Getting people to play online.

posted on November 26th, 2009, 11:52 pm

So I've been thinking, and I was wondering if people who don't play online could explain their reasons for not doing so.  I for one enjoy the experience, but there was a time when I was new to playing it online.  I remember being afraid that I would suck really bad.  I think my first multiplayer game was against tom.  He was feds and I was borg.  He beat me bad in that game, but he was a gracious winner and I learned a lot about needing to have an early destroyer force to ward off attacks. 

One of my next games was against Dominus.  I was feds and he was romulans.  I held off for quite a long time, mainly because I had Norways back when they were invincible, and before we realized just how overpowered they were.   He beat me in the end, but after continually playing online and losing over and over I started to learn.  I wanted to be good, so I analyzed after each game and tried to figure out how I could do better.  Was I not fast enough getting a certain ship out?  What are the best combinations of a certain race?  If someone is spamming 3.5a assimilators, how do I counter that as Dominion?

Ah, the Dominion.   I found what seemed to be the underdog and really worked to get good with them.  I think what used to turn people off from them was the economy wasn't as straightforward like the Federation or Romulans.  But I sure had fun with them once I figured it out.

I didn't mean to turn this into some nostalgic retreat, but my purpose is to explain that becoming a decent player is a process.  No one is good overnight, but one thing I found I loved was working to understand each race, and each unit.  I got involved with understanding the odfs, even though I have zero background in programming and computer thingies.  Something else I found fun was to work on build orders, trying to find the one that kept up ship production while allowing me to tech up to the next level.  So maybe for those of you who are either new or reluctant to try online play, that's something that you can do to improve if you want to get better.

Also, if you come online, try and find someone who is about your skill level and beg them for games.  When you're challenged or pushed, that makes it all the more fun, because your hands are shaking, you're nervous, because you truly don't know the outcome of the game.  Almost all of the players who regularly play online are pretty cool, so you're probably not going to hear "har, har, u r teh suckzorz.

Lastly, I want people, especially those who don't play online, to post their reasons for not doing so.  Also, what would make you want to play online, or what could we do to make that transition easier?  I'm really interested to see some new blood, and that's you.   So any ideas are welcome.  This is also my first poll, so I hope you like it.

posted on November 27th, 2009, 12:04 am

I do try to play online, but I use a *cough*borrowed*cough* weak Internet connection that usually ends the games for me.

The few times it didn't, I stood there until the bitter end, no matter how badly I was losing.

posted on November 27th, 2009, 12:28 am

LEEEEEEROOOOOY JEEEENKIIIIIIINS

Hey, at least I've got chicken!
A for effot Mal

posted on November 27th, 2009, 1:03 am

I used to.  I don't like 3rd party networking apps, however.

That's my reason for not showing up anymore.  I reject Hamachi and Wippien.

posted on November 27th, 2009, 1:11 am

Why don't you like third party networking apps? Security concerns? If you want to arrange a game on Gamespy, feel free to post a topic or PM me or anyone else - we can migrate

posted on November 27th, 2009, 1:28 am

Mainly time.  Between school, work, and my other hobbies I don't have enough to sit down and play a whole game.  I'm only able to play IA maybe twice a month during school.

posted on November 27th, 2009, 2:15 am

Why don't you like third party networking apps? Security concerns? If you want to arrange a game on Gamespy, feel free to post a topic or PM me or anyone else - we can migrate

One part security concern (I was military administration, I'm reflexive about that stuff still) and one part not trusting my uncooperative computer.  It hates it if I run more than one program at a time.  Utterly LOATHES it.  Even if it should be able to handle it effortlessly.

posted on November 27th, 2009, 2:26 am

1) Waiting for next patch
2) Loved Hamachi and got screwed over when everyone switched to Weipen.... it won't work on my computer.

posted on November 27th, 2009, 2:39 am

1) Waiting for next patch
2) Loved Hamachi and got screwed over when everyone switched to Weipen.... it won't work on my computer.

It still doesn't work? Damn

Try it again perhaps... if at first you don't succeed...

posted on November 27th, 2009, 6:52 am

  Well, for me is the third reason, but is not Mort, is Mal, and I still have nightmares in which fleets of Jem'Hadar ships chase down my arse through the quadrant... and because I wait for the next patch. *insert Klingon smiley here*

[Dexter]

posted on November 27th, 2009, 6:56 am

Last edited by Dexter on November 27th, 2009, 6:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

1. Waiting for next patch - also givem my word i would not play untill then + some bad memories
2. Hamachi, Gamespy was more or less ok, but Wippien is for me at least a major security concern
3. Some players ( well back then when i played ) just used the same thing over and over and over and over ... againe  :(
4. Internet connection sometimes is ... khmmm


Edit : 4th point

[Anonymous]

posted on November 27th, 2009, 7:07 am

Last edited by Anonymous on November 27th, 2009, 7:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

Well Galefury, you know the Jem'Hadar motto:  Victory...is...erm, something to be strived for!

I'm sorry to hear you had some bad times, Dex.   Hopefully the next patch will be better.   If anyone has any suggestions as to a better way than wippien, I'm all ears.  People had trouble connecting to gamespy and hamachi was insanely laggy, and really couldn't hold more than 4 players at a time.  Wippien might be slightly less secure, but there's a lot less lag.  It'd be awesome if we could find a perfect setup for multiplayer.

Edit:  At the bottom of this article, there are some other VPNs we could try.  But people smarter than me need to have a look at them to understand if they are safe or not.  Or even worth considering.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamachi

posted on November 27th, 2009, 8:54 am

I'm usually just a little nervous about interacting with other players lol...plus I kinda suck 

Also whenever I do play online something seems to come up in RL which makes me in a hurry to leave 

posted on November 27th, 2009, 9:07 am

Is there anything that would make you less nervous?  I know some people aren't quite so competitive.  I've played games where I've allied up with the other player against a few AIs.  That's something you could suggest when you first come online.  There are people who are game for it.  Once you get used to playing with a team mate, you can eventually move to 1v1 or 2v2 games.  But nothing says that all your games have to be head-to-head against another human.  And AI games are less stressful, unless you're playing against 2 merciless borg AIs.

posted on November 27th, 2009, 11:54 am

whenever i wanna play Dominus doesnt and thats why i dont play online...