Quote Originally Posted by Quillan
Because the developers aren't Blake. Blake plays Civ 4 with a skill I can barely conceive. I hang around on Noble and Prince, while Blake routinely wins on Deity. Top off his play skill with strategic skill and programming skill, and Blake (and others like him) can take the game places the developers couldn't. They come up with the ideas, and give them a direction, but the players take that to places they never imagined. How many times have games been patched for exploits that seem obvious in hindsight but nobody ever considered in advance?
When I played AOK seriously, the devs actually hired the best players to help develop and play test the game. While I agree that Blake and others like Vel play at a level that most of us can only dream of, the devs ought to take advantage of people with the fortitude, brains, and stamina to learn a game inside out and hire them to help create a better game. The budgets for a major game like MTW are huge and a couple more people working on the AI is not going to have a serious impact on the bottom line. If you really care about your product you do what is required to make it as good as it can be. I have seen several companies do this and am always disappointed that CA doesn't. It is my firm belief that the only reason CA has been as sucessful as they have been is because they have a monopoly on this type of game. The first time a serious competitor comes along that actually tries to create a great game, CA are in trouble.