Host Advantage
Is there a host advantage for this game?
Yes, there is. There is in all online multiplayer games.
Why does the host have an advantage?
Short Explanation
The host doesnt lag, his shots are simultaneous to when he pulls the trigger.
Long Explanation
First, you need to know how gameplay is handled in an online environment. When playing with multiple players, every other player has to know who you are, where you are, and what you are doing. Because of this, your 360 is constantly sending data about you, what direction you're moving, what you're shooting at etc.
If you sent your information to every other player, it would take up a ton bandwidth and make games with a high number of players an impossibility. Instead, a host player is designated. This player's console is the central hub of where game data will be sent. With this setup, all players send their information to the host to be redistributed to all of the other players. Here is an example of what happens:
1. You pull the trigger on your xbox 360
2. Your xbox recognizes your action and creates a message out of it
3. The message is then sent from your xbox, across the internet, to the host's xbox
4. The host's xbox recognizes your action and transmits it to all the other players
5. All players, including you, are then updated on what happened
That whole process takes time and this is what causes bullet lag. Now that I have that explained, you are probably still wondering why the host has an advantage. When the host shoots his weapons, they are simultaneous to when he pulls the trigger. His actions are immediately sent to the other players. The host's process starts at number 4, what he does is immediately recognized and then sent to the other players. His actions don't need to be sent to the host first and then redistributed. This may be a little hard to understand so here is another example:
* Player 1 has the Longshot.
* Player 2 is his opponent
* Player 3 is the host
1. Player 2 is moving from left to right in front of Player 1
2. Player 1 leans out to shoot Player 2. When the crosshairs are on Player 2's head, Player 1 fires to what should have been a headshot
3. Coordinates of where Player 1's shot is placed are sent from his console, through the internet, to Player 3. At the same time, Player 2's movement from Left to Right is likewise being sent.
4. Player 3's console registers and confirms exactly where Player 1 shot. However, Player 1's action took 1/10th of a second (100ms) to travel from his console to the host's console. As a result, although it appeared that Player 1 got a head shot on his Xbox, Player 3's Xbox says he did not. This is because Player 3's Xbox got Player 1's shot 1/10th of a second later than when he actually fired.
5. The information is then sent out from player 3's Xbox to all the other players
Now, If you look at Step 4 in the example, it takes time for Player 1's action to be recieved by the host. But, the initial action would not have to be sent across the Internet had it occured on the host's Xbox. If the host was also Player 1 in the example above, his host Xbox would instantely recognize his action and result in the headshot. After recognition, the results of his action would then be sent out.
Are the host's bullets more powerful?
No, his actions are just immediately registered. That is the only advantage to being host.
If all games have a host advanatage, why is only this game's noticeable?
Most, if not all, newer online multiplayer games use lag compensation. If you look at Step 3 in the example, you see that Player 1 sends a message with only the coordinates of where he shot. However, with lag compensation, the player would not just send a message of where he shot, but also information that he actually hit his target.
i hope you have learned something, and i did not write this btw
Subject: Host Advantage Explained 
Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:45 am
