What's kind of sad is that if all of the Sins players who desire a better AI would play the game in online multiplayer against human players there would be thousands of people close to their own skill level to play against.  Instead they're stuck playing the AI with all its faults.

Sanchezz - some people like me just dont like the "fast-food" online multiplayer matches with unknown people usually ending in in a short time, thats not what 4X game is good at - I more prefer long and epic GalCiv2 style games (lasting even a few days) with custom mods and maps, played over internet or LAN with people I know, often coop against the AI alliance or everyone with one AI ally.

I'm with Shotman on this one, Sanchezz. I've attempted the Online Multiplayer against human opponents, and was severely UNDERWHELMED at the gameplay. I got exactly what i got in Starcraft's competitive games and got bored fast, so i opted out. I prefer much longer games, not ones that last half an hour then i find a new one. I'm sure you've seen longer games than that, but any of the ones i played only went up to about 90 minutes or so, way too short for a Sins game IMHO.

I won't say that i'm 'stuck' with Sins AI though. I play on hard regularly on my own, and every so often i team up with a buddy of mine and we go 2v1 Unfair for kicks. Sure, 2v1 Unfair is still easily winnable, but the game still takes us a few hours and we get our enjoyment out of it. Hard AI is just enough to keep the game fun without being a serious challenge, and even though it's not the most intelligent, playing FFA with 3-4 other Hard AI i've been surprised more than a few times, and had to retreat and lick my wounds.

The problem with long matches is that in most cases to be viable you need to play them with people that are your friends or at least people that live in the same time zone.

Otherwise problem of getting 6 as in 3v3 or even 10 people to get up for a game that lasts for 3 or more hours is almost insurmountable as RL ....

I guess it comes down to what's important to you.  Being able to play a game that runs for hours and hours against retarded opponents incapable of real strategy or being able to play against real opponents that don't have one arm tied behind their backs.  Don't you guys get bored using the same tactics to fool the AI and to take advantage of its strategic weaknesses over and over again?  With online multiplayer you'll get to play against real opponents who don't get eco buffs and the games will be more suspenseful, more intense, more challenging, and more meaningful.  You'll also get to deal with additional team strategy elements and you'll find that other strategic considerations are much more complex.

I started playing it online two weeks after I bought the game and never looked back.  When there's no one left to play with online, Sins will be a dead game to me; I just can't imagine having to play it against the AI.

I don't think there's anything wrong with playing against the AI; I just thing people are missing out on what I like to call "the real Sins game" and that it's a shame that 98% of all Sins purchasers only play against the AI.  Maybe it takes a special competitive personality type to want to play against other people.

I play with and against people all the time. I just don't do it though ICO as I am also not into the "fast food" game and most of the competitive players suck every bit of fun out of the game. I will stick to IP connect or LAN with friends.

Also from what I read on the strat forums, it's no different then playing the AI really as the competitive players play basically the exact same strat every time using whatever is buffed for whatever patch. Learning exactly what to build for what scenario every time or get bitched at because your not up to date on what you where supposed to build. No fun at all.

If you know exactly what your opponents are going to do, it shouldn't be hard to counter.  The fun part comes when they see you making the counter and then have to come up with a counter to your counter, etc.

If I want to play a fast-paced competitive RTS ill go play starcraft2 or some game designed to be that.

SoaSE is heavily designed to support looooong games, and is why I play it. Big battles, big wins, big losses. Macro-strategy is used, not rushing strategy. For the 'rushing' stage of a game to be over, it would take the time same time as an entire online game.

And if AI were improved, they would be funner to play against. Refer to original post.

oh, and I finally figure out how to put up an avatar pic, so thats why I have one now.