Quote Originally Posted by ElmarkOFear
Very true Orda. And with the current MP community, there is a perceptible unwillingness to address these issues. When the clan community was strong during STW and MTW, we policed oursleves and everyone wanted fair play and proper game ettiquette. It appears that is no longer the case, since there aren't many who are willing to set a good example for others to follow. Winning seems to be the thing most important now, rather than just playing and socializing with friends and playing fairly (or even handicapping yourself) to make the games more interesting.
That original community was a result of the original gameplay. All factions were the same, and the unit to unit balance was good. That attracted players who liked balanced gameplay. On top of that, you could play friendly or competitive (rated) games, so there was a clear demarcation present at all times between playing for blood and playing for fun. In the present Total War environment, all of that is gone. In fact, my observation is that now most multiplayers want imbalanced gameplay and exploitable features, and this trend actually started back in MTW. In this sense, you could say that CA is providing the multiplayer community with the appropriate gameplay by not balancing it or removing exploitable features, but at the same time CA created that type of community. The majority of the players around who want balanced, non-exploitable gameplay are remnants of that original community. It's unfortunate that there are more people attracted to an enviroment of exploitable gameplay than one of fair gameplay. Since Total War is a commercial venture, CA will no doubt continue to pursure this larger community.