Patch Update

[Dogfish]

Bugs are not global.

I have not had a CTD yet.

CA have played this game, a lot. Yet they can't, as Lemur said, go round and test every combination of OS's, motherboards, graphics cards with drivers etc. They test with what they have.

A closed beta of 15gb?

The extra month was not for the multiplayer campaign to be put in. don't know why people are still assuming it.

People, we need to separate the compatibility issues from the gameplay issues. Functionality testing and compatibility testing are two completely different test methodologies and usually are in separate labs with separate people. When I was in QA we had a 12-person team for functionality testing on the most popular configs, and then 3-person team in a 50-machine lab for compatibility testing. So yes, compatibility issues aren't global, but gameplay ones are.

I mean, I haven't had a CTD yet, either. Even if I did, I'm fine with, and completely understanding of, compatibility issues. That said, with the number of complaints regarding CTD's and such, they probably should've spent more time in that area as well. But I guarantee you every single copy of the game out there that is on the current release version has:

A) No naval transport by the AI
B) Pathfinding errors
C) Passive campaign AI
D) Raiding/destroying factories don't reduce income
E) Balance issues (Such as Fluyts and Galleys vs SOLs)
F) Battle AI occasionally gets stuck in loops
G) Fixed artillery in reinforcements sometimes get stuck off-map and prevent the battle from finishing
H) Ships sailing upwind raise their sails and become almost immune to chain shot
I) SAVED GAME CORRUPTION

... you get the idea. I can post a much larger list of issues like that if necessary. For a quality title, with this much hype and marketing behind it, issues like this should not be present. Not if CA wants to maintain their reputation, which is already cracking due to the last couple of releases going downhill in this regard compared to Shogun and MTW. Issues like this are present either by bad design, lack of testing, or rushing of release. There are no other reasons. Bad design, lack of testing, or lack of development time. Different system configurations have no bearing on these issues. None. Zero. Nada.

Now, some of these are more prevalent for some than others, dependent upon how you play the game. If you play as the Ottomans and never try to go colonial, odds are you aren't going to mind the lack of AI naval transport. But if you play as Great Britain, then it's almost a gamebreaker. You can leave England completely defenseless without worry, and you are never challenged in India by other colonial powers.

But again, hardware combinations have no bearing on poor design decisions or gameplay issues like the ones above.

Also, why not a closed beta of 15gb? How is that any different than releasing a 15gb game as a digital download through Steam?

Also Also, http://www.videogamer.com/news/creat...war_delay.html

Empire: Total War developer Creative Assembly has explained the game's delay, saying it will allow time for polish and a new multiplayer campaign mode.

I was never under the impression the MP campaign was going to be released with the game, I thought it was to put in the foundation for it and finish it up post-release, but it was one of the main factors in the delay, and with news items written like that it's easy to see why some people are confused about the matter. I also find it slightly amusing that the delay was for "polish". Marketing like that is why I was expecting nagging small gameplay issues like the above to be ironed out before release.