Creative Assembly Missing in Action Devs. [Archive]

Lord Romulous

10-22-2002, 12:42

a observation.

the devs have for the first time since relase been totaly absent from the board for over a week.

Maybe they all accidently got locked in the coffee room at the office or something http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif
(sorry that was the best joke i could do. so sue me im not a comedian)

Earth calling Planet CA u guys are ok up there right ?

solypsist

10-22-2002, 12:49

I think they're sensing the onslaught of bad vibes they'd get if they appeared sans patch so they're waiting for the right moment to come onstage, like Elvis.

hoom

10-22-2002, 14:41

I just had an awful thought...
CA is Australian right?

Maybe they were all on holiday in Bali http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/eek.gif

Rnold

10-22-2002, 14:45

they must be working hard on the p... p... p... p... http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

eat cold steel

10-22-2002, 23:59

Gil is off sick. And the boss baned us from using the internet at work, bummer! I am still reading you posts at home.

Terrax

10-23-2002, 00:08

Banned from the net at work???!!! I would have thought the net is a necessity for your kind of work, Hell, most kinds of office work. Must have thought all that "negative feedback" was distracting. It even made Gil sick. Well, you can tell your Boss to "eat cold steel"... he can interpret that anyway he wishes.

Apeboy

10-23-2002, 00:09

Quote And the boss baned us from using the internet at work, bummer! [/QUOTE]

Lol! Not exactly what to make of this. You guys can't even interact with the public on the boards? What happened? Somebody find out the boss's password to NetNannie and go to the dark side of the web? http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

Jaret

10-23-2002, 00:17

I know what your going through Eat Cold Steel ... my boss had my almost fired for playing an online game at work. *gg*

They don´t seem to understand the word `addicted´ http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif .

I use to ignore him ... while I´m on nightshift at last ... don´t think you guys are so fortunate as to work at night when the Boss is in bed http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif .

ToranagaSama

10-23-2002, 00:23

Quote Originally posted by eat cold steel:
And the boss baned us from using the internet at work, bummer! [/QUOTE]

What kind of Oxymoronic thing is that??

How the H are y'all supposed to fix MP/GameSpy if you can't go on the net?? No wonder the S is F Up!! http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif

Tell that guy, not only is your presence here desired, but it drives sales! Its NOT just a game, its a Community thing.

Way back, before STW release, I found the .org and saw the Dev presence and said YEAH! Shhhhss....does he think Id got where they are, by banning folks from the interent?? Carmack's and the others, .pln were read like the bible!! BTW, why don't you guys do .plans?

[Please don't take that as a personal critism, just an observation.]

querulously

10-23-2002, 01:26

Cynically, if you wanted to pick a time for the forums to go down, immediately before and after the patch is the best possible time.

Its ironic that they choose as their official forum one that has as many continuous problems as the game !

Boondock Saint

10-23-2002, 01:32

Elvis is dead.

Oh and Sidhe ... at least they arent in your head ...

STOP THE VOICES!

Oh and when the hell is .com going to be fixed already?

------------------
.com died ... so I am here ...

cart6566

10-23-2002, 01:44

Actually, that would be the opposite of ironic, if you think about it. Apropos would be a better choice of words...

LittleGrizzly

10-23-2002, 03:46

*hides gils head behind him*
yeah where the hell are they ?!

cart6566

10-23-2002, 04:05

Well, irony has more to do with what might or might not be expected, as opposed to what might not be intended, unless you are talking about sarcasm, which is not really applicable in this case. In any case, I suppose it's use in this instance could be apropos. :P

querulously

10-23-2002, 04:16

Well just so long as the developers have a sense of humour - some of the aspects of the game indicate that they do.Bit twisted on occassion, but I like that.

Kraxis

10-23-2002, 04:22

Sounds odd that in a company as CA, there are rules that ban the devs from actually getting info from the best testers, the gamers.
It is like Boeing-employees are not allowed to take the phone when Jumbo owners call.

If this was not such a letdown, I think I would have been laughing my rearquarters off, simply because it is so silly.

------------------
BTW, Danish Crusades are true to history.

You may not care about war, but war cares about you!

cart6566

10-23-2002, 08:50

ROFLMAO!!!

Dude, yer all-right in my book. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

Nial Black Knee

10-23-2002, 12:07

I am totaly flumuxed.

GilJaysmith

10-23-2002, 16:07

I'm back now...

If we've been banned from using the internet at work (I haven't yet heard this officially, so here I am ;-) then that could prove problematic; I've also been 'banned' from browsing the forums at home, on the basis that Sarah hasn't seen much of me for the last year and doesn't think it's fair on either of us that I should do unpaid work at home...

However, back to what's happening. It turns out the patch is still in QA - which I'm sure you're not happy to hear! As far as I know, we're negotiating the status of some of the bugs - i.e. whether they're really bugs, or are just "features which make the game special" :) If I find out anything which I can repeat, I will do.

Rosacrux

10-23-2002, 16:20

I am sure (am I???) the "it's not a bug, it's a feature" concept won't be applied to them obvious bugs like the incorrect or absent valour upgrades, the screwed-up V&Vs and a number of others, adressed here and there...

JRock

10-23-2002, 16:27

Quote Originally posted by eat cold steel:
Gil is off sick. And the boss baned us from using the internet at work, bummer! I am still reading you posts at home.[/QUOTE]

Your boss sucks.

Anyone else have the feeling there are a lot of things this patch won't cover? http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by JRock (edited 10-23-2002).]

Swoosh So

10-23-2002, 17:07

I really dont think single player game needs many improvements except the crash to desktop thing but mp seems to be the big issue here (although i havent tried it yet), New icon http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif nice!

Swoooooooooooooooooooosh

[This message has been edited by Swoosh So (edited 10-23-2002).]

Apeboy

10-23-2002, 17:22

Not to sound too harsh here, but, that really is pathetic that a patch has to be "negotiated". This stuff is getting really old to hear from every damn game you buy nowadays.

hoom

10-23-2002, 17:26

Well, at least CA didn't get blown up then http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

sapphoo

10-23-2002, 17:34

Hey people at CA...take your time with the patch...why? because working with deadlines sucks...I don't like it, and why would I demand it from other people...

falaffel

10-23-2002, 18:21

Perhaps we need to make an email campaing to get the devs back online. Nothing rude, just telling the CA boss that the dev partisipation has help Medieval to get more popular and thereby effect sales.

[This message has been edited by falaffel (edited 10-23-2002).]

Fearless

10-23-2002, 18:29

Well is nice to here from GilJaysmith. At least he is being honest and keeping the forum and its supporters informed on what is actually happenning with this long over due patch. Well Done! that man...........take a pay rise!!

Lord of the Isles

10-23-2002, 19:03

What the &#*&%$ are CA doing, getting worried about their employees spending all day on the net?! If they aren't allowed, no, *forced* to do that, how can they answer every single one of my posts? Just in case they missed it, my most recent one instructed them to include in the patch my idea to make all infantry rout when facing cavalry who have spent longer than 2 years in one enemy province. By that stage >50% would have developed hideous pox scarred faces and no enemy could withstand them. Shouldn't be too hard to code.

And another thing. Where's THE PATCH??!!!
What are that lot at CA doing all day?! Reading the net or something?

[Irony:
... (2a) the use of words to express something other than (and especially the opposite of) the literal meaning
... (2b) a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony
... (2c) an ironic expression or utterance
]

Kraxis

10-23-2002, 22:27

Quote Originally posted by Apeboy:
Not to sound too harsh here, but, that really is pathetic that a patch has to be "negotiated". This stuff is getting really old to hear from every damn game you buy nowadays. [/QUOTE]

I'm sad to say I agree... Don't you guys know this best??? I mean you are the guys who developed it.
But if you are discussing this among yourself, then I think you need to get your memory upgraded. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif You have to remember what you put in on purpose and what not.

But actually, I would prefer many lesser patches that quickly deals with bugs then the balancing and stupid things (going out) can come later.

And Gil, let the woman win this. Seems she deserves it hehehe...

------------------
BTW, Danish Crusades are true to history.

You may not care about war, but war cares about you!

Dionysus9

10-23-2002, 22:50

Well, Gil, we appreciate your frankness and communication here. I guess its true, though, -- every industry is scam. Automobile industry, legal industry, telecommunications, computer industry, you name it -- its all a scam.

We all have the misfortune to be serfs of the Feudal Scammers. If they say "release the game early, or get fired", well by golly, you better release the game. If they say "hold the patch" then you better hold the patch.

Gah. Nothing has changed in thousands of years.

HopAlongBunny

10-23-2002, 23:01

I've heard this before.

Patch will be late. Patch will be less than you think.

Less would be fine for those of us who just want it to run http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif But it would be better to be big!

Nial Black Knee

10-23-2002, 23:27

No offense Gil, I Mean you've been very forthcomming about issues, but damn I'm getting
tired of the same old patch excuses. Oh
yea sorry about your site probs, I'm glad I was building my new AMD2100 over the weekend.
I didn't even here about it til monday.

Taojah

10-23-2002, 23:29

As a QA-consultant myself, I always defend that the longer you wait to release patch, the more the users will be disappointed.

In this case, after already one week, there should have been a small patch that fixes the desktop-crash, the Swiss units and the bonusses. That can't take too long (except perhaps for the desktop-thingy, that *can* be an ugly one).

After that you can relax and work at the rest of the "issues", without the users bothering you too much.

Papa Bear!

10-24-2002, 03:02

Quote Originally posted by GilJaysmith:
I'm back now...

If we've been banned from using the internet at work (I haven't yet heard this officially, so here I am ;-) then that could prove problematic; I've also been 'banned' from browsing the forums at home, on the basis that Sarah hasn't seen much of me for the last year and doesn't think it's fair on either of us that I should do unpaid work at home...

However, back to what's happening. It turns out the patch is still in QA - which I'm sure you're not happy to hear! As far as I know, we're negotiating the status of some of the bugs - i.e. whether they're really bugs, or are just "features which make the game special" http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif If I find out anything which I can repeat, I will do.[/QUOTE]

lol, thats an unfortunate situation for you, (first paragraph), and for us, (second paragraph). Anyway, I'm late in finding this, I'm just not used to these org forums yet... so everybody has already said "Gil's the man."

I'll just add that I think I pretty much speak for all the whiners around here when I say that we don't blame CA, or at least not you, at all. I do a great deal of pissing and moaning about this game, but from the very first day I logged onto the forums at .com I saw you replying to stuff and putting in alot of effort to make the community happy. I hate to think of you feeling like you should be posting and keeping us "in the know" because we bitch and moan so much.
If, on the other hand, you're like the rest of us and you at least partially like coming to these forums just to get into the community. And also to get away from things you "should" probably be doing, then I'll just stop here.

Papa Bear!

10-24-2002, 03:05

Quote Originally posted by sidhe:
That is quite a stretch! A thousand years ago I'd be hoisting shite outta the ground in Ireland, if I lived long enough to even do it, that is.

Today I am (by medieval standards) rich beyond belief, with incredible amounts of leisure time, capable of exercising then unheard of free choices, married to whom I choose, master of my own time, etc. etc. I know it was hyperbole, but sometimes we need to "bring it back down" to reality. Waiting a month, a year, for a patch to a game is nothing like living a thousand years ago and it is only our freedom and freetime that allow us to think so.[/QUOTE]

Tut tut and well put.

Duke of Cornwall

10-24-2002, 22:59

Arrrse & others - CA is based in the UK, though they are opening an Australian office and recruiting in both countries at the monent.

GilJaysmith

10-25-2002, 14:08

Quote Originally posted by Kraxis:
I'm sad to say I agree... Don't you guys know this best??? I mean you are the guys who developed it.
But if you are discussing this among yourself, then I think you need to get your memory upgraded. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif You have to remember what you put in on purpose and what not.
[/QUOTE]

The negotiation has been with the publisher; Activision does the final testing and has the final say.

elzar

10-25-2002, 16:48

Quote Originally posted by GilJaysmith:
The negotiation has been with the publisher; Activision does the final testing and has the final say.[/QUOTE]

Well Activision is about to get alot of very angry emails, to which im sure we will all receive canned replies of thank you for your message but...bs bs bs... Normally in a patch I would say hey take your time do it right, but every other battle I fight sends me to the ol reset button on the front of my computer, so you can imagine I can't do more than one battle per turn. This is something that should be rushed out. I would have preferd just a patch to fix the major problems, then a all around bug fix for the smaller stuff and also some of the bonus stuff your adding with this. Every darn day I get on the forums a few times, everytime is more dissapointing than the last when its not here... http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/frown.gif

Swoosh So

10-25-2002, 17:01

Ouch! im really split with this, Its the best game out there but its easy to get swept away with all the patch requests, Giljay if you have seen some of my posts where i appear to be putting you guys down im not http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif I think this is one of if not the best series/game ever to appear on any electronic format, So even peeps who cry about shipping lanes still luv ya!

GilJaysmith

10-25-2002, 17:22

Quote Originally posted by elzar:
Well Activision is about to get alot of very angry emails, to which im sure we will all receive canned replies of thank you for your message but...bs bs bs...[/QUOTE]

I can understand the desire to vent, but if you have to vent, I would actually prefer that you vented here rather than at Activision...

You have to remember that first-line support at practically every company works off a script, and if the script doesn't cover something, going ballistic won't achieve anything.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Activision support script says "we have no projected release date for the Medieval patch", and if that's the case it could simply be because the part of Activision responsible for managing Medieval hasn't told the support team anything about the patch.

So, by all means deluge Activision with requests for the patch, but please remember that the immediate recipient of your emails is a human being who has nothing to do with the problem. The only likely effect of any anger or abuse in such emails is that some poor shmo sitting at an Activision desk is going to hate his or her job a little more, and to be honest, none of you are being hurt so much by the delays to the patch that it's worth causing emotional hurt to someone else because of it.

Terrax

10-25-2002, 17:39

Ouch! I feel like a kid and my Dad just sat me down and pointed out I was being rude to a stranger. Having worked in the scripted help desk environment, that kinda stung. At least I was polite in my question to Activision.

This board fans the flame for the patch. Is there anyway someone could set up a list, and then email everyone on the list when the patch comes out. I have the answers that I came here for in the 1st place, now I come back frequently to see if the patch is out. I need to take a break from this place. Everytime I visit, I get fired up about the patch.

Kraxis

10-25-2002, 17:45

Quote Originally posted by GilJaysmith:
So, by all means deluge Activision with requests for the patch, but please remember that the immediate recipient of your emails is a human being who has nothing to do with the problem. The only likely effect of any anger or abuse in such emails is that some poor shmo sitting at an Activision desk is going to hate his or her job a little more, and to be honest, none of you are being hurt so much by the delays to the patch that it's worth causing emotional hurt to someone else because of it.[/QUOTE]

You are of course right... But maybe we could get this/these support people to grab trhe phone and ask the Medieval team what is going on and that they have a lot of people who are very annoyed about the hold-back of the patch. Of course any abuse should be refrained from, the guys reading it will just close it down and ignore it.

But still Gil, can't Activision see that you people created the game, and thus you know best what bugs there is. You know what is supposed to happen and what not.
This is like the ship-architect presenting the new battleship and the politician goes "That is all good and well, but please remove those towers they are ugly. And can't you just another turret somewhere, that would give more firepower. And my wife wants it to be yellow."

Ok, they might have a better clue than this, but can't you just convince them to release the bugridders (the big ones) and then go back to the negotiating table for the rest?

------------------
BTW, Danish Crusades are true to history.

You may not care about war, but war cares about you!

Prodigal

10-25-2002, 18:06

Quote Originally posted by GilJaysmith:
The only likely effect of any anger or abuse in such emails is that some poor shmo sitting at an Activision desk is going to hate his or her job a little more, [/QUOTE]

Just so happens that I'm in the aforemtnioned "poor shmo" line of work myself.

I DO NOT WORK FOR CA or ACTIVISION

But I do work as support for s/w dev. company, & that statement is right on the money.

So please, if any of you are planning on mailing either of the above companies, play nice.

One last thing, I did happen to write to CA & have not got any response at all, automated or otherwise, & that my dear developers is just a tiny weeny bit sloppy. It even started "Thanks for producing such a great game..."

Prodigal

10-25-2002, 20:44

Quote One last thing, I did happen to write to CA & have not got any response at all, automated or otherwise, & that my dear developers is just a tiny weeny bit sloppy. It even started "Thanks for producing such a great game..." [/B][/QUOTE]

I take it all back, those marvellous people did reply! And what's more the forumm will be back up in a week's time.

Nial Black Knee

10-25-2002, 21:33

Yea, and I'm Santa Claus, Activision dosen't give a damn about us, just our money. One thing I've noticed since I've been on this forum, is most people are generally reasonable and just want to play a game.Game companys have to realize that the average
gamer is no longer a tech wiz. They just want
to be able to sit down at their PC and "play a game" Thats why consoles are so popular.
As consoles games become better and deeper, they will start to rival the richness that now is only available in PC games. PC game companys; "listen up" there's no arrogant people in the welfare line!

Nial Black Knee

10-25-2002, 21:35

Nial Black Knee

10-25-2002, 21:39