Quote Originally Posted by Zenicetus View Post
P.S. I'm wondering if part of the problem isn't the fairly short time span in the game, compared to the last two TW games. Are we getting so many illogical and badly-supported DOW's simply because the clock is ticking, and all the factions only have 100 years or so to achieve their programmed goals? In a game like GalCiv, there is no time limit and games can run for a very long time on the largest maps. Without time pressure, the ebb and flow of warfare seems much more natural. If this is part of the problem, then maybe each faction could be told, essentially, "look... you only get to initiate a major war 3 times during this campaign, so you'd better be serious!"
That is exactly the problem. The time limit on Medieval 2 was also ridiculous. They made it two years per turn (despite Generals still aging only six months) because they didn't think most people would play as long as it would take to get to gunpowder and the New World. While this may be true, it's also stupid. If the issue is that they want to appeal to casual gamers who won't want a truly epic game, then why not simply let the player choose whether to start in different eras of the Medieval period like they did in the first Medieval? Then the casual gamers could have their gunpowder spectacles as soon as possible and the rest of us can have our truly epic nine hundred turn games. I won't play Medieval 2 on anything other than a 0.5 timescale now. Nothing else makes sense. The point is, I understand that CA want to appeal to more than just the hardcore, but customisation is the answer. Let us choose the kind of experience we want to have whether it's in terms of victory conditions or possible game length.