How do you think CA is doing, right now?

[Elmar Bijlsma]

I guess they figured that having complex code and then handing it over to other people unfamiliar with it wasn't exactly speeding things along.

[gardibolt]

The focus on eye candy requiring people to buy new rigs every few months is not helping them in this economy, I'm sure. I am finished buying TW games since I have yet to get ETW to run in more than slideshow fashion, despite meeting all minimums (canyourunit claims I should be able to run it fast, ha!) installing various video drivers, trying it on the lowest settings possible, etc. I can't even tell you whether the AI is any good because the game isn't playable. At all.

[Fisherking]

It is a little odd how this all goes.

It was the people without the killer rigs that seemed to have the least problems with the game.

I have a whole different set of problems running the game, but that came about from updating drivers and bios...

[loony]

I think CA is doing great. And correct from a business viewpoint.
1. They have great sales with Empire. The product is OK, lets face it. It is not great, even though it could have been had it spent 3 more months in development. Who cares, right? We paid for it, they got the money first and fixed the game somewhat only after.
2. As empire shows promise and TW has a history of making an expansion much better than the original (Kingdoms, BI), Napoleon will sell great as well. Morons like me will even pre-order it :)
3. Both CAI and BAI is good enough to give a new player a headache now. Really. It is good enough then. IF they can make it better for NTW, great, if they cannot - it is still OK, especially with the scripted campaign.
4. programmer here, programmer there. It is nice to find scapegoats to throw to the mob. Let them lynch the programmer and buy the next release. I DON'T believe a decent company does not have proper procedures to ensure than any member of the team is, ultimately, replaceable. A key person leaving could have resulted i a little havoc, a week lost? two weeks? not more
5. CA is a cash cow, no one in ones right mind will close it. However, this is a good move for the hardcore fans, as, ultimately, we love the TW series. We banter, but spend a lot of time playing TW and talking, and thinking about it. Make us feel our rants might lose us the next TW game and we shut up. And buy the next release. Everyone wins.
6. All blogs are PR. I have adviced several companies to make sure blog entries are reviewed by the PR people before anyone is allowed to write about their job. There are employment contracts to enforce that.

To sum up, SEGA is doing great:
a) the customer, generally, is happy
b) the customer base is expanded
c) there is a constant inflow of cash through DLC (smoothes cash flow)
d) the next game will bring in a lot of cash
e) the "listening to community" effort makes the company feel human, so everyone "understands"

As a hardcore fan, I would like to see a much better CAI/BAI and generally, more (a better game) for less cash.
I will, however buy the next game anyway, therefore, it appears, CA has a well balanced value proposition.