Multi-Player Lobby
-Add the ability to talk in the game channel you are in while also being able to monitor and type in the game main lobby. Also be able to see who is in the main lobby. I have taken some lobby screen shots and created a user interface I think would enhance multiplayer. See link for a screen shot of it. I simply used powerpoint to crop different screen shots and put them together in a way I think would be great.
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=Ts11c1yi
Please let me know what you think. I want something like this because I want to be able to see if other games are being created while I am sitting in my current game. I also want to be able to follow chat both in the staging room and in the lobby at the same time. I also want to be able to see how many people are in the lobby and if any of my friends are on. I want to be able to do this without having to constantly join a game, leave a game, join a game, leave a game.
I think my interface suggestion is a great idea. What do you guys think?
I want the same thing, but instead of breaking the screen up into several quadrants, I'd rather just have some sort of a Click-on-Tab based interface, such as a separate tab for different chat rooms (Lobby, the game, etc.). I'd also like to be able to access the chat rooms while playing.
bump
I'd like to see something along these lines. /sign.
Do more people agree/disagree?
Kinda too late now that the final expansion is released.
At least the suggestion is out there. I suspect they are going to make either another full expansion or a sequel and if/when they do, they can use this template to create a very good multiplayer user interface.
Considering the fact that what makes or breaks a game in the long run is its multiplayer, I would think putting thought into the multiplayer user interface to make it as good as possible would be something the designers would like to do. I really like this game and I wish more people played it online so if there is a better multiplayer interface, it may result in more people playing online.
I dunno. Right now we have no idea what the devs have in mind for Sins. They might just be permanently done with it.
If they make a Sins-2, will it even have online multiplayer? They know that only 1 or 2% of all purchasers ever played it online and probably no more than 1 or 0.5% on a consistent basis. The issue becomes, "Do we spend 33% of the development costs on a feature that only 1% of all purchasers will ever use?" Multiplayer is important to me, too, and I won't purchase Sins-2 if it doesn't have an online multiplayer component.
Ironically, IMHO devs and publishers get out of online multiplayer what they put into it. If they release the game in a polished state with good online multiplayer features and build in ways to try to encourage the single player crowd to try it online, then they could get more people playing it online and have more sustained activity. The benefit of online multiplayer is that online players tend to take the game much more seriously and advertise it to their friends more enthusiastically, resulting in additional sales. It also increases general publicity for the game and thus sales.
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