Official Total War survey

[lenin96]

CA is holding a survey that could decide the next Total War game, Classical Greece sounds the best I think. Has anyone else posted this?

http://www.totalwarsurvey.com/survey.tao

[Polemists]

The list for those curious is

Rome:
Covering the three Punic Wars (264-146BC) including Hannibal's passage over the Alps, followed by the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Romane Empire. Rome rules the Mediterranean with its huge armies which are reliant on the navy for support.

The First World War:
From the Western Front to the Middle East, the First World War rages. Trench warfare creates a stalemate, broken by bloody battle on land, such as Somme, and naval engagements such as Jutland. The introduction of tanks, gas, and planes to the battlefield changes war forever.

Classical Greece:
The timeline streches from Greco-Persian Wars of 5th Century BC, through Sparta's dominance and the creation and division of Alexander's Empire. Use the brute force of the hoplite, or ingenious inventions such as Archimedes Claw.

Imperial China and Feudal Japan:
From the brith of the Shogunate in Japan following the Gempei War, through the Mongol invasion and repulsion, to the rise of the Ming Dynasty in China. This is the age of Samurai in Japan and an era of resurgence in China which saw the building of the forbidden city and the creation of chinese navy.

19th Century
Following the death of Napoleon there is no end to conflict. The mexican-american war, the Crimean War, the American Civil War, and the Boer War all contribute to rapid changes in technology. It is the end of the Age of the Sial, and the be beginning of the age of steam.


This is all taken from the survey, though I may have some grammatical errors as I was trying to copy it from notepad. It's not listed by preference merely listed as on the Sega survey.

[hoom]

I'd like some sort of official confirmation of the legitimacy of this before I go giving them the details requested.

I'm pretty much inclined toward either China or Classic Greece.

Napoleonic should be either expansion of Empire or after whatever is next.

Its vital that the TW series doesn't get stuck in a loop doing just the same few periods: Rome, Medival, Age of Sail & Japan.

[Polemists]

legitmacy it's CA's webpage?

I mean unless someone has hijacked CA's webpage it is the standard, how much gaming do you do, what games do you want to see from us survey.

I personally don't mind a loop as I throughly enjoyed middle ages, rome times, and shogun period. So if they just keep redoing them better, with new graphics, and more features.

That said, I'd also play classical greece or the others.

Only world war 1 holds no appeal.

Though I did notice each mention holds a reference to Navy, clearly CA wants to get most they can out of this new naval engine.

[lenin96]

I hope for classical Greece, but I would rather something further back, like 1500BC-1200BC.

[Fisherking]

Yes, I took it. Its four pages and gets into all sorts of preferences.

If there is another title you like you can do a write in. Over all a good mix of choices.

And Hay! They are actualy asking the fans what the like best.

[Sir Beane]

I hope Asia wins! We need a game that features mainland Asia, since it has never been present in a Total War game before.

Classical Greece would be just another Total War set in Europe, as would Rome (in fact both would be very similar to RTW). And the 19th century would be very similar to Empire. Personally I think that the First World War would be a disaster and I would definitely be unsure about buying the game if they went there (and so would many others if my poll is accurate).

Asia is the only game that would truly be different to previous titles. And not set in tired old Europe.

[Polemists]

Actually every one of those listed were a poll or mentioned heavily here at some point.

Like all things TW, they are following the .org trend.

LONG LIVE THE GUILD

[PBI]

Imperial China and Feudal Japan:
From the brith of the Shogunate in Japan following the Gempei War, through the Mongol invasion and repulsion, to the rise of the Ming Dynasty in China. This is the age of Samurai in Japan and an era of resurgence in China which saw the building of the forbidden city and the creation of chinese navy.

I can categorically state without shadow of a doubt nor any hint of exaggeration that this would be the best game ever made.

So long as it would definitely be based around the broader Sinosphere and not just Japan. Not that there would be anything wrong with a Japanese setting per se, it's just I feel that China has such a complex and interesting a history and is of such importance to world history that the fact it has not yet been portrayed seems something of an anomaly. It would be a major missed opportunity to omit it again in what would probably be the last Asian-based game for a while.

Glad to see WWI is at least on the list, and double points for being there without being lumped in with WWII.

There are no decent and mainstream games out there which cover the subject which is also why I think CA should and will go for it, they will be ahead of the curve and their game will stand out.

I strongly agree with this sentiment and will keep repeating it until I am blue in the face. WWI has scarcely been touched on in computer games; any categorical statements that a WWI Total War would be an utter disaster/ would be the best thing ever are based purely on speculation, not to mention a good deal of assumptions about what form such a game would take. Is it not worth at least having a go to see if there is potential for a game in there?

Personally I think that the First World War would be a disaster and I would definitely be unsure about buying the game if they went their (and so would many others if my poll is accurate).

Bear in mind I was one of those who voted "Definately not" in that poll, yet I was one of the most ardent advocates in that thread of a WWI setting in principle, at some point. I certainly wouldn't be put off by a WWI setting, I just feel the technology isn't there yet to do it justice. For the record, the interpretation I would most like would be a game more broadly based in the period of the late 19th century to around 1920, as suggested in the other thread, rather than a focus on a single conflict.

Once you can carpet bomb cities, I'm just not sure a game hold anymore tactical value other then on the world map.

You are conflating WWI and WWII; WWI did not see large-scale strategic bombing, other than a few Zeppelin raids which were basically just for propaganda value.

[Praxil]

For me games are definitely artistic in many ways, because you have to be creative to make them. Games are interactive entertainment. Games are not cars or tools or something like that. They should never be developed or sold like that. Never ever should developers listen to what so called "fans" are thinking. However they should definitely hear them out for new ideas, but should never directly try to satisfy these screaming micro hordes.

What I mean is that developers should always develop games within the goals they have set. Developers should always develop games for themselves and if that appeals a lot of people, then that is good business also. Unless you're trying to appeal masses, of course you can sell an awful game. I'm not saying you couldn't. Strategy games are not for masses, masses could not be bothered with, stop and think for a second what to do and how to do it.

As far as it goes for Naval combat. Develop completely separate game about it, that should concentrate completely on naval combat only. That way you could do games about WWI and WWII naval warfare.

With this kind of "survey" I definitely feel that this franchise is taking it's last breath.

The thing is that the potential is still so huge that the CA has barely even scratched it. I mean the execution isn't really there yet. I don't mind of recycling the historical themes introduced so far, just keep improving that gameplay. Thinking about Civilization series. Pretty much nothing new in the core of the gameplay, however it's just so much improved. Call of Duty (far fetched I know) Infinity Ward franchise. Same MP gameplay just like in the first one, but here and there is clearly improved.

[Sir Beane]

@ Praxil

This is not the first time that CA have launched an official poll asking people what game to make. I know for certain that they did this with Rome and Medieval 2. In fact many people have said that Empire Total War was a direct result of fan requests (combined with new tech being available).

The franchise is hardly taking it's last breath just because CA want to know what the fans want to play. They may have put WW1 up there as a choice, but given the response in https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=110534 thread it probably won't be a popular choice.

I can't see a problem with asking fans what game they want to play. You say CA shuold develop games for themselves, but what if no one wants to buy the game they want to make? They are left with having wasted money and years of their lives on junk, basically.

This is not the kind of economy to be taking risks in. CA are doing this poll because htey need to know what will sell, in order to stay in business.

And CA aren't trying to appeal to 'the masses' in the way the Wii is. The wii appeals to masses of non-gamers. CA is trying to appeal to the masses of gamers who will generally play anything if it is high quality enough and fun enough.

Saying strategy games are for the masses is dismissive and a little narrow-minded. There are many strategy games that have sold extremely well, and clearly dont appeal to just hardcore fans. Think Age of Empires, Command and Conquer and recently Sins of a Solar Empire (not to mention previous Total War games.)

So don't worry about the Total War series being on it's last legs because of a poll. CA going under will only happen if they do not listen to the fans, not because they do.

[Thermal]

while not too convinced imagine world war 1 modding wise, all the mods you could do with tanks and guns and stuff, with all that technology fantasy mods would be amazing!

[Monk]

Wow.

I was really tempted to vote for the Asian total war option. I'd love to see that entire area reimagined in the empire engine.. but I have to say I went with WW1. It's an era that has seen little exploration (lemme rephrase, good exploration) in terms of videogames.

Unlike ww2, where it's been done to death, ww1 would give you the chance to really see primordial technology (U-boats, machine guns, aircraft and tanks!) as well as be thrown into some of History's bloodiest battles. It would force veterans of the TW franchise after having mastered the gunpowder, medieval and Sengoku Jidai eras, to completely rethink diplomacy and strategy, as well as battlefield tactics. It would be amazing to see the sluggish tanks of the era going toe to toe it out in no man's land. We're all familiar with combined arms, but now factoring in Aircraft, it's in effect a whole new area that CA could expand their franchise. Not only would we have armies and navies, but air forces too!

If the naval battle engine were to be updated, evolved and carried over from ETW we could see huge, smoke spewing battleships slugging it out on the high seas. And really, who isn't interested in that!

[chairman]

Im disappointed by the lack of an earlier game for China such as the Warring States or Three Kingdoms. I voted for Feudal Japan/Imperial Japan. If they did this, my understanding is that it would start sometime during the Song dynasty(960-1279) like say 1050 or 1100 and continue till the Tokugawa Shogunate/End of the Ming dynasty, so the late 16th century/early 17th century. That is a HUGE time period but ..... maybe... just maybe it can be pulled off. But I will not stand it if they make it as innaccurate as RTW (mainly alexander) and M2TW.

I wouldn't mind classical Greece/Rome 2 if it included Alexander and (absolute must have or won't buy) the Diadochi Wars. If it is classical Greece, it must include a fully fleshed out Achaemenid Empire. And ABSOLUTELY NO 300 STYLE SPARTANS AND NINJA IMMORTALS WITH RHINO RAMS. End rant.

Chairman

[Divinus Arma]

Wow.

I was really tempted to vote for the Asian total war option. I'd love to see that entire area reimagined in the empire engine.. but I have to say I went with WW1. It's an era that has seen little exploration (lemme rephrase, good exploration) in terms of videogames.

Unlike ww2, where it's been done to death, ww1 would give you the chance to really see primordial technology (U-boats, machine guns, aircraft and tanks!) as well as be thrown into some of History's bloodiest battles. It would force veterans of the TW franchise after having mastered the gunpowder, medieval and Sengoku Jidai eras, to completely rethink diplomacy and strategy, as well as battlefield tactics. It would be amazing to see the sluggish tanks of the era going toe to toe it out in no man's land. We're all familiar with combined arms, but now factoring in Aircraft, it's in effect a whole new area that CA could expand their franchise. Not only would we have armies and navies, but air forces too!

If the naval battle engine were to be updated, evolved and carried over from ETW we could see huge, smoke spewing battleships slugging it out on the high seas. And really, who isn't interested in that!

HERE HERE!!! I second that, Sir!