Why do you love TOTAL WAR?

[smooth_operator]

If you're a member of this community then it is understood that in one way or the other, you share our commitment to this well-loved game...question is...Why do you love it?

[Kagemusha]

Well i was pretty much floored when i originally got STW installed to my PC. I had never seen before any game quite like it. I played single player for years without as much thinking about any game community in existence built around it. Then one day i stumbled upon the Org and i have kind of stuck here ever since. Novadays totalwar is lot ore then just the game series for me.Its things like great conversations with friends, modding,forum games, mafia and being part of a community in general.

[Myrddraal]

Modding.

Note that I'm talking about the earlier titles. I've played up to and including RTW. When I first played the series (MTW) I immediately wanted to tweak it. I've had hours of fun letting my imagination maul MTW and RTW.

[Cecil XIX]

Having a tactical and strategic scale. Few games do this, but it gives both aspects more meaning than if you combined them like most strategy games do.

[pevergreen]

Rome.

[Martok]

I remember the first time I saw the original teaser trailer for Shogun back in the summer of 2000: It was absolutely jaw-dropping, and I knew instantly that I had to possess STW for myself! I had never before experienced pure, unadulterated lust for a game based solely on its media (trailers, screenshots, etc.). Sadly, I was broke and looking for work at the time, so I had to hold off on purchasing it for a few months.

When I did finally buy STW, however, I wasn't disappointed -- indeed, it's one of the very few games I've ever owned that actually met or exceeded my expectations. The massive battles, the haunting soundtrack, the artwork, the surprisingly good AI, the excellent sound effects & voicework....they all combined to deliver a gaming atmosphere I've rarely encountered before or since. I found Shogun's successor, Medieval Total War, to be similarly superb, and I was forever hooked!



During the time I was waiting to purchase Shogun, however, I began looking for websites devoted to this marvelous new game. It was during this quest that I discovered the Org....although to this day, I don't exactly remember how I did so, it's been so long! Anyway, while I was initially intimidated by how knowledgeable its membership seemed to be, I eventually stopped lurking and signed up as an actual member (although it took me a good year and a half to do so!).

Over time, I realized the folks here were not only quite intelligent, but very friendly and helpful as well. For someone who considered himself a neophyte to "teh internetz", this was like striking the proverbial gold mine. It eventually came to feel like home for me, and I've never left.

[HopAlongBunny]

I had put off getting STW (never did in the end) and watched a friend fire up MTW. I was caught!
It looked great, it seemed to work well. When I actually played it I was thrilled! The mechanics penalized bad choices and rewarded good ones.
The campaign was epic.

I stumbled into the .Org and found all you could ever ask for. Help with the game, humor, and puns...lots of puns :)
Still the most interesting site. No topic taboo, and thoughtful (whether I agree or not) commentary on almost everything. What's not to love?

[Shibumi]

"Love" is a tad too strong a word.

The game series has an interesting concept, and do give some entertainment.

With a larger budget and less blatant mistakes it could be one of the best games in the world.

Main problem is no fault of the devs though, as they bite off more than they could chew when it comes to AI.

With that said, multiplayer games in Rome was for me the highlight of the series thus far. Multiplayer went downhill after, I hope they get the feeling back for S2TW.

[The Spartan (Returns)]

Because I literally dreamed of a concept of a game like this prior knowing Total War existed... and when I found out, I took it as a sign from God.

[Skullheadhq]

Rome.

I still cry when I think of all those hours I played R:TW. I missed a christmas party at school because I was playing it 'just a few more minutes'. And then the summer I spent with curtains closed with 30 degrees outside playing EB recreating Alexander's Empire with Macedon. That were the days. Bad luck they make S2TW now.

[A Nerd]

I bought the original STW in 2001. I passed on it a few times for I thought it might be somewhat boring. I finally gave in and bought it and found it one of the most enjoyable games I had played up to that point. It has kept me coming back for subsequent sequels.

[Mithrandir]

I borrowed STW from a friend, it was the 2nd game I installed on my brand new Pentium 733MHz Geforce 2MX (state of the art back then) together with Soldier Of Fortune.

I loved STW because it wasn't like Warcraft and Command and Conquer where you just had to build build build. I loved the game, and MTW as well, because you could beat an army of a 1000 samurai with just 200 samurai and 200 ashi's if you used the terrain right.
I loved the atmosphere, the setting and the scenes between battles. I loved the fact that I had something to keep my mind occupied from other things than the daily drag of being a teenager.

I loved MTW because of the strategy and the camels.

I never moved beyond MTW VI.

[Sp00n]

Being a big fan of military history I'd also always dreamed of a Battle style game where you were in control of the armies that actually looked like the battle instead of like Age Of Empires. When I saw the Shogun trailer I was overwhelmed tbh that possibly the dream might happen, adding to that the fact that I’ve always been obsessed with the Samurai culture.

I bought most of the PC Magazines at the time that had previews of the game, then later on we had the demo which I played religiously.
When the game finally arrived I was overwhelmed, playing the campaign for a week or so, then I tried the MP and was hooked and I really dread to think how many hours I put into Shogun MP.

When MTW/VI came I wasn’t that keen initially but I continued to play insane amounts of hours in the MP.

With Rome I always wondered if the MP being so good in the first 2 games was just a fluke as I found it appalling, however from a SP point of view I liked it and also like MTW2 and Empire SP. .Now playing NTW SP and MP.

I do think they have improved over the years in single player and I always look forward to each new Totalwar title, but they have yet to capture the online greatness of Shogun in the same way since.

Personally I’ve not been so excited about a new game announcement for years with Shogun 2, my favourite totalwar era.

[Motep]

Way back when, I had ten dollars to spend on a video game. Medieval total war looked pretty fun, so I bought it. And when I got home, I was hooked. Many long nights spent piddlin' around the map with an ecstasy comparable to one from designer drugs. And I played through for several years, untill I upgraded my computer...and I still have not found out how to revert it ( ). At any rate, what drew me in was the theme, the style, the turn based campaign, the 100,000 MAN PEASANT CRUSADE THAT CONQUERS THE WHOLE WORLD. <---- best memory ever

[rory_20_uk]

I got into it at Uni with STW, and as others have said I greatly enjoyed the mix of strategic and tactical play. I was happy with the game and didn't get into modding it. Sure, it was rather basic but that was perversely a strength as there was less to have unintended events. I loved too in STW using waves of peasants for funsies and drowning the other side in casualties (initially, mainly mine).

RTW was probably my favourite again mainly as Rome, Greece and Carthage is a time frame that captures my imagination. Here, it was clear that the developers were trying to do too much and I turned to the modders to try to help with the more glaring flaws (e.g. luminous colours / painfully poor AI).

Of course since then I've got older and have less time to dedicate but when I have returned it has often been to find that some of the flaws have almost been sorted out... but then another 20 features have been tacked on, and again don't quite work.

I'll probably get STW2 as with a smaller playing area and a time frame I enjoy there is IMO potential. If this too is the same story as before I might have to conclude that I no longer have the time to dedicate to massive games that are constantly being "fixed" on an ad-hoc basis.

[vartan]

I love the Total War series for all its flaws. Honestly. They are the biggest reason why I love the series. Don't ask why.

[ByzantineKnight]

I found MTW on a friend's computer and fell in love with the multiplayer. Then about three months later I saw Rome (2 weeks after it came out) sitting in a thai mall with a 600 baht price tag (about $20) and I knew it was a sign from God :D Rome was just about the only game I played for about 3 years until I found Medieval in a bargain bin :D Since then I've managed to nab everything except NTW :P

What got me hooked was the modding, the community, the game play, just about everything about it :D

[Gaiseric]

Its a love-hate relationship I have with TW games. I love the concept, grand strategy with tactical battles. Very few games even attempt to combine the two. I have put more hours into TW games than any other game I own. I love the mods that keep TW games alive.

Even though I have gotten more than my moneys worth for all the TW games I own, there are certain things about the games that I hate. Things that really frustrate me and make me want to pull my hair out. The main thing I hate is the lack of strategy and AI competence in the newer releases. Why play a game when there is no challenge? The battles may be great, but they cannot make up for the these games major shortcomings. That said, I still prefer to have tactical battles that I can control than having some dice roll determine my armies fate. There are many games that offer pure tactics. There are also many that offer pure strategy. TW games combine the two the best, albeit poorly:)

[Octavian_of_the_view]

I found RTW in some random game shop when i was on vacation in Arizona when i was actually looking for a totally different game. Needless to say i'm glad i found this one instead, its been one of my favorite games of all time despite its multiple flaws. You simply can't beat the combination of strategy and tactics.

[Swoosh So]

Gaiseric you know in napoleon totalwar you can play against a human opponent in your single player campaigns when it comes to a fairly balanced battle? Of course if you dont play multiplayer you will get trounced by a mp peep that joins your game but if you have friends that are on the same level you could agree to have them join your games by checking the invite only friends option in steam. Its called drop in battles and is a good feature which needs some refinement because the queueing system is not that great, they should put the drop in games in the foyer lists with an option for people to tick if they dont want to see drop in battles.

[=NF=RuzSkullen]

I love Strategy war games that are turn based; CA/ TW series falls into that description. Where else can you fall back into time and relive Battles that can never ever be brought out to be won or loss-ed/ Where else can you change the course of history with a simple click of your Mouse pad? Where else can you send Hundreds of men to their deaths, and not blink? Where else can you play MP and beat your foe on line? TOTAL WAR.............................