Total War Eras

[Tomisama]

With the Total War Eras Collection* rerelease of Shogun, is there any hope for a Shogun server?

Just felt someone should at least ask...



* http://www.totalwar.com/

[x-dANGEr]

I don't want to get your hopes down, but I think the chances of that are far..

[Drisos]

This is anyhow good news.. but for the server I'm afraid we won't get a new one...

[Tomisama]

Selling software that has online multiplayer feature, and then not supporting it with a server, is a dishonourable business practice.

It is like lying on your job application, then after you get hired (game purchase), admitting to your employer that some of the things on your resume may not prove-out to be as stated.

I was hoping that SEGA (with deeper pockets) might pick up this dropped ball, and restore integrity to the Total War product line.

But then again, who cares if you rip off a few people, as long as your bottom line remains fat?

[Drisos]

Hi Tomi,

They deserve their money by selling the game.. not by having us play it in mp long after that I'm afraid...

If we stick together we should be able to keep a community together on fakeservers hopefully. Perhaps in Ran No Jidai some day or a japanese mod for MTW2 or so..

[barocca]

has anyone grabbed a copy of ERA;s yet?

does the copy of Shogun connect to a server?

B.

[Tomisama]

They deserve their money by selling the game.. not by having us play it in mp long after that I'm afraid...

The only excuse for not providing that support would be that they are no longer selling the game.

Six years ago when I bought Shogun, I expected the server to be there, and it was.

The game is scheduled for re-release in the upcoming Eras Collection.

Anyone who buys it, should be able to expect the same product, with the same support that there was originally.

The same support that is there for all of the other Eras in the Collection.

There is an advantage in it for them as well.

Having full service version of STW out there will be developing a jump-start consumer base Shogun II

has anyone grabbed a copy of ERA;s yet?

Total War Eras (for Windows 98 / Me / XP / 2000) will be released on July 18, 2006.

We'll see what happens

[Ludens]

The only excuse for not providing that support would be that they are no longer selling the game.

Not quite. If they don't advertize S:TW MP features, they are not required to provide them. Well, legally anyway. They may argue that they are publishing a different version, which is patched but lacks MP. I also doubt that TW eras is going to cause a serious revival in S:TW's popularity, so the benefits for SEGA of setting up a new server are moot. I think it is asking to much to expect SEGA to set up a server just for this tiny (relatively speaking) community.

[Tomisama]

Not quite. If they don't advertize S:TW MP features, they are not required to provide them. Well, legally anyway. They may argue that they are publishing a different version, which is patched but lacks MP. I also doubt that TW eras is going to cause a serious revival in S:TW's popularity, so the benefits for SEGA of setting up a new server are moot. I think it is asking to much to expect SEGA to set up a server just for this tiny (relatively speaking) community.

I agree that this is probably going to a moral issue, not a legal one.

But disagree on the potential value of ramping up the Shogun community. Remember that it was ‘that’ community (in the thousands) that made a success out of Total War originally. And they are still out there.

And maintaining one server for product line surely would not be any hardship for a company as large as SEGA

[Drisos]

yeah.. many, many of the vets still hang around somewhere or will check in sometime... and these are hundreds of people.. all loving the shogun mp game..

[Ludens]

But disagree on the potential value of ramping up the Shogun community. Remember that it was ‘that’ community (in the thousands) that made a success out of Total War originally. And they are still out there.

I think the argument of S:TW having helped to jumpstart M:TW is self-defeating: it means that most of the players have already moved on. Why support the few that have not left S:TW? Chances are they are not going to leave it for M2:TW either.

And maintaining one server for product line surely would not be any hardship for a company as large as SEGA

True, but the same claim could be made for many small communities and maintaining servers for all of them is going to costly. I think the main argument for SEGA to set up a server is that they are still selling the game, but if they don't advertize or even include ( ) MP ability, this arguments falls away. Your argument that S:TW eras should be the same as S:TW Warlords is strong, but on the other hand you cannot expect a game to be supported for ever. Personally, I don't blame SEGA if they draw the line at six years.

Still, I hope they don't.

[Tomisama]

Personally, I don't blame SEGA if they draw the line at six years.

SEGA has “never” supported STW with a server. They haven’t even owned Total War long enough to have the thought that maybe they should.

(That’s what I’m trying to do here, is to bring up the issue )

And there hasn’t been a STW server for about three, maybe four years (Yuuki-san, how long has it been?). Although the game has continued to be sold by retailers over almost all of that time.

P.S. And I think that there were two of them (servers). One for the original game, and one for the expansion. If I remember right

[Tomisama]

Looking back over this:

I think the argument of S:TW having helped to jumpstart M:TW is self-defeating:

No no, you don’t understand. Please read again.

Originally Posted by Tomi
But disagree on the potential value of ramping up the Shogun community. Remember that it was ‘that’ community (in the thousands) that made a success out of Total War originally. And they are still out there.

Shogun Total War was a Standalone World Class Monster Success. It of course created the path and set the standard for all of the “Total War” lines (it's children) that followed, including all Medieval and Roman offerings.

If the developers would have chosen to continue to upgrade Shogun, rather than to take the technical advances to other eras (inadvertently obsolescing the Shogun game), we would still be playing it now

Shogun is not the lesser because it was earlier, but greater because it was the leader

[Ludens]

Shogun is not the lesser because it was earlier, but greater because it was the leader

I agree completely. However,

Shogun Total War was a Standalone World Class Monster Success. It of course created the path and set the standard for all of the “Total War” lines (it's children) that followed, including all Medieval and Roman offerings.

If the developers would have chosen to continue to upgrade Shogun, rather than to take the technical advances to other eras (inadvertently obsolescing the Shogun game), we would still be playing it now.

I don't really get what you are trying to say. Like you said before, the old community is still here. They know what is going on and they are going to buy (or not buy, because many grognards dislike the less hardcore character of the newer TW games) S2:TW regardless of whether there still is a server for the old game. So what is the advantage for SEGA of setting one up?

Off course, this is presuming that CA is going to make a S2:TW, which is doubtfull. Why would they do that, if the fans make an Shogun mod for every game anyway?

[Drisos]

Off course, this is presuming that CA is going to make a S2:TW, which is doubtfull. Why would they do that, if the fans make an Shogun mod for every game anyway?

Well, because thousands of people would buy it. >>> $$$!!!

[Tomisama]

I don't really get what you are trying to say. Like you said before, the old community is still here. They know what is going on and they are going to buy (or not buy, because many grognards dislike the less hardcore character of the newer TW games) S2:TW regardless of whether there still is a server for the old game. So what is the advantage for SEGA of setting one up?

Trying to find the words to express thing you never really talk about directly with anyone, is hard sometimes

Let me answer a question with a question.

Why re-release MTW/VI in a Gold Edition, almost simultaneously with the announcement for Medieval II?

Whenever the film industry is going to come out with a remake of a previous hit, you will find the original in all of it’s versions, magically appear on cable and in the video rental and retail outlets.

How much of this is “collateral retail” by smart sellers, and how much is “product chumming” by the producers, is not easily discernable. But considering all of the extra junk that is made available (toys, clothing, games, etcetera), my bet is that the majority of it was orchestrated by the new version makers.

Off course, this is presuming that CA is going to make a S2:TW, which is doubtfull. Why would they do that, if the fans make an Shogun mod for every game anyway?

Precisely my friend Because the fans make a Shogun mod for every game, there is a built in start-up market for it.

When Rome first came out, the first “other era” mod I remember was Chivalry Total War, a Medieval revisit. So why come out with Medieval II?

Oops, that’s another question to answer a question.

[Ludens]

Why re-release MTW/VI in a Gold Edition, almost simultaneously with the announcement for Medieval II?

Whenever the film industry is going to come out with a remake of a previous hit, you will find the original in all of it’s versions, magically appear on cable and in the video rental and retail outlets.

How much of this is “collateral retail” by smart sellers, and how much is “product chumming” by the producers, is not easily discernable. But considering all of the extra junk that is made available (toys, clothing, games, etcetera), my bet is that the majority of it was orchestrated by the new version makers.

Good point. It would be good PR. However, I do think the majority of the old community would buy S2:TW whether or not the server for the old game is reestablished.

Precisely my friend Because the fans make a Shogun mod for every game, there is a built in start-up market for it.

When Rome first came out, the first “other era” mod I remember was Chivalry Total War, a Medieval reverser. So why come out with Medieval II?

Touché. Then again, just because part of the community is very fond of this setting does not mean that it will be popular with the mainstream.

[barocca]

Just a couple of points

Shogun was re-released under the "sold out brand" on DVD
i have a copy of that IN THE MAIL to me now from "Game.co.uk"
(also a copy of MTW Gold DVD on the way)

Total Was Era's was released june 30 from "Game.co.uk"
i have a copy of that IN THE MAIL to me now
Local release (in Oz) is mid august, i am NOT waiting THAT long,
so i bought a copy from Game.


i am expecting to have my work cut out for me,
i may have to remake some of the Shogun Mods we made six years ago...
(has it really been THAT long...)
B.

[Tomisama]

And there it is!

ENGAGE IN ONLINE WARFARE – Clash with other warlords over the internet in the ultimate test of your abilities.

http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.as...405&mid=322675

So is that IP to IP then, if there is no server?

(The fake server was not an official release, so is not the answer.)

What are the possibilities?

[Drisos]

Lol.. I wonder too..

[Tomisama]

Bump

Five more days (and counting) to find out.

"To server or not to server, that is the question"

If there is none, I would like to start a petition to request one be set up.

I hope to have the support of all Shogun Total War lovers everywhere.

[Drisos]

I would be happy to cast my vote in such petition - and to invest some time into digging up other people.

Perhaps we should setup a petition for STW2 as well/instead? There have been a few little polls like that on totalwar.com but it wasn't much. if we'd have a few people to help finding a lot of stw vets we should be able to get a couple of hundred votes.... don't know if that would help at all though

[R'as al Ghul]

If there is none, I would like to start a petition to request one be set up.

Hey Tomi,

good idea in principal. It seems you haven't followed the dispute in main hall about the gold patch petition.
I don't think many of us are eager to be told again that they don't exist.

[Ludens]

"To server or not to server, that is the question"

If there is none, I would like to start a petition to request one be set up.

I hope to have the support of all Shogun Total War lovers everywhere.

We just had a discussion in the Main Hall about CA's rejection of any petition in the thread announcing the release of the M:TW Gold patch. The thread has been closed due to this discussion, but you can find it here.

So, I think it will be better to adress this petition to SEGA. It won't do to antagonize CA (or SEGA for that matter). Otherwise, you have my support. If they promissed MP, they ought to deliver MP.

[Tomisama]

The Shogun said:

No the petition did not work. As we have clearly stated before we treat online petitions as worthless as they are not email verified and are totally open to abuse.

What we do take seriously though is polite feedback from our community. Despite what a tiny minority will try have you believe (generally to feed their inner troll) we are keen to support the community as much as possible.

Not the rejection of “any” petition, just those with unverifiable signers. If we should need to put together something, it will be a form based mail-in, where you fill in your real name and email it your self

If we find that there is nothing set up, that would be the place to start

[barocca]

Total War Era's - Shogun and the internet....
(or "i was a teenage worldwideweb junkie")

aahhhmmm...
Shogun Gold, start it up
Line 3 in the main menu
MULTIPLAYER !!! -woohoo
select multiplayer
options - lan, website, internet !!! - double woohoo
click internet
"no dailup adapters detected"
hmmm
tick the box marked "use current internet connection"
click internet
"no dailup adapters detected"

well DUH - i am on BROADBAND

go to Sega - no answers...

SO
how do i get Shogun TW:Era's to connect to the internet??

cheers,
B.

[R'as al Ghul]

"no dialup adapters detected"

well DUH - i am on BROADBAND
SO
how do i get Shogun TW:Era's to connect to the internet??

cheers,
B.

I suppose you don't. Not with your current configuration, that is.
Shogun is from a time where there was no broadband.
If no dial-up adapter is found, it won't connect.

What you would need to do is create a dial-up network adapter,
using your network assistant. Basically you need to get away from
always-online to "online on demand". The router you use, should provide
an option to be used as a dial-up modem.
It may be a workaround. I suggested something similar in the Sword Dojo,
for those who can't connect or host.

Apart from all that, there're those among us, including myself, who don't have
any problems connecting and run Windows XP. Personally I have SP1 with all
further security updates installed manually. Most who have problems have a SP2 version, iirc.

[barocca]

looking at an original version of shoggy-warlords (which i had to hide from the gold installer)
there is NO option to connect to the game server in gold,
there IS such an option in the original,

i am going to have a look tomorrow and see what can be done,
i just HAD a look - but i am way too tired to concentrate right now,

cheers,
B.

[R'as al Ghul]

there is NO option to connect to the game server in gold,
there IS such an option in the original,

cheers,
B.

No option in gold, that's not good news.
I assume that there won't be an option in Eras then.
It's dead.

Perhaps we can work out a workaround in time.....
We'd need to determine the difference between original and gold versions.

[Puzz3D]

No option in gold, that's not good news.
I assume that there won't be an option in Eras then.
It's dead.

Which means Samurai Wars lives!