Is Kingdoms worth buying?

**zor** · 06-03-2008, 09:16

I already have m2tw vanilla. Does Kingdoms offer anything new or better in terms of the original grand campaign? Do you think there's a chance they'll release a 2nd expansion?

And would I have to uninstall m2tw (since it's already patched to 1.03) before installing Kingdoms?

Thanks in advance.

**cassu** · 06-03-2008, 09:39

Kingdoms offer smaller campagins then vanilla:the americas, crusades. britannia, teutonic. If you dont like to have these kind of smaller campagins you can get stainless steel that gives you the whole map and the new factions.

You dont need to uninstall m2tw before installing kingdoms and it patches to 1.3 if you haven't already patched

I think Kingdoms is worth it whatever these securom whiners say

**WarMachine187** · 06-03-2008, 10:16

Yeh,kingdoms is worth it.Theres more factions and stuff and little more direction.Its a big step up from the alexander expansion.Which would get a little boring after beating it the first time.This expansion,however has alot to offer.

**Rhyfelwyr** · 06-03-2008, 11:06

Kingdoms is definetely worth getting, the campaigns are a lot more immersive, and some of the most annoying bugs eg pikes not working are now sorted.

**PBI** · 06-03-2008, 11:55

As expansions go Kingdoms is well worth the money, with its four new campaigns, and with a lot of the more annoying bugs fixed in the latest patch (though I wasn't aware they had fixed the pike bug Caledonian, was this in the patch?). The only concern for me is over the Securom issue, but I must say that I haven't had any problems caused by it; I think it's supposed to conflict with certain programs somehow, but not apparently any programs I have. The principle of the thing (Securom installs un-deletable files on your computer without your consent) is rather galling, but not enough so that I am likely to refuse to buy any CA games. But it's probably worth reading up on to make sure you don't have anything which will make Securom grumpy before you buy.

I should point out the current version of SS (6.1 I think) with the Kingdoms factions added requires Kingdoms to play; there is an older version which runs without Kingdoms but I don't think it has the Kingdoms factions in it. If you want a good mod which will run without Kingdoms I would highly recommend Broken Crescent; it has a new campaign map centered on the Middle East and has a very different feel to vanilla in terms of the factions and unit balance, so I would suggest it if you are bored with the grand campaign.

As far as I am aware there are no plans to release a second expansion, the next CA release will be Empires in November. But Kingdoms feels like four expansions, there is easily enough in it to keep you busy until then.

**Must`** · 06-03-2008, 12:21

It is definitively worth buying, it's like 4 games in price of one, one of the best expansion for any game ever. Every campaign has something unique and all of them are interesting on their way.

**G^2** · 06-03-2008, 12:30

As PBI and everyone stated, Kingdoms is a great expansion. I honestly didn't like the vanilla Grand Campaign very much because there was too much going on and it wasn't very historical. However, with Kingdoms, you can really immerse yourself in the time period and conflict. I played the kingdoms campaigns more than the Grand Campaign. Also, SS 6.1 is a great mod, that you need kingdoms for, that in itself is reason enough to get it.

As for Secu Rom, I personally never had a problem. I don't know what it effects or how it works (other than its anti-pirating software) but I figure I pick up stuff off the internet all the time which has to be worse than Secu Rom. Many other Org. members have Kingdoms and I haven't heard any complaints about Secu Rom affecting anyone's computer.

**FactionHeir** · 06-03-2008, 14:30

I don't have kingdoms and won't be getting it.
The only real bugs that are fixed were unfinished features in Kingdoms proper rather than anything that affects the main game and the patching policy of leaving vanilla M2TW unfinished and the patches only fixing things in Kingdoms is quite off-putting.

In a nutshell, Kingdoms is nothing more than 4 mods with a few more modding related features, nothing else.

So basically grab any 4 community made mods and that's Kingdoms for you.

**zor** · 06-03-2008, 16:23

Thanks everyone.

Does securom make you more susceptible to be infected with malware? I remember there was a Norton program (some kind of special recycle bin that used root-kit like technology) that some thought would make you more prone to be infected with malware. (Norton changed it after people complained if I recall)

Securom, doesn't have any chance of disabling the dvd drive does it? I only have one optical drive and can't afford to have it go haywire on me :)

Hey, does anyone know if there's a way to stop the dvd drive from being so noisy when the computer starts up? That's one big reason I hate having to keep the dvd in the drive. The computer boots up noisy (before running the game or anything; just having something in there makes it noisy for a little bit).

**Ferret** · 06-03-2008, 16:30

SecuROM is a myth I did a few searches on various forums and nowhere had anyone experienced any problem with it, however minor.

And yeah Kingdoms is worth it just for the mods.

**FactionHeir** · 06-03-2008, 16:31

SecuROM discussion and all details here:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=90997

With summary (i.e. a lot shorter and concise) view here:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=97550

As for your Drive, if you reduce the speed it will be less noisy. Also having it flat instead of tilted helps.

**zor** · 06-03-2008, 16:58

Thanks all. Well, after reading that one thread (the first 80 posts or so at least), I am definitely not getting Kingdoms :(. Hopefully Empires will not come with securom. The thing that concerned me the most from the thread was a post that pointed out that securom has flaws or bugs that can potentially be exploited. And since securom can't be uninstalled, you have to worry about not just any exploits available now but any exploits that will become available for the life of your system. Securom doesn't update itself to make it more secure like Windows Update does!

I don't see why they can't just do some kind of online activation (and offer over the phone for people w/out internet) like they do with Windows. Then, you wouldn't even need to keep the dvd in the drive.

**cassu** · 06-03-2008, 18:02

zor there is alot of things that are easier exploitable then possible bugs in securom, you can get infected even by visiting some malware sites and no computer is 100% safe. If you think about it you realize that
A) Securom is not widely used and therefor not a good target (compared to software that comes with windows
B)The bugs are only possible (haven't read the thread)
C)there are so many other better targets for the malware makers

[Linking to cd-cracks and copy protection workarounds is a big no-no. -- Martok]

**Ferret** · 06-03-2008, 18:33

in b4

I think it's against forum rules to post links to bypassing security software....

**irishron2004** · 06-03-2008, 19:17

Originally Posted by Elite Ferret

in b4

I think it's against forum rules to post links to bypassing security software....

In this case I believe it is relevant as I have from one of Sega's own support people, and unsupported by Sega for obvious reasons, another site for removing SucuROM.