anybody else happy with sega at the helm?

[Callahan9119]

unless i'm wrong its the sega quality team who keeps holding this patch up, i rather like that they arent putting this thing out till they get it right (whatever that is)

rather than being even the slightest bit mad, this current delay made me quite happy...but i suppose its wait and see to find out exactly the quality of this patch, but so far i am impressed by them braving the fury of the fanbase to get it right

i was one of the few who wanted them to wait at least 6 more months before they released the game, as i knew it would take at least that time to make the game playable through patching


but cheers to sega! quality > everything

[Shahed]

quality > everything

[Generals_Bodyguard]

I dont doubt 1.2 is a good one...good work CA...but it was because of SEGA that this patch got delayed yet again...they screwed the upload...

[kawligia]

If they felt quality > everything, they wouldn't have released it when they did.

IMO when someone knowingly makes a mistake, fixing it later warrants an end or decline in criticism, but not extra praise.

[Empirate]

Although I'm inclined to agree, kawligia, we all know that this is a problem afflicting the whole computer gaming industry. Rave and rant as we might, there's nothing much we can do to stop companies acting like this, short of not buying any new titles, that is. As far as I am concerned, CA brought out a playable if far from perfect game last year. It certainly wasn't the game they had intended to release, but it was OK, and it sold well. Now, instead of considering their job done with one patch (fixing major but not all important issues), they actually take the time to fix some things in the second patch, despite the pressure they must be under. So I must say, at least they take their responsibility towards their customers the way they should, and strive to amend what was left out before. I'm quite happy with the way CA treats the fan base, although many things might be better - in a better gaming world, that is.

[TevashSzat]

What often happens is that people starts complaining alot if a game that they really want is delayed for a month or two so the developers try to get the game out at or before the deadline which may results in less testing and a less polished game.

After the game comes out, the same people starts to complain that there are too many bugs and glitches which was brought on by themselves wanting the game to come out fast. If you want a glitch free game, don't put any pressure on the developers to make the game come out on time

[kawligia]

@Empirate

You are correct that this is a plague on the entire PC gaming industry. However I think the difference is that this game was allowed to be released with much more serious bugs than most other games are.

I always see bugs in games and its to be expected really b/c if they waited to crush every bug before release, the OS it was designed for would be out of date by then. :P

But in most of those other games, the bugs, while unfortunate, were rarely serious enough to make me not want to play the game. In M2 they were and they did. You say the game was playable, and technically I guess it was since it was stable with no CTDs...but in a practical sense, I feel it wasn't playable. The bugs that were present had such an extreme negative effect on gameplay and my enjoyment of it, that I felt it was not worth playing anyway, stable or not.

@Xdeathfire

You are also correct that oftentimes game companies find themselves between a rock and a hard place with the community...they complain the release is taking too long and then they complain that it was released too early after it comes out.

IMO this can be avoided by delaying the game's announcement until release is near. If you announce a game is coming a year before its *expected* to be released, by the time it gets close, that estimate may very well have turned out to be too optimistic, resulting in a delay...if there is a delay in something that people have been anxiously awaiting for a year, of course they will be dissapointed.

@Sabutai

I too am glad the patch was made and that their mistakes were corrected. But I am not prepared to shower them with praise for it either. Even though its free, they are NOT doing me a favor. Yes the patch is free and they already have my money for M2...but they DON'T have my money for Kingdoms or any future games. This patch is the absolute bare minimum they could do to salvage me as a future customer and I'm sure I'm not alone.

[Callahan9119]

If they felt quality > everything, they wouldn't have released it when they did.

IMO when someone knowingly makes a mistake, fixing it later warrants an end or decline in criticism, but not extra praise.

i'm sure some of the mods will tell you i'm not one to do much praising of CA like i said before the game was released, i would have been content to wait an extra 6 months for it...maybe then my beloved glorious achievments would have been included....but thats the past i suppose

but i am Thankful that this patch is being held up again to fix problems, something previous overlords of CA failed to do

i am rereading the 3 volume history of the crusades, and i am chomping at the bit to play this post patch

now if i can just figure out how to rename the sicily faction to the Normans

[Stuperman]

unless i'm wrong its the sega quality team who keeps holding this patch up, i rather like that they arent putting this thing out till they get it right (whatever that is)

rather than being even the slightest bit mad, this current delay made me quite happy...but i suppose its wait and see to find out exactly the quality of this patch, but so far i am impressed by them braving the fury of the fanbase to get it right

i was one of the few who wanted them to wait at least 6 more months before they released the game, as i knew it would take at least that time to make the game playable through patching


but cheers to sega! quality > everything

No, not really, I think it was Sega, who spent a pile of money on the Total War Franchise (buying it away from the defunct activision) who probably pushed for pre-xmas 06 release, this giving us the beta level completeness seen in M2TW 1.0. Had the business execs at Sega been looking to release a finished game, they would have delayed is 3 or 4 months to finish it, but the were looking for a quick buck, thus the current state of the game.

[neoiq5719]

No, not really, I think it was Sega, who spent a pile of money on the Total War Franchise (buying it away from the defunct activision) who probably pushed for pre-xmas 06 release, this giving us the beta level completeness seen in M2TW 1.0. Had the business execs at Sega been looking to release a finished game, they would have delayed is 3 or 4 months to finish it, but the were looking for a quick buck, thus the current state of the game.

i totally agree with that. i cant deny it is a good game but COME ON is a total lack of consideration towards the TW fans to release something in that condition. I can just play ( and that´s after the patch) one campaign to see the multiple screw-ups in it no matter if they try to fix it later. They just wanted to release it no matter how. i doubt that game went thru some serious testing before hitting the stores or the testers were just simply stoned ( that´s no proffessional for me).

[Lusted]

Or have you considered the fact it likely went though quite extensive testing, but SEGA decided to release it anyway even with all the bugs. It's foolish of you to think that CA's internal QA team and SEGAs QA team didn't know about the bugs.

[neoiq5719]

Or have you considered the fact it likely went though quite extensive testing, but SEGA decided to release it anyway even with all the bugs. It's foolish of you to think that CA's internal QA team and SEGAs QA team didn't know about the bugs.

If and i dont think it is, IF THAT WAS THE CASE then we should question their proffessionalism in this matter.
By doing so they might be saying something like " never mind about the bugs, those fools would buy it anyway".

[Generals_Bodyguard]

If and i dont think it is, IF THAT WAS THE CASE then we should question their proffessionalism in this matter.
By doing so they might be saying something like " never mind about the bugs, those fools would buy it anyway".

no i disagree...what i think they said:

SEGA: Times up, chop chop!!!
CA: But there are a couple of bugs which we think will affect gameplay!
SEGA: We dont have time. We have to make it for the christmas period. No buts!!!
CA: At least we can delay for just another 2 months or so..we can make release it for summer next year!!
SEGA: And what risks going against supcomm and C & C3!!!Cristhmas!Besides there is hardly any other new strat game now!!this is a no brainer!!!release it first then patch the bug!!!
CA:Well whatever u say boss!!!

[Bijo]

The old conversation again that's been around many times. Good stuff

The version number of the original game that is 1.0 is wrong: it's supposed to say 0.8 The first patch should be v0.9 (or something like that) and with the new patch it should be v1.0 (hopefully), heh heh But of course one can argue about version numbers. Personally I think it went from 0.8 to 0.81, and now hopefully it'll be the real thing. Is there any game in existence made these days that truly represents "a fine v1.0 at release?" No :(

I say, if a company releases a game that they know is not properly finished, just say what it is! No goddamn 1.0: name it 0.xx!