Looks like a nice game, but....

Is it really that difficult that you couldn't throw it in to a patch?

Yes. Multiplayer isn't something you can just toss in lightly on a patch budget and time-frame.

For the full details on why, see this thread.

It's a design decision. And as far as just throwing it in, would you really play a game with multiplayer just thrown in? If you really want it that bad, there is a "cheat" to allow multiplayer in the game. Although, I believe, its only in hotseat mode. (Take turns playing on one computer) I'm not sure on how to do it, but do a search for it in the forum.

You know, Master of Orion 2 has a good multiplayer. You can go play that since Galciv 2 doesn't have what you, and a suprisingly low number of people, want.

Hope to see you back here if/(hopefully when) Galciv does have multiplayer.

I don't buy that a low number of people who want MP. I do buy that a low number of people who already have the game want MP. All those polls don't include people who didn't buy the game because it had no MP. It's why those polls are flawed.

Good point, arstal. I would have to stick with kryo and say that it's not simple. The idea the original poster had that it would just be a simple patch ignores just how complex development work can be....

I'm not buying it. Period. I understand that the designers wanted to focus on the single player game experience, and that's fine. I respect that. But no Multiplayer? Am I really going to be forced to play something else because you dont have multiplayer support in your game? Is it really that difficult that you couldn't throw it in to a patch?

Multiplayer is a waste for a game like this. Period. Have you even been around this community?? Maybe only 5% of this community wants that in this game. A turn based game that takes as long as GalCiv2 to finish, you are out of your mind. I certainly don't have the time to sit on my computer for 12hrs a day trying to finish a multiplayer game. I have a life outside of gaming. A TBS game is not made for multiplayer, why can't some understand that? I am not sitting around waiting for someone to press the 'end turn' button, come on get real here. I ain't taking off a whole week from work, stopping my life, and have someone else do it with me. Sure if I did not have to work and had friends that did not, ok but this is the real world unfortunately. Play a RTS or FPS its meant for it, thats where multiplayer fun is at. Why don't you go ahead and play something else that can be played multiplayer such as Rise of Nations or Warcraft 3 for example? You can finish one in about an hour. Those are made for that kind of stuff. Multiplayer in GalCiv2??? Give me a break.

I don't buy that a low number of people who want MP

Honestly I dont think its about people not wanting MP, I think its more along the lines that people prefer more features to simply paying for MP alone in an expansion.

Do I want MP? Sure, I have a friend that playing with would be a blast.
Would I sacrifice all the features being added in Dark Avatar for MP? Not at all.

And as I understand it, work is being done to reduce the amount of time needed to implement MP, at which point, it'll become much more likely to be added. And reguardless, it is a good game, it makes for a great way to pass the time when no ones available, or you'd rather just be anti-social after a hard day.

Buying something just because it has MP or not, is alot like buying a car based only on whether its red or not. I could take some dog dung, paint it red and shape it into a car, but its still dog feces.

Anywho, soon I'll really be rambling...so I'll stop...

Multiplayer is a waste for a game like this. Period. Have you even been around this community?? Maybe only 5% of this community wants that in this game. A turn based game that takes as long as GalCiv2 to finish, you are out of your mind. I certainly don't have the time to sit on my computer for 12hrs a day trying to finish a multiplayer game. I have a life outside of gaming. A TBS game is not made for multiplayer, why can't some understand that? I am not sitting around waiting for someone to press the 'end turn' button, come on get real here. I ain't taking off a whole week from work, stopping my life, and have someone else do it with me. Sure if I did not have to work and had friends that did not, ok but this is the real world unfortunately. Play a RTS or FPS its meant for it, thats where multiplayer fun is at. Why don't you go ahead and play something else that can be played multiplayer such as Rise of Nations or Warcraft 3 for example? You can finish one in about an hour. Those are made for that kind of stuff.

I second this.

Maybe only 5% of this community wants that in this game.

5%? A poll asked if people would PAY for it and it got a 33% response. There was another poll but that wasn't MP specific so I ignore it.

The expansion pack after the soon to be released Dark Avatar could well be a multiplayer expansion pack. I was left out due to cost of the feature vs relative demand. Now the more demanded stuff is more or less there Stardock are thinking about it. Also Society, stardock's MMO project, is coming along so they can import alot of the code in to GC2 from there.

Multiplayer is not a simple patch feature, it involves alot of new coding/testing and design work. It's an expansion pack to itself.

Multiplayer is a waste for a game like this. Period. Have you even been around this community?? Maybe only 5% of this community wants that in this game. A turn based game that takes as long as GalCiv2 to finish, you are out of your mind. I certainly don't have the time to sit on my computer for 12hrs a day trying to finish a multiplayer game. I have a life outside of gaming. A TBS game is not made for multiplayer, why can't some understand that? I am not sitting around waiting for someone to press the 'end turn' button, come on get real here. I ain't taking off a whole week from work, stopping my life, and have someone else do it with me. Sure if I did not have to work and had friends that did not, ok but this is the real world unfortunately. Play a RTS or FPS its meant for it, thats where multiplayer fun is at. Why don't you go ahead and play something else that can be played multiplayer such as Rise of Nations or Warcraft 3 for example? You can finish one in about an hour. Those are made for that kind of stuff. Multiplayer in GalCiv2??? Give me a break. I second this.

I third this. I mean, I would, if that sentence was gramatically correct. Anyway, yeah, I stay behind that.

The polls are somewhat misleading, as tehy don't take into account those that would have bought the game and been active forum members had they included MP, nor does it show how many would use MP but don't come here. Unfortunitly, since they cannot measure thsoe people, they have to go with what they can measure.

There are alternatives to a real time, 7+ hour gamefest. Hopefully a future expansion or GC3 will have it, and if so I would buy it in a heartbeat. But until that time, they have done an excellent job so I won't complain.

Here's what happens when you "just throw in" multiplayer...

WWW Link

Any questions?

It's probably futile to point this out, but this has been discussed a billion times. A search would turn up arguments for both. Might not convince anybody, but at least you'd see the developers' rationale.

My $.02? It's fine without it. You can argue until the heat death of the universe whether it would have been better with multiplayer, but some games just aren't suited for it---at least not ideally. And had they implemented it poorly, everyone would have dinged them for it. Might as well enjoy the game for what it is instead of what it isn't.

Multiplayer is a waste for a game like this. Period. Have you even been around this community?? Maybe only 5% of this community wants that in this game. A turn based game that takes as long as GalCiv2 to finish, you are out of your mind. I certainly don't have the time to sit on my computer for 12hrs a day trying to finish a multiplayer game. I have a life outside of gaming. A TBS game is not made for multiplayer, why can't some understand that? I am not sitting around waiting for someone to press the 'end turn' button, come on get real here. I ain't taking off a whole week from work, stopping my life, and have someone else do it with me. Sure if I did not have to work and had friends that did not, ok but this is the real world unfortunately. Play a RTS or FPS its meant for it, thats where multiplayer fun is at. Why don't you go ahead and play something else that can be played multiplayer such as Rise of Nations or Warcraft 3 for example? You can finish one in about an hour. Those are made for that kind of stuff. Multiplayer in GalCiv2??? Give me a break. I second this. I third this. I mean, I would, if that sentence was gramatically correct. Anyway, yeah, I stay behind that.

Forthed, I know plenty of people who play 4x games. Know how many play multiplayer? Out of 18 ppl only 1 does.

I support stardock's quest for the perfect game. Eventually, they will want to add multiplayer. The path they are currently on makes sense. Build an army of fanboys by getting their input on improvements. The dust will settle and multiplayer will arrive.

Just chill and enjoy the most accessible game company in the industry.

I personally love multiplayer games, however, this type of game doesnt lend itself to it. It can be done for sure, but its just not the same game when you do it (and I dont mean that it would be better). Since turns take upwards of several minuets each at some points, and just seconds at other points, depending on just where your empire is, you end up with one or more players waiting what will seem like an eternity for them.

I don't think that this game requires it to be multiplayer to be fun. I have been playing for a while now and reading the posts. I find it especially amusing when I read a post from another player about how well the AI reacts to different strategies. Sure, the AI will never replace a human, but it can come reeaallll close.

I don't really understand how multplayer would work in this game. I assume everyone would have to finish their turn before you could take the next? What if someone drops out or takes a really long time to finish their turn. That means you're always waiting on others. Doesn't sound like much fun to me.

I agree with CraigHB.
This is a time consuming game as it is.

It would be a nightmare with multiplayer and very boring, waiting forever for each turn.

I agree with the previous few comments, multiplayer GC2 would be a nightmare, beyond playing a tiny map with a few players, I don't see how it would work well.

I agree that multiplayer in a game that takes such a long time to play is of limited benefit. But I do hope we eventually get multiplayer support in this game. If it takes a year or more to get it then that's fine with me. But I would eventually like to play human to human directly on rare occasions. I also don't know how the mechanics would work, but I would hope for something more concurrent, besides the u go I go method. But if that was the only way to get it in the game then I would be satisfied with that.

I don't really understand how multplayer would work in this game. I assume everyone would have to finish their turn before you could take the next? What if someone drops out or takes a really long time to finish their turn. That means you're always waiting on others. Doesn't sound like much fun to me.

I totally agree, I am retired and still find it hard to devote enough time for the really long games, multiplayer would be rediculously slow in a game like this. There are lots of multiplayer games out there, as well as lots of real time strategy games, what is wrong with having one turn based, single player game for those of us that enjoy that type of game? If you want a multiplayer game, go play one, and leave this one to those who don't want that type of game.

There are lots of multiplayer games out there, as well as lots of real time strategy games, what is wrong with having one turn based, single player game for those of us that enjoy that type of game?

It's my understanding that multiplayer will eventually be added, but AFAIK no one will be forced to play it that way.

Personally, I'm glad at the lack of multiplayer in GC2. There are design problems involved with trying to make games work both ways, and it usually compromises the gameplay. For example, RTS games are mostly multiplayer, and so mostly the AI sucks in those games. However, the unit balancing sill has to accommodate the crappy AIs, so both sides lose out.

Sitting there real time taking turns would be stupid actually. The only way I could see MP working with this type of game is like it does with Space Empires, where it still is a TBS but you play by email via the web or some such thing.

Of course it still takes weeks/months to play a game but it works.

PS - off topic, but how does one get the little icons at the end of their message?