15 Replies Latest reply: Feb 10, 2013 3:16 AM by nuttin2say RSS

So about this Dashboarding Problem?

Dear Treyarch  Community,    

As a player who rarely experiences losses due to the other team actually recieving a Victory, I have over fifty losses that come directly from oe problem ; dashboarding. I am not saying that I dashboard personally and am concerned that you get a loss from it, what I do not comprehed is why when the host dashboards, the entire game disconnects instead of migrating to a capable host. No previous COD (that I have personally played, BO1 & MW3) has had this problem, and my question is why introduce it now? One last thing, it also stops your current Win / Loss Ratio. So my real question, is why Treyarch?

  • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

    In EVERY COD when the host dashboards the game would end.

  • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

    Most of the time the host migrates OK for me, on occasion I will get disconnected. But the issue is with quitters, always will be.


    Trust me when I say its much better now than when it happened in the old games. COD4, MW2, or WaW? If the host left the game would just end. But then, back then stats weren't as big a deal and you saw it less.

  • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

    CoD4 and Waw if the host left the game ended. MW2 to now there's been Host Migration but dashboarding will always be possible. People aren't always dashboarding, most of the time they are, but people do lose their connection or power. It will never be fixed on this console and probably not on the next one. Players will resort to unplugging their xbox midgame if they have to.


    If the host leaves the game then that activates host migration and it looks for a new host. If the game just disconnects then that means the host dashboarded. I'm not sure you recognize the difference. If there's host migration and then you get kicked to the lobby with a message "no good host found" then that was the case. It's not 100% the game's fault. People have crappy internet. There's a lot of factors involved.

  • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

    They need a scoring system for hosting.


    Score out of 5 for how good a connection is. 5/5 is the best connection for hosting.

    Score out of 5 for how good a player is at hosting. 5/5 means they NEVER dashboard, connection is stable.


    Total score / 10


    Requires a lot of work / time / money maybe. But is this unreasonable expectation for the biggest franchise in the video game world??

  • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

    It's occured in all COD titles. It's just how "listen servers" operates.


    The host is acting as the server and if say the host decides to unplug their ethernet cord, unplug the XBOX or goes to the XBOX dashboard without leaving the match & not allowing for the host to migrate, the match instantly disconnects.


    I don't know the specific reason why everyone else in the lobby receives a loss though.

  • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

    if its not dashboarding its the round circle on the front of the xbox. one push and done.

  • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

    Call me slow, but whats the difference between dashboarding and rage quitting? Is my understanding correct that db's don't get a loss if they db? still retain game stats?


    Migrating hosts is the result of either a dashboarder and\or rage quitter that was hosting?



    I've only been on xbox a while moving from ps3, so the term dashboarding I never 100% understood.

    • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

      When the host leaves via the ingame menu a migration occurs and play continues with just the host receiving a loss for quitting.  When the host dashboards the game is disconnected and everyone is sent back to the lobby with a loss.

      • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

        Dashboarding has been in every cod and every multiplayer on xbox period just get used to it. I personally do it for three reasons 1) extreme lag in the opponents favor to the point cant even win a fight. 2) people either spawn camping like crazy or just down right camping to the point cant even walk five feet without dieing off a spawn or most of enemy team is camping so hard cant even do anything. 3) Modders, hackers, or glitchers using cheats to get a upper hand in a match.


        Its either sit there and take it for 10 mins and most likely get angry or dashboard and erase the match compleatly from thought and stats and just continue playing. Only reason you notice it so much is due to the fact cod has more people playing then most games but its nothing new it was in saints row and battlefield 2 some of the first games on xbox360.


        Want to fix it? Remove stats and leaderboards from every multiplayer there you go you wont see dashboarding ever again.

        • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

          Actually, games that use dedicated servers don't have a host so they can't get dashboarded.

          • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

            last time i checked dashboarding is going from the game to the dashboard lol not getting a loss because the host dashboarded. If want to say thats what it is then fine its actually called host disconnect thats the reason a game ends and everyone gets a loss and that can be caused by anything. Power loss, dashboarding, xbox turned off, hosts internet fluded by another player, membership running out, forced update to matchmaking or game, servers crashing, so so many reasons.


            Dashboarding is just the one you notice the most because its easy to check. If a match ends and a crap load of people were booted from the lobby most likely it wasnt due to dashboarding it was due to some other reason. If a game ends and only one person is missing that is most likely due to a dashboard.

            • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

              No. That's not accurate, either.


              Forget about whether a player dashboards or that he/she is the host. When a match has started, a game, and a player decides not to continue that match or game, that is what the English language only a few years ago called a ... " forfeit ."


              It's kind of like if two NFL teams were playing on the grid iron and one of the two teams decided they did not want to continue playing to the fourth quarter. They just walked out of the stadium. That's a forfeit. A forfeit means you surrender, you give up ...


              ... the team that forfeits accepts a loss.


              It does not matter why they forfeit.


              In Call of Duty, that same principle applies. If a player leaves a match before either team scores the maximum amount of points or before the time limit of the match has expired, then that player accepts a loss. It does not matter why the player leaves the match, the fact is, the player left and, therefore, is ASSUMED to have accepted a loss.


              Before you get your panties in a wad reading this, continue reading and you'll get why a dashboarder does not get a loss.


              What I described above assumes that every player that leaves a match does so with the in-game menu.


              Of course, we all know that is not how everyone leaves a match.


              Activision takes the position that there is no way to know why connection to the game is lost. Power outage, someone tripped over a wire, blah, blah, blah. That is a correct assertion. Therefore, the assumption by Activision has been, up to BO2, that the player that "lost connection" did not necessarily dashboard, but lost a connection and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, Activision assumes that the player would have stayed in the match were it not for a connection that was lost through no fault of their own.


              The acknowledged and admitted by ATVI problem with all that is that, yes, some players can purposely cause the connection to be lost. That includes pressing the center Xbox button on a controller and then hitting Y in order to return to the XBL "dashboard" while in the midst of an ongoing match. The assumption has always been that this is a minority of players and, therefore, no reason to assume manipulation of the system in order to enhance performance results.


              The key word is "assumption." ATVI admitted they have no concrete data to know whether or not "lost connections" are for legitimate reasons or if they are because players are manipulating the system.


              Now, the REASON players that are not host are credited with a loss when a host dashboards is because your console is able to know whether or not you "lost connection" or you left the match. Since it was not you that dashboarded, then the game assumes you INTENTIONALLY left the game, retains that in the console's memory, and scores you a loss at the ATVI server that tracks such information.


              If it sounds like a lot of unfair blabber, that's because it is a lot of blabber for something that should be much, much simpler to handle.


              The probation for dashboarding, whether host or not, is a good intention, but not a valid solution. Here we have a company that laughs away threats of law suits from angry customers ... worried about whether or not they will be sued because players are credited losses because they lost connection?


              The ONLY way you're ever going to substantially reduce "lost connections" is by first crediting players with a loss ... regardless of the reason they left a match. It is fully possible to credit lost connections with a loss. "Power outages," "accidentally pulled wires," "phone calls," etc, etc, etc, BE DAMNED.


              If you leave a match, you get a loss. Period. End of conversation.


              And if you leave because of lost connection, then progressively longer probation periods should be enforced.


              If a player uses the in-game menu to leave a match, that player scores a loss and should not get any further actions taken against them.


              That is the solution. It is easy, it makes sense, is fair, and, most important of all?


              It does not ruin the gaming experience for other players.

        • Re: So about this Dashboarding Problem?

          Not sure if you meant to reply to me or not...


          I don't care why anyone dashes...or whatever they do in this game for that matter.