the future of MP

[Centurion]

Cheetah - I do find it hard to believe that CA would be trying to kill MP battles off but I see where you are coming from - that it is not profitable compared to single player .

I think when players realise how time consuming and frustrating to organise and play MP campaign is gonna be - they will be put off that ! - I could be wrong !

Would the answer for MP battles be to have a small monthly subscription charge eg $3-5
(Too late for this for Empire obviously but for future TW games)

That way Money is in the pot for more staff to sort out bug fixing / balance / map making / organise official money tourneys etc and of course ORGANISED LADDERS AND RATINGS
I know I would pay it for a really good MP service.

[KrooK]

Centurion - sorry but what are you talking?

Before ETW we were promised that multiplayer campaings WILL BE PART OF GAME or WILL BE ADDED INTO ONE OF FIRST PATCHES. We paid for Empire and now you suggest us pay more? No way!
Your theory about economical advantage of single player (as part of game that can give more cash to CA) is funny comparing with global stats of computer gaming. Most popular are online games - Half Life (and famous mods), Americas Army, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, Halo 3 and of course World of Warcraft. Especially the last one is big cash industry for Blizzard. If we compare it with single - only two titles can be mentioned - Max Payne and The Sims.

And once more:
I don't want pay even 1 grosz (0,3 cent) for improvements into multi, stabilisation, tourneys and maps because.... WE ARE ALL ALREADY PAID FOR IT. CA JUST CHEATED US because everything you mentioned were already promised and should be part of game. Things you wrote are part of normal (good made) games. If we are talking about tourneys - CA always did bad. Best are community ones and Heyah Logitech Cybersport (very good lan in Poland).

[Centurion]

C
Before ETW we were promised that multiplayer campaings WILL BE PART OF GAME or WILL BE ADDED INTO ONE OF FIRST PATCHES. We paid for Empire and now you suggest us pay more? No way!
Your theory about economical advantage of single player (as part of game that can give more cash to CA) is funny comparing with global stats of computer gaming. Most popular are online games - Half Life (and famous mods), Americas Army, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, Halo 3 and of course World of Warcraft. Especially the last one is big cash industry for Blizzard. If we compare it with single - only two titles can be mentioned - Max Payne and The Sims.

And once more:
I don't want pay even 1 grosz (0,3 cent) for improvements into multi, stabilisation, tourneys and maps because.... WE ARE ALL ALREADY PAID FOR IT. CA JUST CHEATED US because everything you mentioned were already promised and should be part of game. Things you wrote are part of normal (good made) games. If we are talking about tourneys - CA always did bad. Best are community ones and Heyah Logitech Cybersport (very good lan in Poland).

Yes - You do have some valid points - CA advertised the great MP experience and did not deliver
but I think Cheetah is right . TOTAL WAR games cater primarily for the single player and always have .
It will be a large , very costly effort for CA to push the MP up to a level where most players will be buying the game solely for that.
The other games you mention are multi player based and why is WOW big cash industry for Blizzard ?
Cos they charge a monthly subscription !
This is not to say that it HAS to be this way . Starcraft 2 is to be made for MP but i very much doubt they will charge for battlenet .(but starcraft is already established as a top mp game anyways)

To Tomisama - good luck with your World Clan tourney - I really hope that goes well.
Please post some replays up - that would be great .
Also - any chance of organising a 1v1 world championship in the near future ?
be nice to see who really is the best

[Cheetah]

Cheetah - I do find it hard to believe that CA would be trying to kill MP battles off but I see where you are coming from - that it is not profitable compared to single player .

Well, it is hard to belive but CA's actions regarding MP makes no sense until you realise that they want to get rid of ASAP.
They deny core features, they are very well aware of the problems, they say nothing, they even prevent others to step in. These actions hardly make sense if you want a thriwing MP.

I think when players realise how time consuming and frustrating to organise and play MP campaign is gonna be - they will be put off that ! - I could be wrong !

This could be a good reason why they don't want to risk financing two MP service at the same time.

Would the answer for MP battles be to have a small monthly subscription charge eg $3-5 (Too late for this for Empire obviously but for future TW games)

That way Money is in the pot for more staff to sort out bug fixing / balance / map making / organise official money tourneys etc and of course ORGANISED LADDERS AND RATINGS
I know I would pay it for a really good MP service.

I would pay too, and with STEAM it might be possible to have MP battles as DLC but I am sure lot of people would be mightily upset by that decision like the gentelman posting right after you. Also, I could understand their frustration too.