How do you think CA is doing, right now?

[Zild]

- he calls deserter to the main AI programmer who left them recently... ouch!

I really think everybody is reading way too much into this particular comment. It sounds like no more than typical British banter to me. Hell, I'd take it as a far worse sign if CA felt they couldn't say this about the guy!

I think CA are desperately looking for additional revenue streams and it's hurting them badly with the fans, if not financially. Wargaming (even in software form) is very much a niche hobby, and anything they do to try to expand the audience is seen as a bad thing by the original audience - too easy, too shallow, even too pretty.

As for ETW, I was put off that entirely by the concept of having to pay more real money for access to all the units. I appreciate this is almost certainly a blinkered, ill-informed and most likely incorrect view as I haven't really looked into it, and so I could not justify attacking CA over this. But how many other people would have been put off by the same concern?

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

They should seriously sign with a better publisher, or self-publish. See if one of the online distribution guys like Stardock or even Paradox want to work something out, or just go solo and sell through primarily through Steam. (I'm probably one of the few curmudgeons who's actually ok with Steam, mind you).

[Krusader]

I really think everybody is reading way too much into this particular comment. It sounds like no more than typical British banter to me. Hell, I'd take it as a far worse sign if CA felt they couldn't say this about the guy!

I think CA are desperately looking for additional revenue streams and it's hurting them badly with the fans, if not financially. Wargaming (even in software form) is very much a niche hobby, and anything they do to try to expand the audience is seen as a bad thing by the original audience - too easy, too shallow, even too pretty.

As for ETW, I was put off that entirely by the concept of having to pay more real money for access to all the units. I appreciate this is almost certainly a blinkered, ill-informed and most likely incorrect view as I haven't really looked into it, and so I could not justify attacking CA over this. But how many other people would have been put off by the same concern?

I think if Mike Simpson had written "deserter" no one would have cared as much, if at all.
But people are frustrated with CA & ETW and the reactions to the TW blog seems to be mostly negative, then yeah I will agree to a point they might be reading too much into the comment...but then again I personally have gotten the feeling that Mr.Simpson isn't that happy about writing that blog either, so that is why I went like this , when I read the deserter comment.

And on another note, as we've said other places there won't be any EB3 for ETW or NTW if some here thought we were CA-fanbois. If you had read the EB team's thread you'd see that most of us will probably buy NTW when it hits the bargain bin.
Although a few on the team do have a dream that there will be a RTW2 with ETW engine or better made by a Creative Assembly who listens to fans and actually follows through on mod tools.
But not me...I'm expecting Gettysburg: Total War for the console in 2012.

My own Total War dream is to see Shogun and Medieval 1 on gog.com!

They should seriously sign with a better publisher, or self-publish. See if one of the online distribution guys like Stardock or even Paradox want to work something out, or just go solo and sell through primarily through Steam. (I'm probably one of the few curmudgeons who's actually ok with Steam, mind you).

But isn't that a bit hard when SEGA actually owns CA and decides what they do?

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

My own Total War dream is to see Shogun and Medieval 1 on gog.com!

Word, I've never played Shoggy and that would be a surefire way to rectify that situation.

But isn't that a bit hard when SEGA actually owns CA and decides what they do?

Probably, though I don't know the full situation. But after two bad experiences with publishers (there was some sort of reason they wanted out from Activision, right?) you'd think CA would be looking into something new.