what day 1 MP of napoleon will look like

[dmcheatw]

You start the game to find drop in battles dont work, akin to the way quick battles never worked in ETW, something about ironing out the net code in a patch due monday the next week. No big deal, you start to join a regular ranked game but before you can tab over steam will disconnect you. Once you log back in you'll find that some hosts you just won't be able to join giving you some sort of network error or just a simple "unable to connect to host." once you do join a game you'll wait a quarter hour for both teams to get full and ready, since steam keeps crashing and you have had to keep looking for a host that everyone in your party can join without getting an error or lag. after everyone checks in upon loading you'll be greeted with the message "such and such has left the game," making the outcome a forgone conclusion with an AI too stupid to all out bum rush, but also too stupid to stay out of the way of your own forces or the enemy's bullets (so it'll march to within 50 meters then stand there or move back and forth, etc). you'll leave or the host will restart. you'll rejoin the game only to discover that this time the game is very laggy, due to someone joining a game their computer cant handle, but you'll play through it anyway because you don't want to spend another 30 minutes to an hour trying to get another game full game in. but what's this? a mortar spammer is using the latest cheap spam tactic to ruin the game, or a friendly player is shooting your own units out of idiocy or malice. still you play on, but eventually someone leaves and the whole game ends immediately, and probably gives you a loss on your stats. fed up with anything "team" related, you hop on a 1 v 1 and when the game begins you find the host sitting on a hill with a ring of stakes around him and artillery in the middle and just sits there. after 30 minutes you finally attack and watch your army get slaughtered. you quit the game in outrage.

before you say it'll never happen, it's exactly what happened (and still happens mostly) in ETW right now.

[Thoragoros]

While we're all entitled to our opinions, I really would like to know what on earth you are basing any of these claims on?

This really sounds a bit more like a rang, and evne the way the post is formated 'looks' like a rant.

[Yojimbo]

While we're all entitled to our opinions, I really would like to know what on earth you are basing any of these claims on?

This really sounds a bit more like a rang, and evne the way the post is formated 'looks' like a rant.

Play more etw mp and youll see.

Dont forget the constant plug pulling since theres no pentialy for it making etw mp about as appeling as castration with pruning shears.

[dmcheatw]

it sounds like a rant, but it's almost to a tee what day one of ETW looked like... to this day if someone leaves a ranked game it will quit the game for everyone and give 1/2 the people a loss. To this day quick battles don't work, and neither do MPC battles. To this day i have friends who cannot join each others hosts and vice-versa.

Today steam did maintainence 2 times, both times I was in-game. The first month after ETW was out, steam was going out several times a day, sometimes for as much as 15 minutes at a time.

of course not all this is CA's fault, they can't stop people from joing games their PCs cant handle or spamming certain units... but regardless that is my experience of the MP in TW.

[Old Glory]

This sounds like a worst-case scenario doomsday outlook with a touch of drama disguised as a rant.

[Abspara]

it sounds like a rant, but it's almost to a tee what day one of ETW looked like... to this day if someone leaves a ranked game it will quit the game for everyone and give 1/2 the people a loss. To this day quick battles don't work, and neither do MPC battles. To this day i have friends who cannot join each others hosts and vice-versa.

Today steam did maintainence 2 times, both times I was in-game. The first month after ETW was out, steam was going out several times a day, sometimes for as much as 15 minutes at a time.

of course not all this is CA's fault, they can't stop people from joing games their PCs cant handle or spamming certain units... but regardless that is my experience of the MP in TW.

I'm sure it will work just fine considering CAs track record of improving their games

[Ritterlichvon86]

it sounds like a rant, but it's almost to a tee what day one of ETW looked like... to this day if someone leaves a ranked game it will quit the game for everyone and give 1/2 the people a loss. To this day quick battles don't work, and neither do MPC battles. To this day i have friends who cannot join each others hosts and vice-versa.

Today steam did maintainence 2 times, both times I was in-game. The first month after ETW was out, steam was going out several times a day, sometimes for as much as 15 minutes at a time.

of course not all this is CA's fault, they can't stop people from joing games their PCs cant handle or spamming certain units... but regardless that is my experience of the MP in TW.

Quick battles do work for me. MPC battles do work for me.

[johncage]

knowing their track record, i'd say you're probably right.

[Bloodzen]

So you have played the game...?

You can't start complaining about a games performance before it is even out.

And just to remind you NTW isn't ETW.

[Lord Dakier]

So you have played the game...?

You can't start complaining about a games performance before it is even out.

And just to remind you NTW isn't ETW.

Just to sniper the thumb here...

No it's not ETW but much of everything is based off ETW. I bet the game engine has not changed at all unlike Rome > METW2 > ETW. NTW I think you'll find more of a stand alone expansion than a new game.

[dmcheatw]

releasing the game in february has little to nothing to do with with what state of development the game is presently in.

obviously the drop in battle feature will probably work in actuality, the point is that there will be a slew of things that wont, all sorts of bugs and unforseen complications and hassles. That's my prediction.

this is not a rant, it's a prediction about what i think day one of NTW will look like. sure it's not optimistic, but again this was the exact same thing that happened in march of '09 and that is mainly what informs my guess now. i'll bump this thread in vindication once NTW drops., of course, a good % of you won't even be able to get the game running correctly anyway... but for those that do, you'll be jumping through hoops, many of which you didn't see coming, just to finish one good game from start to finish.

as a ETW veteran, i can say that 2 hour intervals between completed games (3 v 3 or more) is not all that uncommon. If you've got 3 friends and you're looking to play real competition that is.. getting a game takes time, but it is made MUCH MUCH more painful and time consuming by the lack of functionality and the bugs in the game.

since buggy, incomplete releases have been the norm with CA even before ETW, i have no reason to believe anything different this time around.

[Aeneas Veneratio]

You start the game to find drop in battles dont work, akin to the way quick battles never worked in ETW, something about ironing out the net code in a patch due monday the next week. No big deal, you start to join a regular ranked game but before you can tab over steam will disconnect you. Once you log back in you'll find that some hosts you just won't be able to join giving you some sort of network error or just a simple "unable to connect to host." once you do join a game you'll wait a quarter hour for both teams to get full and ready, since steam keeps crashing and you have had to keep looking for a host that everyone in your party can join without getting an error or lag. after everyone checks in upon loading you'll be greeted with the message "such and such has left the game," making the outcome a forgone conclusion with an AI too stupid to all out bum rush, but also too stupid to stay out of the way of your own forces or the enemy's bullets (so it'll march to within 50 meters then stand there or move back and forth, etc). you'll leave or the host will restart. you'll rejoin the game only to discover that this time the game is very laggy, due to someone joining a game their computer cant handle, but you'll play through it anyway because you don't want to spend another 30 minutes to an hour trying to get another game full game in. but what's this? a mortar spammer is using the latest cheap spam tactic to ruin the game, or a friendly player is shooting your own units out of idiocy or malice. still you play on, but eventually someone leaves and the whole game ends immediately, and probably gives you a loss on your stats. fed up with anything "team" related, you hop on a 1 v 1 and when the game begins you find the host sitting on a hill with a ring of stakes around him and artillery in the middle and just sits there. after 30 minutes you finally attack and watch your army get slaughtered. you quit the game in outrage.

before you say it'll never happen, it's exactly what happened (and still happens mostly) in ETW right now.

Hi Roland (Emmerick)! Welcome to these fine forums!

[Invictus XII]

Sorry mate, we only post stuff that we have facts on, or ask questions!

[Desufer]

tl; dr

[DimondLight]

There really are quite a few pessimists on this forum aren't there.

[Mr. Scott]

There really are quite a few pessimists on this forum aren't there.

It's almost as if they are hoping that Napoleon will be a really bad game

[DukeofArrrgyll]

It's almost as if they are hoping that Napoleon will be a really bad game

It is starting to look that way. I remember a lot of complaints about M2TW when it came out..Now people are saying how great it is.
I actually rather like ETW. Yes i know the AI can be a bit flakey but so was the AI in RTW and M2TW, particularly during seiges. You either get used to it or give up and try something else. I'm sure NTW won't be any different but that hasn't put me off pre-ordering it.

dmcheatw, save the criticisms for when the game is released and you've actually played it. Then your comments, negative or otherwise, may actually have credibility.

[ccqwert7]

Really? This didn't happen to me...

I wasn't there on day one but nothing remotely close like this happens to me on a regular basis, or even at all...

The worst I've had is seeing a bunch of games hosted on caucasus no rules

[dmcheatw]

Really? This didn't happen to me...

I wasn't there on day one but nothing remotely close like this happens to me on a regular basis, or even at all...

The worst I've had is seeing a bunch of games hosted on caucasus no rules

well as it stands now i have 1287 hours logged on ETW MP. while day one was incredibly fun for me, and so were the subsequent 7-8 months before my first uninstall, this is also what day 1 looked like, IOW an absolute mess. imagine day one of america's army 3, but not quite as bad. and for the most part it hasn't gotten better. It's gotten a little better, for instance eventually steam got to the point where it rarely goes down. But plenty hasn't gotten better either... ranked games are still inherently flawed, still certain hosts you just can't join, still no way to see pings or the full settings for a game, etc.

and then when we got everything all set, we'd all check in, the countdown would go to zero..... and then nothing would happen, we'd all just be sitting there like "umm why is the game not loading?" anyone remember that bug? had to rehost to fix that one too, but then little johnny would have to go to soccer practice, rurining the teams, and the cycle begins anew...

Ok, the really way MP will turn out in NTW on Day 1:

"You'll boot up, install, key works, load game, do tutorials, some campaigns quickly, then try MP. It will work as its mean't to, find a drop in battle, a nice guy you verse, anyway, you see ur men all lining up, you play tactical, have a great match, no crashes, you play for hours, getting better, winning and losing, you have 1 or 2 CTD's, per week but will be fixed 1-2 weeks later! So it turn out ok, and you continue to enjoy ur TW experience, with only 1-2 of CTD's a month or less!

i'll drink to that, but you should be aware that's not the trend.

[cantopsych]

This isn't being negative, this is exactly how etw mp is for most people and I completely agree with the OP. I have played about 1600 hours or so of etw mp and by and large this is how I've experienced it. It's so damn frustrating at times, you spend more time trying to get a decent game than anything else. Last night for example in a 3 hour period, I played 1 30-40 min complete battle, without lag, cheats, etc. I have 150 steam friends and we all complain about the same thing.

It only get better for me recently, when I changed my modem- it means I can connect to a lot more 'hosts', but it of course doesn't eradicate everything else mentioned.

Its great having all these mp modes and by all accounts the battles are going to be pretty damn good. A lobby chat, lots of new and varied maps, a new 'fairer' ranking system (hmm we're see..) - great stuff, what any mp enthusiast or casual mp player would want.

But, I'm afarid it will be useless if you can't join friends games or you are limited on your choices (no dedicated sever), there are desync issues, steam keeps cutting out or updating in a middle of a good battle (that finally works), people playing in 3 or 4 v games, with a pc that can't handle it or don't lower their settings, etc.

I've had some great battles and fun, but also an extremley frustrating time as well. CA is clearly not responsible for all of this ( i.e. human behaviour), but I do hope ntw mp will be less frustrating than with etw-