Finally Multiplayer Gets A Lead Role

[Gregoshi]

In the IGN.com Q&A, CA mentioned more on MP will be revealed in the future. I'm hoping they will cover the full range of the MP experience from logon to the end of game, game types/options and not just focus on what can happen on the battlefield with 56000 men.

[Magyar Khan]

swoosh and greg.... i agree....

i think ca has created their own problem too.... in their believe sp is their main income thay cant post too much about mp in their first 10 broadcasts..... ofcourse we cant manouvre 56000 men in mp, and im sure we dont have too for our best gameplay... we need an optimum vs manouvrability and how long combat lasts....

they would serve us a lot of the show us how the screens look from logon to endbattle.... and we can discuss about that.....

[Kocmoc]

well, to pay a monthly fee for a TW is just a joke.

To compare a game like WoW with a TW is a joke either. The first and surely most important difference is, that blizz need tons of Server to run a single world, the hardware is expensive.
In TW you need a single server and thats it, or you need a part of a sever, since the games itself are run on the computer of us customer. So whats is expensive for CA? Right, nothing.
They would indeed earn a lot of cash for doin only patches.

Next example, look at WC3 or SC2 (battlenet) there you also have to pay nothing, simply as the hardware isnt that expensive to run those games for millions of player.

While it could be a reason for CA to put more effort in the new S2 TW game, its also a silly thing to pay for this.


Im reading this "leadinrole" thing and i ask where this will be? TW games are not made for a mass-market, not if the game keeps as "complex" as it is right now. You had a lot to dump down, to actual get many more player involved.
This said, i dont believe, that there will be a huge changed of the battles in Tw, it mostly will keep same. Thats fine for us, bad for the "leadingrole". With Steam the whole thing wont work anyway. Steam is okay, but not good.
On the other hand i ask myself all the time, whats so hard to run an own Server? Is it really only about the money they can make with extra downloads on Steam?

Anyway, right now i just see the same steps from CA before a new games comes up. Tons of nice words, a lot pictures and almost no word about gameplay or how they actual want to give the new game this god damn "leadinrole".
No single word to the community, no word about how the beta tests will be done ( actual it surely will be the same crap betatester, who are not able to test maps or find simple bugs - where i did need like 10 games to find the most obvious crap), not a single step to involve the MPlayer, the modder are f***** as well. All in all the PR is terrible and if the MP is the goal, than the start is already terrible.

Koc

[Nobunaga]

Anyway, right now i just see the same steps from CA before a new games comes up. Tons of nice words, a lot pictures and almost no word about gameplay or how they actual want to give the new game this god damn "leadinrole".
No single word to the community, no word about how the beta tests will be done ( actual it surely will be the same crap betatester, who are not able to test maps or find simple bugs - where i did need like 10 games to find the most obvious crap), not a single step to involve the MPlayer, the modder are f***** as well. All in all the PR is terrible and if the MP is the goal, than the start is already terrible.

very true. I read somewhere that the game is to be released in FEB 2011... If this is true CA better start giving more information.

[Magyar Khan]

an idea for CA could be to bring out patches if needed and even bring a patch hidden in gamecontent like maps, new campaign and such.... instead of a monthly fee im willing to pay 4.99 or 9.99 euro extra for an improved game as an extra download-release

release a mapeditor for 5 euro
and release a new clan, a campaign and two new heros, 2 new units, one late era ship and 5 maps for the price of 6.99 and embedded the hidden balanced patch....

[Swoosh So]

I dont think balance patches and dlc can mix, cause then you cant play with those without the patches, tbh im still wondering if i pay for the base game let alone anything else, i recently bought the peninsular campaign for ntw from dlc and if im honest it wasent worth it for MP at all.

[Gregoshi]

I would appreciate it if we could tone down the bitterness that has been creeping this forum in the last several days - especially bitterness based on assumptions, predictions and so far very little information about the game and its development. Criticism of game details as they become available is allowed, but "CA bashing" is not. CA and some of its employees are patrons here too and are protected by the same forum rules as you and I. Thank you.

[Swoosh So]

its all good gregoshi.

[Magyar Khan]

for my reputation i did remarkably well hush swoosh xkissx

i still have plans to buy them a beer in london and perhaps in that case i may need you....

[UglyElmo2]

well, to pay a monthly fee for a TW is just a joke. Koc

LOL I knew I would get that reaction from someone eventually. hehe

Anyway, right now i just see the same steps from CA before a new games comes up. Tons of nice words, a lot pictures and almost no word about gameplay or how they actual want to give the new game this god damn "leadinrole".
No single word to the community, no word about how the beta tests will be done ( actual it surely will be the same crap betatester, who are not able to test maps or find simple bugs - where i did need like 10 games to find the most obvious crap), not a single step to involve the MPlayer, the modder are f***** as well. All in all the PR is terrible and if the MP is the goal, than the start is already terrible. Koc

I think you need a drink from Elmo's infamous Jug O Shine my friend. After a few sips, all your troubled thoughts tend to vanish, while you concentrate on just remaining standing. :)

[Gregoshi]

I think you need a drink from Elmo's infamous Jug O Shine my friend. After a few sips, all your troubled thoughts tend to vanish, while you concentrate on just remaining standing. :)

Elmo, can we keep a couple of jugs on site here? We may need it when MP details start emerging...

[Kocmoc]

Yeah, get us some info about MPlayer. Its really hard to judge anything, if all we get are some campaign infos and a few pics/vids. It looks nice as always, but it doesnt show us the smallest thing about MP part.

[UglyElmo2]

I will set up a direct feed to my best copper still, so we can have an almost endless supply of my Moonshine. Anybody have a few extra clay jugs around so we all can drink at the same time instead of waiting for the one to be passed? :)

Yup, Kocmoc, I too am a bit worried CA has changed its mind again and decided to concentrate only on SP.

[drunkeneagle]

http://www.nowgamer.com/features/916...ew?o=0#listing

"We’re not really talking about multiplayer at the moment – but we are really excited about it in-house. What I can tell you is that we’re aiming to make multiplayer in Shogun 2 better than any multiplayer experience we’ve ever created before.
There are thousands and thousands of people out there who play Total War multiplayer hours and hours a week. We’re grateful for that, but we think we can offer them more still. We’re doing this for those guys, and I think they’re going to love it."

I guess that's the reason not much info coming yet.

[UglyElmo2]

http://www.nowgamer.com/features/916...ew?o=0#listing

"We’re not really talking about multiplayer at the moment – but we are really excited about it in-house. What I can tell you is that we’re aiming to make multiplayer in Shogun 2 better than any multiplayer experience we’ve ever created before.
There are thousands and thousands of people out there who play Total War multiplayer hours and hours a week. We’re grateful for that, but we think we can offer them more still. We’re doing this for those guys, and I think they’re going to love it."

I guess that's the reason not much info coming yet.

Which is discouraging because that is what they have said in every release since the original STW which, to me, more than likely indicates they aren't giving it any more thought than in the past, and will tack on MP at the very end as normal.

Hopefully they will realize MP for what it is: A feature that keeps players interested in the series and increases the likelihood they will purchase the next release instead of leaving for other things. If they had worked to keep all the MP community since STW, their sales would be even greater than they are. It's not like the MP community had ever asked for much in the first place, and the time working on MP would have been well spent.

If there was great MP, those people who chose not to play MTW, RTW, M2TW, Empires and NTW, might have bought the game, just to continue playing with their clan/friends, even though the subject matter and time frame did not interest them much.

[Gregoshi]

Hi drunkeneagle and welcome to the Org! Thanks for sharing the link. I hadn't seen this one yet.

Not talking about MP yet. I'm guessing they need to get the SP aspect down first before working on MP, but that would just be the battle part. What about the part that wraps around the battles? Or is that in the realm of Steam and out of their control?

[drunkeneagle]

Thank you!Nice to be here. STW is one of my all time favourite games so I'm very happy CA are revisiting & updating it!

Regarding the statement,I do agree we have heard these sort of things said before but for this release I do believe CA are working on 'something' unique just for MP.
In another interview about this new feature,Kieran mentioned cryptically something along the lines of "scale and longevity" and "permanence and a larger number of people".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL60inmJ084
What all this means I'm not sure, but I'm certainly interested and hopeful:)

[Swoosh So]

5 mins searching the org brings up:

Statements of the past

Medieval Totalwar 2:

Have you got any new plans for the multiplayer component of the game?

Bob Smith: We have some ambitious plans for multiplayer battles. We can't go into further details on this as yet.

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=133488




Empire Totalwar

Swoosh posts:
Well i have to say bringing back a compeditive ladder is a very positive step

"A brand new multiplayer component will include player rankings, leagues and ladders and completely new gameplay modes."

Creative Assembly reply:

We made the multiplayer fedback thread at .com for a reason.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...e-Info-at-.com



Empire Totalwar Blog

Will multiplayer actually be considered when the game is created?
Multiplayer is very important to us this time around. A lot of the team are long-term multiplayer fans and we felt it was time to address their needs more openly.


Cant be bothered tonight to look for more.

I really hope they mean it this time round, Ill keep my opinion if i believe it to myself as i want to remain somewhat positive in the hope that they give a good mp game. 1 thing to take out of this is that we should all be posting on the .com what were posting here at least the compiled list of ideas.

[Magyar Khan]

well done.... that would be a good question towards CA in an interview.... show them the sumup and let them explain why now its different than teh promisses before....

[Swoosh So]

Some of the stuff they did impliment in empire but some not and in that post they confirmed them, the statement about mtw2 was complete fabrication there was nothing new in it for multiplayer. We all have to be patient i think and see what previews show us in the coming months. I kinda regret posting those comments but at the end of the day theyre just factual events that took place here and in ca interviews all available on the forums from a 5 min search.

[drunkeneagle]

Some of the stuff they did impliment in empire but some not and in that post they confirmed them, the statement about mtw2 was complete fabrication there was nothing new in it for multiplayer. We all have to be patient i think and see what previews show us in the coming months. I kinda regret posting those comments but at the end of the day theyre just factual events that took place here and in ca interviews all available on the forums from a 5 min search.

All the statements you posted from the past are all correct of course.
I'm basing my small optimism on CA's latest release NTW. Where we now have Multiplayer campaigns(yes,finally) and drop-ins, which I'll admit I was really surprised by! I love them:)
So maybe very(very) slowly,they are finally coming around to the idea of MP as being a more important feature for future TW games(?) That's my hope anyway.

[vartan]

All the statements you posted from the past are all correct of course.
I'm basing my small optimism on CA's latest release NTW. Where we now have Multiplayer campaigns(yes,finally) and drop-ins, which I'll admit I was really surprised by! I love them:)
So maybe very(very) slowly,they are finally coming around to the idea of MP as being a more important feature for future TW games(?) That's my hope anyway.

This is my hope as well because I find the social aspect to be more valuable (in terms of humanity) than the single player by itself. The two together are complementary. The lack of either would be a thorn in TW's side, but the loss of MP would be a sharper thorn than the loss of SP in the long run, IMHO.

[Magyar Khan]

I would pay 5 euro if a CA employee with some status comes here and post something valueable....

[UglyElmo2]

@DrunkenEagle: Sorry, I forgot to say; "Hi" and welcome you to our discussions. I have gotten in the habit of not looking at one's post counts, or join dates, and thus miss the opportunity to welcome new patrons in the forums I visit.

Very nice to meet you, and feel free to enter any and all discussions. You optimism is a positive bright spot, which helps offset our sporadic feelings of negativity. :)

[Gregoshi]

I would pay 5 euro if a CA employee with some status comes here and post something valueable....

I put out an inquiry to see if we could get someone from CA periodically pay us a visit and comment where they can about the MP part of S2TW. Me fingers are crossed.

[AMP]

They should start by adding the much needed features in the wishlist which some of them have been asked for many years now. They also should start by giving the whole MP layout a major overhaul because right now it's just like stw almost without the lobby chat and stw was how long ago? Maybe they need someone with abit of imagination when doing it. I just hope they don't add like 1 or 2 things and be like "hey guys look at this addition isn't it cool look at what we gave you" and later on be like we're gonna add something else, but it's gonna be a DLC for 10$ doesn't that sound wonderful?

[vartan]

They should start by adding the much needed features in the wishlist which some of them have been asked for many years now. They also should start by giving the whole MP layout a major overhaul because right now it's just like stw almost without the lobby chat and stw was how long ago? Maybe they need someone with abit of imagination when doing it. I just hope they don't add like 1 or 2 things and be like "hey guys look at this addition isn't it cool look at what we gave you" and later on be like we're gonna add something else, but it's gonna be a DLC for 10$ doesn't that sound wonderful?

Oh boy is it easy to read between those lines, heh. Beef with the creative director's final decision on the MP lobby GUI?

[Magyar Khan]

I put out an inquiry to see if we could get someone from CA periodically pay us a visit and comment where they can about the MP part of S2TW. Me fingers are crossed.

Nice Greg, tell them I personally stand for their safety here.... as from what i can see the place is just roamed by oldies and all are constructive and willingly to make the game the best in their series by default...

[Sp00n]

Would be nice to get some sort of CA representative here regarding MP, anything we post here atm is just pure speculation as we know nothing about what they are going to be bring MP wise with Shogun 2.

I'll be happy if they can just give us what we had with the original plus a MP campaign, a foyer/lobby being top of my list.

On a positive note they should realize that the MP community here is extremely passionate about Shogun 2's MP due to how good the originals was and thats maybe why its getting a little heated here of late, while I believe they have steadily improved the TW games in SP I can't really say they have done it in MP, however apart from the era and some niggling faults I quite like NTW which is a return to decent MP imo although still not at Shoguns level.

I've never been so excited about a game since the original came out and I'm sure CA have the same passion so lets wait and see what they announce in the coming months.

[AMP]

Oh boy is it easy to read between those lines, heh. Beef with the creative director's final decision on the MP lobby GUI?

Well the creative director's decision has been to keep the same lay out every year, so not only after all these years dose it look the same with better graphics it has the same much needed features/improvements. Would be nice to see something alittle creative done with it for once after all this time. :)