I like the idea. I'm glad you are waiting for replays before launching it. The 5% stat is kind of self-fulfilling. It's hard for new players to get into MP. They try it out but I feel like many probably get discouraged being matched with experienced players because no one else is searching ranked. Then they can't watch a replay to see why they lost and what their opponent did. So they give up. Whatever tools to help new players in MP that can be brought in would help. The playerbase can't support splitting ranked with a 2v2 version at this point but it would be awesome to see that at some point. Some players find that less intimidating than 1v1 and/or just prefer team games.

I do think it is a great idea to have a Tournament Edition version of the game at a lower price.

So you have:

• Tournament Edition at $US 9.99
• Ashes of the Singularity at $US 19.99
• Ashes of the Singularity Escalation at $US 39.99

Will you have the Strategic zoom enabled for the Tournament Edition?

Will players have all the maps including the DLC's to use?

Are they Able to play Custom MP games or only Ranked?

Will they have the Map Editor or Scenario Editor?

Good luck with that. cheers

+1 tourney addition. 

To clarify: Is the plan that those who own the game (escalation) would just be able to play MP,  without the additional tourney version purchase?

I personally don'y care TOO much on this point, but just want a sense of what to expect.

Also,  am curious how upgrades will be handled?

Will tourney addition be a crippled version that will remain the same forever, or will it have all of the latest greatest stuff as the game evolves?

Someone asked about strategic zoom above -- that's a good example of the sort of feature that I would be curious about.

I guess my biggest fear would be the "Strategic Zoom" situation happening again.

And by that, I mean a situation where SD adds a feature, but they invest so much time in it that they cannot justify "giving it away."

SO, a decision is made to require an additional upgrade/product purchase.

And because lots of folks won't make the purchase, this only serves to fracture the MP community.

And because the MP community is still pretty small.. The MP experience is strangled in its infancy... never even gets a chance to ramp.

Yeah, that would be bad. Please don't do that.

I STILL think that SASS would be a more sensible model for this.

It could lower the barrier to entry, perhaps to just a couple of $.

And the ongoing investment would justify continued development, attention, and upgrades.

That's my 5 cents.

GL.

Think of Tourney as = Escalation - single player features.

My recommendation if you play multiplayer, lose, and feel bad about it.

Play again. And again. And again. And sooner or later you will feel good about yourself when you win.

And then you will lose again. And again. and Again.

But keep playing, and you will win again.

I promise.

^^^ That, plus this: It's just a game, not a job, not a demarcation of social status. Maintain perspective.

It's like chess... takes time to learn and get better.

This is a great news. Did you consider a free to play tournament edition? What are your thoughts about it?

As Frogboy said, the overwhelming majority of us have never even bothered trying multiplayer. Have absolutely no interest in it what-so-ever.

That said, will definitely give a key to my younger brother so he can try it.

Starcraft 2 has a large multiplayer because the original Starcraft gained an inexplicably large multiplayer. They could've hid the multiplayer button and it would still be popular.

People aren't playing Ashes of the Singularity multiplayer because:

• There's nowhere near the same playerbase.
• Starcraft 2 is a dominant e-sports title.
• Most of us don't care about multiplayer in Ashes.

They can do whatever they like to make multiplayer more appealing, but frankly, a lot of us will never bother playing even a single game of multiplayer, because it doesn't interest us in the slightest.

I'd have to question that, because nothing about the marketing presented Ashes of the Singularity as a predominantly singleplayer experience, yet according to Stardock, 98% or more play singleplayer exclusively. I'm not saying I want them to hide the multiplayer button. But it's definitely not hard to locate, it's the same size as literally every other button on the menu - singleplayer included. I don't think it'll make one iota of difference to change the multiplayer's button.

Now, if you're suggesting making it so the multiplayer button absolutely dwarfs all other buttons, or you have to opt-out of multiplayer first, I disagree with those vehemently. You won't build value by frustrating to majority of your user base.

Update:

We are getting close to putting up a Tournament Edition on Steam.

Here is how it will work:

1. There will only be a Multiplayer button and a tutorial button.
2. Players will be able to play ranked and custom games (and the future quick match games)
3. The custom game will not let them start a game unless there are other players in the lobby (i.e. you can't just create a bunch of AI players and play it single player).

Initially, we'll be PMing active members of this forum (look for the awards and pips under their name) with free keys to give to their friends.