I have spoken to at least 40 people on DG all who have told me the game is unstable.

I have installed 3 times. I even reinstall the OS. I've tried Vista and Windows 7.

People lag out and the lobby crashes. I payed money to play against other palyers. If they where smart they would give away more copies.

Another thing they could do is give delete Skrimish. That way more people would either play pantheon or custom. 3 game times sub divide the players to much. 

And honestly i dont care about new demigods. I would rather have a more stable game.

And it could not possibly be you, your pc or your ISP causing any of this could it? How is it that so many others have perfectly fine connections and games then?

But you, and others like you are quick to blame the game....sigh.

Have you contacted support@stardock.com? Have you posted about your specific issues along with logs here on the forums?

HoN works for you and DG doesnt, so you bash DG and say its the games fault.....

As for the rest of you comments in that post....well i think my brain just exploded.

Where is all this instability. I am from AU and if there was all these problems in connections theni think i would see my share, since i always have to connect to the US or EU.

Check your PC's/net/ISP guys before announcing how instable DG is....there are thousands playing with perfectly fine and stable connections and games.....

Some of us never SEE the problems.. and if, with, the reports given to them, GPG can't RECREATE the problems how are they to fix them?

In my opinion HoN looks like shit.

-I do not like the graphic, it was hard to see what was happening in the battle. I do not care at all about graphic, the only thing I want is a way for the computer to show me a very clear picture of what is going on.

-I do not want 40 heroes to choose from because it will reduce the balance. Chess has 2 colors to choose from and they are basically the same. Even so the game is quite popular.

-I do not want a big text on the screen looking like blood when I kill people. I would much rather see what is behind the text. Don't you think you will ever get tired of that effect?

-I do not want a faster game because it will give me less time to plan my strategy. Yes acually when the game gets faster the strategy becomes less important. 

I saw a gameplay video of HoN and I only laughed. For me it is impossible to understand why anyone would want a game to be like that. After Starcraft, Demigod is the only game that has made me really intrested. I wish demigod cost money to play. It is the only game that is worth my attention at the moment. Most games produced overall are shit, made to sell good because of the graphic or blood or sexual content. Obviosly the computer game customers are mostly kids or in any case expected to be.

On my time playing computer was not accepted like it is today. Nerds played computer games because they loved it, so much they just could not stay away from it. The games on that time was made for such players. Now everyone is playing games and they seem to think that a game is just an interactive movie. A game without a story is like a movie without a story to them. Where did all the real gamers go? Have they all gotten a wife and kids with no time to play? 

So if a really good game was expensive enough then perhaps the not so many older gamers could play without the kids. I am prepared to pay 200$ for a game that is as good as starcraft. Why are there no games like ROLEX? the premium stuff. Anyway Demigod is the closest thing at the moment and compared to the games made when I was young the graphic is amazing and the connectivity is awesome. I can endure almost anything for a really good game.

I agree....But i won't be found on the HoN forums professing that.

Just doesnt seem to be of any value to do.

Wish the reverse was also true.

First of, i actually like DG better then HON.

Second. Not only do I have a bachelor’s degree in IT, but I have literally played over 100 games on my computer. I know when it’s the game and not my machine. The fact that I have installed it on different OSs and HD proves it the Game and not the computer.

The fact that all the players i play with complain about how crappy the code is is proof there are problems. I personally know 2 dozen people who have stoped playing this game because of either bugs OR because ther are not enough players. TODAY i went to the custom lobby and there where only 2 games going. 2! No matter what that should NEVER be a problem.

And even if the game DOESN"T crash for you, you can't tell me there are major pathfinding problems with this game. Today one of my monks got stuck on the Cit. NO way to move him at all. i had to buy a TP scroll to get him out. How many of you have gotten stuck turning corners or jsut turning around with Rook or Sedna. Heck i've stop playing sedna all together its that bad.

All im saying is that I payed to have a fully working game. I love this game. i've played almost 300 matches since i got it. I'm just disappointed that it is not doing better because of all the really bad coding.

Thanks to Obbeskrutt, I got an HoN beta key and tried a couple of games last night.

First impressions of the main lobby and matchmaking were fantastic.  There were over 18,000 people online and hundreds of open games to choose from.  The filtering options made it easy to screen them all down to the couple of dozen noob games I was looking for.  Chat and friend lists are also conveniently located on the same screen.  Game options included leaver screening as well.  Once you join a game lobby, which was fast, you see the stats of others who have joined, and get an estimate of the team balance with options to shuffle and such.  Wonderful wonderful wonderful stuff.  How I wish DG had this.

For the game itself, I need to read and play more before I can develop an opinion.  I did miss being able to zoom in and out of the action, so will need to adjust to using the mini-map for that.  It also seemed to have a very quick pace.  Maybe as you progress in levels and stack up on items, you'll have more time to sit and strategically slug it out, but otherwise I tended to find myself on the run after just a few seconds in a melee.

Oh, look at the time... gotta run.

So you have never had a crash to desktop with no debug screen come up?

Never had a crash to desktop from lobby with the debug screen come up?

Never had the background sound effects play on non stop loop without having to quit out to stop it?

Never had in game desyncs for no apparent reason?

Never had people lag so badly in game you had to restart?

I know that some of these factors are linked to peoples PCs, however they can be countered. Other games counter them so why not this one?

It did sadden me to see Brads comment on Elemental, that those with poor connections will just be blocked from the game. I am not sure why that game needs so much bandwidth.

Essentially, the gaming lobby for this game has been bolted on with tight timescales and a limited budget, by a company that need more experience in online gaming. Stardock have admitted this, however, it doesn't stop customers being frustrated. I have pretty much put the game to the side now, hoping that it can improve. However, I spent many evenings spending so long looking at lobby screens and having games crash out, I don't really have happy memories about this game. Now is better, but at the start it was a really rough time to play a game that is pretty good.

Well, you can look at it as destructive bashing for not having the features to begin with, or as constructive criticism for what needs to be improved.  It's not encouraging to hear that new screens (and maps) are too expensive to produce, because that implies no changes are forthcoming to the dismal matchmaking.

It's all academic anyway, because the community is too small now for proper matchmaking to make a difference.

DG should probably just be shelved, and DG II initiated, with many many lessons learned about matchmaking, UI, net code, modding framework, etc.

People leaving mid-match may be an apparent reason for desynchs but not an acceptable reason for them.

Not to say I support HoN; I have had some bad run-ins with S2Games support in the past, but I've been happily moving on from this fantastic but ultimately and unfortunately bug-laden game.

I know everyone is going to say TLDNR but whatever, here goes anyways.

This point is invalid because you didn't pay for HoN.  I have not complained about the look of DG at all, I just want the game to work as well as these other games.  Since you don't want us to compare games are you saying we just sit on our hands and be happy with the fact that other games are doing things SO MUCH better?

I think people are griping about it in hopes that Brad or someone that actually cares will listen.

I read all of your replies Neilo and think you are completely blinded to the fact that there are problems or that the DG experience is far less robust than other games.  Let me clarify what I mean by robust first: by robust I mean that the process of playing the game from the time of launch to the time of shut down is easy, full of features, stable in terms of bugs, and enjoyable.  For me Demigod is like this:

1. Finding a game: I usually play custom games so I first need to find a game in my area (I would try Pantheon or Skirmish but no one is ever playing or it takes a long time to get a game and even then it is usually 2v2 or 3v3 which is not as compelling).  I double click on the game to join and then wait to join the lobby. Note that there is no way to filter games AT ALL.

2. Connecting to the lobby: This works OK, sometimes it is slow though.  Things have improved and now I feel like this is fine.

3. The lobby: The lobby is OK, my only complaint here is the retarded user interface in which you have to scroll to find the random options. Oh, and I am constantly scared to alt+tab for fear the game will crash (this used to happen everytime, not sure if it happens any more).

4. The game loads: I hate the loading screen.  Why?  Because there is no indication as to why things are taking so long.  Sometimes you wonder if people have dropped etc. but there is no feedback at all.

5. The actual game:

• You cross your fingers that there is no lag because if there is then everyone is screwed.
• The game's graphics are good although I don't think that the presence of the Demigods is pronounced enough.  I say this because some of the Demigods blend in and you can't even see them in a large fight (I'm looking at you Erebus ).
• The features are good, lots of choices in skills and citadel upgrades.
• The differences from DotA are a nice enhancement.
• The strategy elements are good.
• The minimap BLOWS (since it is unclickable).
• The controls are fine, but as I said before there are bugs STILL.  Demigods breakdance on the corners in Cataract (because the get stuck and just stand there fighting with the corner).  Minions will many times not follow my DG from the base to wherever I go because they get caught on something and wont move (happens on Zikurat frequently).  Sometimes I have had friends complain that spells won't work.  I hate it when you click a button to initaite a skill and it stops your movement.  Rearranging items in slots is stupidly difficult.
• There are desync issues, critical game states, disconnects (without the option to rejoin)
  
• The AI is PANTS ON HEAD RETARDED (reference: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/8-Halo-3).  If someone leaves you might as well give up because the AI will feed the entire game.  I have won very few games where someone leaves.
• The game is missing so many documentation details.  Exactly how many points do you need to get to warscore 8?  I have no idea, I just sit there and hope that the day will come soon.  You get a buff when an ally dies?  What does it do?  Who has what?  I have no idea.

How often do you play 5v5 games?  In DG I find it to be VERY hard to get a 5v5 going and once you do, inevetably someone lags and the whole game is screwed.  In both HoN and LoL every game I have played has been 5v5 and I have had 0 connectivity/lag problems.

The icing on the cak is that the game has been out for 5 months now (almost) so let me ask you this: do you think that these problems are still acceptable?

Also, here is another big problem.  From reading the posts from Brad it is clear to me that there is no way that either SD or GPG is commited to seeing DG furthered (in any tangible way in a reasonable amount of time).  They will maybe drop some new DGs in a few months, but that is it.  GPG is off doing some other game and SD is focused on Elemental.  So, in a sense you are right that griping in these forums will do nothing because no one is listening or even if they are they won't do anything about it because it is "too expensive".

I am not "bashing" DG, I am trying to point out how frustrating it is to be a paying customer for a product that seems like it is not going to be fixed.

everyone can like what they like, I for exemple think demigod is one of the best games around on its gameplay side so other problems can always be fixed as long as gameplay is good.

I have yet to try HON but i will say it look good but not my type of games and thats ok. The fact u like HON in any possible way more than demigod doenst say its actualy like that, its say that this is your opinion.

Wow, did anyone else take a look at Nielo's game history?  That has to be a record for N/A games.  WTF is going on there?  This game has bugs, and lots of them.  Most of them are not game crippling, but they are there.  The lobby bug is especially attrocious where a person stops showing up to everyone else.  By your list of games, most of your games are against the computer.  You'd see a lot more in the way of bugs if you played human opponents. 

95% of the time, for me anyway, the game works fine.  The biggest isue is the lobby.  That thing will crash if you look at it funny.