I like playing FPS games online, where getting killed every 5 mins is normal. But RTS games never get played online by me, I'm just not man enough to take that kind of defeat at the hands of a veteran. I would play co-op against the computer though. I've never tried Sins multiplayer, I'm still learning stuff

Most are like me who want to play online "for fun" and dont want to watch hours of replays or read hundreds of Strategy guides to be able to play against a stacked team of smurfs (Smurfs is far to good a word for these guys). I love RTS and so do my friends but we gave up at online long ago. 

I do not play all that often and still find the AI fairly challenging on unfair.

And team stacking is not just an RTS problem as it was rampant in Left 4 Dead as well. I maybe twice seen an actual clan vs clan. It was always clan vs n00bs with the clanners laughin or insulting the n00bs the whole game. When I finally got good they always invited me on there team only because they did not want to die or dont like a challange. I told them I would rather play with the n00bs. At least they did not smurf.

Anyway the teamstacking by smurfs is very annoying and I totally agree its a big reason All RTS games have very few players.

I am a regular Battlefield 1942 player and every night there is 500 -1000 players online. The only smurfing I know of is admins, not for spying or team stacking, all players target admins as its like killing an officer lol (myself included). So don't blame the age of an obviously classic game.

It's the vitriol and vile of cheese-dicks who stomp lesser players and beat their chest in vituperative nonsense that reserve themselves a special place in Hades.

It's the guys who have a good attitude and helping spirit that smooth the path for fun-seekers.

Which are you?

I was logged on for about 1-2 hours last night, on and off, and only saw an average of about 25 people on each of Sins/Entrenchment and Diplomacy and very few games--and this was during North American prime time.  It looks like Sins as an online multiplayer game is dead.  By dead, I mean that it no longer has the online player counts needed to sustain multiplayer activity.  (However, this is a great opportunity for everyone who was afraid of getting stomped by pros to come try it online because the proportion of newer players relative to experienced players is increasing dramatically.)

Sins has been my (current) favorite game for two years now, so I have no  idea what I'm going to replace it with.  I guess I could just play Unreal Tournament 2004 and Savage2 (free-to-download and play, fun melee FPS), but I'd like to have an online multiplayer strategy game to play.  I just need to find one that isn't a clickfest.  Sadly, there's nothing else out there like Sins.

25 seems to be the average to me too for Diplomacy, anyway.  I was able to play 2 3v3 games though without too much waiting...but the 3rd never got enough people.  (And I'm pretty sure 1 person made a game for people to join then left...cuz I tried multiple time, we even had a full party for a good ten minutes, and that was very early on.  It was dormant for a good hour or so.

-Twilight Storm

I am a modder, not a strategist. I tried to play on ICO, but got trashed and badly humiliated by my team and the enemy team, that is why I dont really play online. I was told that I was so bad that I shouldn't play online ever again. If most of those people are gone, I might try to play again.

This thread needs a bump, and such a great game needs more online players.

What's interesting is that in regular, vanilla Sins, there are almost no pros left but the people aren't playing amongst themselves, but against AI in comp stomps.  I wonder to myself, "Will all of these comp stompers start playing against each other now that they would all basically be on an even footing in terms of experience?"

There were a couple new folks on today playing a 5v5, divided up between two teams.  My team, which had two new people on it, won.  I got to coach one of them from my eco spot.  Nice to see some people on Diplomacy trying PvP.

There's a few things keeping me offline:

1)   Lag.   Why deal with it if you don't have to?   Diplomacy is already long enough as it is.

2)  Drops.   My provider and wireless do drop sometimes.  Again, why deal with it if I don't have to?   It doesn't help those you're playing with, either.

3)  Commitment level.   Trying to become a respected member of the online community takes a higher level of commitment than I have.   There are games I am willing to do that for, but I did not choose this one.

4)  Pause feature

10 pounds, that's about $20.  Good price for the game and the two expansions.  w00t!

I was in two of your games last night.  You seemed to survive and didn't get completely knocked off the map.  Everyone who's new to the online game has to struggle to adjust to it at the beginning.  It might be a good idea to play some more single player before coming online again, though, if you don't yet feel comfortable with all of the game mechanics and your knowledge of the races and the tech trees.  Hope you'll play with us again soon.

I was in the games as Hans von KickyUrAz.  I think we were allied in one game and on opposite teams in the other.