Great Game - Terrible Community?

from Sins Forums

I played quit a bit the original game, including Entrechment and Diplomacy, when it was on Ironclad servers. What an original lovely, nicely made strategy game which can last hours and hours of competative gameplay. What made me walk away from it, was that it gotten harder and harder getting a decent game with 8 or so players. Also a lot of people would quit with no repercussions and lobby was sitting empty a lot. Now that the Rebellion is on Steam, I see that only about 1000-2000 players are logged at any given time. Civilization V ,for example, gets 30k-40k players on weekdays and even more on weekends it seems like Sins still in the fringe of strategy gaming community. I am still deciding if I want to buy the expansion and would like to ask how easy it is to find good games, and goo d trusted players who doen't quit. Any rating system inplace? Also, steam is notoriously buggy and crashes ALOT midgame. How does Rebellion handles that? Would really appreciate the feedback form people who got the game.

10,537 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Your quoted numbers are misleading...I don't know where you got them, but they are most certainly not how many people are playing online....maybe you are just talking about number of people logged onto steam and are playing Sins, that would seem very reasonable....on a good night, you might see 300 or so on ICO, and most weeknights there's barely over a hundred if even that...

Last night we spent what seemed like 2 hours just trying to get enough people to play a 4v4...while that's a little extreme, larger games can still take 30 minutes easily to set up: getting enough people, picking teams, telling people not to play VR, trolling, cafe conversation, etc etc....

Most games are decided by drops (either by people quitting or minidumps) or by noob placements/stacked teams...you play Sins on ICO to have fun, not to get a good record or climb a ladder (btw, MP ladders and matchmaking don't exist and likely never will)...there are definitely some very good people out there but its tough getting large games together that have only skilled people...

The minidumps that occur have nothing to do with steam fortunately, they are the result of Sins itself (and maybe ICO, but probably just Sins)...while that sucks, at least there is hope the minidumps will be eliminated by the devs (who do try to update frequently)...if you minidump, tough shit, game's over for you and your team is out a player (well, technically an AI replaces you)...happens a lot and it's just something you get used to....

I love Rebellion, but I also am into modding, playing LAN games with friends, playing SP, and playing non-competitive MP games...competitive/skilled MP games is only one part of my sins experience and since I don't care about my win/loss record if shit happens, then shit happens...

Most people complain more about the game balance than the game stability...Vasari Rebels are pretty much banned from any serious MP game, and Vasari Loyalists are grossly OP by late game if they start as eco player...there are other issues (Corsev, titans in general, etc. etc.) as well....

If you really are hesitant to buy the game, I'd wait for the next update (v1.04) before deciding not to buy rebellion...the most glaring balance issues may be resolved by then, and the game stability may improve substantially...hell, even some of the old guard pros may come back to MP....

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Don't forget all the people that play through Direct IP.  Some completely bypass ICO to begin with (like me).

Curtains - Customize Windows with additional styles
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

umm, sounds bad. i expected at least a glimmer of hope.  At least  with Civ there is always plenty of people online.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

There aren't 1000+ players playing Sins online. I usually see numbers between 100-300. Remember that a majority of Sins players only play SP instead of MP though.

 

It's easy to find games... but I dunno if I'd say it's easy to find GOOD games. In my experience a good number of people are hosting games that have pirates on or are like FFA with unlocked teams or something, in addition many of them are noobs who still haven't gotten the hang of MP strategy yet. Even if you do get into a 4v4 or 5v5, it doesn't stop the fact that there's probably a noob or 2 or someone's team to end up tipping the odds. But again, if your question is how easy it is to find just any sort of game, then it's pretty easy. There's always been 2-3 lobbies being hosted whenever I log on, and I play in the Asian timezone GMT+8.

 

I don't have any experience with steam crashing midgame, but Sins is a little notorious for its minidumps. They happen enough to be an expected occurrence in any game that lasts a decent amount of time.

 

I agree with the other poster who suggests waiting to see the feedback from 1.04 before deciding anything.