Quote Originally Posted by Puzz3D
I don't see how selectable options whould harm SP, but have no fear because as soon as M2TW is released a multiplayer forum for M2TW will be created, and you won't have us around bothering you. We'll be shuffled off to a separate forum where it will be easy to ignore us.
Well, as you can tell by my post count, I'm not hugely active in the forums, so I am probably not as well versed in the forum politics as you. I have been reading the forums a lot more lately because I have been excited about M2TW, just like everyone else. You seem to be very knowledgeable about the Total War games and said you have experience with some of the beta teams, so I don't see where your opinion would be bothersome. User opinions are obviously what the programmers want, so they can improve the game...

I really don't play RTW on multiplayer a lot because I like the strategy involved in the campaign play, but that doesn't necessarily mean I don't care about what developments are being made to M2TW in the multiplayer area. I play computer games enough in general, though, to understand how factionalized the community can become, but SP and MP are two different worlds, so separate forums do make sense. Maybe I won't read the MP forum as much since I play mostly SP, but again, its personal preference on gameplay. I'm not trying to ignore anyone. As far as i'm concerned, improvements to the game are a good thing, regardless of whether they are in SP or in MP.

Quote Originally Posted by Puzz3D
Mods are not a solution for multiplayer. We need multiple selectable options on morale, fatigue, ammo, reload and gamespeed. This would not delay the release of the game. What will never happen is for CA to go through all that's necessary to optimize the gameplay. They haven't even come close to doing so in the recent attempts.
I meant for in SP if the AI still sucks, but mods can be played MP as well, can't they?

Quote Originally Posted by *Ringo*
Patching should really be restricted to C bugs IMO. And not everyone is willing to spend the time investigating MODS, no matter how good they most definitely are; I usually buy a game based on the contents of the box (which incidently should include a map as standard) not what I can potentially do with the contents! *says while making a paper hat out of his RTW map*
I definately agree with you that the features should be finalized upon relase, and patches should be for fixing bugs, but it doesn't seem to work out that way because of time & money constraints you mentioned. By releasing M2TW and claiming that the AI and such have been improved, but then releasing a patch a few months down the road to "fix" the AI suggests that the "improved" AI was not completed in the first place (or just sucks despite the improvements, perhaps due to what Puzz said about them not testing enough...), so I can see why everyone doubts the claims made in the blog. You should get what you pay for, not an incomplete or plain bad product.

Modability, though, is something I see as a big plus when buying a game, since the replay "potential" of the game is so much greater. That does not excuse the problems in the original game, but it keeps the game alive much longer and creates a diverse fan base. As for a game that doesn't allow mods, after you have exhausted the many scenarios from countless hours of playing, you are forced to wait (and pay for) official expansion packs, (which may improve the game greatly, or just add some new stuff to the existing game - ie. BI). Everyone gets bored of a game after a while, and mods just give more choice. Since CA seem to be supportive (or ar least not prohibitive of mods), I think mods are a good selling point. It allows the players to use their own creativity to "make their own fun," and these mods are made by people to whom the game is a hobby and not a job, so money is not an issue.

I can't say how much time everyone here spends playing *tw, but if you play even a little, you have some free time. You don't have to spend time "researching" to find the best mod, you just have to try different mods, maybe in some of the free time you would be playing the stock game. I don't know, maybe you like playing the same game over and over again, so play however you want. I just know I like to try something new every now and again.

My favorite mods, BTW, are Rome Total Realism (RTW) and Invasio Barbarorum (BI), but I have also played the stock campaigns in the original games countless times.