Who needs BAI when you have multiplayer?

[kot1k]

What can be better than facing off against another 'real' commander? Depending on how well the multiplayer component is developed, IMO, the quality of the BAI becomes moot. With enough participation, every battle you play can be against a tough, thinking opponent, which will be in every way supperior to any AI that can be made at this point. This is the feature I'm looking forward to the most!

[PGeo36]

You make assumptions that all of us have good enough internet to use the drop in battles, which not all of us do. You are also making assumptions that everyone online will play you seriously, as they say the worst part about multiplayer gaming is the other gamers. No CA is just using this as an excuse for their inability to code a decent BAI.

[Shiloh]

It would be great if you could specify the level of multiplayer person you would face as then you would only face an opponent at/near your level.

Otherwise, in some cases I'm sure you would face someone that was absolutely awful and that might be worse than facing the AI, and then another that would wipe the battlefield with you as they are much better and neither scenario would be much fun.

[GothicKnight]

Not everyone can play multiplayer battles or campaigns. And i strongly believe that the BAI will be way better than empire's

[kot1k]

It would be great if you could specify the level of multiplayer person you would face as then you would only face an opponent at/near your level.

Otherwise, in some cases I'm sure you would face someone that was absolutely awful and that might be worse than facing the AI, and then another that would wipe the battlefield with you as they are much better and neither scenario would be much fun.

Not knowing is a great dose of realism. The attributes of your troops don't change, and realistically you can expect to face a commander of either great or poor skill. I think not knowing is the best part.

[Bloodzen]

I never liked playing total war games online except for Rome so no, they need a BAI.

[mistermister]

I play in solo, so i guess, i need a BAI

[aeoleron9]

Don't forget to go help play some guy's battles while you're at it. Would be awkward if everybody is waiting for somebody else to drop in

[Thoragoros]

Also, not everyone has the time to play a Campaign against another human. Most of us, at least those of us who work (even those of us who work at home), have to play in no more than one hour intervals due to 'real life.' Whereas playing against another human in the campaign will require hours to finish the campaign.

Furthermore, some of us just prefer to be able to save our campaign and come back to it, and that requires decent AI. Also, some of us just find most people online to be obnoxious, such as the people to scream profanities into their mics, or don't play seriously, or drop/get disconnected after five minutes.

Some games just aren't really 'ideal' for mp, and TW type games are one of them.

[LiN]

I play multiplayer, but I don't want drop in battles for my campaign. So battle AI must be fixed.

[daniu]

With enough participation, every battle you play can be against a tough, thinking opponent, which will be in every way supperior to any AI that can be made at this point.

Haha, did you play ETW MP? Most players play as badly as the AI (which is partly why I never understood the BAI complaints )

as they say the worst part about multiplayer gaming is the other gamers.

In my experience, that's true for most FPS (L4D much?), but the ETW community at least is mostly civil.
I doubt that people who play drop-in battles don't try their best though, what would be the point of that.

That said, I do look forward to wreaking havoc on some of the campaign plans of some of you

[LiN]

Haha, did you play ETW MP? Most players play as badly as the AI (which is partly why I never understood the BAI complaints )

I think an AI that will come to you is better than a real player that sits in spawn.

[Thoragoros]

I think an AI that will come to you is better than a real player that sits in spawn.

Or at the very least, more fun and a better sport.

[James Cook]

Some games just aren't really 'ideal' for mp, and TW type games are one of them.

I got the same view

But on the other hand Iam glad that CA have includet MP campaings, for those who whants it and plays it

[LiN]

I got the same view

But on the other hand Iam glad that CA have includet MP campaings, for those who whants it and plays it

TW is very good for multiplayer. If real war takes 2 to pokebattle, then you can do it with a simulator.

[James Cook]

TW is very good for multiplayer. If real war takes 2 to pokebattle, then you can do it with a simulator.

he he, thats right and alot cheaper too

[Humble Warrior]

What can be better than facing off against another 'real' commander? Depending on how well the multiplayer component is developed, IMO, the quality of the BAI becomes moot. With enough participation, every battle you play can be against a tough, thinking opponent, which will be in every way supperior to any AI that can be made at this point. This is the feature I'm looking forward to the most!

It`s not that simple. there are people (including me) who`ve played single Player against a reasonable AI for years and enjoyed it. I know that some of you play ONLY multiplayer, warts and all. Some of you don`t even go singleplayer just to learn the controls first. I`ve been in multiplayer games where some kid has joined us for an intense MP co op mission and the first thing he taps is "Where`s the fire button?" The second thing he does is shoot his own team mates because he has no idea that there are 2 sides to a game. So i can understand why you multiplayer chaps think MP is the begin all and end all.

It is not.

[REQUIEM]

I like a balance of singleplayer and MP but alot of people don't like to play MP and prefer single player games.

[Thoragoros]

It`s not that simple. there are people (including me) who`ve played single Player against a reasonable AI for years and enjoyed it. I know that some of you play ONLY multiplayer, warts and all. Some of you don`t even go singleplayer just to learn the controls first. I`ve been in multiplayer games where some kid has joined us for an intense MP co op mission and the first thing he taps is "Where`s the fire button?" The second thing he does is shoot his own team mates because he has no idea that there are 2 sides to a game. So i can understand why you multiplayer chaps think MP is the begin all and end all.

It is not.

As intense as some MP games can be, that paragraph about sums it up. Some MP games/modes are great, but sometimes they can be atrocious.

[Dzhon]

I almost never play multiplayer anymore. For one thing, I can rarely set aside any significant amount of time for gaming (and even when I have the time, I don't really want to devote it to gaming). Single player comes with the option to pause at the drop of the hat, and that's increasing necessary to me. For another, there's always the skill mismatches, use of exploits, spamming OP units, etc. that kind of spoils multiplayer. Finally, gaming has become sort of an anti-social thing for me. When I want to interact with others, I'll go to a bar or something instead.

If anything, I think the makers of strategy games have used the multiplayer excuse to neglect AI programming. Truth be told, multiplayer isn't all it's cracked up to be. EA's RTS division has been aggressively stressing multiplayer in their titles, and in the process have alienated much of the C&C and LotR fanbase by reducing SP campaigns to little more than tutorials for multiplayer and neglecting AI. This was despite the fact that their own research has shown that only 20%-30% of people who purchase their games even bother with multiplayer at all.

It's great that CA has been steadily expanding multiplayer options, but they need to remember that single player grand campaigns are Total War's bread and butter, and that improving CAI and BAI is critical to theircontinued success.