I've never tried play by email, found in a games like Civ4, but for the structure for the game itself (single turn based), i think that my experience with it will begin too slow to enjoy. But, if they will add it, no problem with me, i will likely don't use it.

I seriously need this. As a gamer in his mid-late 30s with a family and a business. I rarely have time for huge hours long game binges, AND when I do no one I know does. I'd much rather play a longer thoughtful game with lots of twists and turns than a fast, red-eye game that you can barely fit in.



Frankly, i don't see how you could set up an 8 player game int he current system and ever finish it dealing with everyone's schedules WITHOUT having a asynch turn system. I think email is a silly system to use- you just "send" in your turn through the game and it lets you know when a new turn is available. That way the game can go as fast or as slow as the individual players in that particular game.



Honestly, I'd play a game 1/2 as good as this, that costs twice as much, just to have that feature.



I'd still be playing Stars! if 16-bit executables were supported on a 64-bit platform.

I probably wouldn't. It's not the time-consuming factor that keeps me from playing the game multiplayer, it's the community. Most games, especially games like this, tend to have god awful multiplayer fanatics and elitists.

PBEM would be a great way to play some rounds with my friends who are all over the globe and don't have the spare time to join a "live" multiplayer session all at the same time. Would love to see this added to the game at some point.

If it does indeed lack PBEM by full release then it would be one of the few turn based 4x games without it, I'd actually be very surprised if they didn't

Let me put it this way, I'd rather dev time be spent on improving the single and multiplayer game experience at this point, and for some time to come, then spending any time at all on a play by email feature.

Jethro wrote:
This thread has more information about play by email, please read before completing poll if it isn't too late already.



/#/endless-space/forum/28-game-design/thread/13091-play-by-email



Real time multi-player brings with it commitment, some restrictions on playing with people outside your timezone, the hassle of not being able to attend to family emergencies while some guy is hammering your planet, and the wife screaming that you don't like her as much as that damn game.



I suspect that play by email could be a neat fit for ES, and all you real time strategy buff's, I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THIS WILL NOT TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR MP EXPERIENCE.



It might just however get a lot of people deeply into the game and MP, perhaps for the first time.



What do you think? - MULTIPLE SELECTIONS ARE PERMITTED, so pick all that apply

My personal opinion, and it's only that, but I wouldn't agree with a play by email system, at least for myself, not to say it's totally out of the question, but no matter how you cut it, its turn based anyways so I don't see why we'd waste resources on a modern game to do that. But to each his own, if it happens I won't object, I simply don't see it as a valid issue this early on.

tmparis wrote:
In my experience with ES, the turns seem to be occurring simultaneously, as opposed to a Total War or CIV game. A PBEM game would need to modify that, and while not impossible, would stretch the dev time.

Frozen synapses does it rather well.



But ES does seem to be restricted by turns anyway, unless the MP is handled differently I don't see how it'd stretch dev time a great deal. These sorts of games are ideally suited.

I generally stick to single-player, but for what it's worth, if the mad urge to try multi-player did strike me, I could definitely imagine--under the right circumstances--being glad for a PBEM option.



The main issue with such a thing (speaking purely from a gameplay perspective and not taking into account whatever design issues might show up or extra work which might be needed) would be pacing. With the early turns, especially, it can be quite slow to get going. As the game progresses, your empire expands and you have more and more things to do, though, and this becomes less of an issue.



In the end, I would guess that PBEM vs. real-time MP simply lend themselves to a different style of play. If you're playing online, you can't spend half an hour on every turn, obsessively tweaking every little detail of your sprawling empire. As such, I can definitely see PBEM working better on a huge map with a slow and epic game. Online play, on the other hand, seems to me like it would favor more of a "quick & dirty" approach.



The way I play 4x games is to try and avoid conflict for as long as possible, hoping to tech as far up the tree as possible before making a move on my enemies. If I'm given the chance (which never happens, of course), I would research -everything- I can before turning my attention to war. Such an approach, by nature, has an eye to the long term. I can't imagine many are like me in their approach, but I would think that for those that are, if they're interested in MP, PBEM is definitely the (only) way to go.



Multi-player not being something I really dabble in, I can only guess, but it would seem to me that--for the most part--competitive online MP is purely about winning, and doing so as quickly as possible. Early game rushes, zerg tactics, etc. It's not about developing your empire to its fullest extent and optimizing infrastructure on every planet so much as it is simply swarming your foes with early, cheap military.



So that leaves us with two vastly differing approaches, and the big question is: are there enough MP fans of the former approach ("slow & steady") to warrant the extra work needed to implement PBEM, or is the vast majority of the MP player-base more interested in the latter ("quick n' dirty")?



It's not to say everything is purely black and white, of course, some might want a PBEM option simply because they don't have time for real-time MP (such as EnvoidNul above), regardless of their preferred mode of play. But the bottom-line is that PBEM vs. real-time offer, potentially, a vastly different gaming experience and, in the end, it's about giving your players options. And options are always good. As such, unless PBEM would really require a massive design overhaul (and I don't see why that would be...?), I feel it should definitely be offered.

This thread has more information about play by email, please read before completing poll if it isn't too late already.



https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/28-game-design/thread/13091-play-by-email



Real time multi-player brings with it commitment, some restrictions on playing with people outside your timezone, the hassle of not being able to attend to family emergencies while some guy is hammering your planet, and the wife screaming that you don't like her as much as that damn game.



I suspect that play by email could be a neat fit for ES, and all you real time strategy buff's, I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THIS WILL NOT TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR MP EXPERIENCE.



It might just however get a lot of people deeply into the game and MP, perhaps for the first time.



What do you think? - MULTIPLE SELECTIONS ARE PERMITTED, so pick all that apply

I tried play by email once a few years back with CIV3. Took way too long for my taste. But it sounds like there might be some new system developed in new games? I wouldn't mind having the feature available, but I would probably never use it.

In my experience with ES, the turns seem to be occurring simultaneously, as opposed to a Total War or CIV game. A PBEM game would need to modify that, and while not impossible, would stretch the dev time.

Was there ever an official line regarding PBEM?



I'm in the boat with work and being married and having friends in a similar position, that PBEM is really the only real way I'd get to play MP.

ArrowLance wrote:
Play by email is a great option, but is way too slow for me to enjoy.

The idea for play by email is more along the lines that you have one or two going, but not that you restrict yourself to just those - mostly, you would be doing your standard SP game, and do your turn a day or two. Pitboss is great, and I feel it should be included, and a 'Dominions 3' style play by email system, with the ensuing community growth and engagement that would create would make this game the best thing since.. well.. Master of Magic/Orion II and Dominions 3.



- Also, I suspect many of those that 'do not intend to use it' will find themselves surprised at the depth possible when you have human politics and alliances involved that are allowed to ... fester and ferment, even more so than an 'instant' player option.

Civ style Pitboss play would be wonderful. It takes a while for the game to unfold but you get such a richer experience than you would in singleplayer.

Play by email is a great option, but is way too slow for me to enjoy.

I agree with amrbean - Pitboss is, in my opinion, critical.

Play by email, or something similar to Civilization's Pit Boss, is my number one feature request. I request this over fixing the bugs.