I was thinking to myself, how in the world are we going to deal with the B.Netites (no offense) jumping at each other's throats in the chaos that is online play? Imagine the hostility, racism, and full-on contact/back-stabbing that is online politics...

What can we do to prevent it, alter it, or avoid it? Are we doomed to people saying "zOMG n00b!1" and banning us from their servers night and day? Must we hope for sympathy if we're getting ganged up upon in a multiplayer game because we chose a certain religion?

... I think this is what to be afraid of if anything ladies and gentlemen. The internet has no law! :O

Don't go in a game without a friend :}

Or get good at dising people.

Well, just as the theory that RP servers are generally (generally..) more mature than normal servers in MMOs, I think you could sort apply it to here;

Your average B.Net kiddy hopped up on coke running around yelling "omgz time too pWNz Zum N00bs!!11one" most likely has no interest in a game like Civ IV.

Of course there will be obvious exceptions. But I'd say 70% of the community will be mature by default.

Well, just as the theory that RP servers are generally (generally..) more mature than normal servers in MMOs, I think you could sort apply it to here;

Your average B.Net kiddy hopped up on coke running around yelling "omgz time too pWNz Zum N00bs!!11one" most likely has no interest in a game like Civ IV.

Of course there will be obvious exceptions. But I'd say 70% of the community will be mature by default.

Thats true noone is going to spend $50 just to start problems on the internet with other people. Plus its only a game. No mature persion is going to get that angry over a game

Play one-on-one and build nukes :nuke: . It’s worked for me all this time. :lol:

Play one-on-one and build nukes :nuke: . It’s worked for me all this time. :lol:

exactly make peace kiss up to them and when you got nukes bam drop em every where!!!!!!!!!!

he might have nukes too but you might destroy them you might go down but you'll go down with honour also a bad diplomacy rating and a half destroyed earth and honour!

Of course there will be obvious exceptions. But I'd say 70% of the community will be mature by default.
I don't know if you have ever played a Civ3 multiplayer, but a lot of the community are all IMmature. They will quit if they get a bad starting location, or if somebody is beating them up. I think it's the opposite, 30% of the online community being mature. Hopefully though, with teamplay, people won't be so eager to quit.

Thats true noone is going to spend $50 just to start problems on the internet with other people. Plus its only a game. No mature persion is going to get that angry over a game
I think at least some people will get very angry; at least in some board games I've played some people almost exploded with anger, especially when there was a pact that someone is breaking for some backstabbing action :lol:

I remember back when me and a friend played CivNet back in the good old days. Needless to say, we weren't very old, maybe 14 or so. My friend had gotten into some sort of local kiddy trend where it was cool to hate and severely disrespect all communists and be a very loud, radical pro-capitalist.

So the first thing I would do was build the pyramids, allowing me to choose any government I wanted. Naturally, I chose communism, just to piss him off. Later on in the game we ran into each other for the first time and agreed to meet. Imagine the shock he received when he saw me and my comrades (advisors) with fur hats. Now this guy had a rather hard time separating the game from reality. He's the kind of guy who refused to nuke people in the game because he thought it was "wrong" and "madness" to do so. So he was seriously insulted.

"YeR a COMmMYyYY!!!!!!!1!!1" he shouted. "u MuST ChaingE GoVMT!!"

I refused.

"PUlUUEEEZE CHEINGEEE!!!! u canT beE COmMUYY!!!"

But I stood up for my political beliefs. So he declared war on me immediately. I can't remember who ended up winning, but it was probably me. Later that day he yelled at me in person.

So that gives you an idea of what multiplayer Civ IV may be like.

Folks, there will be mature players and immature players.
But immature players who wreck games are found out soon, and others will not play with them.

So until we see how the multi-player games work, don't sweat it.

There will be a buddy list -- over time you will have plenty good peeps to choose from.

...and I'm sure immature players will be noted in the forums...

Rgr that- I-bat and Johnny Ts,
I am looking forward to finding out that there will be alot of players who get to know each other for some good online games and the ones that don't play for the fun and challenge will be weeded out.
Perhaps a liberal use of the 'private' msg ability in this forum will help keep things in order, and a friends list.

The simple solution is to find players you trust to give a good game (not to be confused with players you trust).

Don't go in a game without a friend :}

Or get good at dising people.
:goodjob: :king: King of Counter-trash-talk :D

Few sollutions:

Play the AI

or better:

Just wipe them out :D

I hope the behavior will be good but im sure there will be some kids going around ruining games and being asses.

hopefully there will be a statistic on your account that shows how many times you quit within the first 50 turns or something like that.

I don't know if you have ever played a Civ3 multiplayer, but a lot of the community are all IMmature. They will quit if they get a bad starting location, or if somebody is beating them up. I think it's the opposite, 30% of the online community being mature. Hopefully though, with teamplay, people won't be so eager to quit.

No actually I haven't but basing my assumption off of the community here, and assuming people will come here when looking for games/people to play online, then there's a fairly decent chance you won't run into too many lamos, since the majority of people I've noticed that frequent these boards (Mainly the people that don't come around during peek times, such as this, when Civ4 will soon be released, yes I fall into this category too, but I've been a long time 'lurker') are very level headed mature individuals, I'd say so long as you know where to look, it won't be hard getting a nice game going.

I'm pretty optimistic about the playing online, sure there will be jerks in some games but they will soon be flagged as such. And like was mentioned before I believe all the stats from Multiplayers games are going to be tracked, and I hope that they will list how many times a player quits early.

Also I believe there will be a Multiplayer forum on this site for people to match up, and people already have reputations on this forum so it should make it easier to judge what type of player he/she is.

Thats true noone is going to spend $50 just to start problems on the internet with other people. Plus its only a game. No mature persion is going to get that angry over a game

I think you don't understand the lvls of immaturity that can be reached on multiplayer games - try one of the mmorgs for an education. Like WOW where there are 60th lvl charcters who are used to kill the fun for those just joining and being below lvl 40 or any lvl that even remotely has a chance to win vs them. I will play my best and be civil about it and try to build a buddy list and hope I am added to some buddy lists myself.

Just arrange games w/ people you meet on, say, Apolyton or CFC. When you play with completely random folks, you have to, unfortunately, expect that sub-human cretins are going to show up from time to time.

One word: Tasers.

My only bad behavior in multiplayer will be taking all your cities. Don't be scared to play with me. =)

No actually I haven't but basing my assumption off of the community here, and assuming people will come here when looking for games/people to play online, then there's a fairly decent chance you won't run into too many lamos, since the majority of people I've noticed that frequent these boards (Mainly the people that don't come around during peek times, such as this, when Civ4 will soon be released, yes I fall into this category too, but I've been a long time 'lurker') are very level headed mature individuals, I'd say so long as you know where to look, it won't be hard getting a nice game going.
I hope I get to play with some of the forumites on multiplayer, however I don't recall ever playing with them before. I keep my username for MP close to my CFC username. It's "Knupp" and I hope to see some of you guys out there. However, unfortunately, there will be some jerks who run around in the MP games and quit for stupid reasons. I'm glad there are buddy lists now, so I can weed out the bad players, and add the good ones.

Of course nobody wants to play with a 5 year old trapped in an adult's body (commonly found online) so you have to either play with your friends or, like several people have mentioned, make some good contacts. Maybe I'm lacking the "type-A" competition gene, but I'm not all about smoking everybody else at record speed. If I had the choice between having a long game where eveyone was having fun and a short, brilliant victory... I'd take the long game (even if I lost). This may be bordering on blasphemy here but.. who really cares if you are good at a computer game? :rolleyes: Not everyone has 25 hours per day to sit in front of their computer. For those people with school, jobs, and family that are limited in their time playing (like a lot of people here), I think the enjoyment is playing well, learning as you go, and just having fun. If I were to start a game with 3 other people and one starts off surrounded by 200 tiles of tundra and bears, I would have no problem with restarting a game. Why not? Just my opinion but I think the key is to just have fun, enjoy meeting some new friends to play with online, and have a ball with what will most likely be one of the greatest games ever. Some of you hard-charging, win at all cost type players may disagree but that's OK too. To each their own. :beer:

If I had the choice between having a long game where eveyone was having fun and a short, brilliant victory... I'd take the long game (even if I lost).

To each their own. :beer:
:goodjob: Beautiful. Five stars.

Welcome to CFC 18D
If I were to start a game with 3 other people and one starts off surrounded by 200 tiles of tundra and bears, I would have no problem with restarting a game.
I don't mind restarting a game when 2/3 people have crappy starting locations, as long as everyone in the game agrees to restart because it would make the game more fun. If nobody wants to restart and this one person leaves just "because" then that's when I have a problem with it.
If I had the choice between having a long game where eveyone was having fun and a short, brilliant victory... I'd take the long game (even if I lost).
I agree with you here, let's all just have fun! :D

I think the enjoyment is playing well, learning as you go, and just having fun. If I were to start a game with 3 other people and one starts off surrounded by 200 tiles of tundra and bears, I would have no problem with restarting a game. Why not? Just my opinion but I think the key is to just have fun, enjoy meeting some new friends to play with online, and have a ball with what will most likely be one of the greatest games ever.

Well you just made my buddy list.

Well you just made my buddy list.
:lol: well 18D you just made a whole lot of friends!
I'll be waiting to see you in some MP games.

P.S. you use the same MP username as your CFC username right?

All uR sities belong to Us

:lol: well 18D you just made a whole lot of friends!
I'll be waiting to see you in some MP games.

P.S. you use the same MP username as your CFC username right?

actuall you are on it too, from all your posts) have 4 names I think represent people who would be interesting to play:

18d
Knupp
Jecrell
Vietcong - simply because at least 1 commited warmonger is good.

PS lol hope I made somebodys

actuall you are on it too, from all your posts) have 4 names I think represent people who would be interesting to play:

18d
Knupp
Jecrell
Vietcong - simply because at least 1 commited warmonger is good.

PS lol hope I made somebodys
YES!!! People like me:lol:
I'll be sure to write down your name too:)

Sounds great, I'll keep 18D for MP. I look forward to some great games. :thumbsup:

Just to add, all those 'jerks' can be ganged up upon because usually they are too busy trying to out-jerk each other.

Not hard for mature players to win.

Depending on the profanity filter, I may or may not keep the same forum name:D :cool: :scan: :nuke:

All you need to do is ally with the more mature players and eliminate the jerks quickly. :)

actuall you are on it too, from all your posts) have 4 names I think represent people who would be interesting to play:

18d
Knupp
Jecrell
Vietcong - simply because at least 1 commited warmonger is good.

PS lol hope I made somebodys

Count me in. I have never played multiplayer except with my friends because I hate how people act in online games. If I decide to give it a go, I'll be looking for y'all.:D

-NE

Count me in. I have never played multiplayer except with my friends because I hate how people act in online games. If I decide to give it a go, I'll be looking for y'all.:D

-NE

All those players who would like to play games as stated bt 18d's post can pm myself, and probably 18d and Knupp. I will keep a list, and we will see what we get. Hopefully we will have our own set of mature - just love the game - players.

well my idea is bring three friends for to be my allies then we will use nuke blow out one player enemy. hehehehe.

In a Communist soceity we wouldn't have to worry about imature players, we could just kill em off.

In a Communist soceity we wouldn't have to worry about imature players, we could just kill em off.

I am sure there is a catch-22 in there somewhere.

All those players who would like to play games as stated bt 18d's post can pm myself, and probably 18d and Knupp. I will keep a list, and we will see what we get. Hopefully we will have our own set of mature - just love the game - players.
I was hoping the Mods would launch the (Civ4 MP forum) soon, so we could start meeting other MP players and start organizing teams and games. I will be ready play by (Friday Night), need alittle time to learn the game before playing MP...:D (oh ya I'm on dial up, <just a warning> I hoping Civ4 will run OK on dial up.)

EDIT: I think I will use the name (Phoenix 56k) just so I can give people a heads up on my situation!

If I were to start a game with 3 other people and one starts off surrounded by 200 tiles of tundra and bears,

(grumble) damn kids...

in my day, we were LUCKY to have tundra and bears!

:p

I probably will be playing just SP for the first month or so when I get the game, then I will be getting into the MP games. I have to be an expert before I present myself in front of all you well trained forumites. :D

I probably will be playing just SP for the first month or so when I get the game, then I will be getting into the MP games. I have to be an expert before I present myself in front of all you well trained forumites. :D

We who? I am just a player and will be sp'ing abit too but hey multi could improve my single playering.

We who? I am just a player and will be sp'ing abit too but hey multi could improve my single playering.
Multiplayer definitely improves you single player tecnique, at least it did for me in Civ3. In MP the games are brutal, which make you a much better player, you have to be if you want to survive. Before Civ3 MP I was a regent player, and after Civ3 MP I was a monarch and occasional deity (not the best deity) player. I think MP better prepares you for the stronger AI on the higher levels.

I don't know if you have ever played a Civ3 multiplayer, but a lot of the community are all IMmature. They will quit if they get a bad starting location, or if somebody is beating them up. I think it's the opposite, 30% of the online community being mature. Hopefully though, with teamplay, people won't be so eager to quit.

for this very reason.......we need a bnet rating system....

the reason being...if people keep quiting...they will have an extremely high loss record...

and mature/hopefully good players....can only play other good players

My only problem with multiplayer is that, for a really fun game, you'll probably want to play it all in one go. Which restricts it to the weekend for most people. I think lamers will be much less of a problem with Civ than, say, WoW or CounterStrike. Civ takes too much thinking.

Which makes me wonder: maybe Firaxis making it player-friendly wasn't such a good idea after all...

Like a previous poster said, you would be amazed at the amount of immature brats there are playing on the net. I just quit playing FFXI after 2 years of playing and looking back at some of the forums, you can just see the 12 year old drama lol. How about whenever the MP section goes up start a warning thread about players who leave early or are just overall immature? So that way we can all look out for them. Also, as I'm a newb to these boards, and Civ MP in general, what is bnet? A link would be appreciated thanks. Also since that really isn't on topic please feel free to PM me a link or an explanation.

Well, you can't "gank" in Civ, so that should help. I'm not really sure how anyone could be a "griefer" in a Civ game, and people who enjoy doing that are going to do it elsewhere. But some people embrace the anonymity the internet gives them to be jerks. I play WoW, though, and despite its reputation, I meet 4 really cool people for every jerk, and about 10 normal people for every really cool person. Might have to do with being on RP servers and avoiding PvP ones like the plague, or maybe the WoW playerbase's assitude is exaggerated.

I wrote this for the Total War MP communitya awhile back:

http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31864

Someone would need to adjust it to reflect the CIV IV lobby, but you get the idea.

A strong clan community can also help teach players proper online and game-specific ettiquette. Used in conjunction with a #ignore and/or #ban function, a lot of the hassle of an MP lobby is eliminated. During the Shogun and Medieval Total War heydays, the veteran players kept a pretty good handle on troublesome players. Pretty soon everyone would have them on #ignore and #ban them from their games as well. Eventually, the person would either leave or come back under another name and behave themselves. The more effort everyone puts into making the MP lobby a nice place to visit, the more pleasant the experience will be for everyone.

I wrote this for the Total War MP communitya awhile back:

http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31864

Someone would need to adjust it to reflect the CIV IV lobby, but you get the idea.

A strong clan community can also help teach players proper online and game-specific ettiquette. Used in conjunction with a #ignore and/or #ban function, a lot of the hassle of an MP lobby is eliminated. During the Shogun and Medieval Total War heydays, the veteran players kept a pretty good handle on troublesome players. Pretty soon everyone would have them on #ignore and #ban them from their games as well. Eventually, the person would either leave or come back under another name and behave themselves. The more effort everyone puts into making the MP lobby a nice place to visit, the more pleasant the experience will be for everyone.
That sounds great UglyElmo, you will really be a asset in our MP community...:goodjob:

Thats true noone is going to spend $50 just to start problems on the internet with other people. Plus its only a game. No mature persion is going to get that angry over a game


:lol:

Remind me to tell you of the time a very good friend destroyed his CD-ROM at 2:00AM after getting whacked during a vicious game of Battlefield: 1942. I hear vodka might've been involved.... :mischief:

Anywho, I think I'm just going to limit playing against friends or others whom I've vetted. I know at least four or five people who might be interested in playing the occasional MP game....

:lol:
Anywho, I think I'm just going to limit playing against friends or others whom I've vetted. I know at least four or five people who might be interested in playing the occasional MP game....

Thaat makes sense, tho as I stated previously there are several in this forum whom seem to me to be capable of playing maturely.
Of course that begs the question(lol) do you want to play maturely...I am sure that those who don't can find plenty of people to play their style.

Given the option between a mature setting and an immature setting. I would likely choose the mature setting to play in. Of course, with maturity comes wisdom and knowledge and many other things. Harsh debate about something you care about, can seem inescapable at times, and seems just as offensive as someone making a vulgar statement about your mother.

Ultimately I would choose "politeness" rather than argueing between maturity and immaturity. Often times mature players consider themselves elitists on several scales. They may often exclude people just because they type differently (using "roofels" instead of "haha.").

A simple politeness and perhaps some respect may be all we need towards each other in the online world. Afterall, I'm sure some of us got the game to play it rather than debate it, eh?

Given the option between a mature setting and an immature setting. I would likely choose the mature setting to play in. Of course, with maturity comes wisdom and knowledge and many other things. Harsh debate about something you care about, can seem inescapable at times, and seems just as offensive as someone making a vulgar statement about your mother.

Ultimately I would choose "politeness" rather than argueing between maturity and immaturity. Often times mature players consider themselves elitists on several scales. They may often exclude people just because they type differently (using "roofels" instead of "haha.").

A simple politeness and perhaps some respect may be all we need towards each other in the online world. Afterall, I'm sure some of us got the game to play it rather than debate it, eh?

Agreed, but does not politeness and respect tend to rise from maturity?
We can always disagree without being disagreeable. Well, some of us can and some of us can't. I think that the more mature you become the better your behaviour...I am not talking age here neccesarily either. I know some very mature people in their 20's and some immature people in their 60's and 70's. Of course that is me judging people and judging people is something I have to work at not doing.

Agreed, but does not politeness and respect tend to rise from maturity?
We can always disagree without being disagreeable. Well, some of us can and some of us can't. I think that the more mature you become the better your behaviour...I am not talking age here neccesarily either. I know some very mature people in their 20's and some immature people in their 60's and 70's. Of course that is me judging people and judging people is something I have to work at not doing.

Judging people isn't particularly divine for one man to do onto another, but when you're on the internet and someone is clearly out to ruin your day -- we can only assume that judging him on that and kicking him out of the game so he can cool down and realize the error of his ways would certainly be the right thing to do if he can't cool his jets before things get out of hand (that was one big run on sentance). :)

As I`m thinking of trying multiplayer, this has made me think twice to try it. But still, I think there are more mature people who will play this game. I`ve never tried any multiplayer game so I can`t say more about how people behave online. Maybe it ust like in our daily live. There will be good and not good people (don`t want to use bad!).

But, AFAIK, the starting location will be even for everyone in an MP game. So, there will be less problem of quitting early in the game. And, I someone do quit from the game early, will he be banned or punished. Is this a really big mistake in an MP game?

I'm not terribly worried about MP in Civ IV being affected by silly players. I can ignore anyone saying anything dumb, and given the wonderful gameplay mechanics it's actually going to take some competence to win a game (Or rather, a lot more competence and long-term planning than say, Battlefield 2. Great game, full of losers. But you can't just pop into Civ IV and start blasting people in the head. I have to hope the whole investment is rather too slow for most griefers.) - if someone is a jerk about it when they win I just won't play with them again.

Anyways, I don't know what capacity I will have to play online for the first month I have the game, but once I get to my house (Complicated situation xD) I'll be able to play for sure. I'll try and be around, it'd be nice to play some Civ multiplayer for once. :p

Phoenix: hehe Thanks. I am very much looking forward to playing this game online. I miss the excitement of finding various armies, tactics, strategies, which work well in team play. The thing I liked about STW and MTW was a team that played well together, could beat a team consisting of expert 1v1 players and leave them wondering what they did wrong. I am hoping CIV IV MP plays offers the same. If it does, I will be around for at least 5 years like I was with Total War. :)

Maturity:

Maturity shows when you can have a heated debate with another player in the forums over an issue, then agree to disagree, and go enjoy playing the game as teammates.

For example:

There are several players in the Total War Community I disagree with and we have had many a heated debate (not flaming, but very persuasive), yet they always joined my hosted games and we always had a great time playing together. I have even met up with some of them in real life and found them to be very much like their online persona.

Unfortunately, age is not a very good gauge in determining maturity-level. There are 12-year olds in the TW forums who post very intelligently and who do not rise to the bait when someone "trolls" them. Then there are some I know who are much, much older who act like they haven't quite learned the skills most grasped in elementary school.

My main reason I avoid public MP gaming communities is not the language and immature stuff...I am thick skinned and can handle that stuff np; it is the immature attitude and gameplay.

My one foray into the world of online MP was bad - it was a game similiar to civ - and it seemed there were cliques of experienced players that got their jollies offing newbies. They would form alliances and gang up on anyone who was new - brag about it in the forums how they did it just becasue they could - they would hunt newbies down just to punish them and drive them off... and it was no fun being squashed everytime for no other reason other than the fact I was new and inexperienced...it was a regular occurance - enough that it soured me on MP play ever since.

When (and if, though it seems very likely if the next few weeks back up the reviews) I get Civ4 - I hope the community is a little more mature in gameplay etiqutte- and that players like these are quickly outed - only then will I spend money to join such a community again.

Old Statesman: If you need a partner to play with, just let me know when you are on and we can learn the MP game together. :) Well, you can learn it, I am a slow learner . . . I think I lost my first 100 games in Shogun: Total War before I won my first 1v1 game. hehe That is why I like team games: You have several other people to blame your losses on! :D

Old Statesman: If you need a partner to play with, just let me know when you are on and we can learn the MP game together. :) Well, you can learn it, I am a slow learner . . . I think I lost my first 100 games in Shogun: Total War before I won my first 1v1 game. hehe That is why I like team games: You have several other people to blame your losses on! :D
I'll take you up on that ...but probably later rather than sooner. I will not be getting the game until after the first of the year (partly caution, but more the fact I am starting a new work contract; the holidays are coming and family life is very busy; and the fact I have a rule I only buy one new game a year... ) So you will probably have to teach me! lol

I plan on trying out the multiplayer in civ4. Never played a civ multiplayer before, and its something id love to do, I will have to add you guys to my buddy list as well as long as you dont mind playing with a multiplayer newbie.

Have any of you guys heard of Rabid Duck?

I got into a game with him once, we played 24 hours straight. He claimed no one had ever beaten him, but I sneaked a raiding party to his capitol and destroyed his spaceship. MAN he exploded with anger. The oaths were quite impressive. Of course, he then proceded to swarm me with nukes and helocopters.

In a game like CIV where you invest lots of time and energy into building your empire, the emotional reaction to its defeat/destruction is equally as vast.

Hey have been collecting names of those who wish to play as per 18d's statement above. If so pm elderotter nuclearelephant or 18d. about 13 on list so far - only 6 have confirmed tho. This is for those who would like a mature group where flaming is rare. might be nice to confirm soon as when I get the game I will be playing. In fact you will know I have the game by my absence for a day or so lol.

People have different ways of playing games as well, for the longest time video games were a rage outlet for me. I use to be the nice guy that wouldn't do anything at school and I come home grumpy. Once I got home I start up a game I could vent with. Civilization wasn't really one of those though.

You also have people that like to trash talk and think it's a form of fun. When I was in Okinawa playing Halo 2 with everyone in my barracks, LAN cable throughout the hallways, (16 Players MAX) we would scream, curse, talk smack, at each other and think nothing of it. Then again, it was that kind of Band of Brothers thing we had going.

I never got into playing Civilization Online though, so I've never met any immature Civ players, I can't imagine it. Civilization is a game I always thought was much too sophisticated for such morons. Then again I picked it up when I was about 10.

I really disliked Halo2 multiplayer because you had to play against total strangers in order to rise in levels. Most of the time the strangers just screamed and cursed and stuff like that. :mad:
However in CIV4 you can make your own buddy list and play against nice people who don't flame and plus there are no levels that everybody immediately looks. I'm really expecting a lot of fun from CIV4 multiplayer. :crazyeye:

Thats true noone is going to spend $50 just to start problems on the internet with other people. Plus its only a game.

You must be new to the internet ;)

Well, I pray it wont be as bad as the Bnet. 2 of 3 will ask what country you are from, and when you tell them "Germany", the first thing they will ask if you like Hitler :rolleyes:, state that Germany's still a fascist country :rolleyes: and call you a nazi :rolleyes: :rolleyes: In fact it's gotten so bad I stopped playing bnet altogether, because I just won't put up with denying my own country just to have a nice, friendly game.

I got so tired of the idiots I've encountered in on-line play, that I simply don't play online anymore. Not even CivIII/Conquests. The attitude of the typical online player that I've encountered is very aggresive, pushy, and such behavior leads to a game that is anything but fun and relaxed. There are exceptions, but not enough of them. In my opinion, when it comes to online play...I quote the horror master Stephen King when I say 'fuggedaboudit!'

I'll join that mature group of friends so long as it's not an elitist community.

I think the only thing worse than immature B.net kiddies are those that claim to be better than them because of age or know-how.

That being said I've never MPed in civ, but I'm looking forward to giving it a go wtih civ4. Despite one might think I don't think it'll be a problem finding a group of level-headed people that just want to play the game for fun, regardless of win or loss.

My main reason I avoid public MP gaming communities is not the language and immature stuff...I am thick skinned and can handle that stuff np; it is the immature attitude and gameplay.

My one foray into the world of online MP was bad - it was a game similiar to civ - and it seemed there were cliques of experienced players that got their jollies offing newbies. They would form alliances and gang up on anyone who was new - brag about it in the forums how they did it just becasue they could - they would hunt newbies down just to punish them and drive them off... and it was no fun being squashed everytime for no other reason other than the fact I was new and inexperienced...it was a regular occurance - enough that it soured me on MP play ever since.

When (and if, though it seems very likely if the next few weeks back up the reviews) I get Civ4 - I hope the community is a little more mature in gameplay etiqutte- and that players like these are quickly outed - only then will I spend money to join such a community again.

This is why I am hoping to start Civ4 MP within a week of getting the game(which I should get tomorrow), before people have enough time to get all that experienced, and to get in while everybody is still a newbie.

You know what might be interesting though? After a while when enough CivFanatics become experienced at online play we can make our own "Bully Busters" alliance that defends newbies from clans and alliances that specialize in ganging up on new players.

I've never actually played civ or any other strategy games online. I play some online fps games though and cheating has been getting worse for some time now. Is cheating generally a problem in games like civ?

I guess that since the coolness factor of Civ among cretins is much lower than, say, Diablo or Warcraft, we will not have the "pwned Noobz !" idiots usually roaming the blizzard games/ counter-strike battles.
But to make sure, I will play with my brother only at first :)

OldStatesman: I figure by the beginning of the New Year I will probably just be learning how to build my first unit . . . I'm a slow learner. hehe :)

I've never actually played civ or any other strategy games online. I play some online fps games though and cheating has been getting worse for some time now. Is cheating generally a problem in games like civ?

You and I are in the same boat. I used to play 7-8hrs a night, 2-3 nights a week on Xbox Live. It took me a while, but I got into a phenomenal group of people(www.x-n-c.com), and it made a difference. Here the motto was "play for fun", and that's exactly what we did, it made all the games so much better because there was no ego involved. If you were a noob, no one cared.

My point is, that judging from the community here it will be just as good. I have never played any strat. game online...or any "PC" game online, except for online poker. I am always worried about running into idiots with big ego's(see it ALL the time in poker), that won't have the patience with someone new to the strategy genre of computer games. I hope to try out Civ IV online, but like I have said in my previous posts...I am pretty much a beginner. I have been playing Civ since I was in the Army(I think that was during Civ2), and have loved it, but I'm more casual than those here. I'm always willing to learn, and if I get my arse whipped....so what......as long as the person that's doing the whipping can be civil and mature, and that the game is fun.

I am also one of those types of hosts(I hosted a lot of games in Xbox), that I will restart games if the majority votes for it. I'm about making the game fun for all involved. I am truly not impressed with people's skills at a computer game, I'm just about having fun and meeting some cool people in the process.

While I haven't played much Xbox lately...I am still close to those at XNC(which stands for Xbox Non-Clanners...we didn't care for "clans" and that mentality).

Agreed, but does not politeness and respect tend to rise from maturity?

Heh I worked at a nursing home for four years, the answer is no. The changes in what is considered polite over time mean that older people allways think young folks are uncouth. Been like that since the greeks.

The real question is not how polite you are, it is: In a situation where you can not be punished for your behavior, will you behave well?

I have also played a lot of mmorpgs and there are 2 kinds of a-holes, the spastic 12 year olds who can't type or cooperate and the know-it-all jerks who think they are the only player not in the first catagory.

-drjones

ps. it wouyld be interesting to see some brutally honest player profiles:

I, Dr. Jones am bitter, often intoxicated and have a huge chip on my shoulder. I am a sore loser and barely enjoy winning. My ego can only be sated with the diminuation of others, preferably in a scatalogical manner. I have connectivity problems and an unstable homelife leading to frequent unexplained dissapearances. Drop me a PM for a game!

I, Dr. Jones am bitter, often intoxicated and have a huge chip on my shoulder. I am a sore loser and barely enjoy winning. My ego can only be sated with the diminuation of others, preferably in a scatalogical manner. I have connectivity problems and an unstable homelife leading to frequent unexplained dissapearances. Drop me a PM for a game!

uh, well...hmmm gee. (quickly pword protects his game). ROFLMAO yeah would be nice to see that - bet money you would get a PM too. perhaps not for a game tho.

My attitude toward MP games is this:
I don't care if the person I am playing against is twelve years old or forty years old, as long as they can be polite/nice and play in a maturely fashion. Also, I like it when people restrain themselves from quitting. I know that when you end up in a bad starting position it really sucks, but quitting just because, really makes the game for the other players a lot less fun. Not to mention, when one or two people quit, everyone else does too because of the lack of people. I also don't like it when people quit because somebody attacked them and they weren't ready or if they are losing in a war. I have been tempted to quit before, but I always try to fight to the last city and have the most fun with it. If the majority of the group votes to restart the game then I am fine with that. The key to any game is to have fun, and when people are acting rude, looking down on people, and quitting, it just makes the game that much less fun.

Anyone interested in getting into the group (see post #65 in this thread) Elderotter, Nuclear Elephant, and 18D originally organized can also PM me if necessary. The list is growing bigger and bigger and I can't speak for Elderotter, Nuclear Elephant, and 18D, but I'm exited we are gathering such a good community to have fun games with. Hopefully this will be fully organized within the next few days.

I founded the Ugli's (United Gamer's League, International) which, at first, consisted of several disenfranchised former clan members who became tired of always playing competitively and having to work on clan requirements. It took the fun out of the game for them. I had just resigned from my daimyo (Leader) position with my clan so as to let someone new take over who wasn't "burned out" as I was. I then realized from speaking to several others, there was a large group of players who liked playing for fun. I thought about how best to organize this group and came up with "Ugli. I figured if anyone was willing to call themselves Ugly you had to figure they didn't take themselves too seriously. Before long, the Ugli community grew into a large group consisting of MP players from almost every clan in the Total War STW era, and several single-player only players who wanted to try MP.

It has been over 4+ years now and we have players from many different games. Currently our guys are playing Warhammer 40K Dawn Of War and its latest add-on, Combat Mission Berlins to Barbarossa, Rome Total War, and hopefully Civ IV. :) Games we have played together in the past are: Call Of Duty, Ghost Recon, World Of Warcraft, and several others.

The great thing about having such a large and varied group is we have members who can play a game and then give us their honest opinion about whether it is worth playing. It has saved us a lot of money, since there were games we found that only one of us wasted their money on instead of all. :)

Civ IV could establish a group similar to the Ugli's, which would provide what Elderotter is trying to achieve with his list. Once established, it could then branch off into other games since many an online friendship will have developed by the time Civ IV becomes obsolete.

It's also a good way to keep in touch when people leave a game for another game as well. If anyone would like to set up a group such as the Ugli's, PM me and I will help you set one up.

Moved to the CIV MP forum.

An MP discussion. :goodjob:

Sorry. I have a tendency to take most posts into the MP arena since I enjoy it so much! :)

Interest point:
Is Civ4 battle.net?
Is Civ4 need cdkey for play online?