FOTS pre-order bonuses

[econ21]

I did a double take when I saw that faction name, wondering if April Fool's Day had come early. But I agree with EasyTarget, let's leave politics to the Backroom.

IIRC, CA did a similar thing with Empire - you got different special units if you pre-ordered at different outlets. I think they were ultimately available via a DLC but being single top-end units, were more of a flavour thing than having or not having access to three whole clans will be. There's not much information about the three pre-order clans. The Limited Edition sounds potentially the most powerful - faster access to new military tech. The Special Edition clan comes with added ninjas. The normal pre-order seems the least distinctive, except for the slightly disconcerting name familiarity.

[frogbeastegg]

So no matter what you do you will be missing a minimum of 2 clans until they are released as purchasable DLC months after release? That's off-putting.

Clans are a large factor in Shogun II's longevity and replayability; they are much more important than a handful of units and, unlike the Hattori bonus for S2, there's no way to get a 'complete' game at release. The missing clans are even more irritating when you consider that there are only playable 6 clans in the basic game! What about people buying after release day? The limited edition of S2 was available for a long time and latecomers could still get the Hattori if they wanted.

[Sp4]

Imo, it does not matter that there are only 6 or so factions. In the long run most S2 campaigns boil down to 3-4 powerful factions going to war anyways, unless you deliberately keep small factions alive for whatever reason.

[frogbeastegg]

6 playable factions, meaning the ones a human can play as. Shogun II launched with 9 playable clans, 10 if you had the Hattori. 6 playable clans in RotS feels limited, and that campaign doesn't have clans divided in gameplay according to their technological attitudes like FotS. Fewer playable clans means that it's harder to find one which suits the campaign you want to play, and that you have fewer options when replaying.

[easytarget]

They never released some of units used as inducements for different distribution channels for Napoleon, which was the last standalone, and therefore the only gauge we have by which to judge whether we'll ever see these FOTS clans.

This is Sega doing this would be my guess. They operate like most game publishers who mimic each other whenever they stumble across something new. One minute Valve as sort of an inside joke with the TF2 community is selling a hat for a buck or two, next thing you know everyone is in on the DLC party in every shape and form.

So fine, monetize stuff, I get that. But not like this. You don't make decisions of distribution at the expense of your customer, and that's what this is pure and simple. If all of them were offered at point of release, in whatever format of their choosing, we would not be witnessing every TW forum filled up with annoyed customers. And if this was just about money, making them all available would make more money.

So boil it all away and here's the question: What does either CA or Sega, or both, get in the way of compensation from this distribution method that makes it worth pissing off their customers? If the answer is nothing, they are just as stupid as they are being collectively described all over the net over this decision. And if they got a fair sum of money from either the retailers or Steam for the exclusives, then I guess good for them, hope the financial gain was worth the bad PR.

[feelotraveller]

Yes this is annoying. Rather than DLC functioning as extras we are seeing a game released that has 9 playable factions but you only get part of that game. Pre-order and we'll give you 7 otherwise make do with 6... This is nonsense. It makes my decision to wait for a complete edition at a bargain price in a few years time all the easier. I advise other players to do the same (big chance he thinks) as that is what will stop them from repeating these antics. Complain all you like but if their sales are not effected they will go on doing this.

Now to find another game to buy...

[Templar Knight]

What I want to know is why haven't they made all the clans from Shogun 2 and FOTS playable yet?

And I believe that this is SEGA's work and not CA regarding the DLC.