Poll for MULTIPLAYER gamers: what features do you want?

[Eddi]

just objectively analyse what this bump achieved:

a) started a minor flamewar
b) did not yield any kind of constructive response

do you think the outcome is positive or negative? discuss.

[DaleStan]

[*] Using HTML code for a lighter text color so it could be readable.

Some people read this forum on a cream/white background. Lighter text does not "more readable" make.

[*] An ill attempt at levity, that referred to some supposedly taboo subject.

No such thing. Either it's taboo or it isn't. Put a sock in it until you know the difference.

[*] A one-time bump

Also no such thing. If it's OK once, then surely it's OK the second time. Or the third. Or the forty-second.

I was under the impression that this was a forum for TT players/fans/afficionados to share/contribute/whatever

No. It's just "share/contribute/discuss". A post containing only the single word "bump" is none of the above.

[Zutty]

Jeeez, calm down guys. With a forum as hostile as this I'm surprised there are any new members at all.

Does a bump REALLY offend you all so much??

[DaleStan]

Yes. Next stupid question?

[Comm Cody]

Dose everyone on the fourm like to feed the new members to the wolves?

[Conditional Zenith]

While a bump doesn't offend me hugely, it does seem to say "my thread which is getting no discussion deserves to be on page 1 more than the other threads which are being discussed". And then the people whose thread gets pushed off page 1 bump it so that their thread gets back on page 1, which pushes some other thread off. Pretty soon we end up with threads full of bumps, and everyone has to bump their threads so that they don't get buried by other bumped threads. There is a reason bumping is against the rules on most forums, and it's not about people going on power trips.

I was under the impression that Belugas was appointed by Owen. i.e. Belugas was not appointed by himself.

Belugas is not actually a mod; his name is not orange. I made that mistake recently.

[belugas]

Please guys, I would appreciate if the bashing would stop.
The other of the thread and I had a nice and civilized chat on PM.
We had the chance to talk about the situation and I think we do both understand each other.
So.. if ever there is need to discuss about the poll itself, why not do it?
But any new debate over the Bump is ..I think... not fruitful anymore.

Thanks
And now, let's be productive

[dihedral]

so what are you going to do to satisfy the (so far) 19% who voted for "Games with many competitors/participants."
gonna run 8 ai's? what if you dont get 20 people playing on your server?

[KeikyuFan]

so what are you going to do to satisfy the (so far) 19% who voted for "Games with many competitors/participants."
gonna run 8 ai's? what if you dont get 20 people playing on your server?

Uh, maybe come up with a game that had a wide enough interest that would attract enough people to play, which just might have been the resason for this poll in the first place?

[KeikyuFan]

Yes. Next stupid question?

Of course, insinuating that people are stupid for asking a question would never be considered offensive, would it?

Pot, kettle, black anyone?

[dihedral]

so what are you going to do to satisfy the (so far) 19% who voted for "Games with many competitors/participants."
gonna run 8 ai's? what if you dont get 20 people playing on your server?

Uh, maybe come up with a game that had a wide enough interest that would attract enough people to play, which just might have been the resason for this poll in the first place?

so basically the current outcome of the poll is leaving you as clueless about how to run your server or what to do to increase the number of players on it, as you were before!

[thegreatpl]

so what are you going to do to satisfy the (so far) 19% who voted for "Games with many competitors/participants."
gonna run 8 ai's? what if you dont get 20 people playing on your server?

Uh, maybe come up with a game that had a wide enough interest that would attract enough people to play, which just might have been the resason for this poll in the first place?

of course, the problem with this is that many people have different wants and needs. for example, i myself hate the goal servers, and prefer not to play on them, whereas others cant see any point in playing a game without them. for me, the joy of being high on the company league table is all i need to know i am "winning".

[KeikyuFan]

so what are you going to do to satisfy the (so far) 19% who voted for "Games with many competitors/participants."
gonna run 8 ai's? what if you dont get 20 people playing on your server?

Uh, maybe come up with a game that had a wide enough interest that would attract enough people to play, which just might have been the resason for this poll in the first place?

so basically the current outcome of the poll is leaving you as clueless about how to run your server or what to do to increase the number of players on it, as you were before!

Should I cut you some slack in the event that you are a non-native English speaker, or do you merely make it a hobby to twist and contort the meaning of what others write?

[dihedral]

oh - i am a native english speaker, though i do make a bunch of typos and other mistakes

i am not twisting around what you had said at all, i am merely interpreting what you said - at least giving you the feedback of what it sounds like to me! but "maybe this ..... or try to do that ..." is not really a plan imo and i would have thought that if you had put so much emphases on the poll and how it would 'help' you in finding out what people are after so you can setup your server accordingly, i find that a very poor outcome, dont you?
maybe i am completely wrong, sorry for that then - but so far you have not said anything that proved the opposite!

[sootynz]

could the forum get back to the point of the poll - what do multiplayer users look for when picking a game.

The poll was a good start, but as several have pointed out, not a complete set of options.

I like the servers that have a goal - one of the reasons being that they are relatively quick. Its also sobering to see how good one or two of the players really are - I thought that I wasnt bad.

I also look for a game that has restricted or disabled airports. While I like them and think that they are essential in sandpit mode for the "transport" aspect of the game, rather than just trains, it is disproportionally easy to make money from them in the 1960's onwards. Perhaps someone could look to equalising all the different transport options. I'd suggest that the "return on investment" should be about the same across road, train, air and sea, might be a good place to start.

[Conditional Zenith]

Return on investment (ROI) depends a lot on how something is used. If you set up a short train route on a low production industry, it has a very low ROI, whereas a truck route would have a better ROI. Usually trains have a much better ROI. Similarly, setting up a plane route to fly from one side of a town to the other won't have a very good ROI. For your suggestion to have much meaning, you will need to define what the ROI means on "road", "train", "aid" and "sea" much more precisely.

[sootynz]

For your suggestion to have much meaning, you will need to define what the ROI means on "road", "train", "aid" and "sea" much more precisely.

Yes I agree with you. I should have said, ideal or maximum ROI, over a common distance. There are 4 things that could be specified for any vehicle that affects its profit and hence ROI:
initial cost (and depreciation), running cost, speed and capacity.
Currently the revenue for the jet planes in the late 60's greatly exceeds their costs, while for ships, their moderately arge capacity does not compensate for their slow speed.
I would nt change the cargo revenue / time curves. Perhaps sets of multipliers could be inserted into the initial and running costs so that a "hard" game specified at start-up can have higher multipliers for air etc, while a set of multipliers of 1 's would maintain the game as it exists now, with a choice of intermediate levels.

[thegreatpl]

i will agree that planes can be too easy, but that doesnt make them bad. a plane can transport goods across the land really fast, but so can a maglev, and maglevs can carry more capacity and more types of cargo. a plane is limited to only passengers, mail valuables and goods. and most people use them for passengers.

the fact is, passengers is the cargo that has the least amount of money to be made from per trip.
while valuables gets you the most, it is hard to set up a route for it, as banks are normally deep within a city.
mail is better than passengers, but there are other cargos that gains more money
and goods means you have to have other materials transported by other means before it.

you are probably right about having the running cost of them increased to balance them slightly though.

ships definitely need to have bigger cargo capacities.

[andel]

Please guys, I would appreciate if the bashing would stop.
The other of the thread and I had a nice and civilized chat on PM.
We had the chance to talk about the situation and I think we do both understand each other.
So.. if ever there is need to discuss about the poll itself, why not do it?
But any new debate over the Bump is ..I think... not fruitful anymore.

Thanks
And now, let's be productive

I'm seconding this. Any more fighting and I'll lock the topic.

[Qu@rks]

Let me respond to the last two individuals as follows: For starters, I have plenty to say, including some choice words that could be directed at both of you. However, I do realize there is some rampant political correctness going on, and that is forum, like any online forum, has a certain contingency of people with highly-sensitive egos and control-freak tendencies. As far as the poll, it's clear that there are people interested in multi-player games, and at least 50 people have responded to date, showing that indeed some people DO care. I was hoping to get about 80-100 to get a solid sampling, as that number appears to represent about half the number of people that IMHO participate in multiplayer games. I did ONE bump, and the self-appointed forum police come charging out.

And you will probably encounter this phenomenon more often in the future... No matter how useful your post is, if you only get close to violating the forum rules, people will criticize you rather than commenting on your thread.