Has anyone been to totalwar.com recently

[SpencerH]

................i mean they could have just put the patch on the expansion and charged for it ......

Any ideas about how few people will pay for an expansion to fix bugs that came with a game they already bought?

[Browning]

I will not.

This is my first game of the TW series, and if the things go on like they do, it's the last.

[steve]

I agree that when the game was put out it should have been bug free ... no doubt. Maybe that wasnt a good example, but it seems to me that i do see people on their site bitching and having unrealistic expectations of a video game company. On the other hand i have seen people on there that seem to just search for the slightest imperfection of the game so they can just complain about it. I also do think that CA could have put alot of those fixes in an expasion pack that included many other features and many people would have bought them. One question i have , did MTW have so many issues when it was put out?

[Musashi]

I was worried about the buyout when I first heard about it, as much as I like Dynasty Warriors type games, I was hoping to see more Total War style games (Including being one of the minority who'd like to see a fantasy Total War...)

However, when it was pointed out that CA has always had a console division, that they've been producing console games the whole time they've been producing the Total War games, and that Total Warrior is a different line with a different team, I'm not worried anymore, and I figure I'll probably like Spartan: Total Warrior, just hope they release it on the only console I own (PS2).

[Kraxis]

Aetius, there was a lot of complaining. Why do you think that Alex starts out his post trying to be dimplomatic and saying he wants to calm people's fears. Hardly something I would do if there hadn't been anything but praise for the Sega buyout. Alex certainly did settle a lot of fears, and if you would care to read just the first page you will find a number of posts where people have flamed him. So obviously the .com is very much differnt than your view of sellouts and fanboys.

By that last post you just confirmed my suspicion about you. You think that your fears are the only right way and that Sega and console gaming is a bad thing in all. Other opinions (such as those you complain about) is just stupid people with little idea about how the real world revolves.

[Browning]

I agree that when the game was put out it should have been bug free ... no doubt.

It is close to impossible to release a 100% bug-free software of such a complication grade as a modern PC game. But it is the self-righteous attitude of those developers (as in locking the threads with complaints about The Bug) that disturbs me.

Maybe that wasnt a good example, but it seems to me that i do see people on their site bitching and having unrealistic expectations of a video game company. On the other hand i have seen people on there that seem to just search for the slightest imperfection of the game so they can just complain about it.

You (and Kraxis in his post before this one) are very much right about that. This is why I registered on this forum and not in that one, after a period of lurking around.

I also do think that CA could have put alot of those fixes in an expasion pack that included many other features and many people would have bought them.

If they don't resolve the problem with that Major Bug in a patch before The Expansion, I will not buy the latter one. The Expansion will introduce new bugs (I have no problem with that) and I want to be able to hope that those bugs will get fixed, without me paying for an expasion-to-expansion, and then expasion-to-expasion-to-expansion etc.

[Old Celt]

CA is behaving in a less than honorable way toward the buyers of RTW. The right thing to do is to fix gamebreaking bugs immediately, and to do it in a free patch release. Imposing censorship on people who complain, no matter how bitterly, over LEGITIMATE issues, just shouldn't happen.

I develop software and know you cannot create perfection on the first shot with a large, sophisticated program. Users know this too, and they will be tolerant to a degree of the first effort. But once you address the issues and say, "We've done all we intend to do", as CA has, you then best better have a nearly perfect product, with no bugs rated as serious or critical. The HA bug is serious, the scarring issue is serious, and the save/reload bug borders on critical for its threat to good gameplay for many users. This is hardly the kind of stuff that should have escaped them, and they need to be accountable for their errors- EVEN IF IT COSTS THEM MONEY TO FIX!!

We aren't going to get fairness though, because CA has sold its corporate soul to the devil, and we will have to pay for fixes in the expansion pack which should have been caught with release 1.1 at the latest. Abusing your customers for short term gain is never a winning business plan.

I admit I'm hooked deeply enough on RTW to pay whatever for the expansion, but I'm disappointed at the lack of both pride in their work and business ethics the management of CA are displaying over this patch fiasco. To the management of CA: If you want to play in the big leagues, then be prepared to play professionally. If you want to be anything more than a "one hit wonder" remember the importance of doing your job right, and then standing by it to correct any errors on your part.

[Quietus]

Hasn't GilJaysmith already dropped a hint of another patch?

Ah, the .org... "Bless 'em" as we so often say here.

You're entitled to huddle together and worry pointlessly about the future, that doesn't hurt anyone. But you could all do us a favour by limiting negative comments about the game and CA to, "Well, I don't like the sound of that, so I probably won't buy or play it." Anything stronger than that - especially as you haven't seen any game assets as yet - and you're asking for a voodoo slap which you won't forget in a hurry...

On the other hand, if you emanate enough positive vibes, who knows what might happen in the very near future?

CA going console???

[Old Celt]

Quote:
Originally Posted by GilJaysmith
"Ah, the .org... "Bless 'em" as we so often say here.

You're entitled to huddle together and worry pointlessly about the future, that doesn't hurt anyone. But you could all do us a favour by limiting negative comments about the game and CA to, "Well, I don't like the sound of that, so I probably won't buy or play it." Anything stronger than that - especially as you haven't seen any game assets as yet - and you're asking for a voodoo slap which you won't forget in a hurry...

On the other hand, if you emanate enough positive vibes, who knows what might happen in the very near future?"

Talk about your pompous arrogance! Gee, I'm sorry if people complaining about serious bugs in the game (and providing research to back it up) offends you, CA. We haven't seen any game assets yet??? What do you call RTW release 1.0? How about release 1.1?? Ahh, release 1.2?? Please tell me that quote was taken out of context to something other than a discussion of patching serious flaws which have been proven to exist, and that any QA simpleton could have discovered in a single day of testing!!

They are the ones asking for serious bad karma if they think they can offend and alienate their customers. It seems to me that CA doesn't know the first thing about public relations or how to be thick skinned about criticism. All I would ask is that they fix serious issues in a patch right away, and do serious testing to validate that they work and haven't broken something else. If that's too much for their current staff, I can provide an e-mail address and they can contract me to teach them how to do proper QA.

I took CA's side in the beginning of the patching process, wanting to believe they intended to do the right thing. Two official patches later, most of the people I was arguing with have deserted the game, and probably won't spend another penny on CA software. They might be able to bs your average consumer, but I write code for a living, and know the customer is entitled to better.

And this: "On the other hand, if you emanate enough positive vibes, who knows what might happen in the very near future? "

Hey, I gave $50 worth of positive vibes, and thousands of words in defense of CA's software developer business ethics. My reward has been patches with kindergarten mistakes, and the statement above which amounts to CA telling me that they might help if I get on my knees and kiss their ass enough. That's some nerve, GilJaySmith!!

Now that SEGA owns them, perhaps they can rein in at least the outward display of arrogance some CA staff members seem to be prone to. They might try to stop the Nazi style censorship going on at other websites as well. At least SEGA has enough experience and staff to know better than to treat customers the way CA has over legitimate business issues.

[screwtype]

I develop software and know you cannot create perfection on the first shot with a large, sophisticated program. Users know this too, and they will be tolerant to a degree of the first effort. But once you address the issues and say, "We've done all we intend to do", as CA has, you then best better have a nearly perfect product, with no bugs rated as serious or critical. The HA bug is serious, the scarring issue is serious, and the save/reload bug borders on critical for its threat to good gameplay for many users. This is hardly the kind of stuff that should have escaped them, and they need to be accountable for their errors- EVEN IF IT COSTS THEM MONEY TO FIX!!

We aren't going to get fairness though, because CA has sold its corporate soul to the devil, and we will have to pay for fixes in the expansion pack which should have been caught with release 1.1 at the latest. Abusing your customers for short term gain is never a winning business plan.

I admit I'm hooked deeply enough on RTW to pay whatever for the expansion, but I'm disappointed at the lack of both pride in their work and business ethics the management of CA are displaying over this patch fiasco. To the management of CA: If you want to play in the big leagues, then be prepared to play professionally. If you want to be anything more than a "one hit wonder" remember the importance of doing your job right, and then standing by it to correct any errors on your part.

Geez, and to think you started off here by slamming everyone who dared to criticize CA. You've come a long way baby. LOL.

But I agree with your comments. The last straw for me was when a member of CA on this board recently confessed that Activision had exerted no pressure on CA and that all the design decisions in the game were CA's own. That and the fact he seemed to think the game is great because lots of folks have bought it - it's clear that CA are going to continue with their business strategy of appealing to the lowest common denominator at the expense of realism or anything else which might get in the way of maximum sales. Get ready for "Witches and Warlocks: Total War" people, because it's not far away...

[hrvojej]

The last straw for me was when a member of CA on this board recently confessed that Activision had exerted no pressure on CA and that all the design decisions in the game were CA's own. That and the fact he seemed to think the game is great because lots of folks have bought it - it's clear that CA are going to continue with their business strategy of appealing to the lowest common denominator at the expense of realism or anything else which might get in the way of a quick buck.

True. This, coupled with the sorry state of this game right now, is what led me to conclude that I will most likely obtain any future games from CA from the bargain bin, if at all.

This forum is still a nice place though, and the only reason I still hang out here sometimes.