How much would you have paid for ETW knowing what you know now?

[Monk]

I bought this game on day one. Actually I bought it on day negative two as I preordered it from Steam. I spent 50 USD on it and played it from the first hour of release, and if I had a time machine the week after buying to go back and change my purchase (or perhaps choose how much I could pay for it) I'd tell you I wouldn't have bought ETW.

I do not think it's a failing on CA's behalf, rather I think it is the fault of the massive PR campaign us fans were bombarded with in the days leading up to release. Every single gaming outlet reported that this was the "best game evar" and put ETW right in our face. ETW was touted as the best game of the generation, at least when it came to strategy titles, and honestly it was hard not to get swept up in all that hype. No one stood up to point out the flaws in the game, no one was looking out for us, all we got was "buy buy buy!" verdicts and many of us took the plunge.

What was waiting on the other side was a game that, while good and showing amazing room for potential, was nowhere near the end all beat all of strategy titles we were lead to believe it was. It is a perfect example of what high expectations can do to a good game. Most of ETW's problems might have been excused if some reviewers had the courage to stand up and say "Eh, it's alright" instead of anointing the game as the second coming. Unfortunately for me, those sorts of voices didn't speak up until after i'd already made the buy so it was all or nothing for me.

Today ETW has come a long way and I am immensely impressed by CA's efforts, but imo it's still got a long way to go. The potential is still there to be "best evar" but it's still not there.

If I had that time machine now, I'd probably pay up to $25 for ETW (40%ish of what i paid).