The Official ETW Criticism Thread

[Preussen Gloria]

I am also bit disappointed on this game. It never gave the "WOW" and "Epic" feeling like RTW and M2TW did. The new battle animations are nice but they seem to be unfinished: Men and horses sliding on the ground and falling unrealistically. There is no dirt and blood and every man is basically same clones. Nothing like in M2TW where watching battle was really enjoyable.

But I really like the naval battles and new features but still the whole game just isnt enjoyable. Well done CA. Its a good game but would have been MUCH better.

I wonder will I buy NTW...

Well said my friend,we will buy NTW when CA will tell us more about what kind of AI will use Napoleon!
Empire is just good for the graphic.

[iPwntUrMum]

Here's an idea CA: drop Steam. Just have patches on your website, its so much easier, and people like me can download the patches a lot more reliably.

Another one: lets make a stable game, shall we? I dont appreciate playing a campaign, only to crash to desktop (on the vanilla version, no less)

It can't be that hard, everyone else does it...

[Humble Warrior]

Here's an idea CA: drop Steam. Just have patches on your website, its so much easier, and people like me can download the patches a lot more reliably.


It can't be that hard, everyone else does it...

I don`t believe CA would drop steam-Only if you held them at gunpoint. They seem hell bent in sticking with Steam forever. They do not care at all for anyone who doesn`t like it, no matter what the reason. It`s their way of the highway.

More fool them.

[scarybandit]

I don`t believe CA would drop steam-Only if you held them at gunpoint. They seem hell bent in sticking with Steam forever. They do not care at all for anyone who doesn`t like it, no matter what the reason. It`s their way of the highway.

More fool them.

I think the Steam only fallout from ETW for NTW sales may be greater than most have imagined.

1) The average age of a TW gamer is older than for your usual console based FPS.
2) A reasonable proportion of TW gamers are either unused to online gaming or at least unused to having their TBS games shackled to third party online crapware.
3) Many TW gamers thinking to sell ETW to subsidise their NTW purchase (upgrade?) will be rudely surprised by certain resale restrictions imposed by Steam.

Sega may learn it is dealing with a more discerning market than was hitherto believed.

Or I may be totally wrong and the unwashed hordes will make them even yet more fat profits : D.

[leonn]

heres hoping your right,but i think sega bought ca to use as a cash cow and they couldnt give a damn what their customers think.ca will bark when told to which is about as much control over their own destinys as ca have.

[hvypetals]

i was never really bothered by steam. didnt like the updates forced down and i think it would be nice to hace the ability to roll back liek you could with drivers.

Sighs.. heavy heavy sighs

[bangell99]

Well, I've just returned to Empire after a few months of waiting for CA to fix the game. I'm pleased to see that the game-breaking bugs have been removed. I'm still disgusted at the state of this pathetically assembled shamble of a game, nevertheless.

[wozzar]

I think the Steam only fallout from ETW for NTW sales may be greater than most have imagined.



Sega may learn it is dealing with a more discerning market than was hitherto believed.

: D.

EA found this out the hard way. Which is why they dropped the DRM on new games. Though CA claims Steam wasn't the main reason to stop piracy. The main reason was for the patches.

[Humble Warrior]

EA found this out the hard way. Which is why they dropped the DRM on new games. Though CA claims Steam wasn't the main reason to stop piracy. The main reason was for the patches.

Guess that explains why Sims3 has no DRM or Activation whatsoever. I know Dragon Age avoided it as well.

[Abspara]

Guess that explains why Sims3 has no DRM or Activation whatsoever. I know Dragon Age avoided it as well.

I think EA is moving towards a micro transaction method of activation. Meaning that although there is no DRM on the initial install (aside from a serial code), the game has to be registered online if the customer wants to buy the extra goodies. For example, all those neat clothes, furniture, and neighborhoods in Sims 3, the customer needs to have to have a registered copy to buy them. Same with Dragon Age for the "Wardens Keep" content and such. I realize this could generate another argument about developers leaving content behind intentionally for micro transaction incentives and sales, but that's not my main point.

At least with these two games they avoided the invasive DRM. Who knows what the future holds.

[Humble Warrior]

I think EA is moving towards a micro transaction method of activation. Meaning that although there is no DRM on the initial install (aside from a serial code), the game has to be registered online if the customer wants to buy the extra goodies. For example, all those neat clothes, furniture, and neighborhoods in Sims 3, the customer needs to have to have a registered copy to buy them. Same with Dragon Age for the "Wardens Keep" content and such. I realize this could generate another argument about developers leaving content behind intentionally for micro transaction incentives and sales, but that's not my main point.

At least with these two games they avoided the invasive DRM. Who knows what the future holds.

Yes, true. I found this far less intrusive though. And you need never have the extra stuff if you don`t want. I got the Sims for my kid, but..um, dabbled with it and it was still quite an entertaining game in a waste your time sort of way. i mean making people do what you already do in reality is kinda... boring. Still, no complaints.

[Panthera leo]

I will be frank, CA, I am sorely disappointed with you.

Let me say this: I love your games. I started with Shogun, then Rome, then Medieval II, and then, Empire. Oh yes, I thought, this will be awesome....

Except, it....wasn't.

It was fun, yes, but not awesome.

Average.

Run-of-the-mill.

Distinguishedly 'meh' and middle of the road.


Of course, what truly, truly annoys me, is Steam. Not because I dislike Steam - I play plenty of Steam Games, but the fact of the matter, CA, is that your games are not like everyone else's games. Your games have always had the unique, and wonderful privilege of being relatively easy to mod. From starting off with changing the faction's accessible in RTW, to my current project of reworking billmen in SS, I've always loved your games for the fact that they said 'Look, we did our best...but that may not be quite right for you. That may not be perfect, so...we're going to let you, the player, be the final arbiter of as much as we can. We're going to let you do what you want with this game. We're going to let you tweak it, optimise it, alter it, tool with it, reskin and mod it...without needing a degree in computer programming. Nice and easy.

But Empire? Nope. Not a chance.


So, I implore you. Drop Steam, and then release this game as it deserves releasing - unpacked, full, glorious reams of text files, open for we players to alter and chop and change at our will.

[Preussen Gloria]

Just my two cents,in my opinion STEAM is not the main problem of this can,i can live with it.
what i can't stand is the lies that CA told us before the release of the game and after,campaign online....modding tools....a (superior) CAI-BAI...daily updates and so on.
they fooled their old and new customers with such kind of promises,and that's what i don't like.
even the now empire is an unfinished game as we all know.

[wozzar]

Guess that explains why Sims3 has no DRM or Activation whatsoever. I know Dragon Age avoided it as well.

ME2 wont have it either. I think EA realized after the debacle over Spore that it was throwing money away considering that Spore was the most pirated game in history. Also they had a few law suits underway over the DRM. Finally they had pressure from there own subsidiary Bioware to drop the DRM. ME didn't sell that well and a lot of people posted on the Bioware forum saying they wouldn't buy the game because of the DRM.

I think EA is moving towards a micro transaction method of activation. Meaning that although there is no DRM on the initial install (aside from a serial code), the game has to be registered online if the customer wants to buy the extra goodies. For example, all those neat clothes, furniture, and neighborhoods in Sims 3, the customer needs to have to have a registered copy to buy them. Same with Dragon Age for the "Wardens Keep" content and such. I realize this could generate another argument about developers leaving content behind intentionally for micro transaction incentives and sales, but that's not my main point.

At least with these two games they avoided the invasive DRM. Who knows what the future holds.

Stardock does this already.

[Humble Warrior]

ME2 wont have it either. I think EA realized after the debacle over Spore that it was throwing money away considering that Spore was the most pirated game in history. Also they had a few law suits underway over the DRM. Finally they had pressure from there own subsidiary Bioware to drop the DRM. ME didn't sell that well and a lot of people posted on the Bioware forum saying they wouldn't buy the game because of the DRM.

Excellent to see that the people still can change things.

Er, what is ME by the way?

[wozzar]

Excellent to see that the people still can change things.

Er, what is ME by the way?

Mass Effect.

[ELITEOFKINGWARMAN88]

Make the Native Americans more balanced and fix the light infantry/dragoon problem for Mutiplayer.

[Condottiere SOG]

I don't think attacking the developers at CA is fair. It's clearly not as simple as it looks. It's true that the game remains full of bugs, and sometimes gets really frustrating. For instance, why the hell when my allies refuse to join my side ('allies', huh?) it breaks our alliance but when AI allies refuse to support each other, they remain allies? That's not fair.

Anyways, the real people to blame are not the programmers, but the people who forced them to release the unfinished game. And let's face it- with the economy the way it is, SEGA was probably very enticed to do so. As I've said before, the game has definitely gotten alot better, but it's boring, illogical, and it just feels incomplete.

Then let them speak for themselves...so far any reciprocity seems to be of the same vein; derisive, contemptuous and very badly played, whether Lords(Sega) or Commons(CA)...I do not see the difference. I suspect you do not either...

[Rolling Thunder]

Excellent to see that the people still can change things.

Er, what is ME by the way?

All praise be to the markets, for the consumer is still King, Pontifex Maximus and God-Emperor of that realm.

[Invictus XII]

I don't like ETW's variety in troops, just all the same troops, with all the same uniforms, just with different colours. And the flags are wrong, the campign doesn't feel right to me, its to jumpy, but still some enjoyable scenery!