Anyone Else Who Doesn't Care About Multiplayer?

[sgsmitty]

WhiteElephants -

I agree that playing with human players would be very exciting and I am not knocking it. You mentioned repeatly MP as being PBEM which would work well for me and did for SMAC. I was mostly refering to network/internet marathon sessions.

However, for me, playing SP will be the most used regardless.

Maybe when they get PBEM we can play sometime?

Thanks,
Sgsmitty

[WhiteElephants]

I found that when I began playing PBEM SMAC my amount of SP play drop in proportion to the amount of time I played PBEM, so much so that I didn't play SP at all.

Granted it's unrealistic to have 6+ hour blocks of time to sit down and finish a full game of CIVIII with four or more players, though it would be nice to be able to play LAN or hotseat style with friends if you could find enough players on a weekend.

[Zyzzarzaz]

I don't care a about MP... I remember trying to enjoy MOO2 in multiplayer... Have to accept crappy starting locations and continue a game that I would abandoned long ago because my friend enjoys the game, or vice versa. Thats my memories of MOO2 MP.

Anyway, I don't have the time for MP. Regardless if I like MP or not.

[kmj]

While I think that multiplayer civ is very cool (and human players would be much more fun to play against) the logistics of a MP game of civ (as opposed to, say, a FPS) are such that I likely will never play it, maybe once or twice when my friends have a lan party... which is unfortunate. Civ fits in on those nights when i don't have classes or don't have plans... MP wouldn't. Still, given game releases for the past few years, I was suprised that they didn't have MP support, and I understand why people would choose not to buy the game based on that.

[Basilisk]

i feel that multiplayer is really expected, and should be included. There is no better satisfaction than beating your friend, who has been constantly telling you how great they are at it...
FOr Civ3 it's not really the play a random person multiplayer but rather play a friend.

[mrbilll]

I'll admit I've never been much for MP, so I'm biased. But get real! It just isn't very practical to set a game like this up for MP. I can see why fans will want it, but I can't believe how shocked and offended some people were that it wasn't included in the first shot.

Honestly, I wish they had put more effort into playtesting and balancing as it is. Any effort towards MP or scenarios would have made this even more of a rush job. I have high hopes for future expansions, scenarios, and patches. IMHO Civ III is a diamond in the rough that will not reach its full potential until it's been worked on some more.

[WhiteElephants]

Originally posted by mrbilll
I'll admit I've never been much for MP, so I'm biased. But get real! It just isn't very practical to set a game like this up for MP. I can see why fans will want it, but I can't believe how shocked and offended some people were that it wasn't included in the first shot.

Get real!? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard thus far. I suggest you wander over to the various multiplayer sections of SMAC, CivII, CivNet, CTP1, and CTP2 for a taste of reality.

[Altuar]

Where do I sign?

After a few bothced attempts at mp CivNet, civ II and SMAC with my friends, I couldnt have cared less. We tried it all, the idea is amazing to toy around with but it takes too long.

Abotu scenarios: I never liked them. The reason? They destroy the atmosphere. Civ is just about that - civilizations over millenia. When such scope is reduced to say, WWII, or worse, a fantasy scenario, all you get is some numbers to play around with. +50% to production, +50% to light bulbs which make those silly "advances" come faster, etc.

But, along the same line, I never played on anywhere except the Earth map in Civ I and II. So I was quite angry to see that Civ III did not provide any means for civs to start in their (abstract) historical positions.

[Adrian Hon]

WhiteElephants: In my experience, the problem with multiplayer isn't time, it's scheduling, as you say. While I've been known to play Civ3 for long stretches, 5 hours is not too uncommon, my playing of Civ3 is sporadic and random. Clearly this wouldn't work at all well in a multiplayer game where I'd be obliged to make my moves by a certain time.

Yes, there's PBEM but frankly I would find that too slow; the idea with SP for me is that I can go at whatever pace I want. In addition, one of the quoted reasons for the lack of PBEM support is exactly how diplomacy would be implemented, e.g. I can't see how else you trade for resources other that doing it in real time. I suppose you could do it email by email, but that's pretty cumbersome.

Anyway, I admit that multiplayer is fun, and I briefly played FreeCiv online. It's just that so far, I've had enormous fun playing Civ3 and some of the wars and experiences I've had with the AI have kept me perfectly entertained, even to the extent of writing a short story which is in the Stories forum.

Incidentally, an alternative to playing chess on your own would be playing it against a computer

[WhiteElephants]

Oh, the mediocrity here...

[sgsmitty]

mediocrity?

Now, now. If someone has a opinion that differs from yours that is no reason to attempt to trivialize the whole discussion.

Remember, boys and girls, we are talking about a game here.

[Antonin]

Hmmm. I'm pleasantly surprised that there are at least some people who approach the game the way I do.

For me, it's also at least partly matter of time and scheduling. Wife and job and stuff like that...I might not have the time or energy to play for a couple of days, and then I might just play for a couple of minutes. This makes MP Civ3 something I wouldn't want to do. I just don't like having the obligation to come home and fire up the game to complete a PBEM turn or go online and play via the net. I deal with enough deadlines at work.

Some nights I might play for several hours at a time, but it depends on the degree to which other things are demanding my attention.

I do have some experience with online gaming: Asheron's Call and also Homeworld. And I have to say the attitudes of many people I meet in the online gaming world are part of the reason multiplayer gaming is really not my cup of tea.

To each his own, I think. I hope Civ3 will eventually have MP for those who like to play that way, because I think it's a great game and I want Firaxis to sell a lot of copies (unlike some people on this forum, I don't think Civ3 is "broken").

One thing l've noticed about many people who've responded to this thread is that they have been very polite about why they prefer SP over MP, and they have not belittled the preferences of those to whom MP is a very important issue.

So, to all you MP partisans, let's not have any name-calling, OK? We SP fans are not "mediocre"--we just prefer to play the game SP.

[sgsmitty]

Well put Mrbill.

[Barnacle Bill]

Originally posted by WhiteElephants
I fail to understand how people can claim lack of time as the issue when they pour over their computer for untold hours playing SP.

Well, the time thing goes like this...

I get up early on the weekend so I can go play. After about 2 turns, my 3 year old daughter comes running in "Daddy, let's play Spot" - so out comes the Civ3 CD and in goes Spot.

A half hour later, she gets bored and wanders off to color. So, I get a few more turns in. Then my wife calls me to breakfast and gives me the daily "honey do" list. A couple hours later, I see my break - she's distracted by the 3 year old, so I slip off to the basement a play a while.

Soon, the wife comes in with the baby, dumps him in my lap, and takes off shopping with the 3 year old. I get a turn or so in rocking him with my foot while I play, but then he's not taking that any more - demands that I walk around carrying him. Eventually, he falls asleep, I carefully slip him into the bascinet (ever see one of those movies where they are defusing a bomb?) and get back to the game.

Half a turn later, wife & daughter come home. "Honey, distract your daughter while I bath the baby".

OK, so after a turn on the swingset in back yard, the baby is clean & back asleep, daughter's pestering Mommy who's watching the boob tube. Daddy slips back to the basesment.

A couple of turns later... "Honey, you've been hiding in your cave all day...come interact with your family...aren't you too old to be playing games, anyway?"

And so it goes... a turn snatched here and there, it adds up... in a week I can get from 4000BC to the Industrial Ags, but just a few turns at a time. Multiplayer is utterly out of the question.

[August Borms]

I don't care about multiplayer either; the only thing I play online are FPS games (and the occasional open-beta MMORPG) and with Civ2 I only played scenarios anyway...