JD_2020 about how to use Co-Op in WaW......

_{by JD_2020}

Hi all,

As we are continually looking into reported issues, one thing that we've learned is there is a great amount of confusion within the PC community as to how co-op games are discovered, joined, and listed.

First, our co-op games are not hot-joinable. that means you cannot join a co-op game once it has already started. Now consider that the majority of PC players playing co-op are likely friends who call each other up on the phone, or hop on Skype or Ventrilo and say "hey let's play some co-op" - their lobbies are not open for very long. Most people join their friend's game real quick, and want to hop right into the action.

First, our co-op games are not hot-joinable. that means you cannot join a co-op game once it has already started. Now consider that the majority of PC players playing co-op are likely friends who call each other up on the phone, or hop on Skype or Ventrilo and say "hey let's play some co-op" - their lobbies are not open for very long. Most people join their friend's game real quick, and want to hop right into the action.

This brings me to my next point - many people think there is a bug with the Co-Op browser. While we're not ruling that out, it would appear as though it is possible this confusion is more of a miscommunication of this entire paradigm, and less of an actual game bug. For example, when you see "3 / 200" Co-Op games listing in the browser, the first instinct is "Why can't I see the other 197???" - the answer lies in the explanation I provided above - those other 197 Co-Op games have already begun. Since there is no hot-join, we do not list them in the browser (we filter them out automatically).

Also, unlike a Multiplayer server, the window of time a co-op lobby is open is such a tiny slice. If you refresh your co-op browser and see 4 or 5 servers, and just after you refreshed a new co-op lobby opens, you wouldn't know it unless you refreshed again. Similarly, if you refresh and see a game that has 2/4 players, and try to join it, it's entirely possible that host launched the game in the time it took you to get the server in your list and actually double-click on it. Since it is not hot-joinable, it would appear to you "this is broken because it doesn't let me join this lobby."

In conclusion, many posts seem to be related to "there seem to be so many co-op games I cannot see, thus there must be a bug" OR "I cannot join this game that is in my browser." These 'bugs' may be perceptual myths as a result of the paradigm just explained, and we are actively seeking ways we can message this all more clearly in-game through warnings and error messages.

I know there are other reports of problems with Co-Op, and we are still investigating them. I wanted to share this piece of the equation with you all to hopefully lay to rest a few of the misunderstandings circulating the boards.

Regards,
-JD