I have only played Pantheon, so I can only assert that this following stuff comes from playing just that... Maybe it relates to Custom/Skirmish, I really have no clue, as I only play the afore mentioned.

SO many people do not understand what to interpret from the connection window... That's half of people's problems.

From looking at the connection window... You can tell if it's your connection or someone elses... THE CONNECTION WINDOW IS THE LITTLE BOX THAT POPS IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER OF THE SCREEN. You can click that and it should open up a tab that shows the players attempting to connect.

I see so many people going I wait 5mns nothing happens... REALLY??? If you had the connection window open you could have figure out to cancel that particular matchup in 30seconds tops.

WHEN YOU SEE SOMEONE ON THE CONNECTION WINDOW WITH EITHER OF THESE 2 LINES... YOU CAN HIT CANCEL CAUSE THE GAME WILL NOT START...

1. NOT CONNECTED TO ANYONE... IF THAT STAYS LIKE THAT FOR MORE THEN 30SECONDS THAT PERSON IS NOT GONNNA CONNECT AND HE WILL HANG THE CONNECTION. SITTING THERE LONGER IS POINTLESS.

2. FAILED TO CONNECT TO _______... IF ONE PERSON CAN NOT CONNECT TO EVEN JUST ONE PERSON ON THE CONNECTION WINDOW, YOU CAN HIT CANCEL AS THE SAME THING IN #1 WILL HAPPEN.

3.(DIFFERENT) IF SOMEONE CANCELS OUT OF A CONNECTION WINDOW... MEANING YOU SEE 4 PEOPLE FOR EXAMPLE CONNECTING TO PEOPLE, EVERYTHING LOOKS FINE, THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN ONE GUY DISAPEARS AND ITS 3, EVEN IF THEY ARE ALL CONNECTED TO EACHOTHER THE GAME WILL NOT START, YOU CAN HIT CANCEL CAUSE YOU WILL SIT THERE.

3B... HUGE PROBLEM WITH ALOT OF GAMES BESIDES 1 AND 2 IS THAT SOMEONE WILL CANCEL TOO QUICK INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR THE GAME TO CONNECT TO EVERYONE, MAYBE ITS ADD, MAYBE ADHD, EITHER WAY ALOT OF PEOPLE DONT HAVE THE PATIENCE TO WAIT 30 OR SO SECONDS(GENERALLY THE LENGTH OF TIME YOU WILL KNOW IF PEOPLE ARE GONNA CONNECT) AND THEY LEAVE THEREFORE HANGING THE GAME, MEANING IT WILL SIT AT THE CONNECTION WINDOW AND NOT START. If you see everyones name with attempting to connect, wait it out, give it a little time, do not cancel to early.

3C... IF YOU SEE A NAME AND IT HAS NO CONNECTION INFO, IT IS JUST A NAME AND THE REST IS BLANK. THAT IS AN AI, OR COMPUTER PLAYER, THEY DONT NEED TO CONNECT THEY WILL BE IN THE GAME WHEN IT STARTS, SO MANY PEOPLE CANCEL OUT WHEN THEY DON'T KNOW WHY THESE GUYS ARE NOT CONNECTING, OR THEY THINK THEY ARE PEOPLE HANGING THE GAME.. WELL THEY AREN'T THEY ARE AI PLAYERS WHO WILL BE IN THE GAME, YOU CAN SAFELY IGNORE THESE NAMES ON THE CONNECTION WINDOW.

4... IF YOU SEE THE CONNECTION WINDOW AND YOU SEE YOUR NAME "NOT CONNECTED" TO ANYONE, THEN THERE IS EITHER SOME PROBLEM ON YOUR END(nearly everytime) OR THERE IS ANOTHER ISSUE THAT I HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT IT, BUT MAINLY... IF YOU ARE NOT CONNECTING TO PEOPLE, PLEASE STOP TRYING OVER AND OVER TO CONNECT TO SOMEONE, BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST HANGING EVERY GAME YOU TRY TO START, THERE FOR COMPOUNDING THIS PROBLEM. i KNOW ITS FRUSTRATING, BUT IT ALSO FRUSTRATES OTHERS IN A SNOWBALL EFFECT, CAUSE GENERALLY FOR EVERY CONNECTION YOU HANG, 2-5 OTHERS ARE GETTING HUNG BY YOU.

IF EVEN 50% OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO IDEA WHY THE GAME IS NOT STARTING KNEW THESE 3-4 THINGS... IT WOULD HELP THEM AND THE COUNTLESS PEOPLE THEY ARE HANGING GAMES FOR, THEREFORE REDUCING THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT GAMES NOT STARTING.

Disclaimer...

Yes I know some problems are different, and some reasons are different, but I can connect I have had little connection problems besides the above mentioned ones, I know from looking at the connection window what game will start, and what will not. Therefore I UNDERSTAND when or when I won't have a game starting, KNOWING this relieves frustration...

For the other who know all of the above things and don't understand why they are not conecting, I see the SD guys on the IRC between my games and they are CONSTANTLY helping individuals with their connections, and even regular players do as well.

Edit... By no means of the word do I know all this stuff to be completely true, it is just my deduction from playing this game. I believe the above to be accurate until I'm told I am completely wrong, but me personally by going by these self made rules, I have had an overall decent experience playing this game online.

Edit2... Yes I realize these problems should be addressed and I am confident they will be, I also realize there are other problems with the MP game and etc... I am just trying to help, at least I hope I am.

Edit3... My grammar and spelling suck balls, I apologize.

Edit4... If am missing something or totally wrong, go ahead and tell me, and/or make fun of me.