The Biggest Multiplayer Problem

is quite obvious to me...

from Sins Forums
The connectivity problems are single-handedly destroying ICO matches. Whether it be firewall woes, minidumps or random drops, the online experience is murdered in cold blood. Game balance doesn't even get a chance to speak.

It is an entirely different question whether this game is meant to be a "quick and dirty" small map LRM-fest or a longer, fully fleshed-out empire clash: if the game is ended by anything other than people, nobody feels resolved, and it seems like a fat waste of time.

There is tremendous opportunity to explore most aspects of expansion/tech/fleet/battle in a "reasonable" online sitting. A Small-Random 1v1 is roughly 45 minutes to an hour. I imagine 2v2's and 3v3's take a little longer, but 2-3 hours should see someone emerge dominant on most any single-star map. This game is really fun, especially if you don't neuter a good chunk of it by solely playing on a small map like Close Encounters (1v1).

It's all mute if 10-30 minutes into the game somebody glitches, for any reason. Moreover there is an amazing ammount of frustration when you invest time and energy into a game to have it irreversibly fail. And if 30 minutes is bad, 45 minutes and up is excruciating. Maybe I'm late to the scene and everyone has been dealing with this for weeks. Maybe that's why there's very, very little "general public" traffic on ICO.

I appreciate the game designers' efforts for SoaSE, but make this a priority: fix ICO before it's too late. I hope Patch 1.1 works, and works soon. Please.


p.s.- I have a very respectable system, plug straight into my cable modem, and cannot detect any pattern in the streaky game failures I and others experience. I minidumped while watching a dang replay once...
multiplayer
6,767 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

I think another problem is the difficulty that people are having with hosting games. I've seen lots of people in the Lobby looking for a game and no one who can host one.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
These problems are well known and patch 1.1 will change alot. Personally i´m hoping for a laddar system, but 1st we need stability.

But a laddar system would be the next urgent step, because very often its hard to have 2 newbs in your 3v3 team. And yes sometimes i´m happy about a kick, because the AI does a better job xD but that´s not the way it should be ...

ahh my 2nd wish for the future (i know i´m a feeded troll) are multiplayer matches played with wine ^^
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
#1 is stability of course.

Beyond that, it's fixing the broken abilities (RA, repulsion, brilliance + malice, subverters, i'm looking at you!) and adding faster settings for large multiplayer games.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
None of the balance issues matter if games cannot be completed (or even started) online. It's unfortunate that the technical difficulties are going to chase away waves of player who might have otherwise stuck around and strengthened the online community. As it stands now, I wonder how many people have already dropped this game for other pursuits.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
I fully agree with the OP.

To hell with balance adjustments, just let me play online :SNIFF!: 

I guess its back to WiC until the devs get thier **** together.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
dont forget the horrible 'migrating' crap when/if the host drops. many many fun multiplayer games have died a premature death due to the host dropping. it never seems to ever migrate to a new host. i've never seen such poor networking code in any RTS as far as managing drops.