Hattori Clan and blood pack DLC, also new patch available

[econ21]

Let's not bash other sites - TWC is a fine resource. And it's rather like how you can't choose your family: you can't can't choose who posts on your forums. Would that we could.

Back on topic: I've never seen the attraction of blood and gore in computer games. If wargames were too realistic, I doubt I would be so fond of them. However, it takes all sorts to make a world and it's clear the DLC is welcomed by many.

[Sp4]

I think it is fairly stupid anyways. I can seem the reason behind there being a price, even if it is small, because they put some work hours into it but because of age stuff? I guess it keeps it 12 rated or w/e you say over there but only on paper =S

Over here you do not need to be 18 to pay for stuff online with your own money, you only need a bank account but then again, the blood DLC is not 'legally' downloadable here anyways.

[Veho Nex]

Let's not bash other sites - TWC is a fine resource. And it's rather like how you can't choose your family: you can't can't choose who posts on your forums. Would that we could.

Back on topic: I've never seen the attraction of blood and gore in computer games. If wargames were too realistic, I doubt I would be so fond of them. However, it takes all sorts to make a world and it's clear the DLC is welcomed by many.

Econ you should try it out, it's really silly. Quite funny to watch massive fountains form on the battlefield. Its like watching an old samurai flick, or a samurai anime.

[Forward Observer]

Let's not bash other sites - TWC is a fine resource. And it's rather like how you can't choose your family: you can't can't choose who posts on your forums. Would that we could.

Back on topic: I've never seen the attraction of blood and gore in computer games. If wargames were too realistic, I doubt I would be so fond of them. However, it takes all sorts to make a world and it's clear the DLC is welcomed by many.

I apologize if what I said came off as bashing, and I know I did go off a bit. I did not intend it that way, but had meant to simply give a personal observation of most of the posts in general discussion forums for the game da jour--of course that being Shogun 2 and in particular the blood pack DLC. Believe it or not I actually edited some of the original vitriol out of my post.

As to the actual blood pack--I had no issues with being charged a token amount for it---after I heard and accepted the reasons given by Dev's.

However, I do agree that the effect is a bit over the top, and I would like to see them add a slider or at a couple of levels of intensity for the effect- -maybe with choices of small, medium, large, or ultra buckets of blood. I'd call the present level "ultra".

For some reason, I am reminded of that scene in "Ran" where the scheming wife is decapitated--followed by what appears to be about 2 gallons of fire engine red paint being thrown on the wall behind her. Come to think of it, CA used a scene from Ran for intro to the Warlord Edition of the original Shogun, so maybe Kurosawa was also their inspiration for this.

Cheers

[frogbeastegg]

I saw a comment from CA saying that they took Japanese cinema as their inspiration and aimed to make the blood effects as over the top as in Kurasawa etc films. I can't remember where I saw that comment ... it might have been on the blog.

[Sp4]

Yeah, they did make them over the top intentionally and I actually like it that way =p Boring old realistic vs rivers and fountains of blood and heads flying around and what not. It is funny. But then I am the type of person who gets told to stop laughing during a Final Destination movie.

[Xehh II]

So I finally buy the blood pack, fully worth the 3 or 4 bucks I paid(not sure about the exchange rate). It's awesome to see blood everywhere but I was wondering if there's a way to make the blood stains on the ground last longer? I notice that it doesn't really stay that long for me, it would cooler if it lasted longer, that's my only problem, otherwise the blood pack is definitley worth it, I highly recommend.

[Claudius the God]

Having thoroughly investigated why the Blood Pack is not available in Australia at the moment I have some questions for The Creative Assembly team...

Will CA be appealing the refusal of classification of the blood pack by the Australian Classification Board? - surely there are other games on the Australian market that are far more bloody that have not been refused classification... the Bloodrayne franchise comes to mind... but anyway what the S2TW blood pack does is simply a reflection of the historical reality of the setting of the game. Will (or has) CA attempt(ed) to have the blood pack receive a ratings classification (perhaps MA15+) within Australia so that it becomes available for Australians to purchase from Steam?

If not, then have any Australians legally downloaded the blood pack from Steam at all before it was refused classification? If so, then during exactly what time period was it available for Australians to purchase from Steam?

Is it possible, realistic and legal to take one's computer overseas and purchase the blood pack DLC and return to Australia with the computer without customs interfering?

Is it legal to accept the blood pack as a gift from someone purchasing it from outside of Australia?

If either of the above two options are possible (purchasing the DLC from outside of Australia one way or another), would Steam allow me to keep the Blood Pack DLC while in Australia - or do Australian customers who have already purchased the Blood Pack get their purchase forcibly removed/refunded?

If all else fails, will Australian gamers who own Shogun 2 Total War (plus any additional content) be given an alternative option to the blood pack as it exists at the moment?

Kind regards.

[frogbeastegg]

Is it legal to accept the blood pack as a gift from someone purchasing it from outside of Australia?

I'm not from CA and can't answer most of those, but maybe I can help a little with this one. I've seen a lot of German forum members over at .com confirming that a restricted region account can be gifted the blood pack by someone from an unrestricted region, and that the pack installs and works without issue. Legally I would guess that doing this would fall under the same rules as importing a game or film which has been refused classification.

[Claudius the God]

I'm not from CA and can't answer most of those, but maybe I can help a little with this one. I've seen a lot of German forum members over at .com confirming that a restricted region account can be gifted the blood pack by someone from an unrestricted region, and that the pack installs and works without issue. Legally I would guess that doing this would fall under the same rules as importing a game or film which has been refused classification.

I've heard similar but want to make sure that I know about all legal options available to me and if there are none how long I should expect for the situation as it currently exists to change. Have any German gamers had issues with customs? - for example...

the fine for 'importing' (do DLC gifts from overseas buyers count?) something that has been refused classification is obviously something I don't want to risk. So I'm looking for clear answers if possible. I want to give CA my money in exchange for this product and this censorship bullshit from the Australian Classification Board is an insult to all of us who know better.

[frogbeastegg]

I've heard similar but want to make sure that I know about all legal options available to me and if there are none how long I should expect for the situation as it currently exists to change. Have any German gamers had issues with customs? - for example...

the fine for 'importing' (do DLC gifts from overseas buyers count?) something that has been refused classification is obviously something I don't want to risk. So I'm looking for clear answers if possible. I want to give CA my money in exchange for this product and this censorship bullshit from the Australian Classification Board is an insult to all of us who know better.

You would need to ask for legal advice from someone who knows your local laws to answer that, I'm afraid. I only know the laws as they apply to the UK. The DLC doesn't pass through customs so I haven't seen any reports of problems.

I doubt CA will appeal the classification since part of the reasoning behind making the pack DLC is to allow some countries to have it and others not, depending on their local classifications. If it was part of the base game it would make the game unmarketable in some countries and subject to a sales-damaging high rating in others.

[Humble]

Sorry if I'm a bit late to the party, but I can confirm for you - owning a game that has been refused classification in Australia is not illegal. It MAY be confiscated during importation, and it is SUPER illegal to sell it, but owning a game that has been refused classification is perfectly okay. Now considering that steam gifting is a digital media and there is no physical importation process, you dont really have to worry about that. I've read up on this because I live in Australia and have made a hobby of gathering Refused Classification games (though I've never heard of any fine for importing). The short of it is, if you get it digitally, you should be fine.

I also suppose the thing here is it's a gift so if someone tries to give you any guff about them you can always shoot back with a "It's a gift, I cant control what other people give me" and honestly, the amount of paper work that would go in to finding out if you asked for it or not just wouldn't be worth it.

[Claudius the God]

many thanks Humble

[Claudius the God]

I don't know how or why, but the Blood Pack is now available to buy in Australia. Did it get a ratings classification? - just in case some Australians with S2TW still can't see it on Steam (as was the case before) I was uninstalling and then reinstalling the game through Steam when I checked the DLC to make sure I will still have everything I purchased - and there was the blood pack, which I purchased for $2.99. hopefully in an hour or so when the Steam update finishes I will see it working!

[Sp4]

I've heard similar but want to make sure that I know about all legal options available to me and if there are none how long I should expect for the situation as it currently exists to change. Have any German gamers had issues with customs? - for example...

the fine for 'importing' (do DLC gifts from overseas buyers count?) something that has been refused classification is obviously something I don't want to risk. So I'm looking for clear answers if possible. I want to give CA my money in exchange for this product and this censorship bullshit from the Australian Classification Board is an insult to all of us who know better.

I had someone from the UK give it to me as present... the game devs wont do anything about it and uh legal... I own more than one game that's 'outlawed' here, all of them 'smuggled' here from the UK or Netherlands.

I doubt anyone cares.