TWC and TW Multiplayer

[grouchy13]

Salve friends,

After reading through the many threads devoted to the subject of the new Gaming Staff Branch of TWC I ask why has TW Multi player been overlooked in it's inclusion into this new branch of staff?

While a proportion of TW players exist in the solitary SP Campaign aspect of the Franchise their are still a considerable number of players who play MP whether it be in the more conventional Vs Mode or Hotseat (M2TW) & the Multi Player Campaigns of the modern TW titles (ETW, NTW & TWS2).

TWC is what it says on the tin, the Total War Centre, yet the very game that gave it's name to the site and brought a good portion of the sites members to it's very gates is currently excluded from participation in the Gaming Staff Branch, more importantly we are denying TW MP players by barring their entry into TWC Gaming Staff access to the resources the site has committed to build a broad MP base for the site from non TW titles.

I highlight as an example what has been achieved over at .Org, their MP scene is well established across all the titles, their tournaments and leagues are also well regulated and make the arrangements we have here at TWC look pale in comparison.

Not that TWC Members are treated unfairly by TWC, I believe the problem is lack of drive across the board from not only Staff but the players themselves, I can say from my own time as LM in the M2TW HS section of the TWC MP area that flame wars and similar undesirable behaviour carried out by some elements that have bought in alot of Moderation have probably given us a bad reputation in the eyes of the powers that be, for Staff's part their inactivity in trying to build a similar site driven MP focus that .Org enjoys means many of those who engage in TW MP on TWC do so on a small scale and if we're honest operate on the fringes of the site.

My experience as a LM in the HS fora also taught me that a little drive can pay dividends. Either through holding tournaments and leagues for new or veteran players buoyed with the odd FP announcement (+Rep to the staff who supported us across New Bloods and When Worlds Collide) and community driven awards and promotional bling (Respect to KDK, Finlander and Jiub for their great work) you'll get the people through the door. The HS Community had at it's height nearly 90 active players competing in over 25 Campaigns.

This could be expanded further, the question is do we have the collective desire to bring about such results across other TW titles, I would argue that while the Gaming Staff Branch is perfectly justified in looking to foreign shores to promote the TWC brand we should also look closer to home and include the very games that bought us to the site to achieve such ends also.

[GrnEyedDvl]

First:

TWC is what it says on the tin, the Total War Centre

Its Center, not Centre.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Multiplayer is not being excluded, we have actually had several conversations on that already. In fact I posted on it not 5 minutes ago in Hex.

I decided to start with the Clan stuff as MP already has a large number of people involved. Starting with Clans is a good way to drive new traffic, starting with MP would just be rearranging the traffic we already have.

Minecraft has been going for about a year, and the people managing that have done a great job so I brought them into Gaming Staff as well.

Specifically with MP stuff, about 2 years ago I threw out some ideas, and asked for volunteers to help run it. Everybody wants us to do something, I had one volunteer. One.

MP stuff will take a lot of work to get set up, more than 1 or 2 people can do. I couldnt believe all the in-fighting about rules when I proposed some stuff. It quickly got out of hand, and I let the idea drop. Even today one of the worst sections to moderate is the MP section because of all the "name and shame" stuff, accusations of cheating, dropping connection, and general foul play.

So its going to take a few guys to sit down and write up some very strict rules, set the structure up, and then get it running. Once the other 2 sections are up and stable, Poach and I will take a closer look at MP.

[grouchy13]

Its Center, not Centre.

lol eternal shame I'll never be able show my face in Content again!

I understand the difficulties facing Staff over the involvement of MP, I think we need to have a clear differentiation between the various types of MP and what we are trying to achieve. Vs mode is by far and away the most popular mode but this where you will get the most problems in part to potential for players dropping, naming and shaming etc etc, this would be where the most defined set of rules would have to come in where as the HS/MPC mode where not as popular could be developed further.

The HS mode is open to problems but considering the experience of some of the senior members of that fora from where Staff could be recruited it would be easy to negate such issue's. As for MPC's MPC players are clearly in the minority I genuinely believe with the right amount of drive this scene could be developed further, In fact I have spoken with some senior players from both NTW and TWS2 MPC scene's who have expressed an interest in developing this so in regards to

Specifically with MP stuff, about 2 years ago I threw out some ideas, and asked for volunteers to help run it. Everybody wants us to do something, I had one volunteer. One.

I find such a shame especially considering the burgeoning M2TW HS scene we had at that time and the state of the HS community at this time (Understandable for an old title and the advent of newer TW Titles). However their are still committed players from that area and further people to step in for the MPC aspect.

In regards to Vs mode I believe that some senior members of that area would be the best to speak to about which direction to take in that respect, I could suggest some I have dealt with in the past but my experience of that area is limited being focused on HS/MPC.

MP stuff will take a lot of work to get set up, more than 1 or 2 people can do. I couldnt believe all the in-fighting about rules when I proposed some stuff. It quickly got out of hand, and I let the idea drop

I think the key here is to adapt the Gaming Staff model for MP, as it stands your clan overseers report to the Hex Gaming staff representative this overseer role could take the form of two overseer's for MP. One for VS mode then one for HS/MPC's from their they could have assistance of further players who could be admitted to staff to help with formation of leagues and tournaments, then the promotion and more importantly the administration and if required moderation of said leagues and tournaments.

To facilitate well mannered games I believe the inclusion of a small number of MP players under the Gaming staff umbrella would pay dividends , I believe that the power invested in GS Overseer's could overcome the problems faced by many LM of MP area's. By this I mean many LM's find their hands tied, they may not be administrators of games and not have power to remedy in game issue's, they may lack the authority to implement a formulated set of rules or have sufficient Moderation powers to deal with problematic players. A focused and narrow set of rules administered by experienced driven staff could facilitate a well organised and well mannered MP experience. Those who do not wish to abide by the rules don't have to participate, the TWC MP area will still be their for them use so they won't be excluded from MP and the site only from TWC Gaming staff Events should they choose.

The resources available to Gaming staff could be made available to reward reward players who participate, we have amazing artists on the site who can produce Sigs as prizes for victors in tournaments and leagues and who knows we may even be able to reward players with TW related prizes if we ever get far enough and garner enough support. The Gaming staff Branch and the appeal of TWC sanctioned events may also drive up participation, where player may recognize they can participate in a positive atmosphere with support of staff should they require it.

[GrnEyedDvl]

lol eternal shame I'll never be able show my face in Content again!

You are forgiven.

I think the key here is to adapt the Gaming Staff model for MP, as it stands your clan overseers report to the Hex Gaming staff representative this overseer role could take the form of two overseer's for MP. One for VS mode then one for HS/MPC's from their they could have assistance of further players who could be admitted to staff to help with formation of leagues and tournaments, then the promotion and more importantly the administration and if required moderation of said leagues and tournaments.

The GS structure is not set in stone, in fact I made some changes to it yesterday.

The Clan structure needs to be separate from the Minecraft stuff and the MP stuff, and inside MP (as you say) we need to have HS and VS.

We will get to including this in the Gaming Staff, but with the staff we currently have they already have a full plate and I dont want to overload them.

Are you volunteering? We definitely need someone familiar with both HS and VS, and I am not. Either way, its not going to happen over night, there is a lot to setup first. I even created an account on a tournament bracket website a long time ago to use for this kind of stuff, but all kinds of things need to be looked at.

If you want to get in on setting something like this up, then contact Poach with some ideas. If he feels comfortable moving ahead on this while also trying to promote the Clans and wants to bring you into staff, then he will.

If he feels that some other stuff should be more solid before we take on another huge project, then it will have to wait a bit.

[grouchy13]

as always, your lightest touch commands obedience...............

I'll contact Poach and see what can be done, I'm more than happy to devote my time to develop the HS/MPC side

[Toho]

just a suggestion regarding this HS thing for M2TW, a lot of mods have their own little Hotseat sub-forum, perhaps the main Multiplayer Thread can have subforums that link players that usually hang out in the Multiplayer forum to the mod forum (or vice-versa) this way the multilayer community is more connected instead of broken into little groups with hardly any contact.

for example you guys could also implement this feature where if i make a hotseat in the Third Age hotseat sub-forum there will be a copy/link of the thread on the main page of M2TW hotseat thread under the name of "new hotseats".
this way players/users just entering the multilayer thread will have a clear indication as to what new games are available. of course if players prefer just vanilla hotseats or third age hotseat they will only redirect themselves to the appropriate sub-forum to be transfered to the right section.


...wow thats a lot of talking. well thanks for your time.

[Armatus]

That's a good idea, the community here always felt a bit fragmented and set in their own little cliques.