Not so long ago, the idea of filling my Friends List with 100 upstanding gamers seemed like some lengthy, far off endeavor. Most of us here have found out that this is not so. Before you know it you hit that turning point in your 360 career when adding someone means something new, someone has to go.

Oh, what evil has Microsoft bestowed upon us. Forcing us to examine and work through our emotions of guilt, grief and despair. Where's the warning label? Ok, exaggeration aside. In lieu of one on one counseling sessions, this post will suffice.

I've had to re-examine what this thing is. No longer can it be what I initially wanted it to be- a nostalgia based catalog of cool people I've met along the way. Instead I must look at it as a liquid, ever evolving resource reflecting the games I currently play.

Whether we're tactful by including a message or simply drop the axe on some poor soul that was just about to invite you to a game, it doesn't change the fact that these people were on our list for a reason- and I don't enjoy doing it.

I realized last night my friends list has almost 80 people on it and it is only a matter of time until I fill it up.

In addition to needing more than 100 spots I really home Microsoft adds a grouping system so I can mark all the AGE member and all my personal friends in separate folders/groups and then message/invite a whole group.  I had 40 friends online last night and it can be tedious to try and go through the list and see who is in a room playing GoW and who is in the lobby.

Yep, I've been going through the same thing.  With all the new members that came along with GoW, RB6 and the holidays my friends list has required constant maintenance to keep it below 100.  At first it wasn't too bad but it is getting more difficult, being a frequent host doesn't help either since I want to have lots of active people on my list so I can get a match going easily.

I go with the unceremonious drop, just quicker, often it is just that I don't play the same times as someone on my friends list.  I'm pretty much a Tuesday, Thursday, and sometimes on the weekend player so those that share the same gaming times tend to stay on my list.  Sorry to all of those that I've dropped, never anything personal.

I've had to do friend list management every day for about 2 months now, as new people come to the site, and the dilemna of who to leave on comes up. I don't even have people on my list that I haven't seen/gamed with in a while left to drop anymore.  Each night I have 35-50 people on line playing. The spamming has been most excellant to be sure.

The 100 person limit has been one of my biggest complaints for a while. MS has already stated in one of the previous dashboard update posts that they don't see the need to increase the number due to "average friend list per user amounts" research they did (I forgot number but it was really low). I don't know who they gathered that info from, but as the life of a console goes on and the longer you are in "their" community, it is going to be extremely hard to keep your number below that, not to mention sites like these, where you don't have to filter through the GP trash just to find that occasional person who you can tolerate and your FL is constantly growing. Stinks.

jigsawhc:

I had 40 friends online last night and it can be tedious to try and go through the list and see who is in a room playing GoW and who is in the lobby.

They could make this much easier by implementing a 2-line status like the website that shows the game and detailed room info.  My 360 is attached to the same monitor as my PC.  I often flip over to the PC input to look at the status on the webpage as is it so quick to see who is available.

They clearly could make a few tweaks to the system for groups like ours that would make it work much better.

I wish they would implement custom status fields.  If you could change your status to "Looking for Invite" like you do to "Busy", imagine how easy it be to make sure everyone is in a game.  You could also tell if people are just in other rooms waiting to get in an AGE room... 

I'm never offended if people drop me. My problem has been that I usually play once a week online so I need to have the people that are playing Gears right now. My other times to play online are pretty awkward so not really much of a chance to get enough people together to play.

But I also don't want to lose any of my racing people because those are mostly the games I play. Forza 2 is coming and I'm going to need the people who want to compete on my list to verify times (if they aren't in the club I guess)

I spend a lot more time during the week on the website than I do actually playing games on Live so no biggy.

I've been considering for a while to drop everyone except for about 10 people and basically just start over from scratch...

Also, my gamertag is pretty darn simple so it's easy for people to add me quickly. 

TurboPanzy:

No longer can it be what I initially wanted it to be- a nostalgia based catalog of cool people I've me along the way. Instead I must look at it as a liquid, ever evolving resource reflecting the games I currently play.

I sadly came to that realization a long time ago.  Maybe 10-20 are more or less permanently on my FL come hell or high water (or they drop me!), but the rest are as you describe.  I also want to be welcoming to the new AGE people, and that means I don't want to turn down a FR if I can find the room on my FL (esp. if they are playing my sort of games).

I've regretfully dropped a LOT of people on my FL, and almost without exception, would have not done so if I didn't need the room.

jigsawhc:

I thought I remembered reading in the CES announcements that the average friends list has 21 people on it, but I can't seem to find that now.

Jig - you are correct, it is 21 avg friends for Gold Members.  See article

Morda - I hear that Forza 2 is delayed until April now!!!  Jeez.  I am really looking forward to it. 

when i used to play online everyday and i need to make room i would delete the people i haven't seen online in awhile. now that the 360 tells you how long it has been that person has been online, if i need room on my FL i delete anybody that hasn't signed on in over a month.

with that said if any of you have me on your list and need room you can delete me cause i don't play online much at all anymore.

now that we are doing game nights one way around the limit is make sure to have all the hosts on you list and not worry about the rest of people. also might be a good idea for the host to put in their motto AGE Host, that way people will know not to delete that person cause they are the host.  

cosmo:

Jig - you are correct, it is 21 avg friends for Gold Members.  See article

That's unreal.  I have only used live for about 2 and a half months and have 70+ active friends.  However, I'd say the average that is on when I'm on is about 20-something, so I wonder if that's what they really meant in that article, average number of friends on line at the same time.