My (rather terrible) experiences online with Civ 4

[SoxSexSax]

Long time player (since Civ I, though missed Civ 3 due to (IMO) unacceptable cheating AI), long time lurker, first time poster.

I've resisted the temptation to create an account here since about 3 days after I got Civ 4 (because I tend to get hopelessly carried away with posting when I join a new forum...it's a sickness really!) but I just have to post this warning to anyone else who is thinking of buying this game for the multiplayer.

In case you can't be bothered to read the essay I'm about to impart, allow me to summarise it in one line:

I have started 7 separate online games, and each one fell apart before the 2 hour mark because multiple players quit, often including the host, normally after losing just one city.

So far I have not been able to build a longbowman online. 7 games started. 7 games abandoned by majority of players before anyone has feudalism. That is ridiculous.

What's even more f-ing annoying is that when I was the first to lose a city (happened just once, touch wood), I stayed and played out another 30 turns (knowing that I was basically screwed long term) just to have the second civ who lost a city quit followed by all his team...

Not to mention the fact that every (and I do mean EVERY, no exaggeration at all) time I have entered the gamespy lobby there has been someone (a different person each time no less) spamming swear words constantly. The chat window normally looks like this:

1337 D00D: balls
1337 D00D: ****
1337 D00D: bastard
Bob: can i join ffa
1337 D00D: dickhead

etc.

I'm gona be blunt: this is the worst experience I've had with an online game ever (and I've played a LOT, certainly more than most). Medieval Total War's MP was a bugged piece of **** when it was released, but at least when you got in it was fun to play and the game generally ended. The Civ 4 community appears GROSSLY immature, player's flee at the first sign of difficulty, "bad peer" messages at random (apparently I was a bad peer to everyone for about 30 mins today, despite it being fine for the 3 hours before...go figure!) and, frankly, most opponents online play so badly that your almost forced to attack them early, making the early quit scenario much more likely. Online, the game, in fact, sucks.

(As a side note: the in game lobby is awful. Truly awful. I mean, is it really that hard to make clicking a server name in the list refresh the ping/player count? Maybe I've been spoiled by the superb America's Army lobby, but Civ's lobby is a joke...an absolute joke. I could have programmed that better in a day...pah, half a day! Maybe I'll fix it in the SDK but I'm beginning to doubt I can be bothered...what's the point when a standard MP game never gets out of the Classical era anyway?)

So, in closing (and congrats to you if you got this far through my rant), if you haven't yet got this game and are thinking of buying it for the MP, just don't. It really is not worth it. If you're looking for an SP game, Civ could be for you. I for one would never have purchased this game if I realised how bad the MP would be (don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the game SP, but the AI isn't good enough unless its cheating like a six fingered poker player and cheating AI's annoy me too much to play above Monarch).

£30 I'll never see again. Sigh. I can sympathise with the pirates you know, I really can. At least they didn't waste money to find out it wasn't up to scratch.

(Note: as I came online to post this, someone had just started a thread titled "Just played a 10 hour online game. Wow. Am I the world's most unlucky bastard or something? Because everything I said is gospel truth. Maybe somebody with better experiences than me can convince me I'm wrong. Let's see.)

 

[Ammar]

Hmm, well to your multiplayer experience I can only advise you to pick the people you play with carefully.

Don't get you on the AI thing, though. It has always cheated and all in all it seems to be cheating somewhat less in each Civ Incarnation.

 

[MookieNJ]

Before you give up forever on Civ4 multiplayer, you should look into the Civ4Players Ladder league:

http://www.myleague.com/civ4players/

Ladder games are a nice solution to many of the problems you encountered. Players won't quit games, win-loss statistics are kept, the game speed, turn timer, and turn limit are generally set up for a 2 to 3 hour game, and there are a lot of skilled and friendly players out there to play against.

Ever since I've joined the ladder I cannot go back to single player. The challenge of playing against real opponents that provide a real threat is much more satisfying to me than a ramped up AI difficulty level with built in bonuses and freebies rather than true intelligent and intuitive play.

 

[J_RocKeT76]

Before you give up forever on Civ4 multiplayer, you should look into the Civ4Players Ladder league:

http://www.myleague.com/civ4players/

Ladder games are a nice solution to many of the problems you encountered. Players won't quit games, win-loss statistics are kept, the game speed, turn timer, and turn limit are generally set up for a 2 to 3 hour game, and there are a lot of skilled and friendly players out there to play against.

Ever since I've joined the ladder I cannot go back to single player. The challenge of playing against real opponents that provide a real threat is much more satisfying to me than a ramped up AI difficulty level with built in bonuses and freebies rather than true intelligent and intuitive play.

I have to agree totally. I would not play another non- ladder game unless I knew all of the other players.

 

[BCLG100]

its sometimes better to post on a smaller cfc related site as well as you will know the vast majority of the posters there, go look in civ related sites for one.

 

[jorey]

In response to your post I have had a range of great games to crappy games. I've been known to leave games premeturally if I know I am going to loose. What's the point of staying in a game if the opposing player has surrounded my city with axemen when i only have archerers and my bronze/iron mine is pillaged and I cannot build a new mine. Sure I could stay and wait it out for another 30 turns while he builds up his army and finally decides to crush my city, but usually I will say to them, "Good game, looks like you got me. I am going to leave." That might piss off some people, some people might not mind. Other times I may leave a game because I have to pick my wife up from work because she got off early, or dinner is about to be served, maybe work calls me and needs me to come in for a little while. For me real life is more importaint than a video game.

Now on the other hand, there are the people who leave a game without word if you take one of their cities and they still have a few cities left. If these are mainly the people you are refering to, then I do understand your frustration. I've had countless of games where I move in a stack of 10 units and the other player just disconnects or if you defeat a large number of his units.

I haven't been much of a league player myself because of the very first paragraph I wrote. While I would say I am an average skilled player win half/loose half on average I think I could learn a lot and do good in league games.

I don't think you should just give up on the game in multiplayer, I find it MUCH more exciting and enjoyable than playing against the computer. The computer is much too predictable and easy to defeat. Keep trying, eventually you will get a good game to play. I've had countless myself.

 

[SoxSexSax]

Hmm, well to your multiplayer experience I can only advise you to pick the people you play with carefully.

Don't get you on the AI thing, though. It has always cheated and all in all it seems to be cheating somewhat less in each Civ Incarnation.

CIV 3's AI blatantly knew where all hidden resources would appear. That isn't just a cheating AI. That's the worst design descision I can remeber seeing in a computer game for a long time. As soon as I realised that was the reason the computer kept putting cities in seemingly ridiculous locations, my CIV 3 CD became a £30 coaster.

 

[sometemple]

that's why i play pitboss. it's the perfect balance between PBEM and regular multiplayer.