I stopped playing MP right after RTW was released - poor MP maps, nasty forums, and most of all, awful games. I had not one decent tactical online RTW game which wasn't spoilt by infantile behaviour, ridiculous funding (i gave up trying to get people to play with less than full upgraded units) unit spamming or just plain annoying "special abilities".

TBH I play EVE online, and I'll pay for that monthly becuase there is regular new content and a lot of interactive stuff in-game. TotalWar doesn't have that. A well implemented, balanced MP campaign would make me re-consider.