Should we have to go beyond our limits to enjoy multiplayer?

Tis a question that I asked myself today after a few days of frustration with this game's MP and wanted to hear your answers. :book:

I sort of disagree with my own question but not completely. Yes, it is true that you yourself as a PC gamer must ensure that your computer meets at least the min specs and that you must know the limitations of what your computer can play.

For a game like TW, this means knowing what graphic settings, if you can do team games, your internet speed, etc. However, I disagree with anything beyond what was covered above because as long as you pay for a game and any dlc that potentially comes out, you are showing support to the developer and its up to the developer to meet certain quality standards to keep the fan base happy and make you a returning customer. Without such support from the developer (such as constant patches) it becomes very hard, but not impossible, to enjoy multiplayer.

Take for example what happened to me tonight when playing NTW(not counting the days before). I tried to start a 2v2 with a clan mate but we could not connect to each other due to a 'No Response from Host' error message. We tried 3 times to fix the problem by switching server regions, but alas, no cigar. Since we could not play, we split up and went separate ways. I then got into a ranked 1v1 and 10 minutes into it the other player dropped as soon as the battle turned my side.

Overall, I spent close to 1 hour trying to play a game and 10 minutes of actual gameplay. Of course, if you have enough friends that play NTW then things like these are not likely to happen, but I doubt that over 1/4 of players of this game are like me who have a huge friends list of players that play ntw and can mostly avoid problems.(except for those days when you are reminded just how bad the quality of mp stability really is)

So then it becomes an issue of why should we have to go beyond our capabilities to truly enjoy multiplayer? Should we not expect to buy a game an immediately be able to jump into multiplayer without having to rely so much in adding enough people to a friends list? Are we not entitled to some sort of quality standard?

I'm afraid that if MP does not chance for Shogun 2, this might simply be my last TW game :embarassed:

Now, now King; I believe our clan rules state that you're not allowed to quit before I do. :P

I know, Ducky been here to long, he needs to enjoy retirement. :laugh4: :balloon2::balloon2::balloon2:


I still play MP for S2TW regardless if it bad or not. I think if you truly care about the game you playing MP wise, you do anything for it.

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Originally Posted by AggonyDuck

Now, now King; I believe our clan rules state that you're not allowed to quit before I do. :P

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dam! busted! :sweatdrop:

:P

And Warman I do care enough about MP....its just that I think with my wallet sometimes because I'm not gonna spend on something thats broken :juggle2:

In that case I would not have brought RTW..... M2TW......ETW.....NTW.... and more then likely AntiWarmanCake would just have been a minor player on the 2.0 unpatched server on VI from 2004 who was 'smart' enought not to move on to other TW MP games and became nothing.

No matter if it broken or not... Ain't going to be fixed if you boycott it. I would have fun anyhow. It's call working with what ya got. :idea2: :pimp:

I think you underestimate the power of boycotting :argue:

and for reference I bought mtw2 and rtw even though I never played mp on those (only like once) but even that mp was 10x better than what we got now :balloon2: I also played a lot of etw mp, so like the saying goes, fool me once...yadayada...fool me twice...yadayada...not gonna be a third if the etw style mp continues :P

In that logic, I been fooled 4 times, from RTW to NTW and still here! :laugh4::laugh4:

But I understand your point, but even if people boycott, how many will? Maybe 50 or 100? WOW!!!!! So times it by $50 or $60 dollars and they may lose a few thousands bucks, but they can make it up with our SP friends, so why would they care? This isn't WOW. Most people here could do without MP and the ones that do play it only do so occsionally. Us hardcore people are a elite little group Kingy, the Puppet King.

:pimp:

You're missing King's point, Warman. His proposed boycott is a personal one, directly related to his financial situation and expenditure.

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Originally Posted by AggonyDuck

You're missing King's point, Warman. His proposed boycott is a personal one, directly related to his financial situation and expenditure.

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No Ducky, I realize that, but it just partially sounds like he's referring to TW MP wide boycott until he made it clearer.

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Originally Posted by AntiKingWarmanCake88

No Ducky, I realize that, but it just partially sounds like he's referring to TW MP wide boycott until he made it clearer.

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I think you assumed too much :P never once did I said to boycott this game :D infact, you're the one that brought it up >_>

This is a busy thread :smile:

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I sort of disagree with my own question but not completely. Yes, it is true that you yourself as a PC gamer must ensure that your computer meets at least the min specs and that you must know the limitations of what your computer can play.

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Incorrect; you must insure that your computer meets or exceeds the “recommended” specs. The minimum specs ensure you can play single player, but is no guarantee that you will be able to hold up your end in multiplayer.

Minimum:
Processor: 2.3 GHz CPU with SSE2
Memory: 1 GB RAM (XP), 2 GB RAM (Vista®/Windows® 7)
Graphics: 256 MB DirectX® 9.0c shader model 2b compatible GPU

Recommended:
Processor: 2.6 GHz Dual Core CPU
Memory: 2 GB RAM (XP), 4 GB RAM (Vista®/Windows® 7)
Graphics: 256 MB DirectX® 9.0c shader model 3 compatible GPU

Suggested:
Processor: 3.2 GHz Quad Core
Memory: 4 GB RAM XP
Graphics: 768 MB Dual Graphics Cards
Cable: 25 Mbps

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I tried to start a 2v2 with a clan mate but we could not connect to each other due to a 'No Response from Host' error message. We tried 3 times to fix the problem by switching server regions, but alas, no cigar.

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Switching server regions will not help; stay connected to your own regional server. The most useful thing that you can do is to restart your game, and /or reboot your computer. Beyond that, it is an internet communication problem, possibly due to heavy traffic when you are trying to play. Try again with the same person at some other time.

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Since we could not play, we split up and went separate ways. I then got into a ranked 1v1 and 10 minutes into it the other player dropped as soon as the battle turned my side.

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It happens, and the reason that when you find good people, that you add them to your friends list.

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Of course, if you have enough friends that play NTW then things like these are not likely to happen, but I doubt that over 1/4 of players of this game are like me who have a huge friends list of players that play ntw and can mostly avoid problems.(except for those days when you are reminded just how bad the quality of mp stability really is)

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Or is it how difficult internet communications are, especially with folks with marginal computers and connections. There is an investment involved; and serious players make serious commitments to the game, in both money and time.

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So then it becomes an issue of why should we have to go beyond our capabilities to truly enjoy multiplayer? Should we not expect to buy a game an immediately be able to jump into multiplayer without having to rely so much in adding enough people to a friends list?

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Because, that is the reality of the situation for “everybody”!

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Are we not entitled to some sort of quality standard?

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You are playing the very best computer game on the planet, one that stretches the envelop current technology to its limits. There is no quality standard to satisfy, as no one has invented it yet!

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I'm afraid that if MP does not chance for Shogun 2, this might simply be my last TW game.

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You will probably be first in line to buy S2…lol


But really I hear you, and if you love the game, you will find a way. It does not have to happen all at once, just create the goal, and work at it :wink:

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Originally Posted by Tomisama

This is a busy thread :smile:

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lol well blame the guy who loves cashews ;)

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Switching server regions will not help; stay connected to your own regional server. The most useful thing that you can do is to restart your game, and /or reboot your computer. Beyond that, it is an internet communication problem, possibly due to heavy traffic when you are trying to play. Try again with the same person at some other time.

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It does work and I been doing this simple work around the issue since etw. However, once in a while I get it for no reason at all. For example, I went a good 2-3months of being able to host normally, etc, and one day it just decides to not work. I tried restarting, clearing game cache, re-downloading any corrupted game files, etc, and only thing that fixed it was switching regions through steam interface.

And when the problem first started it was night time my time PDT, less players then :P

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You are playing the very best computer game on the planet, one that stretches the envelop current technology to its limits. There is no quality standard to satisfy, as no one has invented it yet!

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that is a pretty big statement :P but I will argue the quality standard to satisfy. Every game has some sort of quality standard to meet, whether it be a PS3, X360, PSP, DS or PC game. The difference between consoles, hand helds and PC games is that PC games do not have to meet any quality standards by force (unless it is a game for windows) while consoles/handhelds have to submit to a 1st party, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and be able to meet Technical Requirement before release.

So then what does PC get? From my own experience in working in several game companies, the company itself sets the PC games quality requirements (unless its a Games for Windows) to meet. So its completely up to CA to make sure that their standards are set high enough.

Of course, one thing that would have totally helped is closed beta testing of multiplayer. Although I understand the need for privacy, in-house networks do not give you the same results as you would get when testing against other players in different parts of the world. From experience, I can tell you that problems arise 100% of the time when testing a game outside of the network that the dev/producer house uses.

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You will probably be first in line to buy S2…lol

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of course! :laugh4: if they improve mp stability...if not...I'll be first in line....when the price drops :P

Overall I can tolerate any mp problems with this game, but there are those days that you get reminded how poor the mp stability actually is

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that is a pretty big statement :P but I will argue the quality standard to satisfy.

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It was, and probably coming more from the heart more than the head.

But in comparing qualities, you can’t match server based games versus host based games like the Total War series. Host based games bring a sea of variables into the mix that would be all but impossible to test for in advance.

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of course! if they improve mp stability...if not...I'll be first in line....when the price drops :P

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I will by the game regardless. I waited fro the first Shogun for almost two years from the time I first heard about it, until it came out. And I have been waiting for this next version for ten, so can’t quit now. That is unless I drop first…lol

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Overall I can tolerate any mp problems with this game, but there are those days that you get reminded how poor the mp stability actually is

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We can just go watch old samurai movies on those days :bow:



Please accept my friends request. I am easy to beat, being old and slow :wink:

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Originally Posted by AggonyKing

I think you assumed too much :P never once did I said to boycott this game :D infact, you're the one that brought it up >_>

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Meh, stop confusing the poor King! :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by Tomisama

But in comparing qualities, you can’t match server based games versus host based games like the Total War series. Host based games bring a sea of variables into the mix that would be all but impossible to test for in advance.

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hence closed beta :P you invite 1000 players and you got a giant sea of possibilities! I remember when the first Left 4 Dead came out they did closed beta for months and months. I would go into a friend's house to play it since he somehow got into the beta. At first, it was super laggy, simply impossible to get a good game, but after 2 patches they got right and they kept improving on it since then. Once the game came out, it was stable, it had problems like any other games, but at least the major issues where fixed.

L4D was a host based game, but then as it got popular, it turned into a mix of both, now more server based. This might be a good idea for TW franchise on steam, have dedicated servers. The problem is that for example, if you want to play on one map, battle setup, etc, there has to be enough servers for the setup that you want and number of players.

CA just needs to copy Blizzard :P

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I will by the game regardless. I waited fro the first Shogun for almost two years from the time I first heard about it, until it came out. And I have been waiting for this next version for ten, so can’t quit now. That is unless I drop first…lol
We can just go watch old samurai movies on those days :bow:
Please accept my friends request. I am easy to beat, being old and slow :wink:

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I been waiting for Shogun 2 since shogun 1 myself :D I hope they bring back some of the original soundtrack ^_^

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Please accept my friends request. I am easy to beat, being old and slow :wink:

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this feels like a trap! its a trap!! :P

Plenty people are boycotting totalwar, theres tons of players that arent playing anymore and its ofc money that CA will miss, infact the players arent really boycotting the game theyre just done with it. They dont even visit the community forums anymore and have moved on reluctantly as they realise that the chances of totalwar being as solid as it was in mp in stw and mtw1 are very low. I know alot of players who wont even go near it just because of the fact theres no foyer alone. i have around 250 x totalwar players on my microsoft messenger 3 of them are currently playing napoleon totalwar and thats just my msn list alone... infact that numbers down to 1 now playing mp with around 5 in total on my msn actually owning the game (me, amp, magy, kocmoc, tempiic and tera) . quite often ill get messages from peeps asking if the new release is any good especially around a month after game release. Its quite scary when you think that all of the players on the list LOVED shogun and to a lesser extent mtw1, they were crazy about totalwar untill it started to deteriorate in mp. What bothers me is i know i could get 99% of them back playing if CA would just incorporate the big 3 back in the game - Fully functional chat lobby, map editor and unit and movement bug fixes. At the moment you cant even add a map to your list without your full game becoming incomaptable with everyone elses for multiplayer even if you dont host that blasted map lol..... what a mess. CA should be including every single map from the campaign to be available in multiplayer battles as an absolute minimum hell they should even be doing this for NTW even as we speak to keep the current players interested.

I agree the limited map selection is poor, whats the big deal allowing more maps???? a lot of games are hosted through steam and those games have every option available. when it comes to mods others have made new maps but its essential to experience those maps only through the mod. We dont want to have to deal with the mod, it should be simple enough to enjoy 20-30 maps with no problem. And the only way to play differnent maps is through campain 1v1 or drop in battles, thats just lame as any real player doesnt play those and if they do its for a laugh. come on CA stop working so hard for stupid things that no one person cares about!