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... or anybody who has some idea about the upcoming release
1)There will be the option to use Teppo Ashigaru, warrior monks and Christians priests even if that would be not historically accurate?
2)Is the Ninja and the Sword master so umbeatable as we fear?
3)Where about the possible loophole of hiding ninjas in the map such that nobody can find them?
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nothing in this thread is written in stone, nor does it necessarily come from my own personal experiences
1. No. There will be two distinct campaigns: The Shogun campaign, and the Mongol Invasion. Each is seperate and troop types for each are confined to that campaign. Multi-Player will allow all troops types together (except priests, which are agents).
2. So far the Swordmaster kicks ass like a one man Daimyo-bodyguard unit. So far the AI handles him (if you're playing as the Mongols) as a point-contact person, so there is a chance your men can take him out early if you gang up on him before the rest of the Japanese army catches up.
3. I havne't seen the new units in multiplayer mode, so I dunno.
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Thanks for keeping us updated Soly!
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damn and i only got the game just 3 days ago O_O. well um thanks for the info solypsist
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solypsist: What build are you playing? http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif
I can only laugh at your answers.
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Erm, what the hell is going on?, We have Solypist saying one thing, yet the official E.A rep saying another, personally, I go with E.A, so Solypist, stop messing about, because these jokes suck.
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I am just curious who gave him a build or where he got one from.
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Peace.
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Jon i suspect in this respect that soly is giving hte best of his knowledge and EA is just stirring. Soly feel free to disabuse me of this misconception if necessary http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif. For our sins (and they must have been greart) we generally have to put some trust in Soly on these issues, and I think he's generally close to the truth, so be nice
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It's not a bug, it's a feature
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I am just wondering where he got the build from. Evidently he has at least some connections. There is no dishonor in asking.
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Wireframe I wasn't having a go at you at all, I'd like to know just as much where Soly gets his info from. I was just saying that it's ussualy reasonably reliable, once you get used to guessing what he's made up
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It's not a bug, it's a feature
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LOL.. so normally this guy is full of _____.
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Peace.
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BTW, you could have a go at me if you want.
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I've already discussed where I got my "build" from, and it's contents with some of the admins/insiders online here. Making a game isn't like designing a spyplane, so things do get past "security" from time to time. Notice I've been silent on many issues concerning the expansion, this is because I don't know, so there's no point in talking about them.
In order to prevent confusion (and potentially keep my name in good standing), I've promised some .Org members to no longer mention anything "pre-release" on the subject of the expansion. Please don't ask me to clarify or explain. If you feel I have been lying or joking on the matter, well it's your opinion and you're entitled to it.
[This message has been edited by solypsist (edited 04-25-2001).]
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Very true, Soly. I know what you're talking about.
Let me just add that beta testing hasn't started yet. Everything anybody knows or says that has not been made public officially will probably differ a lot from the final product. I wouldn't rely on the speculations that are made in the forums. Many issues in the final releases have been announced, but nobody knows how they'll turn out.
Also, the beta testers will be limited by a non disclosure agreement so they will not discuss their testing experiences. Sorry....
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solypist: Getting defensive aren't we? I was just curious why you were spreading rumors(even if you feel them to be true) to the community. I am glad you are not going to discuss pre-release stuff anymore. Because it only creates confusion, and disappointments in the end.
Erado San: Testing has been going on in-house for many months. If you're referring to external testing, you would know more about that subject than I do, because I am not aware of such a thing.
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Raskal,
Of course in-house testing has been an ongoing process over the past months. I was referring to player beta testing, kinda like what happened for patch 1.12.
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As an update: the Gamespot screenshots confirm that you will not be able to use Mongol and Japanese units together, not in custom battles, not in multiplayer, not anywhere. Solypsist's information seems to be accurate otherwise (but no, I certainly have no inside info).
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"2. Yu: bravery tinged with heroism."
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oooooh yes, EA has sure done some testing before... ROFL... makes all the difference
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http://www.waymoresports.com/images/...s_logo1501.gif
go Maple Leafs !!!
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I cannot believe that for the first time in months someone from EA/CA/DT hasn't been afraid to show up on the forum and actually participate and no-one even says welcome! Have we become so jaded and cynical?
EA Raskal........Welcome! Hope you have the stamina to stick around and deal with our barbs. It's nice to have an official presence on the boards again. We have been without for far too long.
And speaking of barbs...Soly's so-called "rumors" are as a result of his desire to provide the community with some information related to the expansion as a result of his experiences with the build he has since we haven't heard squat from any official source! Whether they are correct or not relative to the current build is besides the point.
Without any official input from you, other EA reps or the developers this community is pretty much hanging 3 sheets to the wind with no option other than supposition and "rumor-mongering", Soly's sense of humor aside.
Please don't take this as an attack, it isn't. It is rather a tersely worded plea for more information from an official source. Give us something real to chew on instead of accusing us of spreading false rumors based on what we have!
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Obake
I warned you, but did you listen? Ohh, no...it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it?
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yeah we heard many times before theyw ill visit us more frequent. the only thing what is visiting us is mouth and claw diseases. also from England....
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ah obake, so what you're saying is that we should welcome them nicely every 6 months or so when one of them makes a post. i see. not to mention the quality and relevance of those contributions (i guess this one here would be particularly good example). don't forget that 'they've been around' all this time. we met them and welcomed them (very nicely for that matter)- oh about a year ago was it??? if you or anyone else still expects to welcome them, i might as well receive a warm welcome myself, after my first post everyday...
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http://www.waymoresports.com/images/...s_logo1501.gif
go Maple Leafs !!!
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Welcome Jaydee...
Well, I agree with you here. Damn I have defended EA/CA/DT points of view often enough, but the one thing I don't appreciate is their lack of participation in our discussions here and on the official forum.
True, they got a lot of stupid remarks made against them when they did, but their presence here would definitely help stop stupid rumours and could enhance the feeling that, after all, they build it for the gamers. That's us. It is clear that they look at these forums and take our views seriously. A lot of what has been said here and in Question Time 2 has found a way into the new releases, so they do listen to us. But if they showed up here some more and joined the discussions that would certainly lighten the spirit.
As an example, Maddox from Russia is making Ilyushin 2, a ww2 air combat sim. Take a look at their board and look at the amount of participation from Oleg Maddox, head of that company: IL2 Sturmivik Forum
Apart from that, their presence in the Tech Forums could certainly shed some more light on some of the persistent problems. Even though these problems are caused by the gamers' configurations, and not by bugs in the game, their knowledge of the code could give us some more clues on where to start looking for what's wrong on their computer setups.
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At the Black Isle studio forums a top guy involved in BG2 posts in a couple of threads
each day asks questions regulary about design issues. He doesnt get any flames or anger directed at him.
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DoragonPhoenix of the Clan Doragon
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Perhaps the person who remarked here from EA is too busy to comment daily and perhaps reads the board often to get a feel of what the community is thinking. People n the game industry often work 16 to 18 hour days for weeks and months on end. Then during those days they come online to see the anger and such, because of this I am surprised to see them at all.
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Wireframe, before I get started, I'll remind you of an earlier post on this thread where you gave permission for us to "have a go at you". http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif
I have no doubt that Rascal is very busy, especially in light of the some of the layoffs and difficulties EA has been experiencing over the last several months. However, don't forget that Electronic Arts is only the PUBLISHER of the game. The actual coding is being handled by Creative Assembly over in the UK and the production is being handled by Dreamtime Interactive.
It may also help for you to know that the majority of the "old-timers" here also work in the computer industry and I think we all have a pretty good idea of what the developers working conditions are like.
As far as your suprise goes, you should consider spending some time visiting the forums for other games. It is actually quite common for other game companies to have a specific point of contact with their community so that the developers stay in touch with what "we" want. In many cases this will also tend to settle an unruly community down as there is an official source of information coming on a "regular" basis. In the case of our beloved game, that person has been "The Shogun". Richie however is also the marketing manager for CA/DT and has a full plate with those responsibilities and keeping the .com site up to date before he even gets around to us. Given that, he did a decent job in the past, but we haven't seen him for a few months now. As to EA reps showing up, I think they're more interested in busting our chops than they are in providing the community with any support or information based on the content of Rascal's post.
What Erado, JayDee, Magyar, myself and others complain about is that we have been told over and over, again and again that we would be getting more official information and more direct contact from the STW team and it never materializes.
I don't know if that is a direct result of this community being on average a bit older and more intelligent than the rest, or if we're less willing to accept the fluff that other communities lap up. Regardless, we don't play well with those who don't follow through.
I am also willing to bet that if we had more official participation on this board, you would see a lot less antagonism and anger on the part of the community members.
Anyway, most of this is not directed at you personally, I just happened to use you as the "whipping post" for this message, not that it'll make any difference, but I feel better so........what else matters! lol http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/tongue.gif
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Obake
I warned you, but did you listen? Ohh, no...it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it?
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For the record, I agree, and am also champing and snarling and waiting for more hard info to make the waiting.... easier?
Anyway, one thing that they are not doing this time is giving away TOO MUCH information. When the game was first coming out, they were hyping things that eventually got cut from the game. There was disappointment at losing the Father Visitor, for example. Part of the reason to keep silent about gameplay issues, is because they still haven't locked them all down. Also, many of those features can (and hopefully are) modified by our discussions. What if they HAD gone around "officially" saying "Yes, you get all units in MP" and then looked at our forums and saw how concerned we all are about MP unit-balancing issues, then turn around and "officially" say "No, you choose Mongol/Japanese." They end up looking wishy-washy, and we stop believing ANYTHING they say. At least by saying nothing, they aren't contradicting themselves and setting us up for disappointment.
One the other hand, if we don't know the potential possibilities, we can't give them our ideas and concerns. We end up starting our own rumors based on old information, and get even more irritable. Ye goddess, gamers are never happy, are they? http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif
-- B)
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Beta testing started recently the official site said...
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Honour to Clan No Fear.
Visit my resource centre at: http://terazawa.totalwar.org
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I wholeheartedly agree with Obake on this matter, and JayDee as well. I think that they (CA/DT) do not show any direct interest in the goings on in the community beyond updating the Community site and trying to keep up with odds and ends (clan links, tournaments). I do think though that they are slowly coming around in a lot of areas. The problem here for the past year is that it's taken them so long to get around to fixing, making, doing, etc... all of these things.
One of the standout problems that most everyone's had at one time or another is the Official Tech Support for this game and it's online servers. Technically, it doesn't exist beyond the Tech Support page.
Trying to email EA's tech support (the one's who are supposedly responsible for it) is a rediculously unfruitful venture.
Case in point, pre-1.12's release, there were 2 server outages that were caused by some bad scripting, this left us all without Multiplayer for 2 weekends.
It took Richie maybe a few hours to figure this out when he came in to work on Monday each time, and then he most likely had to deal with 4-8 different EA people to get this matter solved - each time.
Me and probably 500+ other people emailed EA's tech support about this the moment the problems started. Most of us never got a reply, and those of us that did got the reply only after having submitted it to 5 different departments, recieving 3 different Tech Support generic emails, and waiting 2-3 weeks for a response! http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/mad.gif
That's F'ing rediculous!
Things like that (which are still ongoing dilemas) have contributed to the cynical attitudes, and various flame fests that we've all had here and elsewhere where it concerns EA UK/USA/Intl. - . It's not just Shogun's community either, there's dozens of game communities out there that were spawned from other EA games - and they aren't happy with the level of service or the manner it is delivered (err...not delivered! http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif ).
Noone's getting personal with the game's distributors, makers, or producers here, we're all quite general in our bitchings and rants - but most everyone agree's that the majority of the problems had resulted from EA's bumbling. Whether it be in the manner that they beta tested versions 1.01, 1.11, or 1.12 - or in how they handle their customer service, we all seem to agree that there's something amiss - not quite right - or definitly f'ed up about the whole deal.
I know that Creative Assembly and Dreamtime have us in their best interests and wishes, and do their best with what they have available - but I think that entrusting the final say on Beta's, Tech Support, or anything else "Quality of Service" (Or Product) related - to EA, is a mistake at this time.
People here want answers, not from their own conjecture, or from PR types, we want to deal with the brains behind the games. We want to be treated like fellow professionals. Most of the people on this board and at my board are directly related to or knee deep involved with making this game better, more enjoyable, and more accessable to all newcomers.
We're the people who help them pay the bills because we spend our free time advertising and discussing their games so that people will join in the fun and make sure that they keep on making these games.
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The Daimyo
Miaowara "Kakizaki" Tomokato
@ http://www.planettotalwar.com
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two people said, Quote I cannot believe that for the first time in months someone from EA/CA/DT hasn't been afraid to show up on the forum and actually participate and no-one even says welcome!
Perhaps the person who remarked here from EA is too busy to comment daily and perhaps reads the board often to get a feel of what the community is thinking.
[/QUOTE]
It might be different if the EA guys showed up to give us some info once in a while, but instead EA Raskal spent his time trying to razz me for having something in my possession that the EA Development guys didn't know about. They're too busy to comment daily? Yet one guy can pop in and do his best to make me "get defensive" and then quickly disappear before anyone hits him up for some real posts. BTW, if that's their attempt at "damage control," for (possibly) missing development stuff, then that should explain EA's wonderful community outreach efforts.
Come on, these clowns at EA are napping, they have no intent of letting the Community Beta Testing have any effect on what they've put together; my little "build" I (may or may not, you understand)have is proof that everything's pretty much been decided on since mid-March and that the Community Beta is probably more for patch-development reasons than for application on the actual expansion.