Is ISDN the new Modem?

[old.DaFly]

Is anyone else on ISDN finding themselves getting raped by broadband players?
This most recently came to a head when we had a friendly against PR. Seeing as we had 4 ISDNers and they had 4 cable / ADSL peeps they kindly reduced their rate and maxpax settings to ISDN levels. During the game, we got mullered, which is fine, but all our 4 players were pinging over 100 (my ping averaged about 200), while PR were all pinging steadily under 40. This was a server that we use quite a lot and when the majority of peeps on it are ISDN users, pings are fine (all players getting between 40 and about 80).
It was well known that moving from Quake 2 to Quake 3 meant that modemers would be at a greater disadvantage because of the optimisation of Quake 3 for LAN play, but I never considered ISDN as being in the same boat.
I suppose the answer is to simply go over to broadband (generally cheaper than ISDN anyway), but then I've heard of a few nightmares that some people have had with ADSL (something about BT not knowing how to support their own technology).
Is there any argument for clans having to field a minimum of 2 ISDNers in league matches (a bit like the old rules in Quake2) or should Quake 3 remain as a game where hardware roolz?

 

[cenobite]

Hardware in online gaming has ruled since the days of online doom2. If you were player 1 (green) then you hosted the game and were impacted performance wise. Although in doom2 the fixed fps made it not so bad. If you had Janet in the early days of Quake you could rape all the modemers easy since not many had ISDN.

Zip forward to today and it is the same old story. Those with better hardware have the advantage. Just like most sports Enforcing rules is shit and brings back the old arguement why should the people that spend the money get penalised.

 

[old.DaFly]

Yep agreed, and to be honest I think There should always be a game that puts pressure on hardware developers, I mean where would companies like Nvidia and 3DFX be without FPS games? Its just unfortunate that it seems like ISDNers can be competitive in league matches only up to a certain level. I would imagine that once a clan starts competing in division 1 and 2 matches they find themselves against a line-up of 4 broadbanders.
In terms of DM, I don't think any game comes close to Q3, but if it means having to play a non Q3-engine game to find a more even playing field what is there? Maybe I should join all the children and geriatrics playing CS...uke:

 

[old.eternity]

Just to add, the last three days some people have been expierencing problems with ping. I'm on ISDN and normally get between 40-60 on most servers but now I'm getting 200-250. BT say some people might be expierncing problems becuase their changing servers.

Going back to your other point I still think ISDN'ers have got it quite good, when I go onto servers I've normally got one of the lowest pings there. We have a tree point to point digital connection while some peeps on cable have to share bandwidth.

 

[old.Kurt_Angle]

I found Q3 to be lacking on my old ISDN from day one. During a game it never stays below 100, most of the time it's stable at 150-200. It drops back to 50 though when the score card come on at the end

I spose i should try it on my cable sometime, it will prolly be better. One things for sure though, having played Q3 on my m8's modem, isdn still tops it compared to the good old 56k

 

[old.Shire29]

re

I have cable and get good performance - although my hardware is not up to scratch.

I still get raped by good players dispite my connection edge.

However, if you want to play for fun, what does it matter.

But, If you are going to take it seriously you get the best tools for your job (that money/circumstances allow).

If you wanna win Formula 1 championship you need a fast reliable car, nobody says you have to limit a cars performance so it makes a fair race.

Competition is not FAIR.

Just thought I'd share my feelings on the matter.

Cheers, Shire29