Well, if I, Belisarius, the Black Prince, and you all agree on something, I really don't think there can be any further discussion.
- Simetrical 2009 in reply to Ferrets54
Although I read the interview beforehand this new formatting is very pleasing to the eye. Very interesting interview and I'm truly glad that TWC now enjoys such a healthy relationship with the guys over at CA
The most impressive part is Bel's big title graphic.
Well done all on the interview...
A nice interview, although it is a shame they do not want to name the era they would choose themselves. Or games that inspired them.
Thats pretty much the answers I'd be most curious about.
I'm actually really interested in hearing what kinds of games they play in their free time. Why would they feel the need to censor themselves about that?
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I’m sorry if I offend anyone, but how is this interesting. No special statements are made and the quick questions do not tell me anything new. I know this is going to sound a bit like a stupid rant, especially from a guy who does not have ’10,000+’ written posts, but…
The questions are not very well thought through in my opinion. ‘Which one is your favourite game’, ‘whats the best part of your job’, ‘whats the worst part’, ‘are you improving the AI(come on, of course they are, ‘how’ they are would be a good question)’. And the questions are not very fulfilling when the answers actually could provide some additional knowledge.
Take question 5 as an example. ‘If you could choose what timeframe the next game would be set in, what would it be?’, simple albeit interesting question. But Craig Laycock and Jack Lusted do not really answer, the only clear message is that they like ‘epic periods of time’. I know sometimes it can be difficult to decide when asked a question, sometimes there is no real answer, but this interview is full of questions where the interviewed just seems to slide their way through without making a statement or having much of a personality, they apparently love everything CA does, except working ‘overtime hours’, which isn’t all that alien. My point is:
This interview does not tell us, the fans, who love some of the games and especially the mods, nothing. Nothing whatsoever, maybe a bit about Shogun 2 (but I will return to this subject) and how they fool around and headbutt glass.
I know you make this in good faith and that no harm is actually done, but the interview looks a lot more like a thing which is done so CA gets some focus on the new Shogun installment while showing that they are people too. And that they like modders, because they have one in their staff.
Please give us something better, maybe a bit more juicy, some actually statements. We love the games but we are not sheep!
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Last edited by Mads; September 19, 2011 at 02:07 PM. Reason: horrible spelling
@Mads, Keep in mind that they are bound by a form of NDA. If you read any interview with any game developer, you'll notice some of the same.
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That was more to do with the question asked than anything else. Talking about other games in relation to what has inspired us for the series could lead to people taking it the wrong way if we talked about certain titles or "oh why don't you play this game to inspire you". I will quite happily tell what games I'm playing at the moment (a lot, and I mean a lot of FM2011, Space marine, DX:HR, BF:BC2). I hope you can understand though why we are more cautious when talking about games not made by use in relation to the series.I'm actually really interested in hearing what kinds of games they play in their free time. Why would they feel the need to censor themselves about that?
The reason I at least did not give a direct answer to that question is that I know within five seconds of this interview being up, everyone will think whatever the answer is will be our next game even if it isn't.Take question 5 as an example. ‘If you could choose what timeframe the next game would be set in, what would it be?’, simple albeit interesting question. But Craig Laycock and Jack Lusted do not really answer, the only clear message is that they like ‘epic periods of time’. I know sometimes it can be difficult to decide when asked a question, sometimes there is no real answer, but this interview is full of questions where the interviewed just seems to slide their way through without making a statement or having much of a personality, they apparently love everything CA does, except working ‘overtime hours’, which isn’t all that alien.
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Disclaimer: Any views or opinions expressed here are those of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Creative Assembly or SEGA.
@Jack Lusted, and people who read my post
I know what your saying, but cant you see that it kind of undermines the concept of interviewing? Right now I regret that I didn’t know about the restrictions made on the people being interviewed, so in that sense im sorry for being dramatic about this, but I cant help but feel that it’s a bit off having interviews where people aren’t really allowed to talk about the things the people actually wants to hear.
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I think people need to put this interview into the context of everything else we do. What it shows is a small piece of that is becoming a very mutually beneficial relationship between TWC and CA. This is the first time we have done something like this so the focus was not to intensely drill CA. We chose to focus on something easy and light within the context of the rest of our content. You have CA's monthly update, the competitions where CA donated prizes, the Lusted podcast, the modding statement, the Eagle Standard and the TWN all giving the community content monthly. Indeed there is nothing that CA have released to the public which isnt on TWC. While this shows that our staff are good at their jobs it also shows that CA is really committed to our community! The question re what jack plays was done in the podcast (with he mentioned minecraft afaik).
Now we tried to get some hints but CA is a business and cannot just release information that could potentially harm the company. Indeed even if given the choice I would not want Jack and Craig talking about anything that could endanger their jobs! I personally have been playing total war for close to 8 years now and personally within those answers I found some tremendously interesting points that give serious food for thought.
Last edited by Belisarius; September 19, 2011 at 02:51 PM.
Well, if I, Belisarius, the Black Prince, and you all agree on something, I really don't think there can be any further discussion.
- Simetrical 2009 in reply to Ferrets54
I think having an expectation that you'll learn all about what the next games going to be or their business plan for the next 5 years is never realistic. I liked the insight into the job they do an office antics, and there's some good mod shout outs and the like in there . The Great War....I've never actually had a chance to give that a go - but on hearing about the tanks - no brainer I gotta try the goods at last!
I'm going to wager one White Chocolate Magnum that this is their top choice on a Wednesday.
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Well as a point you cant have no tanks yet (all mine/Bdizzles/Aankers/Samas/Mitches whatever ) and there is plenty more in the store room so you might want to wait for 5.0 before downloading anything.
I liked the interview, my one piece of feedback would be that you should wrap a content box around the question (or similar) as right now I find it a tad hard to read, also grey doesn't stand out too well for me (I have weird eyes).
There are mods being developed for Shogun everyday and I myself am playing with 6 different mods/tweaks atm. Don't know where you are getting the "killing the mod community" from. Sure, there are less things we can edit but the things we can edit are being done
Furthermore I agree with Belisarius that this interview needs to be read in context. There has been a very strained relationship between TWC and CA for as long as I can remember and this interview is one step on the way towards working together and sharing information etc. We're not game critics, we're fans. I wasn't expecting them to answer the question "what era do you like most" because that would be interpreted as "this is the next TW game". Craig is right when he assumed a PR nightmare would ensue
All in all, this interview was refreshing and a big step towards collaboration
Interesting interview.
Truth is hiden behind words though.
In other words:Craig: I can’t think of any. Except when people try mod the game so that paid DLC becomes free. That sort of thing isn’t really fair.
Stop modding because we will not be able to sell new DLCs. CA wants to make money and modders offer their services free. That's not fair.
TGC in order to continue its development seak one or more desicated scripters to put our campaign scripts mess to an order plus to create new events and create the finall missing factions recruitment system. In return TGC will give permision to those that will help to use its material stepe by step. The result will be a fully released TGC plus many mods that will benefit TGC's material.
Despite the mod is dead does not mean that anyone can use its material
read this to avoid misunderstandings.
IWTE tool master and world txt one like this, needed inorder to release TGC 1.0 official to help TWC to survive.
Adding MARKA HORSES in your mod and create new varietions of them. Tutorial RESTORED.
This fine man forever holds a special place in this Welshmans heart.Originally Posted by The Glorious Craig Laycock