Could there be any more damning indictment of Rome 2 than silence?
Could there be any more damning indictment of Rome 2 than silence?
If the rest of this forum was bustling that would be damning. But this whole forum is emptying so it's really no surprise.
On the Path to the Streets of Gold: a Suebi AAR
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Hvil i fred HoreToreA man who casts no shadow has no soul.
While the shortcomings of RII probably has some impact on traffic, it is spring-time here in the States, and after a very cold and snowy winter, I'm sure outdoor activities are taking precedent...not to mention those of female persuasion shedding bulky winter clothing in favor of more "attractive" spring wear![]()
High Plains Drifter
I don't think you're looking at this right. Sure the forum wasn't bustling before R2 and isn't now. But R2 should have revived this forum, the sequel to the greatest game in the TW franchise, with a huge budget and tons of marketing. I came back to the TW series and this forum specifically for it.
But it didn't revive the forum.
That is damning.
You guys have gone to great lengths to apologize for this game. The real question is, are you playing it and enjoying? As much as you did Rome I? If your not, then stop apologizing and call a spade a spade.
I don't blame you, the TWC does the same thing, lumping all the complaints into a single thread and attempting to focus on the positive. But nothing changes the fact the game isn't as good as past releases.
Last edited by fallen851; 04-22-2014 at 17:24.
"It's true that when it's looked at isolated, Rome II is a good game... but every time I sit down to play it, every battle, through every turn, I see how Rome I was better. Not unanimously, but ultimately." - Dr. Sane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6eaBtzqqFA#t=1h15m33s
Many things affect the popularity (or lack of it) of a forum. Loading times, presence of ads, quality of posts and moderators among them. Excessive presence of ads (and their effect on page loading times) is what kills twcenter.net for me, for example.
I would not attribute the present lack of traffic on this forum to the quality of RTW 2 in general. Simply, most folks who were originally here have migrated elsewhere (or stopped playing due to advanced age; I'd be in that category if I was not too addicted to TW games).
As far as I am concerned, ALL of the CA games are rather crappy upon release and get slowly improved with patches. Shogun 2 was bugged upon release as well. Rome 1 was no different on the machines of the time (and I'm not even talking about such bugs as subtracting shield value from the total defense of the unit rather than adding it). Don't remind me how bad and buggy was Empire Total War upon release. Come to think of it, that game never really got fixed.
Last edited by Slaists; 04-22-2014 at 18:38.
And that's your opinion. Mine would be that Rome 2 is fatally missing a cohesive design vision, everyone pretty much knows it, and there's no way to patch that up.
Whereas Shogun 2 did, and it showed. And as to your comment about patching, got that wrong too. I played and completed a S2 campaign the day it released with no problem whatsoever.
Shogun 2 upon release (playing on VH, legendary):
- Bugged siege battles where the AI would mill around near the edge of the map doing nothing: CHECK [later fixed to a degree with patches]
- AI units staying at the bottom of the wall (while climbing) if the top units were attacked: CHECK [later fixed with patches]
- Total peace (until the realm divide): as in the AI willing to bend backwards to please you: CHECK [later fixed with patches]
- BSOD's (blue screens of death): CHECK [later fixed with patches]
- AI starving and going rebel due to being unable to resolve food balance across provinces: CHECK [later fixed with patches]
- AI never attacking trade nodes, even if the player had only merchant ships there: CHECK [later fixed with patches]
- Crappy graphics even on high end machines: CHECK [later fixed with patches; fixed quite brilliantly I may add]
- AI mass recruiting peasant style armies: CHECK [later fixed with patches]
- AI rarely doing naval invasions: CHECK [later fixed with patches]
- Diplomatic reliability lose-lose situations where an ally attacks an ally: CHECK [later fixed with patches, not fixed in Rome 2 yet]
- Anti-aliasing support missing: CHECK [later fixed with patches]
- Multiplayer campaign desyncs: CHECK [later fixed with patches]
- A rather boring SP campaign grind (from one side of the main island to the other): CHECK [never really fixed; also, impossible to fix in the give geopolitical situation]
- Corrupt save games: CHECK [later fixed with patches]
Those were just the few I remembered off the top of my head in 1 minute. There were plenty more just check the old S2 patch notes.
Last edited by Slaists; 04-23-2014 at 14:49.
There is legitimate arguments, then there is grasping at straws.
You're going to attribute the lack of traffic on this forum to "loading times, presence of ads, quality of posts and moderators" and migration?
You're missing the elephant in the room.
Rome II's problems aren't just bugs. The new features the design team choose to include as well as the old features they stripped out represent problems. They scrapped successful systems from Shogun II and replaced them with inferior ones. At Shogun II's release, you could see the potential. Sure it needed patches, but you could see it. It is hard for me to see potential in Rome II. There is no family tree, there is no real political system, naval battles were very poorly done, you can't easily send reinforcements to the front from the homeland... those aren't bugs, they were intended. They won't be "fixed."
Thus, there is a huge difference between the release of Shogun II and Rome II. Massive. Your post does not surprise me. CA apologists take all forms, and there arguments are almost always illogical, grasp at straws and miss the obvious.
If Rome II was a smashing success and people loved it and hailed it, it would drive people to this forum. I don't care about loading times, presence of ads, quality of posts and moderators. You even said yourself that you don't visit the TWC because of the ads and loading times. But here you are... so obviously the ads and loading times here aren't that bad. Is it the moderators? Because I think they do a very nice job. Quality of posts?
No, it is none of those things. People can blame whatever. They can say the whiners pushed people away. But where it does it all stem from? It all stems from the quality of Rome II. To ignore that, is just ignorant.
So we all really know why this forum is dead.
Last edited by fallen851; 04-24-2014 at 15:05.
"It's true that when it's looked at isolated, Rome II is a good game... but every time I sit down to play it, every battle, through every turn, I see how Rome I was better. Not unanimously, but ultimately." - Dr. Sane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6eaBtzqqFA#t=1h15m33s
The skirts are out in full force where I live, summer-like weather, bikinis and the beach be callin' me! Oddly enough, somewhere in there I manage to fit in work and a family![]()
*DING*DING*DING*
While I agree that a Rome 2 that was widely regarded by the community as a great game would've improved the traffic at the org, I'm not certain that it's widespread frustrating disappointment is the reason why it isn't very lively around here. There are plenty of Rome 2 related posts happening on a daily basis over at the official site and twcenter. Mostly rabid complaints and mod-related posts, but traffic nonetheless. The org is still the best though!![]()
Last edited by CaptainCrunch; 04-24-2014 at 21:32.
This forum is much smaller and "older" than the other ones (www.totalwar.com, www.twcenter.net). There is much more activity in those two.
Well, least we got some posts now "explaining" it.![]()
I'm sorry to see The Org so quiet. It's been my go to place for all things Total War for a while now.
On another note, I'm thinking of downloading and playing a bit of Rome 2. I haven't played since September or so.
Has patching made things more interesting/enjoyable?
I recently re-installed it and I can say that I honestly can't tell. The AI seems to be more competent in open field battles but for the most part sieges are still broken. AT LEAST 1 in 4 sieges the AI just stands around with their thumb up their bum. I haven't really played any naval battles because in all Total War games I'm just not that into it. On the campaign map it seems like they behave about the same, they just recruit more units.
Rome 2 has just seem to become.... It's like you have to make your own fun to enjoy Rome 2. If that makes any sense.
Also, Creating content > Crying about lack of content.
I like to stream
This is where a strong and viable family tree has always played a part in keeping me interested in playing since Shogun I. How far can #1 son take me down the road to the Shogunate?... how well will he do against Shingen or Kenshin (when not playing either of those two)...how far can I ride the horse of my cavalry genius through the deserts of Egypt and Libya?.......and so on.It's like you have to make your own fun to enjoy Rome 2.
Not that I just couldn't wait to get home from work and play TW, but there certainly were times I played TW instead of something else just to further the exploits of my generals![]()
High Plains Drifter
I believe that in any game forum, when bitching, griping and general negativity reach a certain threshold, people who enjoy the game stop visiting and posting. The whining is too overbearing at that point. I know I feel that way.
If I get a game and dislike it, I might visit a forum to say so, but I never return ad nauseum to flog the horse some more. Just as some folks embrace long personal grudges against others, some gamers enjoy regurgitating their disappointment angst. In the earliest months after Rome’s release we had someone complain here regularly who didn’t own the game. He vicariously came to dislike it!
Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like bananas.
People are free to criticize if they can point out some concrete arguments. When people who like the game (myself included) are labelled "CA apologists" simply because we actually like its current state, is when I have a problem.
Fortunately though, the .org hasn't had immature posters and no moderator actions have been required, apart from the occasional PM. We may be few, but we're a good bunch.
The art of war, then, is governed by five constant
factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations,
when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth;
(4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.
Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"
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Not blowing anyone's horn here but I believe that comparing the moderation of the org to the twc's is ruthless to put it blandly. I do believe that we have a lot more mature people here on org than any other tw forums. Moderators aren't attacking and banning and deleting the posts of the members like they do in twc. Negative opinions are welcome here as long as they are not insulting or overly hateful. I am glad that I see the good standard that was set by tosa is kept alive by our current moderation. Yes I go to twc to get the news but I always come back here to talk about the game because it has few but sensible and mature members. I am also saddened to see the drop of activity and I do believe that the quality of Rome 2 has a big effect on it but I believe that as long as the core hangs around the org will prevail. My best of is EB 2. If anything can help org than it is that mod.
You prefer everybody circle-jerk endlessly about how horrible the game is? That seems to be what the people who passionately hate the game want, both here and over on TWC: endless validation of their opinion. That'd certainly up the post count, but would it really be any more productive or engaging?
At this point, those people have decided to hate the game, and voice their hatred and disappointment every chance they get (whether the topic warrants it or not). Their minds are not going to be changed. Every complaint has been lathered, rinsed, and repeated ad nauseum. Any attempt to engage them results in an ad hominem dismissal of "fanboy" or "apologist", and doesn't result in any new conversation. There is literally no more conversation to be had there.
The people who enjoy the game, regardless of its faults, have no traction; why would they stay and "take a stand" over somebody's else's legitimate disagreement on a game forum, especially when they know there's no possible resolution...when they could be off playing the game instead?
Last edited by Symphony; 06-09-2014 at 21:36.
The silence is deafening.........
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High Plains Drifter
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