Give us your Feedback for improving all TWC multiplayer!

**Hader** · July 30, 2015, 02:30 PM

Greetings everyone, I'm here today for a simple reason and purpose, but one I believe to be crucial to any good community building endeavor, but most especially one related to something multiplayer.

As you all likely know, TWC has been a hub of mods and all things modding for the Total War franchise for over a decade now. This site has essentially been built on a foundation of anything and everything related to modding.

We have had a multiplayer community for almost as long as well, but it has definitely never really been a huge focus here since modding was always so big. While it took a while to get, a few forums for multiplayer specifically were eventually setup, but much to my regret beyond that they never really evolved too much more. We did eventually get a very big Hotseat Campaigns community, but for anything in terms of competitive muliplayer, or even the newer coop campaigns, we never did much to cater to that, and especially Total War based gaming clans.

So, I am to change that. To what degree, I cannot say for sure yet, but I want the TWC Gaming staff to expand to a point that encompasses all aspects of Total War multiplayer to the fullest extent we can. Multiplayer can be a great replayability asset for some people, and while opinions may differ on it from game to game and player to player, this shouldn't mean we give it any less of a chance for those who are interested.

But on the same note, multiplayer is obviously something entirely player based and requires a consistent playerbase to be worthwhile. So that is why I want to make sure we cater to the multiplayer community at large, regardless of where your specific multiplayer interests may lie.

I would like as many of you as possible to help out with this. I want to know what you would want from TWC in terms of multiplayer to make your TW experience better. Do you think we should hold official tournaments and competitions more often? To what aspects of competitive multiplayer and coop multiplayer should we focus to draw you and others in and want to stay? What community aspects or tools or anything similar would you like to see that you would participate in or use?

I think you can see where I am going with this. It just essentially comes down to me wanting to know what you could want from TWC for a multiplayer community, from better clan support, better tournament management, etc etc etc. I am open to any and all ideas and feedback, since in the end, we want to build the best experience for everyone here.

So if you could take the time to provide some feedback, it truly is appreciated. I know it isn't much, nor something everyone cares about, but I will give +20 rep to anyone who provides some feedback here (in this thread only though). Yes, I am bribing you.

Feel free to provide feedback in whatever manner you wish, if you would like though, you could fill out this small form for a more guided approach and specific questions. You're not limited to just this of course, it's just there to help you get started or at least easily provide a small amount of feedback if you're not up to an essay

What would you like to see from any TWC run tournaments for competitive Single Battles Multiplayer (not hotseat campaigns or head-to-head/co-op campaigns)

What would you like to see from any TWC run tournaments or general campaigns for Hotseat Campaigns (not single battles or head-to-head/co-op campaigns)?

What would you like to see from any TWC run tournaments or general campaigns for Head-to-Head/Co-op Campaigns (not single battles or hotseat campaigns)?

Regardless of whether you have participated in the Total War: ARENA alpha/beta yet, what kind of support for this game would you like to see happen (both now and/or when it is fully released)?

What kind of multiplayer support beyond anything mentioned above would you like to see for Total War: WARHAMMER?

What kind of support would you like to see for Total War based clans (across all TW games)?

What kind of non Total War games would you be interested in seeing official TWC clan support for?

If you have any other feedback not specifically related to above questions, please leave it here.

Interested in TWC Gaming Staff?

I plan to expand the TWC Gaming staff to a point where we can accommodate the Total War multiplayer community more than we do and in all areas required. Your feedback is very helpful in doing this, however if you are at all interested in joining Gaming Staff to help with any of this in the future (or anything gaming staff is doing now), then feel free to shoot me a PM and ask about joining. There will very likely be openings open for anything new that comes up out of our expansion for TW multiplayer (such as in Total War ARENA, or tournament management), and if you are interested in anything else with Gaming Staff, there may be opportunities as well. Please note that gaming staff is NOT moderation staff, and while certain managerial powers will be present for certain things such as running tournaments and hotseats, there is no affiliation with moderation or being a moderator, and moderation of gaming staff fora beyond local mod powers is still subject to moderator actions.

Gaming Staff currently encompasses the Hotseat Campaigns, Play by Post RPG forums, and non TW clan groups.

**Annúminas** · July 30, 2015, 03:20 PM

I'm not an expert, but I think.
I think it will be a greater experience and more fun if there is more and more competitions. I'd like myself play it.
I think most of people will rather play hostseat, the great idea is to create M2TWK or TW eras to be playable hotseat not just on one computer(something like Attila).
From TWC run tournaments for competitive Single Battles Multiplayer/TWC run tournaments or general campaigns for Hotseat/TWC run tournaments or general campaigns for Head-to-Head/Co-op Campaigns I would like to see more mod competitions(like Westeros, Middle-Earth, Warhammer -fantasy).
For Total War Warhammer I would like to se Head-to-Head competitions I feel this game is made for this(don't think it will be greater than M2TWK ingame mechanics).
I would like to see official clan support for strategy games like Mount&Blade, etc...
It is nothing bad in now realized competitions, but the community could do more threads about competitions which will bribe players to play it.
And I would like to help with Gaming Staff but yet I am not very good at it.

**Flavius Julius Nepos Augustus** · July 30, 2015, 03:30 PM

What kind of support would you like to see for Total War based clans (across all TW games)?Maybe tweak the groups in TWC so they can be used with notifications. That way if a player is online he gets a notification that something has been post in his clangroup. That way there is more interaction between teamplayers and it keeps the event going (because players often forget that they are asked for battle).

What kind of non Total War games would you be interested in seeing official TWC clan support for?
Age of empires and Mount and Blade and paradox games

http://What would you like to see fr...es Multiplayer

What would be wonderfull and make a lot of people intrested, in my dreams, in an event is incorporating 1vs1 battles in a more broad setting. I will explain:

F.E.:

Battle for Gaul event:

you have one team: member 1-4 and team two: member 5-8.
player 1 and 5 fight three battles and player 2 and 6 do the same. the loser will be eliminated.
players 3+4 vs 7+8 do the same. (A 2vs2 for making it more intresting).

After this round two starts: for example: player 1 lost and player 2 won. then next round player 2 fights against player 4.

The winners of 2vs2 fight against the other survivors of the 1vs1 in another round of 1vs1 battles.
exception if both 1vs1 players won and their teammates in the 2vs2 lost then there is a final battle in 2vs2 style.

You get the idea. This system makes the competition a lot more intresting for players and viewers. Teams need to be formed and different tactics are used (because not alone 1vs1 battles). Teams need to be formed as in the mount and blade warband touranement. Above you can theme the battles and not always the same units are used. In my example: Gaul maps + Gauls vs Romans. another time the event can be Macedon vs Seleucids with asian or greek maps....

**Magister Militum Flavius Aetius** · July 30, 2015, 06:54 PM

What would you like to see from any TWC run tournaments for competitive Single Battles Multiplayer (not hotseat campaigns or head-to-head/co-op campaigns)

I think a setup like the TWC Olympics would work well. I guess this sort of goes for all of them.

What kind of non Total War games would you be interested in seeing official TWC clan support for?

Definitely Paradox games, there have been Vicky II, and EU3/EU4 games running for years now, which IMO more than deserve their own clan.

I always wanted to try and get a Star Wars: The Old Republic official TWC clan running but there doesn't seem to be enough interest. However, possibly Star Wars: Battlefront may be an opportunity for a new clan (IIRC we have a Battlefield Clan already).

I'm not sure about M&B or AOE, mentioned above, but I don't know how active those communities are.

**Petrucci** · July 30, 2015, 07:19 PM

I would like to see really massive battles between two factions. Total war Arena but on much bigger scale , instead of crappy 3 units, each player would have same amount of gold and he would have freedom to decide in which way would he would like to specialize.
For example if we have 8 player (IIRC that's the cap for most TW games) we would divide them in two teams 4v4.
And they would specialize in some area, heavy/light inf, cav, arty, skirmishers etc and command only that type of units. And they would be limited to one faction. So we could end up playing/watching 60v60 units battle. Where armies would act coordinated, and very much resemble to historical battles. Commanders/generals would have to work together in order to defeat enemies.
For example if I pick archers, I will rely on my team mate spears to protect me from cav. And he will rely on my supporting fire while fighting enemy heavy infantry.
Players would eventually form their own community and if number is high enough even own clans. Through practice, they will develop new tactics and better will gain in quality.
Modders would have big role here too. They could customize map to fit that kind of battles, balance units in different factions and expand player limitation in older TW titles so we could have 5v5 battles , something that has become standard for MOBA games.

EDIT: About non tw games, definitely EU4, and I am ready to help in project.

**HigoChumbo** · July 31, 2015, 12:41 AM

I'm assuming we are talking mostly about Total War multiplayer, which kind of limits the options:

The problem with TW multiplayer is mainly that most people don't really care about it. I might be wrong, but I think that the majority of TW players play it with a strong focus in single player (for instance, I loved Shogun 2 and I don't think I've even played a single multiplayer battle). This happens in part because, after all, TW design is not centered around multiplayer so it's not like playing it online is an amazing, fleshed out, lasting experience, but also, I think, because people could feel that there is a big entry barrier, with most people who play multiplayer having already quite a lot of experience with it (and tactics in multiplayer not being the same as in single player, where immersion and reenactment prime over just winning the match, even if you have to make spaghetti lines to do so). In the end, I'd say that most TWC members know of the tournaments, but they just don't bother joining.

So I think that, in order to draw more attention to them and get more people involved, TWC multiplayer should be approached in the way tactical shooter communities do. It might seem unrelated but having experienced players make strategy guides for both newbies and experts would help. Also picking some interesting battles and commenting them, explaining what is happening and why. Then just invite members make teams on the go and apply those tactics, maybe fixing a specific day of the week to keep players focused.

For people who still don't really care about multiplayer skirmishes, it could be interesting to see a persistent campaign minigame made, with resources, asymetrical battles and conquest. There is really no draw to keep people playing skirmishes, so this could help.

And about what other games I'd like to see supported, well, given this is for the most part kind of a niche community, and that there are plenty of communities for the big titles, maybe it would be interesting to see TWC support less played games which require some pre-planning to set-up multiplayer matches, due to limitations such as the lack of active players or the length of the games. For instance, stuff like Anno 1404 Venice (which has really good, albeit very long multiplayer matches) or Civilization V (I don't think I have ever got to turn 20 without 90% of the players dropping the game). I love EU4, but I just feel like that game was just not made for multiplayer.

That said, having a sizeable, tactical-focused, pvp playerbase for bigger games such as Arma or Battlefield would be cool. Company of Heroes+mods too. Those games are always a lot more fun when played with like-minded people.

**Dux** · July 31, 2015, 05:26 AM

Yes I would like to see more TWC wide multiplayer tournaments, for single battles, hotseats and co-op campaigns.

I think such tournaments give a lot of attention to the particular game and game mode and will attract more players in general, especially if the awards are very nice. Awards like amazing signatures/avatars, huge rep awards, gold medals, interviews on the front page, perhaps a special champions lounge (subforum) and special usergroup (so that champions will get a special color, no powers or anything, just a way to show their special status) and other things. I am just brainstorming these ideas so feel free to shot them down.
These tournaments need to be properly advertised, with blogs by players, video coverage, front page announcements, special discussion topics, support signatures etc.

I have begun such a TWC tournament in the hotseat section and I think so far it is a huge success, doing these kind of tournaments for normal multiplayer for various games and for co-op campaigns might attract a lot of new players.

To put several of these tournaments together as TWC Olympics is a very interesting idea, that infrastructure is already in place (Olympics subforum etc).

Regardless of whether you have participated in the Total War: ARENA alpha/beta yet, what kind of support for this game would you like to see happen (both now and/or when it is fully released)?

That should indeed be fully supported. 10 vs 10 means interesting opportunities for clans and a clan competition.

Regarding Warhammer, I do not know the full details of the multiplayer capabilities of warhammer, it is doubtful hotseats will return.

Regarding TWC clans, I think Arena provides a good opportunity for clans to really work. In my opinion clans on fps games work because the guys actually play together, in multiplayer Total war you often play alone, so you don't "bond" as well with your clanmates as what you'd do if you play together all the time. As for Non totalwar clans, that only works if a group of users happen to play the same game, should be encouraged and supported, but initiatives need to come from the community itself.

I think the Multiplayer battlefield subforum needs to be a the top of TWC forum, but I am biased in that regard. I envision a Multiplayer subforum, where rpg, multiplayer battlefield, clans and arena are represented. I will post more on this later.

**SoulGamesInc** · July 31, 2015, 08:09 AM

Bribe accepted, although Dux's covered most of my thoughts already. Tournaments are a great way to gain attention to the sections that host them (like the currently running Hotseat Tournament) especially with blog/video coverage; the latter being something I plan to do for the HS Tourney, dragging the teams into a Skype call and discussing events. I'm also doing Support Signatures so that the community can get somewhat involved and show off support for whatever team they wish to root for etc. Such events need the right incentive also, from large piles of rep to shiny medals and front page interviews. People are lazy and like shiny things... speaking from experience.

I personally have little interest in actual 'multiplayer battles' for TW as I greatly prefer Hotseats where battles are handled using Auto-Resolve. That doesn't mean such a tournament wouldn't interest others assuming you could get a solid scoring system/fair rules/overall good setup for the games, it could work if done right. I would love to see the 'Olympics' ideal bring multiple tournaments into a huge competition fighting for an ultimate prize... maybe what Dux mentioned with a special usergroup for the champion(s) that'll give a special color, just something seriously unique for those rare few victors to show off their accomplishment. In my head such an award would be the equivalent of a Legendary item from the days of Classic WoW meaning it should be seriously rare and seriously, seriously shiny. I could continue the wall but really most of my thoughts have been covered already. Just felt I'd say my peace on the Tournament side of things and accept my bribe while at it.

A final note on the topic of incentive, I am a big supporter of making Signatures for the victors of officially hosted games (even for smaller events) as these can be enough to make players stick around and if done nicely are a fine prize for players to walk away with, especially those newest players without any signature. Such things take me perhaps an hour/two to make, asking the victor for feedback and preference so that they get some say in it's design.

That's all
- Soul

**FrostySOTF** · July 31, 2015, 12:01 PM

You had me at bribe -

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Ngugi** · July 31, 2015, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by HigoChumbo

Also picking some interesting battles and commenting them, explaining what is happening and why. Then just invite members make teams on the go and apply those tactics, maybe fixing a specific day of the week to keep players focused.

I call this a splendid idea

I deem it able to attract a lot of attention, not only by paving road for players how to do it, but creating an audience finding interest in doing it; considering the interest Let's Plays cause for single player games/mods.

**Flavius Julius Nepos Augustus** · July 31, 2015, 12:43 PM

I forgot: Nation Cups let there be nation cups.

**themzr** · July 31, 2015, 03:14 PM

What would you like to see from any TWC run tournaments for competitive Single Battles Multiplayer (not hotseat campaigns or head-to-head/co-op campaigns)

What would you like to see from any TWC run tournaments or general campaigns for Hotseat Campaigns (not single battles or head-to-head/co-op campaigns)?Well I used to play alot more multiplayer back when Gamespy was still running but now I find myself unfortunately unable since it has died. However back when I was playing it I used to get much enjoyment from Joseph Simoni's tournaments he would run. Also for some reason he just disappeared and I later found out he was banned which was quite a disappointment.

What would you like to see from any TWC run tournaments or general campaigns for Head-to-Head/Co-op Campaigns (not single battles or hotseat campaigns)?

I think it would be cool for the players to record them playing their turns and their moves. That way such events can be archived and those not involved can watch it and it can be an exciting event for the whole forum and not just those actually playing the hotseat. Although I realize this may not always be reasible.

Regardless of whether you have participated in the Total War: ARENA alpha/beta yet, what kind of support for this game would you like to see happen (both now and/or when it is fully released)?

I'm sorry I really don't know what this game is.

What kind of support would you like to see for Total War based clans (across all TW games)?

I think it would be cool to see broadcast events of the clans meetings.

What kind of non Total War games would you be interested in seeing official TWC clan support for?

Mount and Blade is quite a fun game and definitely fits into the same strategic mindset all of us Total war fans have come to know and love. Additionally I think that while Civilization lacks the fun of in-game battles it is still far more strategically sound than Total War games imo and it has a pretty strong multiplayer community.

If you have any other feedback not specifically related to above questions, please leave it here.

Also I know that there are many other Total War communities besides just us here. I think a greater interest should be taken by the leadership in attempting to integrate those communities with each other or at the very least spreading awareness about them to our member base and letting their members know who we are.

Also I think it would be cool if (somehow) the leadership of this forum was able to go directly to CA and find out a way where our modders could give their game designers some ideas and input for additions they think would be exciting in new Total War games.

**Sir Adrian** · July 31, 2015, 04:40 PM

I've never played TW multi so I am in no position to give feedback but the vast majority of TW YouTubers are either active on or have participated in tournaments organized on TWC in the past (ex lionheart, legendoftotalwar, oivio, etc). You could look into that direction if you wanted to expand the tournament and hot seat scene

**Riverknight** · July 31, 2015, 05:57 PM

Someone begged me to add to the discussion!

Even though I have been pretty public about GS

What would you like to see from any TWC run tournaments for competitive Single Battles Multiplayer (not hotseat campaigns or head-to-head/co-op campaigns)
Yes, tape them as well and share them.

What would you like to see from any TWC run tournaments or general campaigns for Hotseat Campaigns (not single battles or head-to-head/co-op campaigns)?
Yes, and I think Frosty started a discussion in the Hotseating section about a possible Hotseating podcast.

What would you like to see from any TWC run tournaments or general campaigns for Head-to-Head/Co-op Campaigns (not single battles or hotseat campaigns)?
Yes, a bracket would be cool. We could give some pretty cool awards out like sigs and stuff.

Regardless of whether you have participated in the Total War: ARENA alpha/beta yet, what kind of support for this game would you like to see happen (both now and/or when it is fully released)?
I don't know enough about the game.

What kind of multiplayer support beyond anything mentioned above would you like to see for Total War: WARHAMMER?
Again, don't plan on buying any more TW games after Napoleon. Empire was a pretty traumatic experience; although Napoleon was good.

What kind of support would you like to see for Total War based clans (across all TW games)?
I was thinking about starting a Hotseating club or "team". It would be like a league with other teams fighting for a title maybe once or twice a year .

The issue would be teams and balancing. I think the best way to help that is to designate people as "Captains" and draft people like in American Sports.

I don't know if it would be very popular though... It would also be tough to rank people?

What kind of non Total War games would you be interested in seeing official TWC clan support for?
^

If you have any other feedback not specifically related to above questions, please leave it here.
I really do like what you're doing as GS Hex. It is a breath of fresh air from when I had to constantly bug people for any GS related things!

**Drakeb22** · July 31, 2015, 08:16 PM

Subsection for paradox games and tournaments that are recorded or live shoutcasted and posted online with commentary.

**SoulGamesInc** · July 31, 2015, 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by themzr

I think it would be cool for the players to record them playing their turns and their moves. Although I realize this may not always be reasible.

It wouldn't be practical. Ignoring that certain HS turns could take hours to play, a public showing of turns would reveal sensitive information to hostile players and would have a drastically negative effect on HS speed if players were forced to upload footage of their turns. Having it optional is fine but there is nothing stopping people from doing it already. Hell, I record my turns and eventually upload when the HS is finished.

Podcast/Video coverage of tournaments is something Me and Dux discussed and if I can find the time will see about putting into effect for the current Tag tourney. Could be done elsewhere too etc.

**Ngugi** · August 05, 2015, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by SoulGamesInc

It wouldn't be practical. Ignoring that certain HS turns could take hours to play, a public showing of turns would reveal sensitive information to hostile players and would have a drastically negative effect on HS speed if players were forced to upload footage of their turns. Having it optional is fine but there is nothing stopping people from doing it already. Hell, I record my turns and eventually upload when the HS is finished.

May still be done during ongoing hotseats though, as proven by Alex The Rambler, LegendofTotalWar, Lionheartx10 and others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW0G9UOUzj0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0oINhf4jQ0

**TheDarkKnight** · August 08, 2015, 04:55 AM

I think it would be fun if we could organize multiplayer/clans around other games as well. One look at let's plays of friends playing around in Grand Theft Auto Online or other games reveals really interesting and fun situations that can occur. It would be worthwhile to may try to organize groups around some of these other big games, even if they might not be Total War games.

**MissRarity** · August 11, 2015, 02:47 AM

Hot-seat once again. That would be kickass

**Bobington** · August 19, 2015, 03:20 PM

I would love to see lots of scenarios in multiplayer (like the battle of black fire pass in multiplayer) and progressing generals with different inclinations e.g. As the orcs, you can choose a black orc, savage orc, or goblin general, which can either be a shaman, or an ordinary fighter general, and can be mounted depending on race, on a boar, wolf, spider, pump wagon, or arachnarok. As vampires, the general should be able to either be a vampire, or necromancer, mounted on a skeletal horse, or a zombie dragon. As Dwarfs, your hero can be an engineer, thane or runelord, and can carry an oathstone, or be mounted on a chair carried by other Dwarfs, or the engineer can be mounted on a gyrocopter or bomber. The human general can be an ordinary general, a sigmarite or ulric warrior priest, an engineer, or a wizard, and they can be mounted on a horse, mechanical horse, dempigryph or gryphon, et cetera.