don't even know exactly how many friends I have on my Steam account, although I'd be surprised if it wasn't over 100 (and that was a mere statement of fact, not a boast). Yes, there are only a few people on that list I have actually gotten to know, but mostly I just use my friends list as a jumping off point - I can see who's online, and I can jump straight into a game safe in the knowledge that at least one or two people in that game are people I'm going to have fun playing with (or against).

 

[CAPTCHA]

Ok I have to ask, if you could have 10,000 friends how many of those would you actually keep up with? I mean really? Like maybe 10. 20 at most. I'm surprised if you keep up with all 100 that you've got. Having more "friends" is mostly for bragging rights, it's not as though you keep in touch with all of them or even most of them.

If you have that many friends, maybe you're popular enough that the 10,000 would like to keep up with YOU. In my case, maybe I won't have a close relationship with everyone on my list, but I still feel bad that I can't add them all. It's not nice having to reject requests, and I think anybody who ends up joining big communities online will feel the same way.

So you want live services to act like another twitter or facebook? Aren't these already on consoles? Your request seems very journalism-centric. The live services were designed to replace the sitting in a room and playing together and they are rounded enough to support larger events like tournments and simulate LAN parties. The common man's needs are already being fulfilled, and as there plenty of platforms from bloggers and their fanbases already available, I don't see the need to appropriate another system that was never designed for it in the first place.

 

[Milanezi]

Sterling is right on the subject but... This episode was sort of a letdown, that didn't feel like a strong subject to tackle...

 

[Milanezi]

Ok I have to ask, if you could have 10,000 friends how many of those would you actually keep up with? I mean really? Like maybe 10. 20 at most. I'm surprised if you keep up with all 100 that you've got. Having more "friends" is mostly for bragging rights, it's not as though you keep in touch with all of them or even most of them.

If you have that many friends, maybe you're popular enough that the 10,000 would like to keep up with YOU. In my case, maybe I won't have a close relationship with everyone on my list, but I still feel bad that I can't add them all. It's not nice having to reject requests, and I think anybody who ends up joining big communities online will feel the same way.

So you want live services to act like another twitter or facebook? Aren't these already on consoles? Your request seems very journalism-centric. The live services were designed to replace the sitting in a room and playing together and they are rounded enough to support larger events like tournments and simulate LAN parties. The common man's needs are already being fulfilled, and as there plenty of platforms from bloggers and their fanbases already available, I don't see the need to appropriate another system that was never designed for it in the first place.

I agree with Captcha, the idea of PSN, Xbox Live, etc is to simulate the LIVING ROOM, the arcade feeling is already fulfilled by simply playing with a complete stranger for the duration of a game; and even in social networks I feel most of us add a lot of people we aren't really friends with.
I deleted my Facebook account over a year ago, for instance, because suddenly I saw myself in a sea of "happy birthday Marcello" people whom i barely knew and wouldn't even say hello to me in a common day, but somehow felt the urge to congratulate me (and each other) all the time over Facebook, I realized I didn't know most of those people enough to call them COLLEAGUES, let alone FRIENDS: the other day (last Saturday in fact) I was having dinner with my girlfriend and this guy who frequented the same college I did shows up, we didn't say hello, we didn't nod to each other, nothing, I don't even know his fucking name, but I remember having him added on my Facebook account, how WRONG is that?! I currently have Twitter and Instagram, and I deny people from following me like a fucktard, I don't want another tangled mess, I know very well the people I like and the really like me, and I will follow them ONLY. In XBox/PSN I tend to extend that only as far as to include the handful of people I usually play with.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

This friends number thing seems to be a famous people problem. I have 10 friends that I play games with regularly. I see no reason to add random people I come across.

I'm not famous and I've got 116 people on Steam. Roughly half is from my TF2 clan, as it's nice to be able to get in touch with the people I play with as well as admins when people are being dicks on the servers and I need them to dole out a permaban. Then I've got a bunch of people I play Arma 2 with from Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Then there's some real life friends and a bunch of people I've just hit it off with over the years.

You don't need to be famous to have more than 100 people on your friends list. Just sociable and member of various communities.

Edit: Aside from that: all you people who only have 5-10 friends, why are you against upping the limits? How would it in any case hamper your enjoyment of anything that Jim or others could add more than 100 people? Why do you care how others use the friends system? Can nobody enjoy it their way, just because you enjoy it a different way?

 

[deffel2000]

[...]
Of course, the ultimate question, as several have voiced, is whether there is a real technical reason that the "friend's" list has to be of finite extent. If there is a technical reason, such as storage requirements, then it is reasonable that there should be a fixed size; however, the limit should be in proper proportion to the capacity of current technology, not technology of 10-15 years ago when a limit of 100 made more sense for reasons of technical limitations.

The limit is there because that enables them to cut cost and to predict and scale the hardware needed for the friends
service.

 

[themind]

In this age of social networking via so many mediums, it seems unbelieveably limiting to only have 100 friends maximum. I wouldn't have 100 unless I start making friends online and during online play at a torrential pace, but I see Jim's point. The strain on resources to provide an unlimited friends list cannot be that taxing, and there are many more of us under 100 friends than Jim Sterling's needing perhaps a few thousand to add everyone. I am absolutely sure that if you looked at the number of unused friend slots still available, they could accomodate the needs of the people with or desiring a large list of friends.

 

[Flames66]

Remember, I addressed the "pettiness" of the complaint in the video. This isn't just about friend lists -- the friends thing is merely the baseline example of how formulaic and outdated game companies are allowing themselves to be. Those complaining that this video is "just" about friend lists are kind of missing the clearly stated point.

you do realize that by basing the forefront of the argument on a what many would consider to be a non issue then it is more likely to be struck with a massive reducto-ad-absurdum targeting your base pillar, and thereby making the entire point just seem absurd. If you were to have started off by mentioning the part about Hulu, Netflix and used that as the base of your argument, and then moved on to discussing the friends list thing. Then it would have been less likely for such attacks to be as pervasive. but were it felt that the rest/majority of your poinient are argument was more or less in passing, and the limitation of the friends list seemed to be the core it feels like it is the only point being stated.

If he started with the less petty sounding gripes, he wouldn't receive as much hate in the comments and wouldn't have the opportunity to deliver as many pungent put downs and caustic counters. It is interaction with the community that makes internet celebrities so much more authentic than others, and saying things that make people want to respond is a marvelous way to achieve it.

 

[Jimothy Sterling]

Friendships are precious things that allow us to get through this horrific maelstrom we bitterly call life.

Fair warning, Mr. Sterling: You may have a reasonable point somewhere in there, but every time you go off on a Christophobic rant I stop watching your video.

A joke about the antiquity of the Bible is hardly a "Christophobic rant." Might wanna toughen up there, my friend.

 

[Jimothy Sterling]

Ok I have to ask, if you could have 10,000 friends how many of those would you actually keep up with? I mean really? Like maybe 10. 20 at most. I'm surprised if you keep up with all 100 that you've got. Having more "friends" is mostly for bragging rights, it's not as though you keep in touch with all of them or even most of them.

If you have that many friends, maybe you're popular enough that the 10,000 would like to keep up with YOU. In my case, maybe I won't have a close relationship with everyone on my list, but I still feel bad that I can't add them all. It's not nice having to reject requests, and I think anybody who ends up joining big communities online will feel the same way.

So you want live services to act like another twitter or facebook? Aren't these already on consoles? Your request seems very journalism-centric. The live services were designed to replace the sitting in a room and playing together and they are rounded enough to support larger events like tournments and simulate LAN parties. The common man's needs are already being fulfilled, and as there plenty of platforms from bloggers and their fanbases already available, I don't see the need to appropriate another system that was never designed for it in the first place.

It's the *platform holders* that want their services to rival things like Twitter and Facebook. Microsoft's E3 performance revealed it wants the Xbox to be *the* center of our entertainment and networking, but the Xbox division is woefully unequipped to do that at this current stage. The 100 friend limit is simply the tip of the iceberg.

 

[RJ 17]

I've only got about 40 people on my friends list...half of them are never on, half of what's left are people I honestly don't know how/why I friended them, and the last 10 are people I actually know and play with.

I understand the overall message of saying that you shouldn't stick to something just because that's how it's always been done, but as to the point with friends list speciically...I don't know about everyone else, but as I said, half my list is random jerk offs that friended me because we had a good run on a Left 4 Dead campaign...I can only imagine someone as "famous" as Jim might have a full list...but how many of those people does he actually know and play with? :3