CA

[CanCritter]

just thinking we should rush CA and get our game back....get Magy and Kocmoc to hit thier flanks....they`ll never know what hit them....

[Magyar Khan]

:o) I have still 2 replays of us vs teamCA.... (mtw/vi i think) downloadable from wolfsite.... if anyone would like to make a movie out of it or worse

we could make a movie-competition about it... :)

I also am willingly to head to london at my own cost and test it there for a day.....

I have good hopes that stwII will be better than ntw...... we seen nice zoomed-in graphics and a lushcovered campaignmap...... what i still fear is the gameplay and hassle to get a game going online.....

and the fact that the MP-part is so kept secret.... isnt a good sign for me..... time will tell....

[Kocmoc]

I bet, that they still have no idea how to solve the major problems with the MP part.

Actual, those guys dont need to be very good player themselves, to sort out the obvious problems. I dont get tired to repeat it:
If someone played more than 5-6 hours NTW, he/she had to notice the major problems.
Testing on steam and notice the connection problems is something you dont need 60 min.

I wouldnt be here and post at all, if there weren't the famous sentence: "MP will become a leadingrole...."

While most games having an open beta today, we are sitting here in the dark and wait for some light.
As i said, i think, they have no idea how to overcome some of the major problems yet.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

I bet, that they still have no idea how to solve the major problems with the MP part.

Actual, those guys dont need to be very good player themselves, to sort out the obvious problems. I dont get tired to repeat it:
If someone played more than 5-6 hours NTW, he/she had to notice the major problems.
Testing on steam and notice the connection problems is something you dont need 60 min.

I wouldnt be here and post at all, if there weren't the famous sentence: "MP will become a leadingrole...."

While most games having an open beta today, we are sitting here in the dark and wait for some light.
As i said, i think, they have no idea how to overcome some of the major problems yet.

Because I don't think they really care at the moment about MP.

[Gregoshi]

I bet, that they still have no idea how to solve the major problems with the MP part.

I've been pondering that for the past week or so. I've no experience with Steam but I seem to recall others saying non-TW games do not have the same level of problems with Steam as the TW games do. If that is the case, could it be that the TW games require much more network traffic than the typical Steam game (FPS, etc) and that that is the root of the TW problems? Could it be that NTW is too complex for Steam to adequately handle without some improved efficiencies on the TW and Steam sides of the equation? Can anyone confirm or dispel that line of thought? Just been wonderin' about that.

[Tera]

I don't think so Gregoshi, since Steam (and others like BattleNet) host plenty of other RTS like Company of Heroes and World in Conflict. These are not lesser games in traffic at all...their traffic is probably way bigger. Moreover, even if it were so, it would only be a technical issue.

The main issues with multiplayer are gameplay ones. It all boils down to money and investment.

[Nikodil]

The problem is not Steam, as it only offers identity, matchmaking, community, chat and DLC services. All game specific communication must be handled by the game engine itself.

[Kocmoc]

@ Antiking. I dont say, that CA doesnt care about MP, infact, they do. I believe them, that they really try this thing with the "Leadingrole".
I just question, how good they really are and what direction they choose. Actual there are problems with NTW and ETW which has to be solved or it will be a disaster with S2.

About Steam. Yes i think that too, the problem isnt steam, so many other games work like a charm. On the other hand, i saw a few times that steam did crush and once steam shut down, you get kicked outa your game.
From my point of view as a standard user, i would like to see, that CA dont use Steam. They going to use it, so lets hope they make the best out of it.

[Gregoshi]

The problem is not Steam, as it only offer identity, matchmaking, community, chat and DLC services. All game specific communication must be handled by the game engine itself.

Ah, okay. That is what I was looking for. Thanks.

[Magyar Khan]

i am told years ago by a wellknown CA-employee that he was ordered to make the internet mp-part which was -skillwise- new for him...which resulted in -at first after release- much instable matchmaking.... all i can do is to let our shaman throw the bones and beg Tengri that this time it will be much better.....

i see koc's points and they are stated on many places on .org..... i hope that the testers are sharp and pursue any possible bug....

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Where did that shaman of yours run off to Magyar? Hope my Swissland Hussars didn't scare him off!

[LadyAnn]

The requirement of everyone to constantly keep in contact with Steam that is the problem. In the past, only connection with the host is required to be maintained (different port and different TCP/IP connection). In other games, for sure M:TW/VI and before, the connection with the matchmaker (Steam) is not required. Once game completed, you reconnect to the matchmaker. It is not the case for N:TW: many games terminated due to one player lost connection to Steam during game.

Game problems are bad during the weekend, another clear indication it was not a problem of N:TW alone. It is the relationship between N:TW and Steam that is troubling.

[Nikodil]

I don't know, when I got dropped from steam in NTW, the steam client itself was still connected and working, it was only NTW that was complaining. It's hard to judge who to blame without deeper knowledge how it actually works under the hood.

[Swoosh So]

CA are to blame they chose steam so if it drops on steam or not its still CA's product at the end of the day.
Funny thing is ive been talking to other peeps that play other games on steam and they dont seem to have the drops totalwar players are experiencing....

[Magyar Khan]

MP coding wasnt never CA best skill... lets see this version :o)

[Tomisama]

I don't know, when I got dropped from steam in NTW, the steam client itself was still connected and working, it was only NTW that was complaining. It's hard to judge who to blame without deeper knowledge how it actually works under the hood.

From your Steam Profile page, under Steam/Settings/In-Game, there is a check mark that allows you to disable Steam Community In-Game.

This is not useful as it removes all pregame communications, but you can turn it off from inside the game, when you are actually ready to play (tab/shift and Settings is available at the bottom of the page).

Need to test if this affects the game chat or not.