Quote Originally Posted by Dionysus9
The magic of the game is not in the packaging or the graphics-- its in the gameplay. Why so many software companies don't get that is beyond me.
I think it is the flashy graphics that sells the game. There are more people playing RTW multiplayer right now than played any of the previous titles, and the MP battle doesn't even stay in sync. The SP game has something like 100 bugs, and it still got a 90% or better rating in every review except one which was 89%.

Total War is a commercial endevour, and the majority of the sales occur within a short time of initial release. The developer isn't trying to make the best gameplay or the longest life game, and given the good graphics in RTW the gameplay doesn't have to be as good as the previous titles. So, we get things like suicide generals and then a closeup cut sceen of him getting killed. That feature isn't an accident.

The title of this thread has the reason MP isn't the focus of Total War games. Multiplayer is the "future". It isn't the present. With CA now pursuing the mass market, that market determines what the game will be like.