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Another Gears 2 Patch Incoming

Epic takes another crack at fixing what ails its multiplayer shooter.

Epic's Mark Rein posted a brief message full of details on an upcoming title update for Gears of War 2. Most of you probably remember that the game's already been patched, but that users still seem to be encountering issues when matching up with other players, as well as crazy glitches that let people use shields with two-handed weapons, get infinite ammo, and so on.

Those problems seem to be on their way out if Rein's list of issues all make it in to the upcoming patch. Here's what he had to say:

First of all I hope all of you had a safe and happy holiday season.

As I mentioned before the break we’ve been working on a major title update for Gears of War 2. This update will address bugs and exploits as well as add some new achievements related to downloadable content. We don’t have an exact date for it but all indicators are it will go live within January. If that changes we’ll let you know.

We’re fixing a whole bunch of online exploits. For example we’ve fixed the ability to wield an invisible shield, melee through some walls, gain infinite Lancer ammo and equip a shield and a two-handed weapon simultaneously plus many more.

We’re also making several small changes to improve the overall online gameplay experience. A few of the ones that might interest you are; increased penalties for quitting matches early, adding additional spawn protection against planted grenades and chainsaw attacks, and adding the ability to see the Submission flag carrier destination by using Tac/Com.

We know you folks love achievements so on the achievement side we’re adding achievement progress numbers to the War Journal, increasing the frequency of in-game Achievement progression notifications and adding some new Achievements for DLC.

This is just a very small list of some of the things that will be in the next title update but one more item which has been talked about a lot in our forums deserves a special call out...

About that shotgun...

We fixed the client side hit detection on the shotgun so that in a high-latency (i.e. “laggy”) match, the shotgun will be more reliable. We’ve also fixed another bug whereby shotgun and boomshot rounds could strike the ground when firing from the hip.

So there’s a brief status report on the next title update. At some point I expect we’ll post a more detailed list but I assure you we’re working hard to get this out the door and once it’s done we’ll start working on the next update. We’ll try to do a better job keeping you informed of our progress on future updates and we’ll try to be a little more active in the forums once this update is released.


I'm not terribly well-experienced in the way of the Gears of War shotgun glitches, but isn't its client-side design the the thing that makes all those lag switches work, allowing people to deliberately jack up their connection, roll around and kill everyone, and then fix the connection? I'd have to guess that's something they're also considering as a part of all this.

Anyway, as the man said, they're hoping to have this out in January. What do you think? Much needed changes that make a great game greater? Or have these issues already driven you away from the game forever?
Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

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jeff

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Edited By jeff
Epic's Mark Rein posted a brief message full of details on an upcoming title update for Gears of War 2. Most of you probably remember that the game's already been patched, but that users still seem to be encountering issues when matching up with other players, as well as crazy glitches that let people use shields with two-handed weapons, get infinite ammo, and so on.

Those problems seem to be on their way out if Rein's list of issues all make it in to the upcoming patch. Here's what he had to say:

First of all I hope all of you had a safe and happy holiday season.

As I mentioned before the break we’ve been working on a major title update for Gears of War 2. This update will address bugs and exploits as well as add some new achievements related to downloadable content. We don’t have an exact date for it but all indicators are it will go live within January. If that changes we’ll let you know.

We’re fixing a whole bunch of online exploits. For example we’ve fixed the ability to wield an invisible shield, melee through some walls, gain infinite Lancer ammo and equip a shield and a two-handed weapon simultaneously plus many more.

We’re also making several small changes to improve the overall online gameplay experience. A few of the ones that might interest you are; increased penalties for quitting matches early, adding additional spawn protection against planted grenades and chainsaw attacks, and adding the ability to see the Submission flag carrier destination by using Tac/Com.

We know you folks love achievements so on the achievement side we’re adding achievement progress numbers to the War Journal, increasing the frequency of in-game Achievement progression notifications and adding some new Achievements for DLC.

This is just a very small list of some of the things that will be in the next title update but one more item which has been talked about a lot in our forums deserves a special call out...

About that shotgun...

We fixed the client side hit detection on the shotgun so that in a high-latency (i.e. “laggy”) match, the shotgun will be more reliable. We’ve also fixed another bug whereby shotgun and boomshot rounds could strike the ground when firing from the hip.

So there’s a brief status report on the next title update. At some point I expect we’ll post a more detailed list but I assure you we’re working hard to get this out the door and once it’s done we’ll start working on the next update. We’ll try to do a better job keeping you informed of our progress on future updates and we’ll try to be a little more active in the forums once this update is released.


I'm not terribly well-experienced in the way of the Gears of War shotgun glitches, but isn't its client-side design the the thing that makes all those lag switches work, allowing people to deliberately jack up their connection, roll around and kill everyone, and then fix the connection? I'd have to guess that's something they're also considering as a part of all this.

Anyway, as the man said, they're hoping to have this out in January. What do you think? Much needed changes that make a great game greater? Or have these issues already driven you away from the game forever?
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DaFT_PLAyeRr

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Edited By DaFT_PLAyeRr

yeehaw

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daniel_beck_90

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Edited By daniel_beck_90

This is truly necessary  . a tremendously great title like GOW 2 should not disappoint  the consumers with such lame glitch  .

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Edited By rinkalicous
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JoshLarson

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Edited By JoshLarson

Good to see Epic is still putting in the time to get Gears 2 to the level it should have been when it was kicked out the door for the holidays. Am I the only one who gets offended when these guys keep referring to "updates" when it used to be (and still should be) called a "patch".

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Oni

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Edited By Oni

The fact that Gears 2 multiplayer has the kind of people going to such lengths to glitch and cheat their way to victory is already enough to make me not touch the ranked multiplayer matches.

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sparky_buzzsaw

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Edited By sparky_buzzsaw

I agree with Oni.  These "updates" need to be called what they really are.  I have no problem with a game needing patches, but I'd prefer honesty about it.  That being said, I hope to pick this game up sometime and look forward to it being as glitch-free as possible when I'm getting slaughtered online.

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JJOR64

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Edited By JJOR64

God I hope this patch fixes stuff.  That last patch fixed nothing.

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brukaoru

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Edited By brukaoru

Since I mostly play Gears 2 multi-player with friends, I have no reason to stop playing the game as I enjoy it immensely and the people I play with don't exploit any glitches (that I am aware of). I do think this patch is definitely needed for people who mostly play public matches. The Submission flag carrier destination being added to the Tac/Com is an excellent idea and may actually get me to start picking up and carrying the Stranded. Usually I have no idea where to go, so I would just let someone else on my team carry them.

Looking forward to this patch, it won't fix everything, but EPIC will continue to release patches for Gears 2 for a while and hopefully will fix major problems that most people have with it.

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Lieutenant

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Edited By Lieutenant

So, uh, no mention of matchmaking fixes? This is one of the most important issues they should be working on.... and all they say is they're fixing the exploits that were also in Gears 1?

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spiredcrescent

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Edited By spiredcrescent

i personally do not enjoy gears multiplayer, but horde mode is just awesome

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samcotts

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Edited By samcotts

Does it remove matchmaking? No? *sigh*

A man can dream.
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twswordsman

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Edited By twswordsman

Bring. It. On.

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JoelTGM

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Edited By JoelTGM

That shotgun fix sounds nice, but I really don't enjoy the game mostly because of matchmaking.

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Rowr

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Edited By Rowr

I dont think lag gives you any advantage in this game jeff...unless im totally doing it wrong.

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TOYBOXX

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Edited By TOYBOXX

Didn't Cliffy B state that host advantage and glitching for the online multiplayer will be non existent with Gears 2? And yet nothing has changed from the first game. This is probably why most people have nearly abandoned the game to play COD: World at War. I personally still like to play Horde mode if not for the achievements but after awhile the pop-and-stop action gets old. And the new weapons for Gears 2 suck! Well, with the exception of the Mordor.

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RHCPfan24

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Edited By RHCPfan24

I haven't really played much of GoW2's multiplayer, but I do do Horde occasionally. This will be a fine update for sure though.

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Grandma11

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Edited By Grandma11

exactly why i will continue to play Gears of War 2 online

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Icil

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Edited By Icil

No word on the glitch that makes the three new maps way too expensive?

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Edited By spiceninja

I still love my Gears and if it takes more patches for me to fully enjoy the online then I'm all for it. But it's terrible that they shipped the game in it's current state.

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crunchUK

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Edited By crunchUK

i get incredibly bored waiting for a match

but i haven't yet experienced any of these glitches

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giyanks22

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Edited By giyanks22

I waited 15 mins for a multi player match. I don't find Horde to take as long, but the vs. takes a shitload of time to connect, so that's why I've only played like two or three fucking matches lol. This is much needed...

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Edited By MeatSim

I don't know I might come back to it, Gears 2 multiplayer can be addictive and fun but man it's just such a  dissatisfying experience a lot of times with the exploits, glitches and all the other BS that happens, are they really going to fix all these problems in this one patch?

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Shadow

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Edited By Shadow

does it auto-ban homophobic 13 year olds?

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Edited By Kazona

Good to see that Epic is serious about making Gears 2 an even playing field.

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Everyones_A_Critic

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I'm glad that they're fixing the shield glitch, that'll make gaurdian a lot eaier to win. More achievements are always welcome too. I just wish they'd fix that fucking chainsaw. It takes two shotgun shots to make the guy lower his bayonet online...

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Edited By DARKIDO07

Finally, I no longer hate EPIC  and will buy the maps and continue to play Gears of War 2 online once the patch comes out now. EPIC really if you would have said this like three weeks ago people wouldn't have been so pissed.

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Afroman269

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Edited By Afroman269

Cool only problems left is to remove host which will prevent lag switch games and to stop the chainsaw from being a fucking god weapon.

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dsplayer1010

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Edited By dsplayer1010
daniel_beck_90 said:
"This is truly necessary  . a tremendously great title like GOW 2 should not disappoint  the consumers with such lame glitch  ."

This^

And are the achievements for the Combustible map-pack, otr something else?
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Edited By zombie2011

I have been playing gears 2 since it came out. And i haven't had any problem with people glitching on me, using any exploits, and very few games have been laggy. The only problem i have is the matchmaking takes a while to find me a game, but lately even thats been getting better.

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Edited By ImperiousRix

I still don't see the patch to the voice chat that I've been wanting.
I love Gears single-player and Horde was good fun, but the Gears competitive multiplayer has always been way too unreliable for me to want to devote time to it.
Back to COD 4....

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Edited By godzilla_sushi

It might not have driven me away forever, but it sure drove away everyone on my friends list. By now most of them seemed to switch over to Call of Duty and Left 4 Dead.

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Edited By MordeaniisChaos

I'll be able to own with shotguns outside of local play??? YAY!

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bjorno

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Edited By bjorno

Sounds like a sound sound.

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Hector

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Edited By Hector

I got tired of Gears!

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Media_Master

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Edited By Media_Master

yah, glitch fixes

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wefwefasdf

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Edited By wefwefasdf

I hope this patch actually does something.

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Edited By Dryker

If this patch doesn't make Gears 2 multiplayer as fun (and responsive) as the first Gears, who cares. I loved the first game's multiplayer, but this one just feels mushy. I played it for a couple of evenings and haven't had the desire to go back. Put out a "Fix Broken Game Patch" and I'll be on.

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Edited By juicebomb

Endless matchmaking cycles was a killer. It pushes you to play with friends and on horde, and skip the public rooms altogether. The AI got so good there's no reason to play against 13-year old glitchers if you don't want to.

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WinterSnowblind

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Edited By WinterSnowblind

@Bshirk

That some "overrated" comment can be thrown at pretty much every game out there.  I wasn't a huge fan of the original, but Gears 2 completely blew me away.  The campaign is awesome and at least twice as long as the original, with an actual story and character development this time.  But more importantly, the gameplay is just very fun especially on co-op.  The multiplayer is mostly a take it or leave it kind of affair, but I've enjoyed it for the most part (mostly on local play), and Horde mode is very addictive.

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Philip

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Edited By Philip

I will check this out, might get me back into the game.

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Edited By Merx

It absolutly needs this patch. Its like they didnt bug test it at all. The shotgun hip shooting one they mention is seriously annoying, although not game ending. Not quite the same story when you fire the boomshot from the hip and it lands between your legs ending in dismemberment.

No mention of the fix where, on regular occasion, 1 in 3 matches easy, one person on a team will spawn without a weapon, where to them it looks like theyve got a weapon, which they cant reload or ever run out of bullets with, but to everbody else looks like they are cradling an invisible baby. Experianced players wont shoot you because they know if they do, you will respawn with a gun on a game mode like Annex, leaving you running around cradling the air like youve just gone insane from all the explosions.

Or the one where my friend got knocked over by a grenade, then could slide on his back around the map until somebody chainsawed the thin air above him to kill him. Again, the enemy team refused to kill him since it was an advantage that it was one less person to fight against on annex.

I wouldnt mind if it was somebody who was being a dick and went looking for bugs. But bugs that affect the honest gamers, like spawning without a gun, shooting a gun in one direction and have it blow their legs off or one smoke grenade and you are taken out of a game of annex until somebody decides to kill you.

It is insane that they released this game with this amount of bugs. Back in cartridge days, I can remember taking back my copy of WWF No Mercy because it had a save problem. A mass recall of discs would stop them shitting on their customers out of the box but unfortunatly, the internets renders it improbable we will ever see that again.

Just another link to this video incase anybody has missed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gAUzBtHFXg

And I wanna make clear that I played the hell out of Gears 1. Me and my friends must have sunk months worth of hours into that, it was great, so as a massive fanboy of gears Im let down by gears 2.

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John

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Edited By John

They really should fix the shotgun-shield thing. It's cheap as hell and it's hard to notice sometimes.

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Edited By HAMMERSM4SHFACE

I obviously don't get on these forums enough, because I thought myself and my XBLive buddies were the only ones painfully aware of the loose, unpolished experience that Gears 2 multiplayer is. I love shooting a guy that is charging me with his chainsaw revved some thirty-two times with a pistol and then watching helplessly as Thor the un-stunnable cuts me in half with his virtual equivalent to Mjolnir. It thrills me when I take a shotgun round to the back which only lightly damages me, I roll back out of the damage range and as the assailant pumps out his second shot I disintegrate beside or even behind him. Oh, but my favorite is when I get the complete drop on a guy, I'm talking he's just about to sit down for tea, melee the fuck out of him from behind with my shotgun, get ready to blow him away for good and then... Poof.

"Nothing but bits!" Says the enemy player's Marcus as my Flame Grenadier slumps headless to the ground. Apparently flanking and getting the jump on the enemy is the wrong thing to do, according to Epic. Shield glitching? Well, we'll just not even get into that. Whenever my friends and I see a shield glitcher online we make it a point to ignore every other enemy on the battlefield and rush him and only him to ensure that he/she dies every. Single. Round. On that note: God's Chainsaw Rush > Satan's Shield Glitcher. Everytime. Gears 1's multiplayer was so tight compared to the current iteration's... It really baffles me.  Even the animations and placement of the character after vaulting an obstacle were better. Blech.

Oh, to all those that say Horde mode is awesome; find a room with only one entrance or exit (like the Boomshield spawn on Pavilion) and put two Boomshields at the entrance (or however many are required, depending on the map) with their handles facing away from you. The enemy AI is so unbelievably dull that aren't even smart enough to try and pick up the shield. They will stand there, shooting gallery style, yelling at you to let 'em in. I strongly recommend you shoot them instead. This tactic works particularly well on Pavilion because of the ammo stash that respawns about every 20 seconds a mere 10 feet outside of your Fortress of Solitude. The only thing that keeps this from completely undermining the Horde experience is the fact that you will have to "reset" these two shields (or however many you have... We've had up to 6 at a time) each round lest they despawn.

Anyone encountered the flamethrower bug? Yeah, fix that. If you've seen it, you know what I mean. For those of you who haven't... Don't throw a smoke at oncoming flamethrower-wielding enemies. Just. Don't. Do it.

...
/rant