Shogun totalwar multiplayer plans revealed...!!

[Swoosh So]

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/113/1137776p1.html

Will have a think about this then post my thoughts.

[Tempiic]

Read it as well, reading it again. Many thoughts rising. Can't tell if I have to prepare for the worst, or hope for the best. ;)

It kinda depends wether it is only one of the ways one can play online, or the only one (besides a true MPC obviously)

[Swoosh So]

If its the only one its game over :) and by only one i dont include mp campaign i mean only battle mode.

[Kocmoc]

Well, not much you can do with a game, where anything is done already. You come up with this stuff, which actually has nothing to do with the online battle.
The idea with the general, might be a small "nice" addon, which hopefully wont have to much power, but the stuff with the units.... lol, units you can just field from time to time.

By reading this, i asked myself, if CA actually do understand the meaning of onlinegaming. If not, here it comes: Balance.


I dont see the many more MPlayer, they wont come. And if you come online and get your arse wooped, by full "upgraded" units/general, than you say good bye in most cases.
From all i expected, this is surely the last!

It wont improve the gameplay in any way, it might be nice for some gaming-magazins and reviews, but thats it.


We brought tons of ideas, nothing seems to found its way to CA.


Koc

[Swoosh So]

You know i think ur right to an extent mike, the community specifically asked for powerup buildings not to be included in the multiplayer battles, it amazes me that CA think that camping is a problem in totalwar infact ALL experienced players attack maps so the thinking was that the experienced players get a bonus that negates terrain on their way to destroying some static player? and knowing CA they will litter every map with this nonsence. The new match finding screen does look decent tho but if its doing so much auto matching its surely a statement from CA saying your not getting a chat foyer which EVERY SINGLE MP PEEP WANTS.

[Tempiic]

I think I am not the kind of MP player, TW is currently aiming for.

But, I really really really hope, that these things are simply options to be turned on and turned off at the hosting screen like time of day and the weather. Or that they are limited (or not used depending on your PoV) by use of different gaming modes. I do think these things can be nice, less so about these statboosting buildings, but if it is the only way to play... Hmmmm. I guess there are just too many clueless people that cannot deal with campers and whine about it on the .com site. ;)

Much like RTW had an arcade and a normal mode, maybe S2TW will have an old school and a lure the SP'r into MP mode.

[Swoosh So]

"I guess there are just too many clueless people that cannot deal with campers and whine about it on the .com site. ;) "
I have to be honest that was my initial thought too, ive never seen anyone in the community complain about camping not since people complained about redzone camping but thats a totally different issue that tbh i havent seen in years. The funny thing is that these buildings are going to assist the attacker and the attacker is 99% of the time the experienced player lol, what we will probably end up with is an experienced player in the better terrain also with the quad damage temple bonus hah!

I think we can safely assume now there will be no MP chat foyer like the community asked for, there definately will the the sonic the hedgehog powerup buildings that we asked not to be put in and that we can forget about a good selection of maps as they maps will be focussed around the quad damage temples.

[Tempiic]

Well yes. Other than that, the general skill tree, armour upgrades and veteran units isn't such a bad thing though, as long as they are balanced out by koku increase.

[Nikodil]

At least this will mean one thing: the networking code will likely get properly tested and debugged. And that's an encouraging thought.

Overall, I don't know, it's not how I would have done it. It all depend on the details. But if they do succeed with getting more people online, that's only positive. I only hope they understand the community aspects of MP, that many goes online primarily as a social activity, and not only to get XP and to advance down the tech tree.

[Sp00n]

No wonder they kept it under wraps so long lol, if its the only method of playing then they have destroyed the online community, some clarification from CA would be nice.

Like I said before they have never understood that people mainly play TW online for the battles and to pit them selves against a human oponent. To do this we basically all want to be on a balanced playing field, introducing Call Of Duty style upgrades giving the more prolific players bonus's isnt the way to do it imo.

Time will tell though.



Nice how they have asked no one in the online community or done any beta testing with the community again. I'm also guessing no lobby/foyer.

[Magyar Khan]

I have to reread again and all i can hope is that u can turn it on and off.... and altho a nice twist perhaps overall ots just a goodie..... nothing we need for real to get mp on teh right track.... netcode, balancing, foyer, excellent gameplay and mp campaign are much more important....

Well sells-wise this plan sells good in magazins......

[Tempiic]

Yeah, time will tell. However, when approaching it from the other side, it slowly starts to seem to me that all these perks and such sound very much like making MP from a SP point of view. But it really depends on the details. Toggles to turn it on / off, a game mode besides random autogames&campaign, and how these perks are balanced, money wise.

[Nikodil]

Maybe they are aiming for the so called Massive Single-player Online genre.

[Tempiic]

Fraid you could be a right... and then a botched attempt at it too ;)

Now, an enjoyable Massive Multiplayer Online TW could be fun, if the details are right.

[Gregoshi]

What if the bird will not sing? Ieyasu says "Wait."

While I found the persistence features intriguing (and most of you apparently did not), there is a lot still unsaid about MP. You know these articles (and CA) focus on new stuff (New! New! New!) and I don't think things like discussing the return of a chat foyer are going get most of the newer, what's-a-chat-foyer TW players all rabid with excitement for TWS2 (to use the new title). No need to kill the bird yet.

[Magyar Khan]

at the current point CA is not skilled enuf to deliver that, just because they lack resources to make it balanced.......

still have to reread it but somehow it smells not as a step in teh right direction if the other points in our wishlist aint adressed.....

imagine.... we have still a few good maps and in some aspects silly gameplay.... why should we hoover around with our own general......

and its a nice touche to add virtues and such.... just make sure its just a touch and not an unbalanced monsterthing....

[pevergreen]

The critical thing is here that they can now hit two targets.

The casual player with persistance and unlocks, customisation etc, with a ladder/stat tracking system that is matched against others (to draw them into competitive) then a real ladder.

You look at an RTS. People play them competitively because they are balanced. I think it is beyond CA to balance a persistant system of traits.

I guess we will have to wait and see, but they need to bring back a ladder/rating system of some sort, to cater to the hardcore players.

[Sp00n]

Theres a much better report here on eurogamer, does state the old way of MP will also be present.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...gun-2-hands-on

[pevergreen]

Theres a much better report here on eurogamer, does state the old way of MP will also be present.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...gun-2-hands-on

Wow this one is a ton better.

Get your clans going, I may have to join one...or become a one man wrecking machine.

[Sp00n]

They do also mention at Eurogamer about the bonus building you can capture and also say its a risk and possible to

"Perhaps an option to turn bonus buildings off could be one way to safeguard against a purist backlash"

Anyway on the whole much more in dept. I'm feeling a little bit more optimistic now.

[Tempiic]

See... its about the details ;)

Good to know the old way is still present. Does that one exclude the building boosts?

Swoosh, back in RTW (not sure if I remembered it correctly), many maps could optionally be turned into maps in which cities were present. Wouldn't be too hard to list these buildings as a hosting toggle for some or most maps.

[Gregoshi]

The Eurogamer article was much more revealing, interesting and encouraging. It's good to see old school is an option. I hope the clan campaigns works out well as it sounds like it could add a new dynamic to the whole MP experience. How and when do you commit your veteran units, etc. I wonder if there is a mechanism for diplomacy? Good info finally getting revealed.

[pevergreen]

I'm hoping its a really simple system. You each start with even number of provinces, battle for others. Battle to defend. No peace. Sure you can 'agree' with other clans (via forums etc) to not attack, but really, if its a simple map system, theres no "oh no i dont have an army there to defend"

What I am interested, is how will it track clans.

Since you only get 1 account, how do you unify the members. How do you track them?

[Swoosh So]

Ah ffs check this quote

Also new to multiplayer are 'key buildings'. All the maps have one or two buildings that give a buff to your troops if you capture them. Note the word ALL epic fail!!!

[AggonyKing]

I found myself pressing this button a few times while reading the Eurogamer article

I have to say though all those (general, avatar, army upgrades, special houses, campaign map) sound like good ideas, I'm truly worried about the balance. I hope CA is thinking about tournaments and that the true old system will be available at any time, without any of these new things.
This scarred me:

"You now get to create and level-up a general unit who will stay with you for the duration of your multiplayer escapades and lead your troops into battle."

Does that mean we can never get rid of that general?

The special buildings, I truly hope that there are a ton of maps without it as well. Honestly, I don't think camping is a problem at all. Its easy (and very satisfying) to destroy a camper. Besides, with NTW's map, I don't think any hill is big enough for someone to camp. Perhaps on 1v1, but total war is about team games. You camp, you doom your teammates to certain death.

Regarding the turn based mp map, does this mean that CA only excepts 2310 players to play this? 77 regions in total with about 30 clans each. Unless you need about 10 people to make a clan, I would imagine those spots will fill up quick :? Maybe I read it wrong, or perhaps new regions get formed depending on demand.

I'm still disappointed though, no mentions of a lobby

But you know, all is not lost. All of these features could actually work...as long as they are balanced

so I'm going to give a drop of confidence that CA knows what it is doing.

[Swoosh So]

Theres positives and negatives king i saw a preview that said these buildings will be in ALL maps thats just omg fail on levels never seen before, the clan ladders with promotion and relegation sound excellent tho. You just have to battle with your gen through the japan map to gain entry into the shogun leagues where u can win the title of shogun.

[Magyar Khan]

there are good points ofcourse but im afraid that balancing is a problem..... mass beta testing could help :)

[AggonyKing]

there are good points ofcourse but im afraid that balancing is a problem..... mass beta testing could help :)

It does help, just CA needs to do it maybe as a Christmas present for all of us

[pevergreen]

Regarding the turn based mp map, does this mean that CA only excepts 2310 players to play this? 77 regions in total with about 30 clans each. Unless you need about 10 people to make a clan, I would imagine those spots will fill up quick :? Maybe I read it wrong, or perhaps new regions get formed depending on demand.

"We have a dynamic system that creates new gaming worlds depending on how many clans are entering. About 30 clans will fight in any one gaming world. Each 'season' will last two weeks, after which the top clans will be promoted and the bottom ones relegated."

Regarding the buildings: I hope that stays out of the 'traditional' mode they have.
The generals: You'd think they would at least have the option of completely resetting your guy, if not just choosing to redo his 'stats'

[Swoosh So]

My minds boggled with this release theres so much to process im not even sure whats in it theres 1v1 2v2 3v3 4v4 leagues clan leagues a clan type mini campaing coop modes quad damage buildings sharing units in coop mode all this armour choosing banner choosing retainers in MP, hope tehy havent taken on too much. Everything sounds great tho except the quad damage buildings if they have an option to switch off fine.