ORIGINAL: D6Veteran
Sorry to report I uninstalled the game and made a second request for a refund. I've wasted hours trying to get the game set up to work in MP. My last effort was a a friend's house (he has DSL vs my Cable Modem). Same problems there too.
As a fan of CC from the begininning I was extremely excited for this release. I've waited so long I would have rather waited another year (and paid more money) for a game that has more robust network code. Honestly, a Close Combat game that allows me to play in a well done persistent online campaign (MMCC3) is worth $200 a year to me. That's about what you pay for some other MM games.
Good luck, and Matrix I'm gonna keep asking for that refund
I'd like to say a few words about this, and as a gamer, not any sort of networking-guru, which I'm not.
Last Thursday night, when I downloaded the game and saw all that the "package" included, the documentation and so on, I thought to myself, "this is gonna be a nightmare for a lot of people." Experience told me that some of the networking components weren't gonna work in certain environments. For that reason, I contemplated starting a philosophical thread, something along the lines of "was it really good idea to give us enough rope with which to hang ourselves?" Instead, I thought I'd try and help, again based on ten years of playing games online, knowing full well, though, that it simply wasn't gonna happen for some of you that had purchased CoI.
Now, I'm gonna make some comments that may strike some of you as controversial...
I truly believe that publishers need to document the known limitations of their software as relates to networking. I don't doubt for a moment that CoI was tested exhaustively before it was released, but it was tested on compatible network hardware and software. If someone among the test crew struggled, his problems were likely either sorted through, or he simply bought new gear, a new, CoI-friendly router/switch, for instance. CC3 was published with a set of minimum requirements, as I believe was CoI. But, all prospective buyers really know is that an "internet connection is required for online play." Do you guys up the food chain see how inadequate that is in addressing the pre-purchase needs of someone like D6Veteran or himmeltoss?
The game works fine for me, but I take no credit for that. It may be just dumb luck. My router is common as dirt, and has good options for port-forwarding, but that's the extent of my contribution to my own success in these regards. It's my third, by the way. The first two sucked for playing games, one was from Netgear, the other from Dlink. And both of those outfits make solid products. They just didn't work with a DX7 game that I was crazy about. Eventually, I settled on the BEFSR41 out of trial and error. I'm clever that way. But, again, is that any way for folks to have to approach the decision to buy or beget the purchase of a game like CoI?
In closing I have to say that I'm happy with the game and it's MP components. But, it's also true that I could have ended up in the EXACT same straits as some of the other folks here who have struggled and are giving up. Moving forward, I think that a righteous outfit like Matrix ought to look into documenting the slings and arrows of network play BEFORE their customers purchase a product.
PoE (aka ivanmoe)
BTW: I mentioned that I abandoned a Dlink router because it didn't work with a game that I wanted to play. In point of fact, it did work until I updated the firmware one day. The upgrade wrecked the routers compaibility with my game, Austerlitz: Napoleon's Greatest Victory. That's a great example of how tangled this whole networking business can be with these older games.
Government is the opiate of the masses.
