To Multiplayer or Not to Multiplayer...

[SouthernSteel]

It is indeed a most vexing question, and one which I have pondered and discussed with others a good deal. However, seeing no real discussion of it here (or at least none recently), I figured I ought to openly pose the question: Do you play MP? Why or why not?

I know it sounds like a dreadful school test question, but I am genuinely curious: with over 2200 members signed up for the forums here, I can say for certain that there are approximately 20 players who engage each other regularly online. That's...:blink: that's uh, a pretty small percentage there. So where is everyone? Is MP simply not appealing, or is something about MP so imposing as to keep a large number of you away?

I cannot rightly say how many people have bought this game, but I have not really heard any solid complaints, so I'd wager that most folks who have bought this game have felt that it was indeed worth the investment. I personally find MP to take this game to a whole new level, one that is quite enjoyable, with much greater variation in the challenges you face as a commander.

I will at least extend an open invitation to everyone out there to join us online, I think we have a good, if small, community of players, who play at least once daily, usually in the evenings (US time).

So what say you, oh forums users of NorbsoftDev? :silly:

I will add one last thing: as you can see in this forum, a number of folks who are active in MP have gotten together (myself included) to create a campaign around this game, one that we hope to make into a much more expansive and immersive experience while utilizing the game where ever possible. We would all be very glad to see new faces, whether you want to just stop in from time to time to play friendly games or whether you would like to join us in the league. B)

[RDBoles]

To SouthernSteel,
For me MP playing is the best. Watching the enemy troops come at you in line is thrilling and nerve racking at the same time. Playing against a human apponent is so much more exiting. With that said, my schedual is clear from 9pm to when ever most evenings except friday's which is date night for us. I live on the west coast in the USA. You know, the land of fruits and nuts. On a regular basis, no can do. I think that is the only good point about single player against the AI, You can play any time available or when the mood strikes you. I look in the MP forum almost every day, sometimes I'm lucky and hit it at a good time. The times I got to play was fantastic and loads of fun. Fortunatly for me I have six girls at home still. So my evenings are still filled up most nights. But I do have rights for some guy time when I insist, or when my wife lets me, I mean. Oh how I miss my three boys, who are out on their own. But I digress. I hope this answers your lamentations about MP playing?

[kg_sspoom]

I play (often host) nearly every evening at 7pm est
join up we usually have between 6 and 10 people of all skill levels
and anyone is welcome to join.

[SouthernSteel]

Mister Boles, I take it you mean 9 PM PST? Some folks are on that late but time differences (as always) make things rather more difficult - we are usually around on weekends as well, when most of us have a bit more free time.

At the insistence of other members of the club, the link is: http://www.usvmc.net/csa/

We have a chat box and our own TS server, so anyone can always stop by and check to see if anyone is on or berate us for not being on to play.

[garyknowz]

I've never played MP. For one thing, whenever I enter the lobby, I never see anyone, or when I do they are already engaged in battle. But importantly, have a nagging concern about people using gamey tactics (like rushing artillery forward, etc.). And since we play in anonymity, there is really no way to control it (that I could see, at least). So I've never been too motivated.

But I'm trying to talk a few cousins into buying the game so I play them in MP, then heckle them on Facebook after I mop the floor with 'em.

[SouthernSteel]

Yes, the MP lobby is very hit-or-miss, but I believe that is due to the small number of players who even bother to log on. The largest numbers are undoubtedly on in the evenings (US time), usually after 7 EST (which is coincidentally when we play a game basically every day). Sometimes (especially Fridays and weekends) there are even more games.

You can always sign up on our club forums to check with folks there or jump on our TS or use our chat box to see if anyone's around. I will play whenever possible (but I'm restricted to evenings and weekends).

Gamey tactics are something we have struggled with, but one of our members has come up with and implemented a very novel solution: the inclusion of a 125-man regiment of sharpshooters in every brigade, range 250 yds. They are placed in the OOB such that they deploy nicely as skirmishers as well, but their main purpose, which they serve very well, is to counter cannon rolled up into or close to the front lines. It's not foolproof but it has made a great improvement, in my opinion.

Anonymity may well be a factor, but everyone has a screen and game name that they don't usually change, plus you can get to know folks on TeamSpeak. It's true there is no way to "punish" someone for something you view as being unfair, but we try (and I think are having some good success) to make improvements within the scope of the game as it is by coming up with solutions to help negate those gamey sorts of moves.

It is, of course, your choice to play MP or not, but feel free to stop in, we are always glad to have new people play with us, and who knows, you just might like it.

[garyknowz]

Hello, SouthernSteel!

The sharpshooter idea is quite innovative, as long as it's not so overpowering against infantry. Nothing infuriated me more than a battalion of sharpshooters picking off half my regiment from great distances, and unable to do anything about it.

What level do you guys play at (couriers, HITS, elevations, etc...)?

Anyhow, it sounds like yourself and the MP community are diligently trying to ensure historical tactics are adhered to. The least I can do is to give MP a try. Perhaps I'll join that club you folks have going.


See you in the field, sir!

[redcoat]

for me most definatly not.time zone difference is a major issue,plus the fact that in the uk you take pot luck with the speed of your broadband.mine is as slow as a dead snail because of a poor local exchange.
ive had very few experiences with online games but theyve all been universaly bad.i dont doubt that you chaps would provide a better class of player,and that more of a 'roleplay'style of game would be evident.(i dont see how it could work if you didnt),but for me and my 8 or so mates who are going to order the disc version of the game (hooray for that,by the by!)multiplayer is of no interest at all.

[SouthernSteel]

Gary - I look forward to seeing you then, sir. We have nixed the sharpshooter aspect largely in this current campaign we just started (last night, as a matter of fact). I also had concerns about the anti-personnel capabilities of the sharpshooters, as did others. We tried to cap their stats to combat this, and I feel it was fairly effective, although when used in that fashion they could still be a nuisance. One can, at their option, still recruit a unit of sharpshooters (which isn't quite the right term to be using, in retrospect) in place of one of their regiments.

For this campaign (we haven't played any battles yet, only turns on our strategic map as of last night) I believe we will be using an elevation limit of 100. This seems to emulate your commander's point of view without being completely restricted to HitS. We are going to play courier by side for now so as to allow anyone that wants to play, regardless of their experience level, to do so. Plus, we have numerous divisions and this allows their commanders to operate with a little bit less stress. As for communication during battles, we use TS but observe strict etiquette (ie you can only speak to someone when your character is next to theirs on the field) and otherwise we utilize couriers for orders, etc.



redcoat, just so you know, we have/had several players from overseas, inlduing 2 or 3 from the UK who seem to do fine, but I understand your concern about connection issues. We do try and schedule things to accomodate those in different time zones in the club so they don't have to be up until midnight waiting to play.

What made the games you played so awful? Was it lag? Depending on when you tried it, I can say that the patches have universally made the MP aspect more stable and it loads faster now as well.

[redcoat]

partly lag.as i say i havent played this game its the whole mp experience with other games that have put me off.i dont have the voip thing that means you can talk to other players ingame but i was able to listen.
the level of abuse i heard directed at others,not at me was enough to stop me wanting to interacting with any of them.these comments are not directed at players of this game in any way.my admittedly limited experiences have served to drive me away from ever wanting to try another mp game.my gaming mates are of the same mind,and as some of them are currently serving members of hm forces there gametime is limited and they dont want to spend what little they have listening to people abusing each other over a game.again not this game but thats been their experience too.