How much would you have paid for ETW knowing what you know now?

[antisocialmunky]

Just out of curiosity: Since PC game prices might very well be going up thanks to Acti-Blizzard this December, how much would have paid for ETW at launch given your experiences with the game until now?

I'm going to say $40(80%) USD since while its good its not great and I don't think tis quite worth the extra $10 I had to shellout for it to get it at launch unlike a game like... CIV4 which I would gladly have paid $50 for at launch since it has provided hours of entertainment for me. As another comparison, I would have gladly paid full price for RTW for Europa Barbarorum alone.

:)

*Yes I realize that this will probably devolve into a a flamefest, lets see if it can't go longer than one page:yes:

[pevergreen]

My semi-moderator side is concerned about the last option. Those things are pretty much not discussed around here. You know that. :grin2:

I paid about $72 USD for my copy. Go cry about your prices elsewhere.

:beam:
Its ok. ~:pat:

[antisocialmunky]

That's why its in %'s and Aussies have to pay like ~100+USD for games so they beat you.

[pevergreen]

That's why its in %'s and Aussies have to pay like ~100+USD for games so they beat you.

~:wave: Hi, my name is pevergreen and I was born, raised and still live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

[Scribble]

I paid £29.99 for ETW. If I'd have know now just how disappointed I'd be by it, or indeed how little I'd touch it; I would just not have bothered getting it.

[Krauser]

That's why its in %'s and Aussies have to pay like ~100+USD for games so they beat you.

Ah I misunderstood and thought the %'s were all $'s. I agree with you for $40, because it does add a few things over RTW that I like but has the same horrible AI and diplomacy. (never bought M2 because it seemed more of the same, maybe now that it's only $20)

[GeneralHankerchief]

I'd pay the same amount, personally. That game entertained me for about a month and a half straight. I'd consider it a good deal. :yes:

(American speaking though. Not sure I'd pay Aussie prices for it.)

[antisocialmunky]

~:wave: Hi, my name is pevergreen and I was born, raised and still live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

SHORYUKEN! = Brisbane, Australia Noted.:book:

[Martok]

I edited the poll's options a bit. For those countries outside the U.S., assume approximately equivalent price(s) in your own currency. :bow:

[Marcus Caelius]

I have my issues with the game, and they are much the same issues that everyone else has,

I paid 25 pounds, and am happy with the price i paid. I still consider my criticisms to be of the 'tough love' variety, since i've been a loyal CA customer since STW.

In general i am very pleased with the graphical developments. The maps are beautiful. The trade system is inspired - could still do with some tweaking, but the concepts are excellent.

The trade route system and raiding of traderoutes is also a very nice feature

The battle AI is much better than previously i think, although the AI could do with a simple checklist before attempting to storm a fort.

The separate maps feature is excellent, and well done (is it possible to add more maps to include South East Asia - or even extend India to include Burma and Siam, that would be cool)

the towns, farms, schools, etc system, works very well and adds a lot to the game.

The pirates i've revised my opinion of, and now think that although the concept is flawed, the execution is good enough and makes for an entertaining and challenging part of the game

the diplomacy system would be almost great if only the algorithms were improved. Structurally speaking it would be better if there was some kind of auto-haggle, rather than having to manually remake every offer.

The trade technology feature should just be edited out altogether since actually making it work is obviously beyond CA.

It's worth it. i just hope that they think beyond the box for the AI problems.

Actually i know how they can solve the problem for the next release, and it needn't really cost them very much at all in terms of manhours.

[antisocialmunky]

I edited the poll's options a bit. For those countries outside the U.S., assume approximately equivalent price(s) in your own currency. :bow:

That kinda screws up the poll since most regions have their own RSP value. The original poll was referring to % of what your country's standard PC game RSP you would pay for ETW.:inquisitive:

[pevergreen]

It wasnt very clear to me at least.

Shoryuken is a throw to SFIV. Check Monk's title, you'll find it says Hadouken!

[antisocialmunky]

IT would still be better if you converted it back to percents.

[Slaists]

I don't care so much about the price. As someone said, the game did provide entertainment for quite some time. Probably way more than our regular cable for the monthly subscription fee.

Different issue is the quality of the game. In my opinion, the following sums up the current state of ETW (1.3):

1. Campaign AI: CA does not even know where to start to handle this one. It's complete crap... and it has been complete crap in all vanilla TW games since Shogun
2. Battle AI: very poor
3. Graphics: excellent, two thumbs up...

[Martok]

IT would still be better if you converted it back to percents.
A fair point. I've changed it back to percentages, although I've re-worded the choices to (hopefully) make them a little easier to understand. (If they're still off, shoot me a PM and I'll fix it.) :bow:

[Prussian to the Iron]

im american: i would have paid full price. i am still having lots of fun with this game, and mods make it a lot more interesting.

[peacemaker]

I would pay the full price for the game. It's entertained me for months and I don't regret buying it one bit. It sometimes gets bored, and then I think "you know what? I feel like RTW or M2tw was better". So I boot up one of those games, and suddenly get annoyed with that. Building watchtowers seems so repetitive and useless, you can only build one building or upgrade at a time, and the map is fairly small. There was another post on these forums about how CA has eliminated some of the boring things like watchtowers and retraining units. Now I just select everyone and press a button and they replenish on the march to the next target. Before I had to bring them into a town and sit there while the AI regroups its forces. The diplomacy is worlds better, since you can now contact any nation quickly. Granted, they might not be too cooperative but I like it nonetheless.

[Prussian to the Iron]

I would pay the full price for the game. It's entertained me for months and I don't regret buying it one bit. It sometimes gets bored, and then I think "you know what? I feel like RTW or M2tw was better". So I boot up one of those games, and suddenly get annoyed with that. Building watchtowers seems so repetitive and useless, you can only build one building or upgrade at a time, and the map is fairly small. There was another post on these forums about how CA has eliminated some of the boring things like watchtowers and retraining units. Now I just select everyone and press a button and they replenish on the march to the next target. Before I had to bring them into a town and sit there while the AI regroups its forces. The diplomacy is worlds better, since you can now contact any nation quickly. Granted, they might not be too cooperative but I like it nonetheless.

100% agreed.

only shame is that now you cant sell military access for 1000 bucks a pop. makes it a bitch tying to play as spain.

[loony]

i paid 40 EURo ~ 60 USD.

knowing what I would get, I'd pay no more than 15 EURO ~ 22,5 USD.

I have been mocked for this purchase many times over by an acquaintance, who buy(s) the game only if he likes it and thinks it is priced properly.
He did buy Rome and Medieval (and other games he liked); he's not buying ETW though.

having just lost (i.e. overpaid ) 40 USD, i think there is more sense to his approach than it seemed before.

[Xipe Totec]

I bought the Special Forces Edition in the shops on the day of release. Like RTW before it, I value it higher than my entire collection of 'other pc games'. :2thumbsup: CA!

Was SFE worth the extra? Probably not. The map was a bit disappointing after the splendid large full colour RTW version, but then the M2TW map was also a crummy little b/w. Better than 0 though, I still like to look at a map to plot my future conquests and evaluate my position: it makes me feel more like a real general. :clown:

Of the extra units the only one that has made a significant impact on any of my campaigns has been the Ghoorkas. As the Marathas it can be a bit of a stroll against the Mughals, but when a very large bunch of khukri wielding terminators is running towards your line you know real fear -unless they act like they are being commanded by Bonnie Prince Charlie and stand still for ages getting shot up.

Yes I've had more CTD's than I care to mention and all manner of gripes, moans and Pontingesque whinges. But ...

If someone offered me a transfer to a parallel universe where SEGA had not released ETW yet because it was still being play-tested and debugged, and I could have an extra £40 to spend on booze, junk food or a couple of CD's, I'll be staying right here and finishing my gripping Spain campaign thanks. :beam:

[antisocialmunky]

A fair point. I've changed it back to percentages, although I've re-worded the choices to (hopefully) make them a little easier to understand. (If they're still off, shoot me a PM and I'll fix it.) :bow:

Thanks, looks great. :)

[FactionHeir]

Where's your option for CA paying us to get their game?

[vicsrealms]

I haven't touched it since the last patch. They seem to fix some things and they break others. I'm about fed up with it already. So, I would have to say that I would spend $0. If I had known I would have to go through this, I would have never purchased this game to begin with. We will see how the next series of patches help the game, but I am not a happy camper. Oh well, I went back to Mass Effect to create my perfect Shepard for Mass Effect 2.

[Zenicetus]

I think it's a little early for a poll like this, unless you're just looking for a snapshot of people's current feelings. CA is still working to improve the game, and that means it's still a moving target for any serious modding. I'll know whether it was worth the full price to me (or not) after CA releases the last patch, and we see what the modders can do with it from there.

I'm willing to put the game aside for a while, to see what the next patch looks like. Aside from the naval battles (which are a total joke IMO, and I already wrote off pre-release), I think all the elements are in place for a great game. It's too early to tell whether CA (and to a certain extent the modding community) can deliver on the potential.

It would be nice if we didn't have to wait a year for a polished game. But that's been CA's history with recent TW titles, and anyone familiar with the series knew how this was going to go. I waited for the first couple of patches before buying it. I'm just glad they still seem to be working on updates.

[Sebastian Seth]

I have spotted it twice in local super market and they are asking 57€ from it. (I paid 52€ from medieval 2 total war in same place.)

---

I brought the original Shogun Total War and the Expancion for it. I was happy with the game but disapointed with the expancion.

I got the original Medieval Total War free from my friend and I brought the expancion from discount box. I was disapointed with the game but I quite liked the expancion.

I somehow liked the rome total war but loved the expancion. (The barbarian invasion. Never found the Alexander one.)

I brought the original Medieval 2 Total war as overpriced new release. Expancion was also on sale somewhere but the price was ridiculous so I passed. (On top of that the requirements where so high that I had to buy new PC to fight mongols in Antioch.)

---

I'm disapointed in CA's work and I dont think i'm going to buy their products anymore. Theres only so much I can give to my original love: Shogun total war.

[Khorak]

I was happy with the game until the first round of patches made the economy odiously overbearing and the diplomacy even more pointless than it already was.

And it wasn't perfect even before they slowed the game down to a boring crawl, I couldn't feel like I could take any of the factions and do whatever the hell I liked with it, unlike Medieval 2, except for certain factions where the economic drudgery completely fell off the other side of the wagon if you played your cards right at the start and ended up providing your serfs with golden underpants....which isn't fun because I'm doing the same damn thing every single game. I thought the idea was the provide a realistic setting in which to have a massively unrealistic, blood soaked romp where peasants grow money, everyone is running around in plate armour in the desert, the Danes launch a Crusade to Jerusalem because it'll be fun, and the strategic juggling consists of 'want money stuff and archery ranges because I heart Longbowmen and those French losers have got cavalry coming out their ears'. By all rights Empire should have wracked up a death toll of about a hundred thousand men every single turn as the whole world gets turned into a grisly meatgrinder of doom waged between dynamic alliances forged by opportunistic, machiavellian b*****ds. But no, instead we're sitting around braiding each others hair for trade agreements while I carefully exploit crap AI playing Empire: Sweep The Rug Out From Under The World. Playing it now makes the innovation of in the field unit replenishment a vicious tease, because it doesn't really matter in this game. It would be way more useful when me and a vast viking Crusade are marauding across the Holy Land, headbutting to death anything that doesn't have blonde hair.


Please try to keep things clean (even if the imagery conjured by the original phrasing was admittedly rather funny). -- Martok

[antisocialmunky]

I think it's a little early for a poll like this, unless you're just looking for a snapshot of people's current feelings.

Really that's the point of this thread. The game has come a long way from where it was and it seems most people would pay a fair price for it(~80%-100% of RSP). There are lots of games I wouldn't have paid any money for(mostly by EA) so it really says something about the current patching process.

@Martok - The options are a little skewed since originally the full price option was 100%-80%. Oh well, it doesn't really matter.

[Cultured Drizzt fan]

Well with the game as it is I would have probably only bought it for about half price. But I still have high hopes that CA can patch this into a excellent game. Its like what has been said, everything is there for it to be a great game, they just need to put it all together (And release the dang Hotseat function.....)

[Monk]

I bought this game on day one. Actually I bought it on day negative two as I preordered it from Steam. I spent 50 USD on it and played it from the first hour of release, and if I had a time machine the week after buying to go back and change my purchase (or perhaps choose how much I could pay for it) I'd tell you I wouldn't have bought ETW.

I do not think it's a failing on CA's behalf, rather I think it is the fault of the massive PR campaign us fans were bombarded with in the days leading up to release. Every single gaming outlet reported that this was the "best game evar" and put ETW right in our face. ETW was touted as the best game of the generation, at least when it came to strategy titles, and honestly it was hard not to get swept up in all that hype. No one stood up to point out the flaws in the game, no one was looking out for us, all we got was "buy buy buy!" verdicts and many of us took the plunge.

What was waiting on the other side was a game that, while good and showing amazing room for potential, was nowhere near the end all beat all of strategy titles we were lead to believe it was. It is a perfect example of what high expectations can do to a good game. Most of ETW's problems might have been excused if some reviewers had the courage to stand up and say "Eh, it's alright" instead of anointing the game as the second coming. Unfortunately for me, those sorts of voices didn't speak up until after i'd already made the buy so it was all or nothing for me.

Today ETW has come a long way and I am immensely impressed by CA's efforts, but imo it's still got a long way to go. The potential is still there to be "best evar" but it's still not there.

If I had that time machine now, I'd probably pay up to $25 for ETW (40%ish of what i paid).

[Servius]

I said full price. It's a good game, and far better than many other games I've paid full price for. I'd say even with its faults it's still the best TW game since MTW or STW. It's fixed most of the problems that came about with the shift to a 3D camp map (much too short unit travel ranges, tons of 1-unit armies roving around, etc.). They've got a good grip on the locomotion issues that crept up with the 3D units introduced in RTW too. Units move at much more realistic paces, no more sprinting in place over swamps and such. The trade system is a huge improvement both in terms of complexity but also good explanations via in-game tool tips. There's also RT naval warfare now, which can be cool (I don't care much for naval warfare in general but I know many do). Sure, it's still not perfect, but what game is? In my eyes, once they fix the diplomatic AI and the way the campaign AI executes each nation's diplomatic policies, the game will be a polished as we could expect a game to be, and the rest of the stuff will be relatively marginal things that modders can easily handle.

[gardibolt]

Never been able to get it to run. Waste of money.

[nafod]

I bought this game on day one. Actually I bought it on day negative two as I preordered it from Steam. I spent 50 USD on it and played it from the first hour of release, and if I had a time machine the week after buying to go back and change my purchase (or perhaps choose how much I could pay for it) I'd tell you I wouldn't have bought ETW.

I do not think it's a failing on CA's behalf, rather I think it is the fault of the massive PR campaign us fans were bombarded with in the days leading up to release. Every single gaming outlet reported that this was the "best game evar" and put ETW right in our face. ETW was touted as the best game of the generation, at least when it came to strategy titles, and honestly it was hard not to get swept up in all that hype. No one stood up to point out the flaws in the game, no one was looking out for us, all we got was "buy buy buy!" verdicts and many of us took the plunge.

What was waiting on the other side was a game that, while good and showing amazing room for potential, was nowhere near the end all beat all of strategy titles we were lead to believe it was. It is a perfect example of what high expectations can do to a good game. Most of ETW's problems might have been excused if some reviewers had the courage to stand up and say "Eh, it's alright" instead of anointing the game as the second coming. Unfortunately for me, those sorts of voices didn't speak up until after i'd already made the buy so it was all or nothing for me.

Today ETW has come a long way and I am immensely impressed by CA's efforts, but imo it's still got a long way to go. The potential is still there to be "best evar" but it's still not there.

If I had that time machine now, I'd probably pay up to $25 for ETW (40%ish of what i paid).

Exactly Monk thus the point I've been trying to make. Most of us complainers, ahem well I guess I can only speak for myself, suffer from all the glamour and flora that was placed on the game pre-launch. It's what marketers refer to as an "expectation gap."

---Along these lines anyone notice the scheduled flight times for your flights in the US getting longer, although the route or equipment haven't changed? It's the same thing inversed.

In short am I happy ETW? Nope. Content Yep.
Would I recommend it to anyone else? Nope.
Do I feel the need to sue CA? Nope.

Will I play this as long as MTW2 or RTW? Already decided, no. But that's a trend of computer games today. Take Morrowwind versus Oblivion or even Fallout 3.

[Jolt]

Haven't bought it. Won't buy it either. I have got many games on top of the priority list than this one. The very simple fact that Portugal isn't a playable faction completely ruins the possibility of CA getting any of my money. Other than that, from what I hear, the diplomacy sucks and the game is riddled with bugs.

Maybe Rome 2: Total War.

[peacemaker]

This game was most certainly hyped up a huge amount. If it was as good as everybody said it was pre-release, I would have put it in my 'favorite games of all time' (left 4 dead, halo 2, call of duty 4). I would certainly have paid more.

But alas, I knew that there were some issues. I'm definetely satisfied and I'm certain that in that engine, in those files, is the perfect game. But unfortunately CA can't get it together perfectly. The vanilla game, when CA is done patching, will be mediocre to good, depending on my mood. The mods, I imagine, will bring the game to its full potential.

Fingers crossed CA, surprise me:yes:

[Didz]

I paid £29.99 for my copy, but given that its not really finished and really has very little strategy or historical interest I think half that would be too much to pay. I would probably have hung on until it appeared in the budget software section and picked it up for a tenner. I certainly have no intention of paying for the stuff they missed out, particularly when the stuff they are producing makes no difference to the problem the game has.

[Skullheadhq]

Full price, that CA has to pay me to play their silly game.

[Maleficus]

In all fairness, with whichever patch number we're on now, it's very much one of the better games around. Not the best, and not as good as it could have should have been, but better than the vast majority of games.

Of course, they really should have finished it before they released it in the first place, and had they not patched as well as they have done, I would be saying that I wouldn't bother with it, in hindsight.

However, in view of the stellar post-release job, I'm going to say 60%, which would work out at around £28 (for SF). Why only 60% for a game I get plenty of hours of enjoyment from? Well, because it shouldn't have taken so long to make playable, and I feel that CA could have made more of an effort with the aesthetics, too. Uniforms, music, etc.

Lucky we have some talented modders among us, eh?

Actually, maybe CA should pay the modders for finishing their game for them....

[pevergreen]

In all fairness, with whichever patch number we're on now, it's very much one of the better games around. Not the best, and not as good as it could have should have been, but better than the vast majority of games.

Of course, they really should have finished it before they released it in the first place, and had they not patched as well as they have done, I would be saying that I wouldn't bother with it, in hindsight.

However, in view of the stellar post-release job, I'm going to say 60%, which would work out at around £28 (for SF). Why only 60% for a game I get plenty of hours of enjoyment from? Well, because it shouldn't have taken so long to make playable, and I feel that CA could have made more of an effort with the aesthetics, too. Uniforms, music, etc.

Lucky we have some talented modders among us, eh?

Actually, maybe CA should pay the modders for finishing their game for them....

CA: We're nearing the end of the road! Now, for a few months of solid testing!
Sega: YOU MUST RELEASE THIS GAME TOMORROW!
CA: R U SRS? :gah: Fine then.

Game is released

Sega: We have our money, do what you want.
CA: Guys, we gotta patch this quick, make it how we wanted!


The designers are pushed by the distributors, Sega, in this case.

[Cyclops]

$0.

In fact I would happily pay someone to undo the damage it did to my system before I installed it.

CA games in the past were very forgiving regardless how old or new the system was: I've had 2 systems since 1997. My theory is spend bomb on a great system, make it as future proof as possible (load up on RAM etc: I get my IT buddy's advice on specs), then just upgrade and tweak in a small way to stay abreast.

STW, MTW, RTW and M2TW all ran well on whether the system was built 5 years before or 5 years after the game was designed (and I have played everything from cutting edge FPS to clunky retro AMIGA emulators happily). Suddenly with ETW its porridge in there, and everything else is screwed up too.

I cannot stress how strongly I resent the Steam fiasco, and I will never buy another game via that system. I hope CA and/or SEGA can disentangle themselves from that poorly performing model.