There's nobody playing this multiplayer?!

[Igorputski]

I thought there would be a mile long list of challenges for this game when I went to the multiplayer screen. There's nothing nada zero in the challenge list and the only games I saw listed were a handful of private games. Same as Field of Glory a big hoopla about how great for multiplayer these games are and nobody playing them multiplayer. Well not a large list of people anyways that I can see.

If there are a bunch of multiplayers then I want to see a LIST of GAMES BEING PLAYED NOW and NAMES of all those players and the ability get EMAIL to them or PRIVATE message them to see if they want to play some games. I'm tired of these blank multiplayer screens.

[Merr]

Holiday season

[Igorputski]

Holiday season

All the more reason there should be tons of players on right now.

[MesaDon]

When I want to play multi-player I just issue an open challenge and it is picked up very quick. They are picked up fast so it is hard to catch them when they become available.

[pipfromslitherine]

That's right - challenges are taken up so quickly that there are usually very few open ones available. So just create a game that takes your fancy and I am certain it will be snapped up in no time!

Cheers

Pip

[Acererak]

If you want to play a MP game just issue an open challenge yourself. You will get an opponent pretty quick, believe me (no more than one day, two maximum)

Or just PM any guys around the forum with an invitation for a private game and I am sure most of us would gladly accept.

I have around 5 MP games going on now and have had up to 20 several times when I had more free time to spare.

We have Second BA Player Tournament going on now and will be organizing some more after we finish (visit the subforum for more tips)

So I believe this is more than enough to prove that MP is active, alive and fun in BA, don´t you think so?

[Igorputski]

No because think about this: A newcomer buys the game but never visits the forums. (I understand that the majority of sales are from those that don't visit forums) So he/she goes to the multiplayer feature and what do they see? NOTHING NADA ZILCHO BLANKO, so they have no way of knowing there's 100's or 1000's of multiplayers out there. Suppose they don't want to issue challenges? Suppose they don't read the manual about multiplayer and go on what they've seen from places like Gamespy and The Zone and other hookup places where they SEE LOTS of OPEN games waiting to be played or ones already being played?

See my point? Slitherine needs to show GAMES BEING PLAYED OR ACTIVE in those screens so anybody can see the names of the players and those names should be able to be right clicked on to be able to send a PM to them to ask if they would like to play another game with those looking for one. Of course the PM wouldn't popup during the game they are playing but in their private pm box for later as popups while playing a game are annoying.

Blank screens in a multiplayer lounge leaves thoughts of this game doesn't have any activity and most likely sucks.

[falco148]

No because think about this: A newcomer buys the game but never visits the forums. (I understand that the majority of sales are from those that don't visit forums) So he/she goes to the multiplayer feature and what do they see? NOTHING NADA ZILCHO BLANKO, so they have no way of knowing there's 100's or 1000's of multiplayers out there. Suppose they don't want to issue challenges? Suppose they don't read the manual about multiplayer and go on what they've seen from places like Gamespy and The Zone and other hookup places where they SEE LOTS of OPEN games waiting to be played or ones already being played?

See my point? Slitherine needs to show GAMES BEING PLAYED OR ACTIVE in those screens so anybody can see the names of the players and those names should be able to be right clicked on to be able to send a PM to them to ask if they would like to play another game with those looking for one. Of course the PM wouldn't popup during the game they are playing but in their private pm box for later as popups while playing a game are annoying.

Blank screens in a multiplayer lounge leaves thoughts of this game doesn't have any activity and most likely sucks.

Very good point. I've often thought the same thing.

[Merr]

See my point? Slitherine needs to show GAMES BEING PLAYED OR ACTIVE in those screens so anybody can see the names of the players and those names should be able to be right clicked on to be able to send a PM to them to ask if they would like to play another game with those looking for one. Of course the PM wouldn't popup during the game they are playing but in their private pm box for later as popups while playing a game are annoying.

Hmm ... could be redundant?

When the player registers the game their user name/password is the same as forum ...

If player is sent a PM but never signs on the forum ... well, they'll never see the PM ... unless they login.
If they login, they can post on the forum (oh joy!), and see they have a message.

Besides ... MP is a community in itself ... being social (going to forums) is part of it.

Of course, if you're talking about unsocialable players wanting to find an opponent .... good luck to them!

Very good point you have though, Igorputski ... but the games been out for 4 months, I don't remember this being a problem before?

[Acererak]

No because think about this: A newcomer buys the game but never visits the forums. (I understand that the majority of sales are from those that don't visit forums) So he/she goes to the multiplayer feature and what do they see? NOTHING NADA ZILCHO BLANKO, so they have no way of knowing there's 100's or 1000's of multiplayers out there. Suppose they don't want to issue challenges? Suppose they don't read the manual about multiplayer and go on what they've seen from places like Gamespy and The Zone and other hookup places where they SEE LOTS of OPEN games waiting to be played or ones already being played?

See my point? Slitherine needs to show GAMES BEING PLAYED OR ACTIVE in those screens so anybody can see the names of the players and those names should be able to be right clicked on to be able to send a PM to them to ask if they would like to play another game with those looking for one. Of course the PM wouldn't popup during the game they are playing but in their private pm box for later as popups while playing a game are annoying.

Blank screens in a multiplayer lounge leaves thoughts of this game doesn't have any activity and most likely sucks.

I agree with you to a certain extent and definitely some improvements can be made in MP (and not only in MP) for the game. I don´t like the MP list with a lot of games stuck there from August and also maybe not giving the info about how many games are currently going on can lead to a wrong image about how active MP is and discourage some players (not sure if this feature is possible with this kind of system we have here though). Fair enough points you have here.

On the other hand, I cannot really understand why someone who wants to play MP won´t be willing to issue open challenges, since it´s a very easy and fast way of getting games going. Contradictory at least. Also, willing to play MP (or whatever) without reading the instructions for it....well, again, does not make much sense to me.

But a bit more clarity, easiness and info would definitely be most welcomed.

[LOGAN5]

I just logged in a minute ago and saw 3 open challenges and accepted all 3..

[pipfromslitherine]

There are also popups when you enter the MP screens explaining what is going on - or there should be. These tell you about posting a challenge, etc. It even checks whether there is an empty screen (e.g. no open challenges) and prompts you to create one. Or are people not seeing this?

That being said, having a more 'directed' system for first-timers is on our list of UI improvements for sure.

Cheers

Pip

[djddalton]

I think many people are inclined towards private challenges.

I like a challenge (and an unpredictable opponent) but it really annoys me when my opponent surrenders before the game is out! At least ride it through and attempt a rescue!

Best games are with people I know...otherwise a game never comes to a proper conclusion

[CheerfullyInsane]

What is perhaps a little more puzzling is that Igorputski went through the same moral outcry with Field of Glory 5 months ago.
http://slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19297

I have admittedly never played BA, but presumably it uses the same challenge-system, so one would think the lesson would've sunk in by now

All that aside however, the challenge-system is exponentially better than the 'usual' PBEM system, where you not only have to find an active forum, you also have to muck around with compressing/attaching specific files.
Plus you also run the risk of an opponent reloading a turn because of bad luck/bad recon.
So is the system flawless? No.
Is it an improvement? Absolutely.
There is probably a reason that it was adapted for War in the East

[Acererak]

I think clarity and info the players is always welcomed, mainly to let them know how good and easy to use this system is.

The problem is not in the system itself. For me, the MP system is great. If I want to play a game, I look for open challenges first and I get a game going in seconds. If there is none, I issue one with my prefered scenario, pick a side and voilá, I have an MP game running usually in just a matter of hours (sometimes even minutes).

But letting players know this is like it is, and how to use it in a more friendly way, of course. Why not. I think those are the interesting points in this guy´s post.

Cheers

[PirateJock_Wargamer]

I think the actual mechanics for playing MP is simple and intuitive - either setting up or accepting challenges. Where improvements could be made, to give better/easy perception of MP activity and feedback, would be:

• 1 - As has already been mentioned, showing the number of games being played and challenges (open and closed) on the server(s)
  2 - Rework the ranking system so it's relevant to online play, e.g. number of games played against an opponent, won, percentage wins. At the moment the data are meaningless and isn't the Win value to do with singleplayer games?
  3 - Housekeeping of the server(s) to clear old games - there's closed challenges going back to August (?) at the top of the list. Could the 30 day rule be applied?

Cheers

[djddalton]

I think the actual mechanics for playing MP is simple and intuitive - either setting up or accepting challenges. Where improvements could be made, to give better/easy perception of MP activity and feedback, would be:

• 1 - As has been mentioned, number of games being played and challenges (open and closed) on the server(s)
  2 - Rework the ranking system so it's relevant to online play, e.g. number of games played against an opponent, won, percentage wins. At the moment the data are meaningless and isn't the Win value to with singleplayer games?
  3 - Housekeeping of the server(s) to clear old games - there's closed challenges going back to August (?) at the top of the list. Could the 30 day rule be applied?

Cheers

Agreed - especially on points 2 and 3.

Also, there is no indication on 'completed games' of whether they were a victory or defeat - perhaps this also could be amended

[pipfromslitherine]

All fair points. Most of them are already on our todo lists, but providing better MP stats would also be a good thing to allow.

Cheers

Pip

[gib10]

I have about 12-20 games ongoing at any one time since I bought the game. He's definitely got to put some challenges out there for a public match and watch how quickly he will fill his 20 limit What was said above is true, they are snatched up and accepted right away.

[bones65]

a 60 day rule may be better, just in case someone has a couple o weeks (jammy them!) holiday..