First Full Draft of Formal Petition (review and comment here)
Alright, I've done my best to winnow the issues down to those critical issues we can all agree on. The letter is dradted on my letter head, which is why I personally introduce the Petition. Please read this through and comment--let me know if you disagree with anything or believe I've left out anything critical.
___________
COX & ASSOCIATES, LLC
Attorneys & Counselors at Law
[address omitted]
From The Desk Of
Sia Rezvani
[contact info omitted]
[name of president]
President of the Creative Assembly President of Activision
[address]
Re: Rome: Total War
Gentlemen:
Greetings. Please know I represent the Total War multi-player community–not as an attorney, but as a community representative of the many players of your ground-breaking series of “Total War” games. Today I present to you a Petition that has been submitted to and approved by a truly impressive number of concerned Total War players. I hope you will take the time out of your busy schedule to read and consider our concerns regarding the state of Rome: Total War’s multi-player interface.
If you do not have the time or inclination to consider this letter, I strongly urge you to forward it to the appropriate personnel so that our concerns might properly be addressed.
First, let me apologize for any alarm my letterhead may have caused you, as I am not making legal demands in this letter, and I am not acting as an attorney, but only wish to bring our concerns as a community of players to your attention. Our earnest hope is that our concerns will be addressed, and this format seems to be the most direct manner of bringing our concerns to you.
Second, I feel it is important to note this petition has its genesis in the deep passion the signatories feel for the Total War series and that our only goal is to help you improve the multi-player portion of this fascinating game you have created. I hope it is obvious we would not go to such lengths as a community if we did not feel a very strong fondness for the Total War series and an equally strong desire to see the series survive and flourish. The enclosed Petition represents our passion for, and dedication to, the success of the Total War series as a multi-player experience and we feel the following issues must be addressed or the muti-player end of Rome: Total War will suffer and decline. We truly hope you will receive this Petition in the spirit of progress and cooperation in which it is delivered . Therefore, without further ado, I present to you the:
Formal Petition of the Multi-Player Rome: Total War Community to the Creative Assembly
We, the undersigned, humbly request the Creative Assembly address the following issues related to multi-player Rome: Total War:
I. Critical Flaws (these flaws absolutely must be addressed:
Synchronicity – The initial release of R:TW was critically flawed in that the “game state” would “diverge” during multi-player battles. What this means is that the game being played on Computer A is different from the game being played on Computer B. The recent readme for the initial patch (v. 1.1) indicates “some” synchronicity problems have been resolved, and initial tests indicate the problem has been improved. However, since the patch does not purport to resolve all synchronicity problems we are making this request: please ensure that the game-state stays synchronized on all computers during a battle, and that if the game-state should happen to diverge for any reason, on any computer, the divergent player is immediately dropped from the game.
Lag–
There are a number of reasons for in-game lag, some of which have nothing to do with R:TW coding– but many players with high-end computers are reporting significant in-game lag. If all players’ computer’s in a battle significantly exceed the minimum requirements there should not be lag, but there is. This is a major problem that needs to be addressed as soon as possible, or many players will quit in frustration and new players who read the forums will not purchase the game.
Army Control – There are several issues with respect to moving and controlling the player’s army that should be addressed which are critical.
* The “Move and retain facing” command has been completely removed:
It goes without saying that a general must have a high degree of control over the movement of his army. Perhaps most importantly, the army must be able to stay in formation while on the move, and the army must be able to “wheel” to face the enemy. In Medieval: Total War the players’ control over their armies was very good, in that the players could “wheel” their army to face the enemy and then issue a movement order–and when the army arrived at the ordered destination it would still be facing the enemy. This was achieved by holding the ALT key and making a left click move order. This “move and retain facing” command was the primary method used by players to move their armies during battle. Unfortunately, this command has been completely omitted from Rome: Total War. In R:TW the “wheel” command is still present () and the move command is still present, but the two commands can no longer be used in conjunction with each other. In R:TW, as soon as an army has been ordered to “move” it forgets the direction it was facing before the move order. That was not a problem in M:TW:. Put simply, armies can no longer be moved cohesively when an enemy is nearby. This has seriously hampered our ability to control our armies and is considered a major problem by the majority of players.
* Army cohesion is non-existent when using roman-numeral “G”roups:
As you might imagine, a general may wish to organize his army into segments (for example, a right-flank cavalry group, a central infantry group, and a left-flank cavalry group). The grouping system in M:TW was excellent and allowed players to move their entire army in formation while also using these types of groups. Unfortunately, in R:TW, the grouping system has been radically altered. The critical problem appears to be a bug that treats each group as a distinct army–the result is that when a player attempts to move his entire army, and the army is in groups, the groups “forget” their relationship to one another (i.e. their formation as an army) and end up piling on top of each other after executing a move order. Each “group” is independently moving to the site of the move order and forgetting its place in the army–i.e. there is no army cohesion–all formation is lost and the groups attempt to stand on top of one another when they reach their destination. This essentially makes using groups a detriment to the player, since if the units are ungrouped they will remember their formation. This has also seriously hampered our ability to control our armies and is also considered a major problem by the majority of players.
* Grouped units often refuse to take orders (most commonly the run order):
This is a very annoying bug that requires the player “ungroup” the units, re-group them, and then re-issue the intended command. Again this discourages the use of groups (which are a critical army control tool). This bug must be fixed or players will have insufficient control over their armies. To make matters worse, the fact that there is only a run “toggle” and not a run-key and walk-key makes it difficult to give orders to grouped units, because if some of the units in the group are already running, hitting the “R”un key makes them walk, but makes the other (previously walking) units run!? We should be able to command the group to run as a group or walk as a group, which is currently impossible.
Testudo Formation bug--
When a unit is in “testudo” (turtle) formation, if it touches any other unit, you lose control of the unit in testudo formation for the rest of the game. This is a bug that basically makes testudo formation unusable.
II. Very Important Issues (these issues are very important for community growth)
Replay Synchronicity and Information--
The replay function is an invaluable tool for learning from one’s mistakes and also for training newer players, but it is a critical tool for community tournaments. The reason is because the rules of tournaments often disallow certain types of in-game behavior (such as remaining stationary at the top of a very large hill, or wedging one’s army in a corner [“camping”]). Also, occasionally a player will lose his connection near the conclusion of a tournament match and the tournament director may need to determine the result of the match by viewing the replay. In any case, it is critical for a thriving multi-player community to be able to view the replays of important matches. Currently the replay function is fatally flawed in that it displays a battle other than the battle that was actually fought. This makes the replay function useless. Also, the replay lacks any information regarding the types of units, the players controlling them, the fatigue level of the units, etc. So even if the synchronicity problem is fixed, the replays themselves will be virtually impossible to decipher because the unit information (the information a player obtains in battle by hovering his mouse over the unit) is missing. Neither of these issues were problems in M:TW.
Logfile Information--
Likewise, many tournaments have rules about which units may be fielded (or how many of a certain type may be fielded). The “logfile” is the tournament directors only way of determining whether the army selection rules have been followed, and is also commonly used to calculate a winner (by determining how many men each side fielded and lost). This information should be contained in the logfile of the battle. In M:TW the logfiles displayed detailed information about the units fielded by each player, the number of men in each unit at the conclusion of the battle, and the results of the battle. In R:TW this information is simple non-existent. The R:TW logfile does not have this critical information, and so it will be difficult or impossible to administer tournaments until the replays and logfiles are returned to M:TW standards. If a player alleges that his enemy has “cheated” in the tournament, the tourney director currently has no way of investigating or resolving the complaint.
“Proprietary” player names –
One of the greatest aspects of multi-player Total War is the reputation for honor and skill that players can develop with practice and by winning tournaments. Unfortunately in R:TW anyone can masquerade as a top player simply by stealing that player’s name. That was not possible in previous TW games, since player names were linked to CD keys. Currently anyone can log on and pretend to be the top tournament player, and in the process make all sorts of obscene and degenerative remarks, play poorly, and tarnish the real-player’s reputation. This makes it almost pointless to compete in tournaments or attempt to establish a reputation as a honorable and skilled player– since any little punk can ruin your reputation by masquerading under your name. The effect is to actually discourage the best players from seeking fame and glory in the community, which is detrimental to community growth (and sales).
Lack of Map Editor and Historical Battle Editor –
In previous TW games, many players created their own maps and historical battle for a number of different reasons, including tournaments, re-enactments, custom modifications, TW art, and simple variety of play. The ability to create these custom engagements was a touchstone of the “mod” community–and without the ability to customize maps and historical battles, that formerly sizeable portion of the multi-player community is likely to dwindle and decline. The ability to customize the R:TW experience would be a huge draw for potential new customers (players) who wish to have more control over their TW experience.
III. Important–(things that make the game highly frustrating)
Withdrawal/Rout function doesn’t work --
As in the game of chess, a defeated general often wishes to “resign” from the battle by conceding defeat. This saves everyone time, saves lives :), and saves the general’s dignity. This was always possible in previous TW games, but the function has been removed in R:TW. The result is that players who wish to “quit” a game quickly must simply “drop” from the game. When that occurs, the dropped players units remain on the battle field and must be “mopped up” by the remaining players–which can take quite a long time. Also, a general may wish to feign a retreat in order to draw the enemy in (such as at the battle of Cannae). Finally, a general may wish to withdraw tired or demoralized troops before they rout and effect army morale. Currently it is impossible to withdraw units from a multi-player battle, or even to order them to flee. This is a major inconvenience and seriously hampers gameplay. A related issue is that once a player has lost all of his units he should be able to view the battle from any angle–however, for some reason if the host has selected “restricted camera” even a fully-routed player may not view the battle properly; he is instead restricted to a small area of the map which is extremely frustrating given that the player no longer has any units to command and would like to watch the battle unfold. Please allow routed players to have an unrestricted view of the battle.
Game info is unavailable from the lobby –
It is impossible to tell whether a game you have joined is in “arcade” mode, or whether the host has chosen “heavy rain”– both options have a significant effect on the types of armies a player will choose for the battle, and not knowing what settings the host is using is a major disadvantage for all players who join the battle. Also, unlike in previous TW games, it is impossible to tell whether a person listed in the lobby player list is “in a game” (i.e. fighting on the battlemap) or whether he is in the lobby and able to chat. In previous TW games the players’ names would “grey out” when they went in a game so that their friends in the lobby would know they could not be reached by chat.
#Ignore and #Ban commands in Gamespy lobby are missing–
Unfortunately modern life involves dealing with some very rude and obscene people. The R:TW Gamespy lobby is no exception, and the streams of obscenities that some people spout are truly shocking and offensive. It is currently impossible to ignore those people and their degenerative remarks (while it was possible in previous TW games). It is also impossible to ban them from joining your games (once they join you can “kick” them, but they can just rejoin, ad infinitum, to be a pain). Please bring back these two important lobby functions.
In Game Chat is Cumbersome –
In order to chat within the game a player must now hit a minimum of three keys, first a key to open the chat interface, then a key to determine who the chat is addressed to, then a key to determine whether the message will be “pre-recorded” or “custom”, and then finally the actual message. In the heat of battle it is difficult enough to hit one key in order to chat, let alone three. The result is that players are no longer chatting in battles. We need some sort of “quick chat” function, as in MTW (“T” was chat to all, “Y” was chat to allies; it required hitting only one key). The chat interface is now so frustrating that it is not being used during the heat of battle, which is a shame as it was invaluable in previous releases.
In Game Army Information is Missing–
In prior releases, the F1 key would show an overview of the battle– the teams, their designation as attacker or defender, the players on each team, the factions selected by each player, and also a list of each unit in your army together with its unique unit statistics. For no explicable reason that invaluable information is no longer available to players within the game. It is now difficult to tell which side is attacker and defender and what factions/players are on each team. There is no reason why this information should not be available to the players. Also, during the deployment phase, it is impossible to tell who has deployed their army (and is waiting to begin) and who has walked away from their computer without deploying. This is extremely frustrating as it is impossible to tell who is holding up the completion of the deployment phase (in prior versions it was always possible to tell). Please bring back this in-game information. Also, many players report having difficulty in telling which unit icons are selected because the “highlighting” for a selected unit icon is only marginally brighter than a non-selected unit. Please increase the contrast between selected and unselected unit icons.
IV. Assorted Annoyances (these are things that would enhance the quality of play for us)
Fixed Denari Amounts--
In previous versions of TW, the host was able to customize the amount of money available to each player to be spent on units. In R:TW the host has a limited number of monetary selections (5k, 10k, 20k, etc. per team) and no way to allow one team to have more money than another (which is an invaluable handicapping tool). It is also impossible to standardize a florin amount, when (for example) five teams are playing, and a sixth player wants to join, or when players would like to take 5k each in a 3v3. Please allow us to customize the amount of denari per team.
Zoom to Death of General–
Many players are distracted by the repeated changes in battle view anytime someone’s general dies. A player may be in the midst of a complex group movement command when his view of the battle is suddenly altered and he is taken to a view showing an enemy general’s death. This is distracting and frustrating for many players, and we would prefer to be able to toggle this as an option.
Unable to Chat in Host Screen after Selecting Army--
For some reason it is impossible to chat with other players in the game after you have selected your army and hit the lower-right “ready” arrow. This is very frustrating in that you are unable to communicate with allies or players who are dawdling in army selection without becoming “unready” which indicates to other players that they have more time to select their army because you aren’t ready. This is very frustrating and results in extended delays, especially when newer players are involved.
No Shell-to-Desktop
It is no longer possible to use ALT-TAB to shell to the desktop while in the Gamespy lobby (it creates major problems). This is frustrating when you are waiting for a friend to show up in the lobby and you need to check an email or post in a forum.
“Spanish” Faction
Several Spanish players have taken exception to the characterization of the hispanic faction as "Spanish" and they are requesting a change to "Celtiberian" or "Iberian" or "Hispanic.” This is regarded as a major historical error in that “Spain” did not exist until 1300 AD.
One Faction Limit
For some reason, players are prohibited from taking more than one of the same faction per game. This means it is impossible to have Carthage vs. Carthage (civil war) or three Carthage armies against three Roman armies (for historical re-enactments of large battles). Please allow us the option of toggling this limit on and off.
Full Screen (no Mini-map) Option
Many players find the R:TW minimap to be of little or no use and instead find that it takes up valuable screen space. Please allow us to toggle the mini-map and other interface clutter on and off.
4v4s–
This is a major concern in the community, but we realize it is a command decision that has been made by the developers and that it may be related to the lag problems. At the very least, please allow those of us with high-end computers the OPTION of having 4v4 battles. With normal unit sizes and a good computer it should be possible. This feature was a mainstay of Total War for years. Instead we now have 3v3's with 20 units per player (120 units total) whereas before we had 4v4's with 16 units per player (128 units total). We don’t understand why this huge leap backwards has occurred. We would be happy to take only 10 units per person if we could have 5v5s– so please at least allow us the option of having 4v4's (even if we have to take less than 16 units to make it playable). The team cooperation and camaraderie that is built in a 4v4 is unparalleled and it is now gone completely.
Realistic Fatigue--
We recognize that some new players may not be interested in realism and may want a more “arcade” style game, and that is fine– but we should at least be able to toggle realistic fatigue on and off. What is the point of having a “historic battle” where fatigue is not an issue? Fatigue is the fourth dimension of battlefield tactics and it has been reduced in importance to the extent that it can now be ignored. Please allow us to restore fatigue to the importance it really has in war.
V. Requests for Information
Combat Equation–
In order to determine what tactics will be most effective, we must have some idea of how combat is being resolved. What is the effect of adding one unit of valor? What is the effect of having 22 defense as opposed to 20? We currently have no idea how the unit stats relate to one another and how combat is being resolved. Please provide us with some insight into how combat between two units is being resolved.
Location of Speed Attribute–
Many players are unhappy with the running speed of various units and would like to modify the unit statistics to their own liking– however we are presently unable to locate the speed statistic so as to modify it. Any light that could be shed on its location would be much appreciated.
Permanent Liaison–
We also request that the Creative Assembly appoint an employee to act as a liaison between your company and the multi-player community so that we can address these concerns in more detail and help to avoid similar debacles in the future. We are willing to contribute incredible quantities of man-hours to the beta-testing, focus grouping, and overall improvement of the Total War series and thus far that potential marketing boon has been ignored. We can be reached en mass at either www.totalwar.org or www.totalwars.net.
Thank you very much for taking the time to understand and address our concerns.
Signed,
. . . . .
We wish you the best of luck in expanding the playership of Rome: Total War and we would like to thank you for developing this truly incredible game. Thank you again for your time and consideration.
Best Regards,
Sia Rezvani, aka |Prophet|Bachus
cc: The Creative Assembly Customer Support, via email; Activision Customer Support, via email, “The Shogun” at www.totalwar.com, via email; by posting at www.totalwar.org, www.totalwars.net, and www.totalwar.com.
Originally Posted by FearZues
You all did a great job of getting to the key issues and organizing them.
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