No mod tools?

[Zenicetus]

This is just a guess, but I think it may be a combination of things that killed the idea of a full set of modding tools for ETW. First, there was the shaky, too-early product release that tied up the programmers fixing bugs, instead of focusing on optional goodies like modding tools. With Napoleon so close on the horizon, they may have just run out of time for anything else (other than some reskinned DLC units, which don't involve programming). Both Dragon Age and Fallout 3 were fairly solid games on release day, and presumably the programmers had more time to spend on modding tools.

Another factor is the timing of sequels, which goes to the heart of why game companies release modding tools at all, I think. The developers of Dragon Age and Fallout 3 didn't have another full game like Napoleon:TW in the pipeline. Whatever will follow those as full games is years away (although Dragon Age is still about to start the DLC cycle). Both Bioware and Bethesda had a strong incentive to keep the user base interested in the current franchise for as long as possible, until their replacement full games arrive some time in the future.

With Napoleon coming out so soon, CA doesn't have the same incentive to keep interest alive in ETW. They want you to be buying NTW and talking about that. Every game company always focuses on its latest release, not its earlier ones that have already gone through most of the retail cycle.

So, I think if we're going to place blame for the lack of ETW modding tools, a lot of it has to fall on CA's decision to rush out a reworked version of ETW as a full game with Napoleon, instead of going the conventional route of DLC's or expansions, and stretching out the core franchise.