If players can ambush properly in MP without any form of pause that's cool I guess, but if it means the only way to ambush properly is in Co-Op that's pretty lame.
I am assuming in multiplayer that the party has proper communication and they can all move into position and attack at the same time. If they change the current system to what some people are wanting, then it effectively removes the most logical and useful stealth tactic from single player. I understand their reasons for wanting the change, but it will make things extremely aggravating and miserable for me if 3 of my 4 stealthy characters are always assumed to be revealing their positions like idiots.
I don't think that assumption holds up, a coordinated attack isn't going to be frame perfect, and considering how often I have party members thrown into the "Surprised" condition, I expect it will happen in multiplayer too. I haven't stepped through the code, but the sense I get is that when a party member attacks, the reactions all queue up as fast as the computer can process it, and then start to play out. For example I've shot a sneak attack, then tried to switch to my PC, a wizard, to throw down an AOE spell, only to be surprised before I could click the target area. I don't feel like I have any real understanding of what gets a PC into surprised mode as opposed to remaining in free time, able to wander around the map for multiple turns while everyone else waits, but I'm not sure that a verbal countdown over voice chat is going to prevent it from going the wrong way.
D&D combat is turn based, and I think trying to maintain a hybrid mode is causing more problems than any benefits are worth.
