39 replies to this topic

[Protozoan]

I'm a little confused as to why there are so few players on CnCnet most of the time, the highest peak I saw was on the weekend with 50+ players. But I thought thousands downloaded APYR MO 3.0?

 

Are the majority just not aware that there is a multiplayer function for the mod or something...?

[Speeder]

Right now there are less than 30 people playing Red Alert 2 & Yuri's Revenge on XWIS and 8 playing Mental Omega on CnCNet. I'd say that's quite good. Take a look at the XWIS statistics.

Most people don't play multiplayer.

[Protozoan]

I know but I figured this mod would have brought a lot of players back like it did for me. Without multiplayer I just end up playing one or two skirmishes and then not play for a month.

 

I didn't even know this had Multiplayer, and I wasn't even aware you could play online with RA2 + YR anyway, you need to make an account or something for vanilla right? You guys should advertise that this mod allows you to play MP more frequently, I think more players would start getting online, it beats skirmish in every way.

Edited by Protozoan, 16 December 2013 - 10:39 AM.

[X1Destroy]

Propably because people are busy getting headaches trying to beat the campaign?

[mevitar]

People aren't that eager to play multiplayer as you would think. Most of those that play RA2/YR online do it on XWIS servers. Those that play mods either play singleplayer or with friends only. That isn't very likely to change unless there will be a ladder system added to cncnet at one point.

Edited by mevitar, 16 December 2013 - 12:17 PM.

[Protozoan]

I can't understand why someone wouldn't want to play against actual people, rather than an AI where eventually every single move can be predicted. I swear that half of the people just probably don't even know that they can play multiplayer by clicking on LAN/VPN after launching from CnCNet. Most mods don't have Online compatibility and probably automatically assume that they wouldn't be able to play online.

[OmegaBolt]

Not sure what you mean by 'most mods'. Most mods I've played do support MP, especially YR mods.

[Protozoan]

Most mods in general, especially ones in Beta, as sometimes the mods break a game's online compatibility. MO is pretty much the only YR mod that I play.

[Petya]

Many players also play coops and they are more enjoyable if played with a friend. And as mevitar said, lots of players only play singleplayer because they aren't interested in normal matches.

Edited by Petya, 16 December 2013 - 02:55 PM.

[Protozoan]

Many players also play coops and they are more enjoyable if played with a friend. And as mevitar said, lots of players only play singleplayer because they aren't interested in normal matches.

 

This just doesn't make any sense to me, I don't know why someone would not want to try multiplayer for a game, or mod in this case, and especially where it's as simple as launching the game, clicking a button and then joining/creating a match, I don't see why anyone would limit their experience to just one thing. It's not like people go out and buy a game(just using this as an example) and then not even try out half of the features included with the game. It simply is just illogical.

 

The multiplayer is the strongest point in this mod imo, that's what makes RTS games fantastic, is using superior tactics, thinking & reacting faster than they can, and simply outwitting them, or getting destroyed and then eventually learning from your mistakes to have some truly interesting and challenging matches. But all the fun of that is taken away when you vs an AI, it severely limits the joy one can get from an RTS and in this mod.

 

This is why I'm saying that I think people just don't understand or are simply unaware that they can even play multiplayer, don't hit me with 20 questions about why. Have you guys advertised the MP functionality on Moddb or mo.cncguild.net?

 

It should be on the front page, .-.

Edited by Protozoan, 16 December 2013 - 03:04 PM.

[Petya]

Not every ppl like multiplayer. There are players who prefer playing against AI or with friends only. There is no reason for that really.

[Protozoan]

Not every ppl like multiplayer. There are players who prefer playing against AI or with friends only. There is no reason for that really.

 

I don't know how you manage to represent thousands of people, must be some kind of Godly power of yours eh?

 

Smartarseness aside, I do believe there would be players out that prefer playing against AI (for some strange reason), but a peak of 50 players with thousands of people who have downloaded the mod means something's wrong, and I blame the 'marketing', lol

[X1Destroy]

that's what makes RTS games fantastic, is using superior tactics, thinking & reacting faster than they can, and simply outwitting them, or getting destroyed and then eventually learning from your mistakes to have some truly interesting and challenging matches. But all the fun of that is taken away when you vs an AI, it severely limits the joy one can get from an RTS and in this mod.

Not when the server goes down, or some people who have shitty internet connection which suffer great lag. They would rather play with an AI than to get piss off at the damn delay in command every 10 seconds.

As for me, I prefer watching the AI send hundreds thousands of its units to dead. Multiplayer matches aren't aways like that.

 

Edited by X1Destroy, 16 December 2013 - 03:30 PM.

[Protozoan]

 

 

 

that's what makes RTS games fantastic, is using superior tactics, thinking & reacting faster than they can, and simply outwitting them, or getting destroyed and then eventually learning from your mistakes to have some truly interesting and challenging matches. But all the fun of that is taken away when you vs an AI, it severely limits the joy one can get from an RTS and in this mod.

Not when the server goes down, or some people who have shitty internet connection that result in great lag. They would rather play with an AI than to get piss off at the damn delay in command every 10 seconds.

 

 

True, but after all the annoyances, finding a decent match is worth all the hassle, when more people start playing, there'll probably be more people in a closer area that could decrease the amount of lag, perhaps then it might be a good idea to add some kind of regional filter, if that's possible, but that might be an entirely different discussion.

Edited by Protozoan, 16 December 2013 - 03:30 PM.

[Solais]

I'm aware that I could play multiplayer, and for me, I thought that MO was always a mod focused mostly on multiplayer, and only a little, but decent enough focus on singleplayer (at least that was my justification in my head why the campaign was so impossible and restrictive to über players).

 

And yet, I don't play multiplayer. Why? Because I don't really like competitive multiplayer, that's all. Not only it is hard to try arranging my busy life with my friends' busy lives (which is hard, because in a way, it seems that C&C games are really mostly played by older people; originally my father was the one who loved these games), I also just don't find competitive multiplayer to be that fun, in almost any game, not just this one. (Also, for me it is kinda weird that people would want to play with strangers, I'd rather play with friends.)

 

For me, it is most thrilling to follow a story through, to fight for this cause the game presents to me, to fight in these carefully planned scenarios than just playing with some random person on some random map with the objective of destroying the other. The story, the lore (ESPECIALLY the lore, I love reading lore and I love writing lore), the setting, the feeling, all these are the most important aspects.

 

Beating another player is not something that interests me. What interests me is to lead my army against the capitalist pigs and give the world the socialist utopia they deserve.

Edited by Solais, 16 December 2013 - 03:56 PM.

[Petya]

I don't know how you manage to represent thousands of people, must be some kind of Godly power of yours eh?

 

Smartarseness aside, I do believe there would be players out that prefer playing against AI (for some strange reason), but a peak of 50 players with thousands of people who have downloaded the mod means something's wrong, and I blame the 'marketing', lol

I'm not representing anyone just telling the facts to you.

[Black/Brunez]

 

Not every ppl like multiplayer. There are players who prefer playing against AI or with friends only. There is no reason for that really.

 

I don't know how you manage to represent thousands of people, must be some kind of Godly power of yours eh?

 

Smartarseness aside, I do believe there would be players out that prefer playing against AI (for some strange reason), but a peak of 50 players with thousands of people who have downloaded the mod means something's wrong, and I blame the 'marketing', lol

 

 

An exemple was me on MO 2.0. I only started to play the mod online when I joined the team as a tester. Before that, I was just starting to get used with multiplayer games, like Battlefield 2 + mods, A Path Beyond and Counter Strike.

 

Some people simply want to fight the AI and play the campaing, and don´t find playing vs other people interesting (sometimes they even fear playing with strangers). Looking at Moddb, I can say that only half of the fans who comment there I saw playing online.

 

Yet, another exemple. I almost consider myself a fan of  Rise of the Reds and ShockWave, but I never played those mods online.

Edited by Black/Brunez, 16 December 2013 - 08:06 PM.

[Graion Dilach]

 

Not every ppl like multiplayer. There are players who prefer playing against AI or with friends only. There is no reason for that really.

 

I don't know how you manage to represent thousands of people, must be some kind of Godly power of yours eh?

 

Smartarseness aside, I do believe there would be players out that prefer playing against AI (for some strange reason), but a peak of 50 players with thousands of people who have downloaded the mod means something's wrong, and I blame the 'marketing', lol

 

Then I tell you, you're either blind, stupid or just purely egoistic.

 

CnCNet and online playing was advertised numerous times, from the main page to the setup tutorial. If you have right to blame us for other people's not playing online, then I blame you for living in a dream. I for example only started playing online because of mod testing. I only played WoW for a year in 2009 before this (and even then, I wasn't a hardcore player but the guild's novelist who was there to get inspired for stories, which resulted with a lvl 66 character in BC/WoTLK transition times and 80 pages of chronicles, the latter I consider one of the best stuff I ever made and being proud of it even after years).

 

This isn't an MMO and you have to understand that most people play offline. You can't do anything with it.

Edited by Graion Dilach, 16 December 2013 - 09:11 PM.

[Petya]

Also many ppl simply don't play online because of the rage quits and whining. Not every ppl can bear it tbh.

[Protozoan]

An exemple was me on MO 2.0. I only started to play the mod online when I joined the team as a tester. Before that, I was just starting to get used with multiplayer games, like Battlefield 2 + mods, A Path Beyond and Counter Strike.

 

 

 

 

Some people simply want to fight the AI and play the campaing, and don´t find playing vs other people interesting (sometimes they even fear playing with strangers). Looking at Moddb, I can say that only half of the fans who comment there I saw playing online.

 

Yet, another exemple. I almost consider myself a fan of  Rise of the Reds and ShockWave, but I never played those mods online.

 

 

I'm beginning to think that the problem is that the Command & Conquer games have always been more of a solo game, it's never really had anything to entice players into multiplayer, so they just don't bother to try it. I only recently started playing multiplayer for Command & Conquer as a whole on MO 3.0 like 1 and a half weeks ago, mostly because I just couldn't be bothered setting up an account and playing online, and then I dl'd MO 3 and realized how simple it was to just jump into a match with a few clicks.

 

 

I don't know how you manage to represent thousands of people, must be some kind of Godly power of yours eh?

 

Smartarseness aside, I do believe there would be players out that prefer playing against AI (for some strange reason), but a peak of 50 players with thousands of people who have downloaded the mod means something's wrong, and I blame the 'marketing', lol

I'm not representing anyone just telling the facts to you.

 

 

 

 

 

Not every ppl like multiplayer. There are players who prefer playing against AI or with friends only. There is no reason for that really.

 

I don't know how you manage to represent thousands of people, must be some kind of Godly power of yours eh?

 

Smartarseness aside, I do believe there would be players out that prefer playing against AI (for some strange reason), but a peak of 50 players with thousands of people who have downloaded the mod means something's wrong, and I blame the 'marketing', lol

 

Then I tell you, you're either blind, stupid or just purely egoistic.

 

How very kind of you Graion,

 

I make an educated estimate, ask a legitimate question and try to figure out why it is the way it is, and you insult me for it, amazing

 

*applauds* much sarcasm

 

 

 

 

CnCNet and online playing was advertised numerous times, from the main page to the setup tutorial. If you have right to blame us for other people's not playing online, then I blame you for living in a dream.

 

 

Hmm, no sign of that advertisement saying something along the lines of "Play Online!" or "Multiplayer Compatibility" or something like that.

 

 

Still no sign of any multiplayer advertisement.

 

Ah, there it is, in that small inconspicuous text. 'new skirmish/multiplayer maps' (not really an advertisement of mp)

 

And there, with the other things that people probably don't read and instead want to just play the game.

 

You make it sound like I'm calling the Staff morons, I'm not, I'm saying there is a lack of advertisement or anything to entice people to play multiplayer. Multiplayer should be the biggest feature as it brings people together and more human interaction, along with the previous things I've already stated, but when it's thrown in there with the other small text, it looks like it really isn't that interesting and I'm betting that a chunk of players completely skim over that

 

And that sentence there "Discuss Mental Omega 3.0 and arrange multiplayer battles on our forums and in our IRC channel" makes it sound like you guys weren't expecting players to be on MP 24/7, or that the only way to play multiplayer would be to contact someone in the IRC Channel to arrange a match, which sounds like a pain in the arse. And thus probably pushes more people away from MP or makes it sound uninteresting.

 

 

I for example only started playing online because of mod testing. I only played WoW for a year in 2009 before this (and even then, I wasn't a hardcore player but the guild's novelist who was there to get inspired for stories, which resulted with a lvl 66 character in BC/WoTLK transition times and 80 pages of chronicles, the latter I consider one of the best stuff I ever made and being proud of it even after years).

 

 

You're the staff, you're the tiniest percentage of the people that play the mod, you have to think from the perspective of a casual player that simply wants to download and play a mod and have fun, 90% of the people aren't going to be interested in anything else other than playing the game. I'd make massive emphasis on the multiplayer functionality on the front page because it is simply the best feature of any RTS game, or any kind of game in general. C&C has been a mostly solo game series with the multiplayer kinda just being there, I grew up playing Command & Conquer on the N64 along with the first Red Alert on the first Play Station console, where there was no multiplayer at that time, and on the computer even back then, multiplayer was still annoying to get into, so I'm going to go ahead and assume that half of the people that have downloaded the mod are at least C&C veterans just looking play an old game that has been revamped with new cool things added to it, and are most likely unaware that they can actually play multiplayer.

 

You guys can go ahead and share the reasons why you don't think 26,000 people wouldn't want to jump online based off your personal preferences or accounts of friends, but it'll be negligible due to the fact that most of those people just aren't like you guys, and are most likely casual players that don't ever even touch forums.

 

 

 

This isn't an MMO and you have to understand that most people play offline. You can't do anything with it.

 

Uh, I wasn't comparing Red Alert to an MMO in any way... Since, there is virtually nothing about the two genres that could possibly be compared with other than the fact that they're video games.

 

Perhaps it would be best to understand why most people play offline, and then when we get to that point, maybe there is actually something that can at least boost the numbers in multiplayer.

 

Also many ppl simply don't play online because of the rage quits and whining. Not every ppl can bear it tbh.

 

That would be after playing Online.

 

 

 

I would put something like this:

 

 

Except not as unprofessional (lol) and turn it into a hyperlink that leads to a simple tutorial with a few steps on how to start playing multiplayer.

 

 

 

P.S This took forever to write

 

P.P.S The quoting system is a lil strange on this Forum

Edited by Protozoan, 17 December 2013 - 04:17 AM.