How about this breakdown for organzing the MP issues:

1. MP Lobby Post-Patch bugs - List the technical problems found: Ex. Trying to log-on and the de-synching problem (if still there).

2. In-Game bugs: - List the mechanical problems with the game such as: Units when grouped often ignoring commands (give examples of this), Units getting stuck in castle gates during seiges, Any pathfinding problems (list units and situations), etc . . . Try to offer up replays or example situations so CA can try to repeat these and view first-hand what the problems are. Will speed up the process a lot.

2. MP Lobby features from STW/MTW which have been left out and which the MP community has found useful: - List the items you miss: Ex. Ignore feature, private chat windows feature, ping listing, more detailed game settings for hosted games, etc . . even requests for changes to the look of the MP lobby (The moving pictures in the background give this old man a headache! hehe)

3. In-Game features from STW/MTW which have been left out/changed and which the MP community has found useful: - This would be for items such as: Logfiles, better replay feature with unit info, status shown like in MTW, more MP maps or a map editor, the "rout" and "withdraw" commands which help shorten length of wasted time in games killing last unit, A classic MTW control/camera view system, simple chat like in MTW (less clicks), 1 player/1 faction limit in the MP games, 4v4 MP games, More host options/abilities (like changing denarii to allow any level to be set by host, etc . .

4. [U]Miscellaneous items which cannot be easily placed in above sections.[/U]

5. A wishlist of things which the MP community would like to see added: Ex. A ladder/ranking system, Voice command (like TeamSpeak) included, etc . .


All of these areas need to be sorted 1 thru ?, by importance to the community. Remember to provide hard evidence in the way of Replays, or details of the units, game type, map, and any other details of when/where/how the problems occured. Screenshots would even help. The more info. the better.

If this is done in a non-critical (non-ranting) manner, it will help speed the patching process along considerably and maybe give CA a bit of time to add features they might normally not have time to. It will also possibly give CA some ideas for future development.

I know everyone on both sides is very unhappy and unsettled by recent events. If CA is willing to work with the MP community and forge a working relationship and openly communicate (when problems arise that will not allow changes to be made), I am positive the MP community will stand behind them and give them the benefit of the doubt and possibly offer up some alternatives which would at least improve the problem spots. I think the lack of communication for over a year by CA, has created a bigger problem than if they had just come out and said: "We are changing RTW to be more friendly to new players, but want to keep the MP community satisfied as well." Then run a few ideas by the community (without giving away details which competitors might use) and see what the MP community can come up with.

For example:

CA: We are considering changing the camera views to be more RTS-like, to attract RTS players (who may never have considered this game before). What kind of camera views are important to MP play and how could we change them to help attract this new market?"

MP Community: "Being able to easily identify one's units and the ability and the ability to quickly move around the map are two of the most important things concerning the camera view. The MP community is not as worried about the graphics as they are about gameplay. The camera view should allow easy identification and also be close enough to the action to make selecting units easy, while also being far enough away to allow for an overall view of the battlefield. These two critical views could be set by hotkeys or by a mouse scroll button. It is a delicate balance, but views found in MTW combined with a view such as the -ian command provided would be excellent for MP play. The up-close view could be offered as an option to be turned off by the MP community as well."


Civil discussions such as these would have limited the problems you are seeing today. To also help keep things more organized and simple, the community could elect representatives from each of the main forums: .com, .org., .net. TWC etc . . to be the contact points for the whole community. These elected representatives could offer up ideas which CA would like to discuss, and then lead the community discussions, sort, organize the most important points and then offer them back to CA for them to look at. It would save time from CA employees' busy schedules, yet would offer them a glimpse of how changes would impact the MP community.

If CA's market strategy is to open up the game to the RTS and eventually to the console crowd, then they must also realize that these two markets LIVE for the multiplayer experience. RTS is nothing unless you are beating human opponents: No AI, no matter how good, can stand up to hundreds of humans who analyze its every move. Console games all offer up a multiplayer experience, whether it is a LAN type one with many Consoles being networked, or an XBox LIVE! type of setup. Multiplayer is extremely important to these two groups.

Sorry to have been long-winded, but I felt these items needed to be addressed if the TW series is to have a long and prosperous shelf-life like its first 2 games STW and MTW did.

UglyElmo