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Post by Death to ALL on Nov 1, 2005 17:55:56 GMT -5
I'm gathering suggestions for the MP lobby, since it now looks like we wont be getting Arcade to connect to it.
The lobby will be our new "home" and I know we all want as many of the creature comforts that we have come to love with Arcade.
I can't garantee that any of your suggestions will ever make it into a patch/expansion at any time, but will see that this info is passed to those that have the power to make it happen.
To start things off.
I would like to be able to pm someone without having to list them on my buddy list. Also would like to be able to chat in lobby while in game setup, will make it easier to find players to join games with pw's.
DTA
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Post by sparta on Nov 1, 2005 18:04:15 GMT -5
GIVE US A FRIGGEN MUTE BUTTON!!!!
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Post by MMV on Nov 1, 2005 18:16:20 GMT -5
I asked before.............
Why won't we be getting a GameSpy Arcade Lobby?
(the alternative right now seems to be using the Civ3 lobby and everyone IP'ing into a game).
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Post by Death to ALL on Nov 1, 2005 18:30:34 GMT -5
At this point, I don't really know why. It is something between Firaxis and GS.
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Post by Canucksoldier on Nov 1, 2005 18:59:22 GMT -5
To make a long story short, Developers are no longer required by GS to make there games "Arcade compatable" so when Firaxis developed the CIV interface they did so only to satify the requirements of the game. We(MP testers) did not know about this design decision, as we all assumed that GS Arcade would always support any GS based MP game...well we were wrong and we didn't tell Firaxis how bad that decision was....now we are doing damage control, but to be honest I can't say if we will ever get Arcade support for CIV.
I am thinking about alternative solutions for the ladder community, such as setting up a IRC channel like the SP fan sights do, but I'm open to ideas if you all have any?
CS
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Post by zzZhenon on Nov 1, 2005 19:08:39 GMT -5
how about just improving the MP lobby? The inability to pm non-buddies, the lack of private rooms(or game setup rooms that can be minimized to view the lobby to advertise your game), the constant refreshing of game listing and the weird scrolling, and the chat delay are all things that need some attention. This almost makes me miss gamespy... and believe me, I strongly dislike "gayspy" ;D
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Post by friedrichpsitalon on Nov 1, 2005 19:08:43 GMT -5
I would strongly discourage any other-channel communication; our recruitment strength and our advertising comes from players asking for ladder games in the main area. This is much the same debate as we had with a second room in C3C.
Let's remember it's early yet; things will settle out and more people will be involved in the ladder soon enough.
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reptile
Worker
in desperate need of a new avatar
Posts: 106
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Post by reptile on Nov 1, 2005 19:28:38 GMT -5
I wonder if we should make regular advertisement in the lobby.
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Post by Death to ALL on Nov 1, 2005 21:00:51 GMT -5
how about just improving the MP lobby? The inability to pm non-buddies, the lack of private rooms(or game setup rooms that can be minimized to view the lobby to advertise your game), the constant refreshing of game listing and the weird scrolling, and the chat delay are all things that need some attention. This almost makes me miss gamespy... and believe me, I strongly dislike "gayspy" ;D That was the purpose of this thread, to give more input straight from the mp'ers that use the lobby, what it is we would like to see improved on.
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Post by MMV on Nov 1, 2005 21:02:00 GMT -5
Well, the best idea is what a few of us have been doing so far.
since the ip option in civ4 is from the actual game menu before you even get to a multi-user account platform, we have been using the civ3 lobby as a base to ip into a civ4 game.
I'm sorry that the game developers and take2 went that direction - maybe they should have removed the gamespy logo from both their game-box ( "Powered by GameSpy" ) as well as the introduction within the game itself.
At the moment, there's NOT a stable platform for the game (other than using the civ3 lobby for civ4 ip purposes) and it would appear that this "technical absence" would give both take2 and firaxis a real financial handicap with both game sales and customer satisfaction.
I hope they can work it out, it WILL have an impact on every aspect of its success.
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Post by sparta on Nov 1, 2005 21:05:00 GMT -5
Wait MMV... are you saying you can host a game from the Civ3 lobby?
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Post by MMV on Nov 1, 2005 21:23:20 GMT -5
yes and no - one player (who can get into the current civ4 game lobby) can host a game FROM the civ4 lobby.
anyone who wants to join that game can simply use the "IP" method on their game play menu - sp, mp, lan, etc. Unlike civ3, the IP method is available in civ4 from your computer game menu and not the lobby itself.
we use the current civ3 lobby as a communications platform before booting up civ4 and selecting ip method to join existing game hosted by one player from the civ4 lobby.
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Post by Death to ALL on Nov 1, 2005 21:26:38 GMT -5
Wait MMV... are you saying you can host a game from the Civ3 lobby? In a way, yes he is. You can setup a DIrect IP game, same as we did earlier. Then advertise for it in the C3C lobby to have people IP in from CIV 4. DTA
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Post by Random on Nov 1, 2005 22:01:19 GMT -5
This may not work, but why couldn't we set up a CIV4 private user room in GS to exchange this information. This room could have a pass word which could be sent out with acceptance to the ladder and a mass mail monthly to reset the pass as some leave.
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Post by Death to ALL on Nov 1, 2005 22:01:57 GMT -5
To get this tread back on track, another option that would be nice for the TD staff.
To be able to chat in the lobby while in a game. As it is now, to run a tourney will require the TD to always be in the lobby for the entire tourney. As I know from experience, especially jurying the CCC, I played in one event while running another at the same time. I couldn't have done this if not for Arcade.
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Post by Death to ALL on Nov 1, 2005 22:05:48 GMT -5
This may not work, but why couldn't we set up a CIV4 private user room in GS to exchange this information. This room could have a pass word which could be sent out with acceptance to the ladder and a mass mail monthly to reset the pass as some leave. That's not a bad idea, but not really what this thread was meant to address. This thread was meant for suggested improvements to the CIV 4 MP Lobby. Which I will forward to the guys at Firaxis in a hope to get more out of the built in lobby.
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Post by Random on Nov 1, 2005 22:14:25 GMT -5
If it is built in it must be separate window. I multi task all the time and an extra window would not slow me down. The window would only be separate from that game when you are in a game. I do not know if it would be possible, with out having a separate exe for the lobby alone. All items such as mute, PM and comunicate about ladder games are a must
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Post by whiplash on Nov 1, 2005 23:20:58 GMT -5
I don't know if you've noticed; but a lot of the "old timers" have just said "screw it" and are staying away until the lobby gets fixed.
My personal view is that somebody had to work really hard to make it so bad.
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Post by Canucksoldier on Nov 2, 2005 0:19:30 GMT -5
Actually it only takes a small bug to create large problems sometimes. We never had 100's of games in the lobby during the test so we never stress tested it like this. I'm sure it'll be fixed in the first patch, and as it is, you can still get games no problem. 100 matches were played yesterday, and 94 so far today, so a couple bugs is not stopping games from happening.
CS
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Post by MMV on Nov 2, 2005 9:56:02 GMT -5
100 matches as indicated would be 100 loss reports generated, not 100 seperate games with multiple persons. That's somewhat different than 100 seperate games.
I don't mean that to sound "snippy or curt" but it's going to take a bit to get over this "Powered by GameSpy" on the box and it's not - and wasn't intended to be by the programers (yes, I know the QA Testers had no input into that and are equally as disapointed).
The GameSpy issue and the lack of a stable multiplayer platform (as promised and indicated by many) are my only true disapointments in the game.
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