Here's hoping for a propper lobby in BETA....

I've spent the last 1 hour trying get a decent game and most of it caused by AFK OP's or others in the room or just crashing in general and people not waiting/no rejoining the game/ rejoining the game after its started.

Just 1 hour of trying is stupid. I can't wait for them implement a lobby that i have not seen in a game for 15+ years. No elo, No MM. Boy, Its going be bliss! I think it was C&C : Red alert the last time i actually saw a lobby! I hate the way PC games use stupid console idea's and ruin what is the best gaming platform. ALthough ELO is a chess thing origionally

I really hope this game turns out as i hope with that 'old school' feel that just is lacking in all games these days. No stupid gimmicks needed, Just raw unadulterated content

Man, how i been dreaming of a lobby where you can chat and arrange games with people how we used to do, Not just land with some random because the computer says your matched when really you a pacific ocean apart! Hell, A light year apart sometimes!

/rant

I don't know if you have ever played age of empires 3, but I personally like the way you can add, remove, friends and, their overall multiplayer lobby UI

While those issue you list are mostly alpha/beta issues I agree with your general sentiment.

What I want from a lobby is a general chat, password protected private chat and custom open chats, etc. Basically just add an IRC client to the game.

It has a lot of advantages. Allows you to chat with people in game from outside and during games. Is very easy to manage, allows clans to get their own channels, even use their old existing channels inside the game.

wow way to be patient. I know you waited a long time but still. it's an understandable part of alpha. and on faf hosting a setons generally takes 30mins-to an hour.

As an optimist, I like to believe that people ranting about problems means that they are trying to bring the issues to the forefront of conversation, hoping that the developers will prioritize the solutions to their issues more.

I too believe that lobby and server stability are major issues plaguing the game right now, and should be something that the developers should work on sooner rather than later.

Im patient dude, I been around a while even though i aint posted on here. Just stating the fact that they better make a darn fine lobby like we had 15+ years ago that everyone seems to abandoned for stupid ELO/MM systems that never have and never will work for PC games. The problem with multiplayer these days is its online and not just with your mates. It's full of ejit's and just darn right dumbed down people to the point where it's impossible for these systems to judge people with any kind of credibility. Don't try say im wrong on this as i've watched the decline of gamers for the last.... 20 years!

Other people are the biggest issue with online gaming, Not online gaming itself. Shoving people together rather randomly if you ask me is the worst idea possible. A good player can get put with a team of noobs several games in a row so does that mean that person is crap? No, But the system thinks so. And vise versa. This was HUGELY apparent in Mech Warrior Online and if your not apart of a 'GOOD' clan your going get mulled in that game forever. I was lucky enough roll with a top group (DV8) but its so serious i'm not up for that kinda thing. Thats why i'm here as RTS is a lot more relaxed.

I suppose this thread was just me excited to see a game with a lobby

P.S, If you bothered to read properly, the rant was for having to wait nearly 2 hours get a decent game! I think thats fair dont you?

so you're problem is with people on the internet in general, rather than PA? i don't think any game on the planet can successfully implement a working ******* filter.

FOUND A SOLUTION:
queue<match *> filteredmatches;
for(int i =0; i<numberofplayers; i++)
{
if(players.isdouchebag == false && players.isidiot == false && players.ischill == true)
{
filteredmatches.push(players.currentmatch)
}
}
if(filteredmatches.empty() == true)
printf("You're ******, man");

lol

I fully agree with the op for a chat room in the lobby
It make the game more alive somehow
My current experience in the ladder IRC channel is v enjoyable
I made new friends
I chat about the game in general or about strategies "after matches"
I Ask to join as an observer with good players ... Etc

I could spend on chat channels as much as playing the game itself !

An embedded irc client + an irc server with a few channels would be quite awesome. It would let people join in on the chat without any extra work and it would be possible to join in with just any irc program as well.

I would also like to ask for friendlists and blacklists. The last game I played one (enemy) team was entirely annihilated after some player lost his cool over someone touching "his" commander and self-destructed the entire team.

I didn't happen to get a screenshot of what the player's name was, but I would have liked to have added him to a personal blacklist.

That, and having commanders have playernames attached to them so at least you knew which one was supposed to be "yours". And having options for varying degrees of alliances and teamwork. Sure, some of us (like myself) are ok with sharing everything, but some people apparently need to work on their own with no interference.

I'm sure this is all planned, of course.

I already have a personal "blacklist" in a text document, with only two people on it. Only two people who weren't awesome sports about the game. Consider us lucky in the alpha that the majority of the people in the game are really nice about helping beginners, not being trollish or dumb, etc.

On that matter specifically, you are plain wrong.
While relying only on MM only to make games is bad, it's perfectly possible to evaluate people level with statistics (obviously more complex than a Elo system).

My affirmation here only concern RTS, 1v1 FPS games, pure skilled race games (like F1 formula or trackmania), it's obviously fucked from the start for a FPS deathmatch game

The first thing I expect from a lobby point of view is to be lightweight and external to the game.
On a more general level, I expect at least all the features FAF has

Another crucial point is accessibility.
I've made FAF in a way that you are at most 3 clicks away and less than 1 second from any major function from anywhere in the lobby. (one from chat, 2 from joining a game, 3 from hosting a game).

That's seems stupid, but no recent game lobby does that. Between the logins that take several seconds, to the game listing that take several seconds too, it's really rare.
Take BF3 that does it the better recently (even with the outrageous in-browser mode), you have to do a least 5 clicks before being in a game that match your choices.

And while I'm at this : Lose the stupid update dialog.
You can't play without updating, what's the point of asking if I want to update?
Double clicking on the PA icon is already a confirmation that I want everything needed to play. At no point in time I will choose not to update, it's stupid.
At least Steam auto-update silently, but the Uber Launcher (lose it too), should do it.

If you want to inform the users of new stuff, do it after the update, in a non-intrusive what's new window.

And of course, the game should be able to downgrade versions in order to watch older replays in a fraction of seconds.

Haha, Good one

Maybe ELO+MM systems do work for RTS better than my normal games i play (Mechwarrior Online, ArmA 3 etc etc) but i still hate them. You will never change my opinion on that because i was around before these systems (not ELO because that's a chess thing) were implemented in games and i know how much fun it was before they came along. As someone said, Sometimes you would spend more time chatting than playing but it was all gravy.

I love the idea of adding IRC channels too, Thats almost a fresh idea on expanding the lobby idea that been abandoned for far too long.

Call me old fashioned but i know what i like and what works after 30 years of gaming and i feel a resurgence from the PC this last year with crowd funding, Microsoft dieing a horrid death along with Intel who have been robbing consumers blind for at least 20 years. Hell, the governments are crumbling but thats a different subject with vast implications!

In the end, I hope this game as an amazing lobby

peace

So basically, the world's screwed but hey, at least we might get a cool lobby for Planetary Annihilation! Yay!

Spot on

We're definitely working on it. Friends lists, etc., are things that are coming, too.

Wow, THis is going be like 1999.....