MTW successful???

[sapphoo]

I was wondering if MTW was a commercial success. I think it is the best game in years, but I wonder if the general audience had a similar opinion, which would translate itself into good sales.

does anyone have any info on this?

[Ktonos]

Best game? This is something which can not be spoken of. Who can compare a Strategy Wargame with a Sport game or an action one or an RPG? I would say that it certainly (IMHO) is the best strategy war game,or war simulation,it is the best strategy with civ3 I have ever played,but I wouldn't try to compare MTW with Baldurs Gate 2,because this is something it cant be done.


I don't know about the great EU UK and US magasines but here in Greece it got a full 96% from PC-Master.

[sapphoo]

a good rating does not signify commercial success

[Yoko Kono]

in the UK at least it was at the top end of the charts for a bit so imagine its sales were good and far superior to shogun ( tho prolly due more to the setting of the game than the game itself - feudal japan aint eveyones cup of tea)

[oZoNeLaYeR]

Ktonos, no offence, but arent u greek cant play video games? cause your government dont allow it's citizen to play games?

enlighten me pls http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

[vyanvotts]

also civ 3 is disgustingly unrealistic and too simple compared to the other civs....like come on...how does a archer unit manage to kill 2 tanks?......enlighten me also.....

civ 2 was much better

[MF_Ivan]

Hehe, I was just about to say the same thing.

[sapphoo]

people have been known to disable tanks with simple things such as molotov cocktails...maybe these archers had some with them...

but Civ3 sucked anyway compared to the civ2 experience...that is why i was quite relieved to find out that MTW is actually quite good after having played STW so much.

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http://members.truepath.com/sapphoo/horse.gif

[Durendal]

MTW seems to have done reasonable well in the States. Gamespot publishes the top ten game sales for the week and month in its news section, and I've seen MTW ranked as high as fourth (during it's release, I believe) it later droped to 10th overall for the month of september, and has now sliped below tenth I believe.

So it's not exactly the "Sims", but not bad either, and I imagine it made a killing in the european markets.

Certainly it's done well enough to be considered a success and merit an expansion/sequel wich is a very good thing.

It would be interesting to learn what the hard numbers are and if the game met activisions sales projections, but I do not know how to obtian that information. It's usually only given out as bragging if a game has reached some increadible number like three million (Diablo II, anyone?)

[Richard the Slayer]

Civlization talk? Another forum? Aww what the hell I'll pitch in. No both Civilization 1,2, and 3 sucked. Many will disagree but in a jist the game was too much micro management. I prefer MTW since it combines diff elements such as combat as well as grand stratgey. Lets face it anyone who does a game simulating mankind in Civilization is never going to get it perfect. (If I had choice between Civ 1,2,3 I'd take 3 hands down).

[vyanvotts]

Quote Originally posted by Richard the Slayer:
Lets face it anyone who does a game simulating mankind in Civilization is never going to get it perfect. (If I had choice between Civ 1,2,3 I'd take 3 hands down).[/QUOTE]

nooooo not 3! it was over hyped...buggy...the map editor was a peice of crap couldnt even place units or citys??...then they patched it..its still crap.....but a tiny bit better now u can actually make scenarios and place units and have world war 2 scenarios ect and have all the countrys and towns in right place....but can u set diplomacy in the editorrr......no!......so u can have a world war two scenario turn out anyway the AI likes it like the french being the oppressors.....strange...

[vyanvotts]

Quote Originally posted by Durendal:


So it's not exactly the "Sims", but not bad either, and I imagine it made a killing in the european markets.


[/QUOTE]

i never understood this.....who the hell buys this game neway!?

[Papa Bear!]

who knows... but I've been tempted to now that I saw a patch/mod you could download on gamespy entitled "sims nude kit"

roflmao, I saw that and I was just amazed... well I wont try to analyze that... it speaks for itself.

Anyway, I'd say the reverse, MTW was a flop imo...

I mean it has recieved pretty good reviews, but for all that press and it still hasn't dominated sales? I don't consider that a success. Its one thing for STW to be a sleeper game, its press wasn't huge, it wasn't plastered all over everything, but its reviews were still solid.

MTW has no such excuse as STW, (and its set in medieval europe, which, as was pointed out, is a huge draw).

Basically my oppinion is that the people who have bought MTW are either A: fans of STW, or B: fans of the setting, (i.e. medieval warfare/crusades)... and that doesn't make it a success.

a true success has its popularity in its design. For MTW:in its expert melding of turn based and real time strategy, its depth, its whatever features etc... But it doesn't seem to me like anyone has noticed that, (again, except for those of us that loved STW).

I don't have sales figures, but I just think that games that are really hits... Games that become the masters against whom all others are measured, are games that truly have to dominate a share of the market, enough so that a million copy cat games get in the works.
What does MTW really bring to the table? The only thing I know of is their battle engine, with their little men each calculating his arrow shot... Their strategy side has been done better before, (regardless of whether or not you like more depth, or more fluidity), and the real time battles don't seem to be what this community is really all about. Some reviews for MTW suggest skipping the real time battles enirely, and many on these forums have confessed to doing so. They drag on endlessly at times, and their poor implementation, (with the lack of a save feature for one), had hurt them seriously.

To top all that off, a game isn't really a success until after the smoke clears, (which would be right now, and for the next year I think), and this whole patch debalce, however tired, is hurting them immensely. Poor patching behavior/policy always, always does.

If you look at some of the staples of the gaming genres, starcraft/c&c, the baldurs gate series, unreal tournament/half life... You find that these games all have huge online communities. This is largely due to their success, of course, but its also due to the publisher/developers putting alot into supporting these communities. I feel myself being drawn towards various tangents here, so I'll try to make my point succinct....

MTW doesn't fit into any of those genres, the masters of this genre are all quite old by now, (Civ 2, Heroes of M&M, etc.) Maybe this is because its a smaller market, and MTW just didn't have the possibility for success like the blockbuster titles mentioned above, but I think there are alot of other little details as well.

Strategy empire games are inherently single player. CA fumbled this with a weak AI, no included editing tool for campaigns, (though modders have taken care of this), etc. But they've at least generally offered multiplayer, later versions of civ2 offered multiplyaer, heroes did, civ 3 did, all of the obvious competitors for civilization strategy games offered at least some multiplyer, as well as a deeper and more challenging single player, (whether it be through AI, or through the option to just create your own scenarios, which adds a great deal more replay).

But again we see MTW relying on its battle engine, why oh why! I think the problem with MTW is that, in the end, people will get tired of the battle system, (though it can be stunning to watch, I think), or they wont even have the opportunity to play online in the first place. And the single player community... it will be hampered by the lack of a campaign map editor, the lack of a suffecient AI... etc..

IMO a game can't be a blockbuster unless it has some serious surviveability, and/or it has to be an instant success.

[Richard the Slayer]

Agreed.

[muffinman14]

in civ 3 it was just getting to the end which was a pain in the ass because it took foreverrr. I kind of got tired of it in 3 or 4 months. But with MTW the side of strategy and tactical ability makes MTW seem alot more enjoyable.

[Coeur De Lion]

i wouls say best game ever although im looking forward to pratorians which might take over but were see http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

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Coeur De Lion

[Forward Observer]

Quote Originally posted by vyanvotts:
i never understood this.....who the hell buys this game neway!?

[/QUOTE]

I'll tell you at least two that I know who buys the "Sims".

I work with two ladies who each have 13 year old sons. The fathers in each case are total social misfits, and given today's general cultural anemia, both son's will probably far exceed their fathers in this regard.

I have had occasion to meet each of these young miscreants at a "social" function sponsored by my company. The only thing I found missing in their sociopathic behavior was that neither had a Swastika carved in his forehead.

In both cases their favorite game was the "Sims" Obviously for them, playing at life was more fun than having to live it with any standard of culture, morals, ethics, or honor.

I realize that my observation is anecdotal at best, but it still makes me wonder.

Cheers

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Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.

[Papa Bear!]

That is actually really disturbing...

Oh how the office life job world beckons me... Screw that I'll work in a starbucks where I never have to know sociopathic children 10 years ahead of their dangerous times...

Ahh that rambling aside, I did once know a girl whose little sister, (probably 15-16), was into the sims... but I think she had the good sense to get bored of it.

(maybe that's why there are expansion packs huh?)

[el_slapper]

I did play it much, while boring at work... After 2 entire monthes on Steel Panthers World at War. We didn't have internet & I was limited to pirated games!

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War is not about who is right, only about who is left