3 new factions! Epirus, Sparta, Athens (DLC)

[Lemur]

Game companies are still in the process of figuring out DLC. Anybody remember horse armor?

Also, each company is different. EA, for example, has a long and inarguable history of gouging gamers for every dollar possible. It's fair to assume they are acting in bad faith.

I am not so ready to throw CA under the bus.

[Stuie]

I agree with Lemur. I actually like CA's approach thus far - especially when compared to other companies - the DLC they release is nothing game changing that leaves me feeling like I only have half a game if I don't buy it (basing this on my Shogun 2 experience). You can get away with buying none of it if you want - or wait for the inevitable 75% off sale on Steam if you want, or shell out for it at full price if you want. No one is forcing you to pay full price and the game works as-is without the DLC.

Honestly I'd be happy if Rome 2 had a fully functioning Rome faction and nothing else. You can sell all the others if people want them; put all the up-front dev work into making Rome the best faction it can be. Of course, I'd also prefer multiple start dates... but.. well..

[lars573]

I also agree with the Prosimian. What CA gives you for what they charge is very good. Considering that these three Greek factions are going to be clones of Macedonia putting them out together for $5-$10 isn't us being bled out for cash.

[Vuk]

Game companies are still in the process of figuring out DLC. Anybody remember horse armor?

Also, each company is different. EA, for example, has a long and inarguable history of gouging gamers for every dollar possible. It's fair to assume they are acting in bad faith.

I am not so ready to throw CA under the bus.

Hey, I am not saying they are as bad as EA (I stopped buying all EA games a long time ago), but if they keep going down the road they are on, they will lose my business altogether too. I gave EA chance after chance and they were able to suck a lot of money from me before I just gave up. I am not gonna make that mistake again.
There are ways to do DLC which are not unethical, but what CA is doing is NOT one of them. Forcing people to spend a lot of money on a game that they don't know yet is any good if they want to get the full thing is seriously unethical. In fact, I can think of more colourful ways to describe it than that. There used to be a time when they put out games that they were proud of and relied on word-of-mouth to sell them. Now they fear word-of-mouth, and try to get around the challenges of the bad reputation they believe their game will earn by forcing you to buy early. That is not something that a good team does.

I agree with Lemur. I actually like CA's approach thus far - especially when compared to other companies - the DLC they release is nothing game changing that leaves me feeling like I only have half a game if I don't buy it (basing this on my Shogun 2 experience). You can get away with buying none of it if you want - or wait for the inevitable 75% off sale on Steam if you want, or shell out for it at full price if you want. No one is forcing you to pay full price and the game works as-is without the DLC.

Honestly I'd be happy if Rome 2 had a fully functioning Rome faction and nothing else. You can sell all the others if people want them; put all the up-front dev work into making Rome the best faction it can be. Of course, I'd also prefer multiple start dates... but.. well..

So you are saying it is not unethical for payers to be paying full price for a game that is not full? It is a pretty crappy and limited game if it only has 1 faction Stuie. You may be ok with that, but 90% of gamers would not be. I am having a hard time justifying spending $60 on a strategy game of this scope with only 9 of the factions playable.

I also agree with the Prosimian. What CA gives you for what they charge is very good. Considering that these three Greek factions are going to be clones of Macedonia putting them out together for $5-$10 isn't us being bled out for cash.

I guess you are pretty easy to please. If the three factions are just clones of one already in the game BTW, how can they justify charging people money for them?

[Lemur]

Video made it to YouTube:

[Imperator Invictus]

I hope the next DLC will be about Thracian culture with the three kingdoms of Triballia, Getia and Cimmerian Bosphorus (Spartocids were Thracians) if I understand this format of DLC's for Rome 2 with 3 factions per culture. Other posibilities are: Helenistic culture with Pergamon, Seleucia and Baktria; Illyrian culture with Liburnia, Dalmatia and Dardania; Semitic culture with Judea, Nabatea and Palmyra etc.

[Moros]

I hope the next DLC will be about Thracian culture with the three kingdoms of Triballia, Getia and Cimmerian Bosphorus (Spartocids were Thracians) if I understand this format of DLC's for Rome 2 with 3 factions per culture. Other posibilities are: Helenistic culture with Pergamon, Seleucia and Baktria; Illyrian culture with Liburnia, Dalmatia and Dardania; Semitic culture with Judea, Nabatea and Palmyra etc.

The judea faction would have to be an emerging faction of some sort then and would make the campaign events rather predestined. Also Palmyra is important mainly later on in history. The semitic faction most deserving a place would have been the kingdom of Lihyân, but that won't make it because it's rather unkown to most people. Of course I could be wrong on these points if the starting date is significantly different from the one of Rome I. But considering the inclusion of Epirus, I actually doubt that. As they'll make sure one could play the Pyrrhos' campaign.

And Iberian pack could be in the make as well. Iberian tribe, Celitberian tribe and the Lusotannan or some northern tribe could fit the bill.
Or a general celtic tribe pack with for example Belgae, Boii and Aedui/Maesilia/Celtiberian (Arevaci)...
Especially the latter could prove a popular expansion and easy one as well (research and reusing content).

[Albastard]

Very excited about the Greek factions!

[komnenos]

But I hoped that they put these three factions to the list of main factions not as a DLC. Because for example Sparta or Athens were important faction and played significant roles in that time and in my opinion it's not appropriate to sell it as a DLC.

[lars573]

The only significant thing that Athens and Sparta did in the time frame Rome II will cover is get conquered by Macedonia then Rome.

[komnenos]

I agree with Lemur. I actually like CA's approach thus far - especially when compared to other companies - the DLC they release is nothing game changing that leaves me feeling like I only have half a game if I don't buy it (basing this on my Shogun 2 experience). You can get away with buying none of it if you want - or wait for the inevitable 75% off sale on Steam if you want, or shell out for it at full price if you want. No one is forcing you to pay full price and the game works as-is without the DLC.

Honestly I'd be happy if Rome 2 had a fully functioning Rome faction and nothing else. You can sell all the others if people want them; put all the up-front dev work into making Rome the best faction it can be. Of course, I'd also prefer multiple start dates... but.. well..

Do you remember the price of Shogun 2 as a pre-order?
I think it's better to wait and buy R2TW in Christmas day. The price will extremely come down.

[Mongoose]

I think it's really best to wait. I want to play all the content they're making for it, and if Shogun II is any indication, buying stuff as it comes out (including the expansions) could easily add up to 100-150 dollars.

Not to mention the bugged-out state of most of these games on launch.

[Lemur]

Not to mention the bugged-out state of most of these games on launch.

I thought Shogun II was one of the most stable, feature-complete releases CA has yet managed. Compared to Shogun? Medieval? Not even to wade into the murky waters of Empire and Napoleon.

CA deserves some credit for putting out a polished 1.0 on S2, IMHO.

[Arjos]

Well if no one is going to say it, I will!

Corinthian helmet for the Spartiates? Pah! XD

[Catiline]

There's nothing outright wrong with Spartans wearing Corinthian helmets, depending on the time frame. It'd be better to have them in pilos, but it's not essential. It's daft enough having them in at all as any sort of playable faction in the game period, but i suppose they're cool, so they might as well be given shiny helmets as well.

Athenian Thureophoroi are a nice surprise.