The connectivity problems are single-handedly destroying ICO matches. Whether it be firewall woes, minidumps or random drops, the online experience is murdered in cold blood. Game balance doesn't even get a chance to speak.

It is an entirely different question whether this game is meant to be a "quick and dirty" small map LRM-fest or a longer, fully fleshed-out empire clash: if the game is ended by anything other than people, nobody feels resolved, and it seems like a fat waste of time.

There is tremendous opportunity to explore most aspects of expansion/tech/fleet/battle in a "reasonable" online sitting. A Small-Random 1v1 is roughly 45 minutes to an hour. I imagine 2v2's and 3v3's take a little longer, but 2-3 hours should see someone emerge dominant on most any single-star map. This game is really fun, especially if you don't neuter a good chunk of it by solely playing on a small map like Close Encounters (1v1).

It's all mute if 10-30 minutes into the game somebody glitches, for any reason. Moreover there is an amazing ammount of frustration when you invest time and energy into a game to have it irreversibly fail. And if 30 minutes is bad, 45 minutes and up is excruciating. Maybe I'm late to the scene and everyone has been dealing with this for weeks. Maybe that's why there's very, very little "general public" traffic on ICO.

I appreciate the game designers' efforts for SoaSE, but make this a priority: fix ICO before it's too late. I hope Patch 1.1 works, and works soon. Please.


p.s.- I have a very respectable system, plug straight into my cable modem, and cannot detect any pattern in the streaky game failures I and others experience. I minidumped while watching a dang replay once...