QA from CA for the Org-ites

[Colovion]

May I suggest a question about KILLING SPEED?

Also, has the game gone through any more optimization since the demo?

I second these.

[Blodrast]

erm, I think the idea of this thread was to gather some 5 of the questions we'd most like answered... and not pointing bugs.
I don't really see how asking them "why do troops fall in the water", or "what's wrong with the killing speed" qualifies.
Yes, of course these are issues, but they don't really belong in this category, IMO.
We have a separate thread for that, with all the issues (good and bad, and not limited to bugs).

My impression was that this was more of a "how does that feature of the game work"
kind of thing ... to give an example, similar to "how does sapping work ?"; although this had been answered before in an interview, but it shows my point.

I personally think it would be better if each person posting in this thread would come up with a numbered list of 5 (or less) questions, ordered by their importance, that have to do with various features in the game; e.g., are trade routes the same as in MTW ? to what extent can you influence the VnV's that the members of your family get ? etc.

And in the end, someone should just put them together, see the questions that were most frequent, and summarize them for the CA people to answer them. As they said, "ten questions is not five".

Besides, what kind of answer do you expect when pointing out a bug ? How does that enrich your knowledge of the game's features ? It's a bug, and they will have either fixed it in the full release, or not. And if not, they might fix it in the possible patch, or not. Period. Would any of these answers give any of you any satisfaction ? 'Cause I sure wouldn't feel any better no matter what the answer were... So perhaps we should try to focus on question related to the actual game/campaign/MP etc...


This, of course, is my personal opinion. Everybody is free to ignore it or disagree with it.

[SouthwaterPanda]

Mmm, I was about to post something to that effect. Asking a question with a Yes/No answer, when the game ships a week on Friday, is probably a waste of a slot - although Roxy is at his best with Yes/No questions ;-)

[Kraellin]

only a few things i want to know.

1. is there a multplayer campaign included in the release?

2. if not, is there any planned for r:tw, perhaps as an extra release or part of an expansion pack?

3. will one still be able to go thousands of miles across a sea to invade in one turn?

4. if not, how will it work now?

5. do i still get my normal 100 free copies for being a moderator here?

K.

[Jambo]

Lol, this sounds more like a demo patch request thread!!

So, just to keep in the same way of thinking, my question is what kind of support (how many patches) will we receive for R:TW?

[andrewt]

Agreed. I think the questions should be about features.

[Nigel]

Very good point, Blodrast.

Yes, we may want to ask questions other than those that will become clear anyway as soon as the game is released in a few days.


1. Are there any considerations at CA to ever try a MP campaign, or have they given up on that concept completely?

2. TW is very mod-friendly. Would the inclusion of modding tools be an idea considered for future titles (or perhaps the expansion)?

3. As the killing-speed-question is important to many players and for MP battles cannot be solved by a player made mod (reasons are outlined in various threads) could CA include a "MP-mod" in a patch or in the expansion which can be activated for players who like more time for tactics in their battles? (or does CA see another way to keep both worlds happy?)

4. After sales support is a good one. How many patches are planned ?

Well, those are my most burning questions. Everything else I can wait till I have the game.

Nigel

[Colovion]

that makes sense.

How about this:

1: Land Based Trade - does it produce? In MTW the trading was almost entirely sea based and if you wanted to build a trade empire without ships it was an oxymoron. I seem to remember the Silk Road bringing in many goods throughout this timeframe and bringing the trade from the East certainly brought a greater economic benefit to the European based factions which were able to exploit this trade. Will Land Based Trade be improved at all or is trade in general being revamped in any way?

2: There was a notable response to the demo from Orgites and i was wondering if any (most) of the concerns were addressed. (For list of concerns see this thread)

3: I know that farming is a big income feature - but fishing used to also be a big part of revenue and sustinance for folks back in Roman times. Does the game reflect this?

4: Will you be able to take soldiers/generals/royalty prisoners and torture them to give you information you need about their faction's armies, ships, cities etc?

5: We've been told about the diplomacy system. Can you post a list of things which can be asked for of another faction as well as the list of things which can be given in return?

[Colovion]

oh yeah - i don't think they plan for patches.

remember - patches are a result of people hounding the developers to get teh game out so it has some flaws or isn't balanced somehow - once it hits mass market people find these flaws and they're fixed. Remember back when computer games first came out and there were no internet connections (or they were all 14.4kbs) - yeah that's right, no patches. NONE. Patches are a crutch which we deal with to get the game sooner.

[Medieval Assassin]

I'd rather know if this major bug has been fixed, then know some of these other questions, if this bug shows up like it has been, I probably will think twice about buying the game.

[d6veteran]

1) The white routing banners that we saw in the demo are not only confusing, but distracting and out of place compared to the rest of the graphics. Why were the banners altered in this manner from past TW games?

2) On the default unit size setting will I get Roman units that are 81 men in strenght (the number of men in a Century), facing Barbarian units that are 120-200 men in strength? My point is will the default unit size provide not only historically accurate Century size units to maneuvar on the battlefield, but will I be throwing these Centuries at (for example) barbarian formations that are larger in size to account for the greater man power it took to be at even odds with a disciplined Roman unit/Century?

3) How is Multiplayer different in RTW from MTW? For instance will you be able to host historical or custom battles for online play?

4) In the single player game, what will determine if you fight a battle at night or during the day?

5) Why did CA choose not to use more historical titles for ranks? For example why is a Barbian Leader a 'Captain' and not say a 'Chieftan', or why is a Roman General not a 'Prefect' or 'Legate'?

[Tamur]

My questions are mostly about the SP campaign, as this is the part I'm most excited about...

1) There are two seasons. Are turns keyed to seasons, or will there be multiple turns per season?

2) Which was more important in deciding movement allotments -- geographic reality, or gameplay necessity?

3) I've heard conflicting reports about whether you can "win" without completely obliterating all other factions. What's the story on this?

4) What's the average gameplay time (in turns) of the testers who have taken the campaign from start to finish?

5) What guidelines does CA give their employees about game testing hours? Ensemble Studios had a 10-hours-a-week from everyone after alpha (including reception staff) requirement at one point, thus the question.

Thanks!