Is DOW 40k still being played?

[Basliner]

Hey there,

I really want to start playing DOW online again, but i don't really know if it's still being played that much.
I lost my serial numbers, so i'd have to purchase a new copy. No problem ofcourse, but it would be a waste of money to find the game being dead.
I really hope the dawn of war 40k community is still thriving, and playing the heck out of this awesome game !
I'd really appreciate it if someone could give me a sense of hoq much this is game is being played.
Thanks in advance !

Regards,

Base

[fuggles]

Online vanilla I'm afraid I don't know. Similarly this section for Vanilla Dow, don't know but not a lot. The mods section on the other hand is alive and kicking, I've just taken some time out and come back and mods like Ultimate Apocalypse, Codex or Purgation of Karuava are still alive, well and adding tons of stuff to DoW - heck, I just found out that the Tyranids mod is still going! Eldar, Dark Angels... good times.

[Pseudonymn]

The online lobby is populated with a few dozen players, from what I've seen, day-to-day fluctuations notwithstanding. Enough perhaps to get games going if you're not picky about wait times, maps, or game modes; although, you should probably expect connectivity problems as one or more players are sure to be half the planet away. I generally don't have that problem as I play with friends and whatnot. But then, getting games that didn't have connectivity problems was a bit of a crap shoot even back in the day.

[moddlord1]

waz up! even if online play is no good you can play many new mods.codex mod you can put extra armies in it i now 20 armies and extra armies and patches are being made. ultimate apocalypse mod is great and almost ready for grand release.titanium wars mod also great and more good mods.you just need soulstorm. now get ready for da waaaaaaagh

[Deanalot]

Good question.. I was wondering the same thing.. am thinking of putting (free) site/forum together where DoW players can go and get games ect.. discuss times, playstyles whtvr whtvr what do you think? ...there does appear to be enough people playing to get a good game now and then and with a site like that the opportunitys could only be greater, not sure that we could do it here but if so let me kno..

[LloydsGamble]

Something like that would be great Deanalot.

I had a thread on the strategy page looking to get a group together on xfire to play with now and again. Currently have 3 people including myself, and you and anyone else who wants to join us is most welcome.

I think my old thread has been deleted so I'll say again here - If anyone out there is looking for a group to play SS with, add LloydsGamble on Xfire or post here and we can discuss times you're available. Like I say, we are currently 3 people of about average skill, so a fourth person would be ideal and of course even more would be even better!

[mdgamer]

i purchased game today hoping to play online but after i installed it and i happyily got in the lobby there was a notice saying they are experiencing server issues. there was only one other person around in all servers. bummer. i sent an email to thq via steam, dunno if im gonna get a reply or when.

[Pseudonymn]

The hosting service that provides connections for DoW1 belongs to Gamespy, which has been around since, like, forever and probably aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I wouldn't worry too much about it. That said, there sadly aren't a lot of people playing, but there are some. You might be able to scrounge together a round or two here and there if you're willing to wait for your game to fill up. The lag will be a crap-shoot, however.

[Danustar]

It's a timing thing mainly. Sometimes the place is deserted and other times you'll find dozens on.

Those "server issues", and the accompanying notice, have been there for years.
Tranj typed "brb" when what he really meant was "gtg".

[Deanalot]

If you can get a copy of Dark Crusade - I suggest it! ..I have been playing in there last month or two and I have seen anything from 7 ppl all the way to 60! (time affects it there aswell - it fluctuates BUT ..there are usually someone in there; I logged into vanilla 1nce (lol) and seen a handful of ppl BUT don't bother logging in with Winter Assault - I been in there a few times and never seen a soul, so DC is the key - has been for me anyway.

Seen a few ppl playing FoK & New Races Mixer Mod aswell although not often

[aaglo]

I still play occasionally... not much multiplayer though.
I want to have fun - and I get my ass handed in MP :P

[Danustar]

[DC 1.2] Actually there seems to be a good stream of newer players coming thru all the time. You see the occasional pro stats pop up but it's a fairly mid-skill level player base on the whole.

[Hive_Node]

Well, the haydays of 50 people online in the deep hours of the night to 400+ online (in Segmentum Solar) are gone for good... sadly. Now, during the best hours of the day you can HOPE to get 50 people on at once, and at 3am last night I was able to pull together 6 people for a 3vs3 on an unpopular map, which was a blast until one guy quit though it wasn't swinging in anyone's direction. :P

I'm speaking of Dark Crusade of course, vanilla and Winter Assault are absolutely dead (good riddance 6 assault terminator squads and 1-hit-ko on your HQ orbital bombardment), I cannot speak for Soulstorm though as I've never played it, and never will. I don't know if you've played Retribution, not that I recommend you do, but it has a fairly healthy online community for being such a niche RTS.

[Pocktio]

Dark Crusade has some activity, I know my old clan is trying to poach me to join them in a few rounds.

I've been actually joining the lobby on and off looking for a game, for that old nostalgia feeling. I put thousands of hours into the DoW franchies.

[Pseudonymn]

I cannot speak for Soulstorm though as I've never played it, and never will

But why? I find myself somewhat confused as to why people are reportedly flocking back to a game that is arguably an inferior product in terms of both balance and content (two whole factions and maps). Has not the community consensus been that, despite its lackluster launch, SS was brought to a better stage of development than any of its predecessors? Granted, the campaign was garbage but the MP game is what most people here are interested in anyway.

[Gorb]

Soulstorm still has some kind of stigma attached to it for reasons I don't understand. I even prefer SS' SP over DC's, but that's mainly because of the additional content it has in terms of races (while sacrificing a lot of the personality DC had, which is why people tend to prefer DC's SP over SS').

Definitely agreed that the MP game is the main community focus. That said, I've been playing nothing but the SP on my laptop; one of the few games that runs on it and no Internet til December.

[Kalimac]

Yeah, I never understood why people prefer to play the DC multiplayer, which has worse balance than the SS one.

[Pseudonymn]

Well, I mean, I just figured that the old Necron WoD + FO Spam in DC alone would be reason enough to seek alternatives.

/shrug

[Kalimac]

Ok, I just remembered how the SS lobby compares to the DC one, and I'm no longer that surprised that people prefer the latter one.

[Danustar]

You got it. Plus the flyers still look, feel and play horrible. Time was always gonna tell.

Plus, re imbacron: you really don't see that much FO spam nowadays.
Experienced players don't want to stoop to that level and noobs can usually be beaten regardless. It's actually quite satisfying

[Gorb]

Fliers aren't actually that bad, I thought. Some of the high-level terrain causes funny issues, but they're generally only found on the Campaign maps.

I would never want any other unit to ever function like the fliers do, but they're okay as a standalone case.

[fuggles]

The ork flier is fantastic, and I think the fliers are so crap I made a win condition removing them prior to Soulstorm's launch! I don't get the vitriol towards SS still, it started hilarious with textures so poor on preview they needed to be redone prior to launch, the infinite resource bug and not getting a patch for about 9 months or so. Now though, it's DC but with more engine options and races - both single player campaigns are pump anyway.

[Kalimac]

I have nothing against the fliers, they work ok, although some of them are a bit too powerful (Barracuda and the Chaos one comes to mind). The only thing DC has over SS is a functioning lobby. Seriously Gamespy, what were you even doing there.

[Pseudonymn]

There was a time, once, long ago when Gamespy ruled the roost amongst online gaming's match making services. Ah, memories, where have you gone?

[Kirjava]

We had a Dawn of War resurgence about two years ago, been thinking about trying to get it going again... look for the RelicNews Doltmarines group on Steam if you fancy.

[Danustar]

gogogo

[Kalimac]

I'm in if it's Soulstorm.

[Pocktio]

I'm away from my videogames, nooooooooes.

Who will succumb to my Healy tacblobs now :-(

[Gorb]

I'll be up for getting horribly humiliated in about three weeks when we finally get Internet installed.

[Danustar]

Kirjava and I asserted our godly Doltish dominance on a mesmerized foe last evening.
Sent that unholy AI back into the abyss from whence it had come. Mwuhaha.

[Kalimac]

Oh u guise, silly compstompers.

[Pseudonymn]

Is it at least the DoW Skirmish AI?

[Danustar]

Na man. Online 4v4 with pubbies.
We were short for time, K only had DE and SoB and carrying two noob allies made up for the dull AI.

Less mockery. More joining.

[Kirjava]

I'm gonna fire up the thread in the Looking For Group section of the Gamer's Lounge I think. More people go there.