3 new factions! Epirus, Sparta, Athens (DLC)

[Lemur]

Video made it to YouTube:

[komnenos]

I agree with Lemur. I actually like CA's approach thus far - especially when compared to other companies - the DLC they release is nothing game changing that leaves me feeling like I only have half a game if I don't buy it (basing this on my Shogun 2 experience). You can get away with buying none of it if you want - or wait for the inevitable 75% off sale on Steam if you want, or shell out for it at full price if you want. No one is forcing you to pay full price and the game works as-is without the DLC.

Honestly I'd be happy if Rome 2 had a fully functioning Rome faction and nothing else. You can sell all the others if people want them; put all the up-front dev work into making Rome the best faction it can be. Of course, I'd also prefer multiple start dates... but.. well..

Do you remember the price of Shogun 2 as a pre-order?
I think it's better to wait and buy R2TW in Christmas day. The price will extremely come down.

[Mongoose]

I think it's really best to wait. I want to play all the content they're making for it, and if Shogun II is any indication, buying stuff as it comes out (including the expansions) could easily add up to 100-150 dollars.

Not to mention the bugged-out state of most of these games on launch.

[Lemur]

Not to mention the bugged-out state of most of these games on launch.

I thought Shogun II was one of the most stable, feature-complete releases CA has yet managed. Compared to Shogun? Medieval? Not even to wade into the murky waters of Empire and Napoleon.

CA deserves some credit for putting out a polished 1.0 on S2, IMHO.

[Arjos]

Well if no one is going to say it, I will!

Corinthian helmet for the Spartiates? Pah! XD

[Catiline]

There's nothing outright wrong with Spartans wearing Corinthian helmets, depending on the time frame. It'd be better to have them in pilos, but it's not essential. It's daft enough having them in at all as any sort of playable faction in the game period, but i suppose they're cool, so they might as well be given shiny helmets as well.

Athenian Thureophoroi are a nice surprise.

[edyzmedieval]

I like the addition of those mercenary units, particularly those Thureophoroi as Catiline mentioned.

And looking forward to play with Athens.

[Arjos]

There's nothing outright wrong with Spartans wearing Corinthian helmets, depending on the time frame.

That is the point (my emphasis), Sparta just stopped using it, for it hindered their whole fighting tactics. These depended on the ability to follow orders and manouvering in the middle of battles...
Also recent reconstructions and surveying wounds have shown that frontally most of the damage in doric phalanxes came from above...

By the 3rd century BCE, of the Corinthian helmet, only the Italic variants were used and over the foreheads...

[Imperator Invictus]

I hope the next DLC will be about Thracian culture with the three kingdoms of Triballia, Getia and Cimmerian Bosphorus (Spartocids were Thracians) if I understand this format of DLC's for Rome 2 with 3 factions per culture. Other posibilities are: Helenistic culture with Pergamon, Seleucia and Baktria; Illyrian culture with Liburnia, Dalmatia and Dardania; Semitic culture with Judea, Nabatea and Palmyra etc.

[Lemur]

I think it's better to wait and buy R2TW in Christmas day.

I think it's really best to wait.

I hope all of you realize that it's idiots like me who pay full price for the pre-order that make the economics of game development work out.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

[Spoonska]

I hope all of you realize that it's idiots like me who pay full price for the pre-order that make the economics of game development work out.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

Can I get in on some of that gratuitous action?

Well if no one is going to say it, I will!

Corinthian helmet for the Spartiates? Pah! XD

I can hunt down the post if you want, but Jack Lusted essentially already replied to someone griping about this saying : This is just 1 unit. There are are many different spartan units with many different helmet types. Not just Corinthian helmets.

I just typed helmeNts twice. wtf braint.

[Mongoose]

I hope all of you realize that it's idiots like me who pay full price for the pre-order that make the economics of game development work out.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

Thanks!

It's the miracle of price discrimination. :P

If I could buy the game plus all of its future DLC and expansions for 60 bucks, I probably would.

I thought Shogun II was one of the most stable, feature-complete releases CA has yet managed. Compared to Shogun? Medieval? Not even to wade into the murky waters of Empire and Napoleon.

CA deserves some credit for putting out a polished 1.0 on S2, IMHO.

Oh, sorry - I totally lost confidence in 1.0 total war games after Rome, Medieval, Empire and Napoleon, to the point where I didn't start reading about Shogun until a year after it came out. Was it really totally functional and ready to go? If the S2 launch was strong, then they definitely deserve kudos for that.

I still remember leaving my computer idling because of the load-siege bug in RTW.

[Lemur]

Was [Shogun II] really totally functional and ready to go? If the S2 launch was strong, then they definitely deserve kudos for that.

Well, other members can correct me if I'm forgetting something big, but the S2 launch seemed to be remarkably smooth by CA standards. Obviously, there's no way a game as complex as that is going to launch with no quirks or bugs, but I don't remember anything game-stopping or outright bang-my-head-on-the-desk annoying. Best launch of the series, I do believe. Point of fact, I think it's safe to say that the S2 1.0 was more stable and feature-complete than many of the other games were by final patch.

Hence my unrealistically high hopes for R2.

[phred]

Well, other members can correct me if I'm forgetting something big, but the S2 launch seemed to be remarkably smooth by CA standards. Obviously, there's no way a game as complex as that is going to launch with no quirks or bugs, but I don't remember anything game-stopping or outright bang-my-head-on-the-desk annoying. Best launch of the series, I do believe. Point of fact, I think it's safe to say that the S2 1.0 was more stable and feature-complete than many of the other games were by final patch.

That's how I remember it. I was playing S2 at release and I don't remember any issues.

[Barkhorn1x]

That's how I remember it. I was playing S2 at release and I don't remember any issues.

Yes, I agree here as well. It's amazing more don't remember it that way as, given CAs prior track record, it was a memorable event.

;)

[The Outsider]

Yes, I agree here as well. It's amazing more don't remember it that way as, given CAs prior track record, it was a memorable event.

;)

This.

[andrewt]

Yes, I agree here as well. It's amazing more don't remember it that way as, given CAs prior track record, it was a memorable event.

;)

Probably because of cognitive dissonance. There was a bug with the AI turn lasting forever in rare circumstances but loading an earlier save fixed that.

[Lemur]

There was a bug with the AI turn lasting forever in rare circumstances

Must have been pretty damn rare; I played the living heck out of S2 when it arrived, and I never found that bug.

Anyway, compared to other CA launches, S2 was a festival of sparkly pony magic.

[andrewt]

Must have been pretty damn rare; I played the living heck out of S2 when it arrived, and I never found that bug.

Anyway, compared to other CA launches, S2 was a festival of sparkly pony magic.

I played 2 domination games and hit it once on the second game. Funny enough, I was lucky enough to avoid those type of bugs on previous releases. Or at least I don't remember getting the horrible ones that people encountered in Empire/MTW2 and the others.

[Moros]

I hope the next DLC will be about Thracian culture with the three kingdoms of Triballia, Getia and Cimmerian Bosphorus (Spartocids were Thracians) if I understand this format of DLC's for Rome 2 with 3 factions per culture. Other posibilities are: Helenistic culture with Pergamon, Seleucia and Baktria; Illyrian culture with Liburnia, Dalmatia and Dardania; Semitic culture with Judea, Nabatea and Palmyra etc.

The judea faction would have to be an emerging faction of some sort then and would make the campaign events rather predestined. Also Palmyra is important mainly later on in history. The semitic faction most deserving a place would have been the kingdom of Lihyân, but that won't make it because it's rather unkown to most people. Of course I could be wrong on these points if the starting date is significantly different from the one of Rome I. But considering the inclusion of Epirus, I actually doubt that. As they'll make sure one could play the Pyrrhos' campaign.

And Iberian pack could be in the make as well. Iberian tribe, Celitberian tribe and the Lusotannan or some northern tribe could fit the bill.
Or a general celtic tribe pack with for example Belgae, Boii and Aedui/Maesilia/Celtiberian (Arevaci)...
Especially the latter could prove a popular expansion and easy one as well (research and reusing content).

[Albastard]

Very excited about the Greek factions!

[komnenos]

But I hoped that they put these three factions to the list of main factions not as a DLC. Because for example Sparta or Athens were important faction and played significant roles in that time and in my opinion it's not appropriate to sell it as a DLC.

[lars573]

The only significant thing that Athens and Sparta did in the time frame Rome II will cover is get conquered by Macedonia then Rome.

[Moros]

The only significant thing that Athens and Sparta did in the time frame Rome II will cover is get conquered by Macedonia then Rome.

Shhht! If Polybios hears you, there's going to be trouble again.

[Darth Feather]

The only significant thing that Athens and Sparta did in the time frame Rome II will cover is get conquered by Macedonia then Rome.

As much as I would like to agree with you, I think they COULD have done something significant. I mean, if you had to follow the real history, macedon would be toast in any case, as would carthage and spain.

IMO it is more fun to rewrite history then to repeat it

[B-Wing]

Having played Europa Barbarorum, I really liked the concept of the Koinon Hellenon faction, representing the Chremodian Alliance between Sparta, Athens, and Rhodes that existed at the start date. Obviously, such a construct wouldn't realistically be expected to last for hundreds of years, expanding and conquering other lands. BUT, if the start date is appropriate, I'd like to see these 3 factions begin the game allied with each other. If nothing else, it should assist their survival as independent factions for a while.

[rickinator9]

The only significant thing that Athens and Sparta did in the time frame Rome II will cover is get conquered by Macedonia then Rome.

I would agree with you on Athens, but Sparta became pretty strong under Cleomenes III. So strong that the Achaean League had to call in Macedonia for help.

[Ca Putt]

I would rather say it remained somewhat sparta than it became strong. The most thing they did was oppose the Macedonians and epirotes from time to time, but they did not conquer anything of importance. This is NOTHING compared to other (not yet included) prospect factions. CA made a good decision in making them a 3-Pack-faction DLC, it's quite appropriate.

[komnenos]

As you know playing these games are not only for entertainment but also for that starting from a part of a history and then change it in a way to achieve success. So if you think Athens was weak , in this game you can change the history and atone the mistakes of Athens. Therefore you can realize what mistakes Greeks did and you use an appropriate policy to play an important role in the world and rebuil that faction.