I plan on getting DOW, and have questions concerning multiplayer...

[omera]

I want to get warhammer 40k: DoW but need questions answered first...
1. Is multiplayer active?
2. On every RTS I try multiplayer on, I suck. Is it because I never play through single player completely?
3. Are there clans?
4. I need ork tips. Orks are my favorite

[Ragnarok]

ok, to answer your questions:

1. yes, its active (about 150 players online not counting those ingame)
2. not necesarily, many people i know are good at the game and havent finished the SP campaign
3. yes there are. (there is also a DoW clan thread stickied on this section.)
4. i cant really answer this one, but i say that a big mek is really essential early game. imo that is.

hope it helped.....

Ragna

[Hello_Moto]

Hi,

it's my first attempt at anserwing these sorts of threads so forgive my brevity:-

1). Very much so, the majority of players have moved onto Dark Crusade in terms of online play - you wont find many players if you only plan on buying the original DoW or Winter Assault.

2). Humans are far more devious than the AI in any SP campaign. Best bet is to practice vs. AI offline first to get a feel for your preferred race and then venture online. There is no shame in losing as you can always learn from your mistakes.

3). Yes

4). DoW strategy subforums are your best bet for orky tips. Failing that, head over to Battle Arhives to download some replays (put .rec files in playback sub folder in DoW main folder and access in-game via Skirmish>Load>Recorded games).

Good luck.

EDIT: damn beaten to it!!!!!!

[Belligerent]

I think there is actually a full guide in the Tactica Imperialis written by White Pointer on Orks in DC 1.2.

Well worth the read.

[the_voice]

Hey,

1/ Around 100-250 players online in Cadian Gate (the main server), but you will find roughly around 100 people in Lorn V. Players who do automatch (ranked game) are mainly in the "Eye of Terror" server. You always find someone.


2/ I can give you the advice to finish, at least the campain with one race to fully understand the game mechanism (how requisition work, resources upgrade, tech trees, relic and thermo generators, detection system, anti-infantry, anti vehicule, etc). If your favorite race is ork, go with orks! They are funny and balanced race.

Then once you are ready to go online, go ONLY in newbies' game for the moment. They are called "noobs". "Noob" are tolerent each other, the others aren't. I suggest to create your own games. The more you play, the more you learn.


3/ There are clans, but there is no functionality to create a clan in the online interface. So clans are just groups of people. You will recognize clan players, most of the time by their nickname. They put the clan name in square bracket or vertical bar like "[Foo]Bar", or "PasBo|BAD". There is a clan thread in relic forum. Go there to get an overview "http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=83808 ". Sometime clan recruts. They create a game, and check your skillz. It is u to you to join any clan or do not to.

4/ As Beligerant is saying, check the White_Pointer paper, here
"http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=153476 ". It is for advanced players, but you get some idea on "how to start". I suggest to watch replays too. You can go on battle archive forum: "http://forums.relicnews.com/forumdisplay.php?f=130 ". If you wanna get a concentration of high skilled poeple (mostly professional gamers), go in DOW Sanctuary forums "http://www.dowsanctuary.com/". You will need to register to be able to download replay, but for sure, it worth it.

I hope it will help you to start.

By the way, buy the game! It is great, and in my humble opinion, buy Dawn of War (the game), Winter Assault (first extension) and Dark Crusades (the 2nd extension) just for the different single players story line. If you want to go online as quick as possible, buy Dark Crusades, all players are on Dark Crusades now, and it is a standalone (you don't need Dawn of War vanilla to play it).

I hope it helps.

Peace

[lucas986]

1. Yes, i've never had trouble finding a game for lack of people online BUT (and don't let me put you off here) online can be buggy while your trying to get into a game, the online setup with gamespy is not the best thing in the world, some of the players you'll come across online are utter pricks and playing online can be a frustrating, badly organised thing, especially if you aren't very good.............. but persevere and work out what you enjoy, random team games. 1v1 automatchs, whatever etc and you can have a lot of fun

2. No, online play against humans with DOW is very different to playing against the computer.

3. Yes, but not in any sort of game organised MMORPG way.

4. Can't help you with Orks...

[neucromaner]

just buy DC, and come online asap, best way to learn
of course try to use a meat shield account first, then later when you gain experience, start a new more serious account.
if you use account with low rate of win, you will be booted out faster than you join the game, i am not kidding.

[RexOmniaLupus]

1. The multiplayer for Dark Crusade is decently active, usually at least a hundred people are hanging around in the lobby. You should generally be able to find enough people to play the game-type you desire.
2. There's a big difference in capability between AI and human opponents. If your goal is to play online, single player campaign and skirmish are only useful in getting to know the basic tech structure and unit capabilities of the races. After that, experience will be your best teacher. You can supplement that by looking for strategic adivce and downloading replays of high-level players to learn advanced strategies. Your pretty much bound to lose at first, especially when playing against those with more experience. But hang in there and look over your losses (save the replays) to see how you can improve and you should start getting some wins before you know it.
3. Yes, but its very basic. As far as I know it's in name only.
4. Sorry, I'm not a great Ork player, so other will give better tips than I.

[omera]

In reply to neocrumaner: Is it because of the players running the game booting you or the game itself?

[Ragnarok]

players running the game. most people base gaming experience through stats. the more losses you have, the lower your win ratio is. people dont really like to play with people with low stats.

so, make a learning acc, then make a more serious acc, like neucromaner said.

[Bigamo]

imo the best way to learn is do a automatch account and get bashed until the time you understand the game macanics well enough to win

[Stormbringer]

1. Is multiplayer active?
2. On every RTS I try multiplayer on, I suck. Is it because I never play through single player completely?
3. Are there clans?
4. I need ork tips. Orks are my favorite

1 - Yep. Still active. And, now that a new expansion is in development, you may see some old-timers returning to the game. DoW is one of the best RTS games ever made. (Better than anything by Blizzard in my opinion.)

2 - Single player really doesn't have a bearing on multi-player. Still, it's probably a good idea to experiment with each of the races in single-player skirmish mode before venturing online.

Some players may suggest just getting online to learn how to play the game, but I don't think this is a good idea. Unlike other RTS's, the races in DoW have a distinct 'feel'; you really have to play with each one to know which race you're best 'suited' for.

Playing against the AI may not help you survive against strategies executed by human players; only online play, watching replays, and having a firm understanding of the game mechanics can help you there. But, playing against the AI will teach you how to 'tech up' and develop an 'economy' with your chosen race.

"Teching" is, in my opinion, the achilles heal of most new players; they often don't know what to research next, or when; they don't understand how to cap points fast, and with tenacity, keep them; they're unfamiliar with their tech tree, the hot-keys, setting way points, etc. When your 'econ' is everything in this game, you've got to understand how everything works, or you'll be defeated even faster. Once you can play on Hard and Harder with consistent wins, you should have a pretty good grasp of the tech trees and the fundamental principles of the game's 'economy' model.

Then you can worry about being a better field commander.

4 - As a non-Ork player all I can say is: get in close with melee and smash the enemy; use stormboyz and the big mek for precision assaults; and keep building units and whaagh banners.

[Soodle]

Ork tips?
Well im not so good,but i know what ork basiclly do...

Try and get loads of ork pop and requisition...and energy
Then focus on groups. Then when 1 group pops out of a (building) reinforce it and then ..
When u got dozens and go into battle..
Enemy kills 1,but then u keep reinforcing
I strongly recommend upgrades,seriously. Orks die way too fast without them

[neucromaner]

to omera, true there is such a thing call kickbug
i experience it many times
but you can tell if someone boot you
you cannot rejoin the same game, they boot you off

[Deacon412]

get the biggest ones, use lots of kans, and always get the Warboss, and finally...Grots are the true heros