Why make factions and then not use them?

[Julius_Nepos]

Well like I said I don't know where the marketing data comes from, it certainly didn't come from me since I certainly would not have advised them to make the choices they've made in regards to RTW and for that matter M2TW. It's apparent though someone, somewhere has told them fantasy units, anachronistic factions, and arcade style battles are what a majority of their target audience wants. They didn't just do this kinda thing arbitrarily. And while I'd like to believe that the users of these boards are a significant subset of the total Total War fanbase, this is likely not the case.

Sadly, I would wager good money that its the "five minute button bashers" are the ones CA must take into consideration the most. As far as the bottom line is concerned a sale is a sale. It matters not if the game is played for 5 minutes or 5 years. I can't say how much of a minority the hardcore fans make up, but it seems to me that CA has decided to grow the business and they think, rightly or wrongly, that catering to the devoted fan base is not going to produce enough profits for that task.

So I guess my point is, CA is going to be more concerned with the 13 year old who likes unlocking factions, using Druid "warriors" and Smashing the Seleucids with King Tut than the history buff who's grown tired of fighting Scythian Head-Hunting Maidens at Campus Getae. It's a fine line to tread and I don't envy the position the Creative Assembly is in. Perhaps it doesn't even matter if the decisions are logical or not, so long as they produce enough profits to keep the company in the black. I just hope the next Total War installment strikes a better balance all around.

[RabbitDynamite]

"No man ever went broke under-estimating the taste of the American public" - H.L. Mencken

Sadly, the world is not exactly over-flowing with video-gamers who also have a love for history. Nor is it over-flowing with discerning strategy gamers who genuinely love a challenge. But hey, that's where the real + of PC gaming comes in. It's up to saintly hardcores to make a game that earns the adulation of the devoted and will be played for years to come. Something they could do much better if it wasn't for the (illegitimate son) hardcoded (Freudian relations) limits