Far too easy?

[Soylent Green]

Ok, so bugs and patches aside. Some of which make it harder and some easier.

Does anyone else think this game is far too easy? I've been playing since Shogun, pretty much hardcore, completing every campaign on every side in every game. You know the story.

But seriously, after the logistical nightmare that was the western Roman empire campaign on RTW:BI, where you had to micromanage every city just to get a positive income. This game is pathetically easy.

On my first game, VH/VH with England, i completed the campaign within 120 turns. Ok, so this probably could be done far quicker had i mastered the new religious and mercantile aspects of the game, as well as stopped bothering with alliances and all that, since the computer breaks them when you're fighting less than two factions.

But seriously, i like finishing off everyone, i have 40 turns remaining (to complete the original 50 or so provinces mission), and i have conquered the entire world, all that remains is a couple of Timurid provinces (the only significant challenge encountered, simply because all their units are 3 gold chevrons and artillery elephants appear to be made of titanium), and a few Inca? provinces further up.

Yeah, by the time you can attack the Incas, they're pretty wimpy in comparison. 3 silver chevron fully upgraded hospitallers seem to smear the floor with their best units.

Everyone used to hate that thing in MTW1 where the provinces kept respawning, but at least it kept you on your toes. Right now i can wipe out an entire faction in about three turns with about 6 well placed armies.

Timurids are the only real challenge faced thus far. The mongols were irritating due to their ability to spawn units from nowhere when facing annihilation. Dropships maybe? Yus.

I have to say, beautiful though it is, it looks like they've chucked out an unfinished product this time.

And why do besieging AIs line all their units up outside your front gate? I've actually had to leave the room and wait for the timer to run out because they just sit there. Retarded. I've had to leave most of the battles to the auto calculator because i just can't be bothered with their tactics. It's the same everytime, they move their missile troops FAR too far forward, get wiped out by my overpowered cavalry, and then the rest of their army converges in a mass in the middle. I could fight these battles with my eyes closed.

Okay, question/rant over. Flame away my friends. Flame away. :)

[sapi]

*ignites match

But seriously, if you don't like the game that's not our problem ;)

Unfortunately, the campaign AI is very weak, and i think the only way to get a challenge is not to strike quickly and give them time to build up.

Personally, i'd like faction reemergances and civil wars and all that stuff back from mtw1, but it appears that it's not going to happen.

We can only hope the game improves with time...

[Scotsmanforlife]

I'm playing as the HRE currently and am having a blast. I'm taking the game slowly so as to enjoy it much longer. It wasn't my goal to master this game within a few days of it coming out, what's the point of that? At the moment i'm surrounded by enemies and am enjoying being attacked on all sides. There are always going to be problems with games, no matter what the game. People aren't perfect and their is no such thing as a perfect game. I take it in stride and hope that in the future the bugs will be worked out. I think CA put's out amazing games, compared to a lot of bad games that i've had the misfortune of playing. Maybe i'm in the minority here but i'll continue to be a CA fan as long as they keep putting out products.

[Ars Moriendi]

Does anyone else think this game is far too easy?
[...]
This game is pathetically easy.
[...]
On my first game, VH/VH with England, i completed the campaign within 120 turns.
[...]
I could fight these battles with my eyes closed.

Dude, you're so 1337 it hurts !!!11!!!1

Will you teach me how you do it, master ?

Flame away my friends. Flame away. :)

There you have it :)

[The Teacher]

fight the battles from the generals eye view, camera angle that is, tell me what happens..

[Soylent Green]

Okay, i wasn't trying to 'prove' anything. God knows being 'good' at computer games isn't anything to be proud of these days anyway, (if you want to pretend you have a social life).

I'm one of those people that believes you shouldn't have to handicap yourself to play a challenging game. When it says very hard, it should be.. very hard. No? Anyway, i never reload battles, i always play through with the first result.

Plus, i never said i didn't like the game, perhaps just a little too quick to the shelves? A weak AI is a major fault in any game, i don't care what people say. I don't buy a game like MTW2 for the multiplayer value, because that erases the all important campaign aspect of it.

Not trying to be 'l337', as you put it, ironically or not. Just disappointed that they've gone backwards, if anything, on many aspects that made RTW, particularly BI, and the Alexander expansion, incredibly challenging. Because that's what i play strategy games for, a challenge, provided by the game, not myself. I could limit myself to one unit of peasants on VH/VH if i wanted to cream over the glory of my victory. But i'd rather the game provided that. No?

I merely wanted to ask whether anyone else was finding the game a breeze? Even though in 10 turns i lost 3 kings and countless generals to inquisitors. Even though none of my units charge properly. Even though none of my units upgrade properly. Even though cannon towers still fire ballistas. Even though, even though.

[Ars Moriendi]

Okay, i wasn't trying to 'prove' anything.

I know. It's your invitation to fire away and the (way too many) times I've heard this kind of "i'm uber" talk got me snapping.

Not trying to be 'l337', as you put it, ironically or not.

I was (trying to be) ironic. But don't take it personally, it was mostly the 13yr old "too-good-for-you" kid stereotype I was aiming at.

Just disappointed that they've gone backwards, if anything, on many aspects that made RTW, particularly BI, and the Alexander expansion, incredibly challenging. Because that's what i play strategy games for, a challenge, provided by the game, not myself. I could limit myself to one unit of peasants on VH/VH if i wanted to cream over the glory of my victory. But i'd rather the game provided that. No?

I merely wanted to ask whether anyone else was finding the game a breeze? Even though in 10 turns i lost 3 kings and countless generals to inquisitors. Even though none of my units charge properly. Even though none of my units upgrade properly. Even though cannon towers still fire ballistas. Even though, even though.

I understand, and agree that the game could use a better AI and higher diff. settings for the hardcore players. Still, you have to keep in mind that you're definitely atypical. Most M2TW players out there never heard of STW and MTW, probably only played RTW shortly and are nowhere near your expertise level. The publisher has to aim for the "typical" player, whatever that may be.
Me, for my part, I'm happy with the difficulty level it presents now, I just wish the AI stopped making those stupid, unexplainable mistakes that just break the "make-believe".

Keep your hopes up and don't shelf the game just yet, there's mods in the making for the likes of you.

---------------------

PS: I'd like to see a demonstration of you playing blindfolded, should be fun to watch. You have videos ???
(yes, it's my lame attempt at irony, again...)

[Soylent Green]

I understand, and agree that the game could use a better AI and higher diff. settings for the hardcore players. Still, you have to keep in mind that you're definitely atypical. Most M2TW players out there never heard of STW and MTW, probably only played RTW shortly and are nowhere near your expertise level. The publisher has to aim for the "typical" player, whatever that may be.
Me, for my part, I'm happy with the difficulty level it presents now, I just wish the AI stopped making those stupid, unexplainable mistakes that just break the "make-believe".

Keep your hopes up and don't shelf the game just yet, there's mods in the making for the likes of you.

---------------------

PS: I'd like to see a demonstration of you playing blindfolded, should be fun to watch. You have videos ???
(yes, it's my lame attempt at irony, again...)

Fair play with that reply man. But you know Civilisation IV, everything above Prince difficulty for me was a subject of much consternation. It was something you aspired to beat, you had to be the ultimate player. I always remember my friend beating the max difficulty back in the days of Civ. I, and how incredible it was.

With a series, you have to expect that the majority of players are probably going to be coming from the last episode back, since the loyal ones are more likely to be coming back with an incredible series like the TW series.

When i buy a game, i EXPECT, not hope, a challenge, and something i haven't experienced before, as part of paying through the nose. For example, Baldur's Gate, with its 350 gaming hours, or Elder Scrolls 4, which was so long i couldn't even finish it in several sittings. RTW kept me coming back, particularly with BI, because it was so intensely challenging.

When i sit down to a session of MTW2, i know what to expect now, even after one campaign. I know it's going to be a matter of slogging out the campaign, autocalculating 8000 battles, and victory. Not a tenuous battle of wills that could go either way.

I had ONE exciting battle, against the aforementioned Timurids, where they actually broke through my first citadel walls (they brought a grand bombard on the fifth assualt), and then my second, until i fought them off on the third. Despite a 6:1 army ratio (them:me). ONE.

Tbh. If you remember the MTW:VI expansion, every battle counted in keeping them out of your lands. When you were skilfully maneouvring your fyrds behind their elite warbands in order to actually pull off a victory. Or half of your losses were just to weaken them enough to take them down!

[katank]

Dude, that's just masochistic.

@OP, yep. The game is too easy for TW vets. Blitzing will net you tons of territories fast and soon you are invincible (have sufficient depth to absorb any offensive aimed at you and plenty of production to replace any losses and go on the offensive yourself)

[Barry Fitzgerald]

The biggest problem with the campaign AI is that it reads like a book!

And a faction will pretty much war itself to destrucion and doesn't know when to call it a day. Esp noticable playing as the HRE...watch as everyone attacks..many factions attack you despite it not being a good idea...in the ist place...

not sure if CA thought it would be fun..but ahem well....it is pretty easy to know what is going to happen next..bit like a cheesy horror movie....and the audience shouts.."he's behind you!!" lol

I too hope CA sit down and take note of these problems..and sort them out..and maybe if we make enough noise..bring back the popular MTW gameplay treats...titles....civil wars..etc etc...cannot be that hard to do...

[Soylent Green]

That's more the kind of response i was asking for.

Agreed on both fronts. The AI is totally suicidal. I had a 100 turn alliance with Russia and Hungary, and they both broke it when i erased France, despite the fact both were at war with them.

Also, on another break from previous games, the AI will not accept bribes or protectorates even apparently when they have 1 unit of 40 men left in a city with 1000 population.

I spent most of the game excommunicated. Mainly because on a personal level i disagree with catholicism, and partly because i couldn't be bothered to crusade, i'd rather just eat through the catholic nations on my way to the middle east. Thus, apparently i was fair game to all the catholic nations of the world, where's the action?

[Zenicetus]

I spent most of the game excommunicated. Mainly because on a personal level i disagree with catholicism, and partly because i couldn't be bothered to crusade, i'd rather just eat through the catholic nations on my way to the middle east. Thus, apparently i was fair game to all the catholic nations of the world, where's the action?

I agree the game should have one or two higher levels of difficulty. Or a more rational AI.... one that would always build proper army stacks and make less suicidal decisions on the strategy map, which would make the current difficulty levels fine.

However, if you play a Catholic faction and ignore the whole papal relations thing, then you're bypassing part of the game's difficulty. It's a different game if you play by those rules. You can't just steamroller across fellow Catholic factions.

Playing as Spain (and playing as a legit Catholic faction), I couldn't attack Portugal to expand my territory without getting in trouble with the Pope. I had to play a sneakier game of inciting unrest with spies, sabotaging their buildings, and pruning out their family members with assassins, until they flipped to rebels. When I managed to provoke France into a war, I got a mission from the Pope to cease hostilities for 5 turns. That forced a change of plan, and it led to me taking Scotland, of all things, while I waited out the Papal edict and could finish off France. So this is a built-in brake to blitzing the map, at least as the Catholics. Now it is possible to bribe the Pope to a point where you can get away with a lot, but with a little self-control as a handicapping factor, this does add interest and challenge to the game.

And by the way, I'm at odds with Catholicism (all religion, actually) on a personal level too, but it doesn't stop me from having fun with that aspect of the game. It's no different from me playing a green-skinned space lizard in GalCiv2... I'm not one of those on a personal level, either.

You're also making it easy by auto-calc'ing so many battles, especially sieges as the attacker. As far as I can tell, an auto siege doesn't factor in losses from defending tower missiles. I lose far more troops in a manual siege. I could probably conquer the map twice as fast, if I auto-calc'ed all sieges.

I do agree with your larger point about how it should be harder, but it does seem like you've bypassed at least some of the game's built-in difficulty.

[Scotsmanforlife]

I'll agree that BI and Alexander were much more challenging. But this game just came out, give CA a chance to improve it before condeming it. Before anyone says it, i agree that CA should have made it very challenging from the start. Nonetheless i'm still enjoying myself and will wait for future patches and hope they improve the game.

[Shahed]

Ok, so bugs and patches aside. Some of which make it harder and some easier.

Does anyone else think this game is far too easy? I've been playing since Shogun, pretty much hardcore, completing every campaign on every side in every game. You know the story.

But seriously, after the logistical nightmare that was the western Roman empire campaign on RTW:BI, where you had to micromanage every city just to get a positive income. This game is pathetically easy.

On my first game, VH/VH with England, i completed the campaign within 120 turns. Ok, so this probably could be done far quicker had i mastered the new religious and mercantile aspects of the game, as well as stopped bothering with alliances and all that, since the computer breaks them when you're fighting less than two factions.

But seriously, i like finishing off everyone, i have 40 turns remaining (to complete the original 50 or so provinces mission), and i have conquered the entire world, all that remains is a couple of Timurid provinces (the only significant challenge encountered, simply because all their units are 3 gold chevrons and artillery elephants appear to be made of titanium), and a few Inca? provinces further up.

Yeah, by the time you can attack the Incas, they're pretty wimpy in comparison. 3 silver chevron fully upgraded hospitallers seem to smear the floor with their best units.

Everyone used to hate that thing in MTW1 where the provinces kept respawning, but at least it kept you on your toes. Right now i can wipe out an entire faction in about three turns with about 6 well placed armies.

Timurids are the only real challenge faced thus far. The mongols were irritating due to their ability to spawn units from nowhere when facing annihilation. Dropships maybe? Yus.

I have to say, beautiful though it is, it looks like they've chucked out an unfinished product this time.

And why do besieging AIs line all their units up outside your front gate? I've actually had to leave the room and wait for the timer to run out because they just sit there. Retarded. I've had to leave most of the battles to the auto calculator because i just can't be bothered with their tactics. It's the same everytime, they move their missile troops FAR too far forward, get wiped out by my overpowered cavalry, and then the rest of their army converges in a mass in the middle. I could fight these battles with my eyes closed.

Okay, question/rant over. Flame away my friends. Flame away. :)

LOL ! That was a great rant !!! LMAO !!!!

I started up an HRE campaign in VH/VH and by turn 30 it was pretty much decided who the next superpower will be, but wait....I just put on automanage everything save a few cities for troop production, and blitzed through everything. Only when I met the Byzantines I had a minor setback by losing half a stack and then they lost a whole stack, so balance wise it was a non issue. It did slow me.

Then I started a Turk camapaign and in 40 turns, everything from Tbilisi -> Tunis -> Constantinople was green.

Then I started an English campaign and quit after 15 turns because it was absolutely absurd how easy it was. Scots got the WTFPWNEDBBQ'ed rush, Frenchies had no clue what happened to Paris. It was way too easy.

I have to say the disappointment in mailed knights could'nt have been more. Mailed knights should be sent back to baking cookies or something. Not that such a pastime is in itself pathetic but it is simply not directly suited to combat, something which the mailed knights don't seem to be suited to either, routinely loosing to peasants.

Of course this is absolutely not the way I like to play. This was play testing. Normally I would'nt even attack another faction unless I had to.

It seems, from my play testing that zerg rushing, blitzkrieg-ing breaks the game for most factions.

It's very easy if you do this. It's still quite easy but the AI makes a better show of itself if you allow it to build. That's what I do and I get to meet much better opponents. Thankfully my playstyle is much the builder/roleplayer/perfect army combo etc type. So I take my time.

The AI can be decent but usually it's not much of a challenge. I do LOVE some of the moves I've seen, particularly the feigned retreats, skirmishing. Mongol armies can be pretty decent, (I did a fast forward) but ofc this mainly because you face 3-4 all at once on the screen. I did enjoy very much my limited play testing with the Mongols and Timurids. They could be MUCH better but it's decent. The AI did a few decent moves in one battle, swarming everywhere with horse archers. It was one all cavalry army against 3 mostly cavalry armies. I had a close defeat. but it was GREAT fun.

It has some good basics but needs a lot of work to be challenging without cheats and numbers.