Gamespy - lots of questions

[Skippy_Kangaroo]

I've tried logging into the Internet games using GameSpy and it all seems to work properly. Now come the questions about actually using it. I couldn't see much actual information over in the main Multiplayer forum (mostly seems to be pitboss or PBEM coordination there). So I might ask it here where we are all new to this together and we are all on the same Mac page.

1) How can I find out details about a game - the information presented in the gamespy interface is rudimentary to say the least. It's not even obvious to me who the organiser of some games is so I could contact them for info. For example, I picked a game logged in and found that it seemed to be an abandoned game close to the end - not what I was looking for.

2) How do you leave a game gracefully - retire? Will it be taken over by an AI if you do that?

3) Anyone know what a decent ping is for these games? Most are listed as unknown but others are in the 200s for me.

4) Should I password protect my games? Does that option prevent you from leaving it and getting it taken over by someone else at a later stage if you can't continue?

5) Any other things I should know?

 

[dojoboy]

I've had no luck creating an account through Warlords. Once I get my details down and click 'create account' nothing happens. Nothing - just nothing. Does it take like 60 seconds?

 

[Skippy_Kangaroo]

I've had no luck creating an account through Warlords. Once I get my details down and click 'create account' nothing happens. Nothing - just nothing. Does it take like 60 seconds?

I did it using Vanilla and there were no problems. Less than 60 seconds. When I went to www.gamespyid.com and entered my email address it showed my username as Skippy_Kangaroo-tk although the -tk didn't show up and wasn't needed within Civ IV when I sign in or in the lobby.

Have you checked that your preferred name doesn't already exist? I think it silently fails when any of a number of problems crop up and it won't tell you what went wrong. I think this is also a common occurrence on the Windows side. Try using a different name (even a throwaway nonsense name) to see if that is the problem and try going from there.

 

[WillSquared]

After you click login, how long does it take to display the games? Nothing out of the ordinary (clouds hesitated) happened when I hit 'register' although I could log in to gamespyid.com

 

[Gyathaar]

I've had no luck creating an account through Warlords. Once I get my details down and click 'create account' nothing happens. Nothing - just nothing. Does it take like 60 seconds?

That behavior is seen in 2 cases on the PC I think..
1) if an account with that name already exists, it seems to just time out that way without giving any error message
2) if the connection is blocked by a firewall