I will or will not buy Rome Total War

[Mount Suribachi]

OK, Soly said it was OK. I'm sure by now we all know about the problems with Viking Invasion that spoil what is otherwise an excellent expansion - particularly the 56 year bug. Not patching such a gameplay inhibiting bug is inexcusable on Activisions part and shows a worrying lack of concern for their customers. It is their decision whether to patch BTW, not Creative Assemblys. At the time of writing there has been no announcement, which usually means no.

So this thread is an attempt to get Activisions attention by applying the pressure where it hurts the most - their wallets. If you agree with this sentiment then all you have to do is say the magic words.


I will not buy Rome:Total War unless Viking Invasion is patched.

[The_Emperor]

I think your far too critical of VI. True there are minor bugs like the 56 year one, but those in itself hardly make this game unplayable

Besides we are all looking forward to RTW on here so much I doubt you could persuade many people not to buy it

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Sorry, I'm all for principal, but...I NEED ROMENOW.

[MiniKiller]

guys, he wants a patch and his point is if we let it slide what next? maybe in rome there will be more unfixed bugs, and they wont care casue u all say u dont care and will buy it anyway. you have to take a stand sometimes in order to make a game BETTER

I wont buy Rome unless VI is patched.

[Shahed]

How did these bugs get through testing anyway ??

I see your point Suri, I preordered RTW as soon as it was available for preorder. In the meantime I have become increasingly tired of the bugs in MTW. I play much less now. I do play other games much more. I probably will cancel my order, and buy another game such as:

--E V E--

It is just too much of a waste of time to live with these bugs. There are better games out there.

[Monk]

well i'd have to say i cant agree with this, after all the preveiws of R:TW that have been shown to me there's no way on earth i could not buy it. and im sure that once its out you will be sneaking out and buying it yourself

[Shahed]

They are doing a good job on RTW. However I do want some support for game bugs. I expect that if the product is not fully ready for release there will be support to amend the problems. I do not hate CA, and I always hope that they will do what is necessary to fix things up. I really hope RTW will be bug free.

Meanwhile I will settle for this:





Try downloading this movie, from what I hear this game has support i.e properly patched etc.

E V E Angelic

[Portuguese Rebel]

Ok it seems im the only one supporting MS in this thread, but hell, if i even got a WARNING thingy over a stupid post i made in the bug thread, there is no way im not going to support you MS...

Count me on NOT buying RTW unless Activision patches VI. I consider VI not unplayable but severly handicaped as a game because of this bug. When RTW is out, what is there to assure me that the game won't be full of bugs and be dropped right after being sold, like it seems to be happening to VI?

I think some of you guys are getting the eye candy fool you too much. Graphics NEVER made a good game. It helps a lot, but no great game ever relied on it alone to make it. If in RTW your Emperor pretender dies real quick and you lose the game all the time what are you going to do then? Start a "This time i will not buy the next game" thread?

Activision better get its act together, other companys may look at this gold mine and launch some clones. And even a clone that is well worked and PATCHED will make them bitte the dust.

[MiniKiller]

Exactly, I dont disargee with you guys, I want Rome Total War BUT if activision cant keep VI patched how will they do with a bigger badder game? The eye candy is fooling you to much, you gotta look at the whole picture. Bugs slip through but will continue unless we make a stand (Ok the last line was a little far fetched but hey, it can happen)

[Wilbo]

Im afraid I have to agree with the poster. The current trend of Creative Assembly / Activision to not patch the games really is too much.

I now have no doubt that Rome will be extremely buggy, and will not be supported properly, much like Medieval.

I will not buy Rome, unless the patch / support situation improves.

[Demon of Light]

As it stands now, I'm sorry my brother bought VI and so is he. Rome LOOKS great and everything it is SUPPOSED to do is great. The question though is whether or not we can trust these people to make a good, stable game that will get adequate support. We are not automatons that will simply and mindlessly drop $50 (US) on a product because it bears a brand name (Total War). We must intrinsically trust that the product is well made and well worth the expenditure of money we make. That trust cannot exist if this company as an entity acts in a manner that is contrary to our interests. If we purchase a game and find that it does not work as well as it was advertised and that no effort is made to correct the problem, then our interests (we did spend money on this after all) suffer. Consequently, I'll not place myself in that situation again.

I will not buy RTW unless I have reason to believe I will be well satisfied with what I purchased. Fixing VI would go a long way towards giving me that reason.

[Jagger]

We received patches with the Shogan and MTW. So why does everyone seem to assume we will not receive a patch with Viking? Has CA announced that they will not provide a patch for Viking??

[Shahed]

There has been a subtle hint that there will be a patch. However the last official statement is NO PATCH. In any case the patch for MTW 1.0 improved things, was VERY late in coming. And now finally we have again to wait for a possible patch.

Personally a patch is very important to me continuing to play the game. More important though is that enough time is spent on RTW to ensure that the game is stable to start. After that there must be further testing and patches released in order to fix problems that may have been missed in the initial release. This is to be a continous procedure, if one patch is released, more testing has to be done, community views taken into account and further patches released if necessary. Necessary is what is necessary for the players.

Another note about RTW. I sincerely hope that adequate historical research is done to represent to a reasonable degree of accuracy the times of the Romans. MTW is very different from STW in that the units and general representation of the times is hugely inaccurate. If a game is based on history it must be reasonably accurate historically. If I want a game that is not based on history, there are a huge number of games to choose from why buy RTW ?

The market for a game such as STW is one which is demanding.

[Longasc]

Viking Invasion introduced a new feature and several new units, a new campaign map/era and...

... a slew of new bugs,

e.g. the

"Die at 56" - bug

and Quicksaves sometimes crashing the Campaign Map.


Viking Invasion was all in all a MIXED BLESSING. It divided the community of online players in those having VI and those not and it ADDED actually some bugs

This cannot stand. Medieval: Total War should not end up with more bugs than in the 1.1 Patch.

It is also a question of principle: Imagine the year 2004. The latest addition, Rome: German Invasion, lets all emperors die at 56 and some new exciting features appear bugged, while having some new units and features the game has more bugs than with the R:TW 1.1 patch.


I do not think it would be inhuman to DEMAND those problems patched.

"We want Rome now, even flawed and bugged, but we want it now, we cannot wait. And let Medieval be with its new bugs, we no longer care for it, we want Rome now"

As SeljukSinan said, there are other Games out there. I did not like Eve, but I do not think Creative Assembly should be rewarded by buying their products if they leave business unfinished.

I really like M:TW. Just correct these bugs. They really pissed me off, I did not play Medieval anymore after my last campaign and experiencing mainly those two bugs mentioned

And NO, I will not buy and support ANY game of companies if they do not finish patching their games of well known bugs.

These games are what the crowd usually gets from www.sharereactor.com, plays and then deletes... it is the FANS who actually support and BUY their favorite games. If they get the feeling they are just good for pumping in money, they will probably do as I said before, too.

I think Rome was not built in a day, and it is surely time to work on a Patch for the latest obviously BADLY tested Expansion-CD

To put it bluntly: I will not buy Rome: Total War if these bugs are not fixed before.

[MacGregor]

I've had more problems with crashes since I installed VI, and the King's death at 56 bug takes the fun out of campaign mode for me totally.

[MF_Ivan]

Dont crap your pants, theyre working on it...

[Warmongerer]

I will not buy RTW unless VI is patched first.

P.S. - I wasn't planning on buying RTW anyways. Petty bickering between Roman legions doesn't tickle my fancy the way all-out religious war between Christians and Muslims does. The Roman thing just isn't my bag, man.

[Sir Robin]

Ouch...

Alot of hostility in here.

I guess that is my main difference from many who play PC games.

I am a "casual gamer."

Life does not give me much time to play. On the rare occasion that I actually do buy a game, I have to take a day off work to enjoy it.

I hate bugs in new releases. It has however become a fact of life. Marketing and budgetary pressures common in business force these decisions. Software is about the only product that does not suffer from "recalls." This is also a reason for expiring support. They have to make a new product to satisfy contractual, budgetary, and investor demands.

Software has the potential of being fixed without having to be recalled.

Expansions and patches can cause bugs simply because the changes/additions are not expected to cause them.

I am not a programmer because, even with debuggers, I could not scan/create millions of lines of coding. It is their job to do this and, hopefully, something they love to do.

The only program I have ever purchased that received alot of patch support was the Star Fleet Command series. Which led to my purchase of the terrible, in my opinion, SFC3.

Hopefully CA will avoid the "third swing, you're out" curse. They will try to support the product and also try to make sure it has the fewest bugs possible.

I will purchase RTW because I enjoy the premise and enjoyed the MTW and STW release versions even with the bugs.

I think a patch should be released for VI. If for no other reason than, release version software is not bug free.

I also feel a MTW patch should be released to bring MTW up to version 2.0, just don't include the Viking campaign.

For there to be any official statement of "no patch" is denying the reality of all software products.

While a patch may not be the priority, companies should continue to provide some support for prior products. If CA or Activision takes this route then they will alienate the very customers they seek.

However, the visits of CA personnel to this very board show a continuing interest in their clients' needs.

I have heard and experienced far less favorable reports on Activision itself.

If another company produces a Total War clone better than what CA produces? Commercial Darwinism in action. I'll buy it and play it.

Of course, that also means I'll be looking thru their forums wondering when their patch is coming.

Oops, sorry, hadn't read the "my king is dead" thread yet.

[Longasc]

A bit off-topic, but I really liked SFC3 for a short while. Too bad that the "Dynaverse" was not as fun to play as the Singleplayer-campaign. The overall stability of Dynaverse Servers was that of a banana-product.

[Rocket_Boy]

To be honest, I can't imagine them NOT patching this bug - the kings dying at 56. MTW has had its share of bugs since release, however this is the first one that has seriously detracted from my enjoyment of the game. I just think that its a real shame that since a lot of work has obviously gone into the expansion for such a bug to slip through.

In my first campaign game with VI installed, the problem was obvious when 7 kings all died in the same year causing me to look at what could be causing this. Its the sort of thing that any kind of playtesting should reveal.

We are fortunate enough that CA have staff that take enough pride in their work to visit these forums in their own time to address our questions and concerns. It seems that the decision on a patch at the end of the day lies with Activision. How they can justify not patching this bug, I don't know. From a business point of view it just dosen't make sense since a large source of advertisement for any game is word of mouth. Before VI, I have reccomended MTW to many of my friends, several of whom have gone on to buy the game. Since this bug, my advice would be, don't buy VI until this is fixed

[Knight_Yellow]

Quote[/b] (Big King Sanctaphrax @ June 08 2003,19:47)]Sorry, I'm all for principal, but...I NEED ROMENOW.

agreed

[Brother Derfel]

I have already stated that i will not be buying R:TW untill they patch VI.

My copy of VI has remained on my shelf for about 2 weeks now and seriously, I want my money back. What a rip off. I pay £25 to make my gaming experience of my favourite game of all time a lot less enjoyable. Thanks alot

[The_Emperor]

By the way didn't STW:MI split the online community as well?
(most expansion packs do)

Still I don't see any reason why they would make a patch, I mean its not like they are going to gain anything financially from deciding to help out a few dissentful voices in the online Boards.

Companys are motivated by profit, and right now RTW, the next big project is the thing thats going to supply that profit.

[Brother Derfel]

This is not about the comunity split for me, and surely if VI is a good game then people will all eventualy move towards it anyway.

And if Activision/CA are so money based that they do not care about their true fans then they have lost one customer for good. I will never buy another games made or developed by Activision or CA. I will know that if they do not offer support for this game then they won't for any other.

And don't you think that they are loosing many potential customers who havn't bought Vi yet and will be put off by the fact that people have now reported that it is so buggy?

[econ21]

I think there will be a patch, although reading in between the lines, this is not something CA directly control and so pressure here probably doesn't hurt. What I find a little annoying is that I - and probably quite a few others - bought VI primarily as a patch to MTW (to fix the GA goalds and improve siege resolution + AI trading) and to support CA. If there is no patch to VI, there will be some loss of goodwill that was already tested by having to pay for what in effect was a patch.

You can work around the 56 year bug for your own faction with .unfreeze. at age 39. However, it probably hits the AI factions. Just had the Spanish wipe out the Almos on early as usual and then the whole Spanish faction disappeared into a mass of rebels. I haven't backtracked with old saves to check, but their king hitting 56 with no heirs is my prime hypothesis to explain this implosion.

[Old Bald Guy]

I started a thread saying exactly this same thing in March, I believe. I said I wouldn't buy VI because of the lack of support. And, like many, I bought it anyway. However, I bought VI because there isn't anything else out now I wanted to play. When I started the thread, I got severely flamed for saying I wouldn't buy VI. I predicted more bugs would appear that wouldn't be fixed. I'm very sorry I was so prescient, but it's not like it was a giant leap in logic.

I doubt I'll be fooled again. When RTW comes out, there will be several games on the market which will compete for my small budget and limited time to play. I'll be buying and playing Half Life 2, for sure. While no doubt there will be bugs, Valve has patched Half Life for years. I KNOW there will be support for their game. They'll get my money, not because of a boycott of CA's product, but because I am sure I'll get support; I'll get my money's worth and my money is very limited.

The slippery slope applies, folks. If they think people will buy no matter the bugs, they'll keep putting out games with bugs and shrug off the complaints. Perhaps we won't get a patch for VI, because so many said they'd buy it anyway, even if it were not patched. There have been a LOT of games which have suffered the fate, and companies which are no longer here. There is simply a limited number of game players, and no company can afford to alienate their customers for long with bad support.

For now, enjoy playing RTW when it comes out. Complain loudly and say how you won't buy the expansion pack when it comes out because the bugs haven't been patched. I'll be playing something else.

It's a cruel world out there in consumer land.

OBG

[Foreign Devil]

I, in this thread of silly declarations, would like to declare that I fully intend on purchasing R:TW. VI has done nothing but enhance my enjoyment of the game... even if I have expeierenced a few highly inconvient crashes.

Please, before you hurl the proverbial invective at all things Medieval, remember the countless hours it has stolen from your lives. What else would you have done with those hours? I, for one, am pretty sure I'd be out living my life to its fullest... haha I jest. I'd be playing a less fun game, and so would you.

Can anyone tell that whining, justified or not, annoys the heck out of me?

I'd also like to declare that if Microsoft charges $100 for Halo 2, I will curse the day Bill Gates was born all the way to the electronics store, where I will promptly buy my copy just like everyone else.


While I'm on the subject...

I'd like to declare my love for one Angela May Johnson, who knows that I'm a big dork and doesn't care.

[The_Emperor]

Quote[/b] (Simon Appleton @ June 09 2003,13:24)]You can work around the 56 year bug for your own faction with .unfreeze. at age 39. However, it probably hits the AI factions. Just had the Spanish wipe out the Almos on early as usual and then the whole Spanish faction disappeared into a mass of rebels. I haven't backtracked with old saves to check, but their king hitting 56 with no heirs is my prime hypothesis to explain this implosion.

The same thing happened to the HRE... I had agents in most areas and kept a good eye on things and when the leader died without any Direct Hiers a massive Civil War broke out (because the HRE elects its generals and they started squabbling for power)

Is it me or are the Germans always the most likely faction to get a Civil War?

[Maniac]

I will not buy Rome:Total War unless Viking Invasion is patched.

But I won't be loosing out on the game. If VI won't get patched I'll get a pirate version of Rome. Hmm I'll actually bring VI back to the store and download it too if the situation doesn't change.

[Beirut]

Hmmm, after hearing all this I'm going to wait to buy VI.

Reminds me of the fiasco with Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3. CFS1 was rock stable. CFS 2 was nearly as good. CFS3 was a dog's breakfast of bugs, glitches, horrid graphics and single digit FPS (even if you ran it on a monster PC).

I tried to trade my one-day old copy on-line for MTW. No takers. I ended up giving it away free to the first person to respond to the post. $80 down the tubes. I'll never buy a MS product again unless it's proven.