How will things go on release day?

[Vlaanderen Vrij]

I post this thread because of a small but interesting discussion I have with AlQamar on the "Best Prices Thread". We were discussing price differences and ordering it via Amazon or a local store. AlQamar made a good argument and states that because of the enormous pressure on the servers on release day I will not be able to play the game on the 3rd of september when I buy a hard copy, so it is better for me to go for a cheaper price on the internet and wait until the 4th or 5th for delivery ... I therefore now have some questions to ask:

1. how will you guys think the downloading of the patch will go on release day? Will it be smooth or will we have to wait hours and hours and maybe days?
2. is it possible that those who pre-ordered via Steam will be able to download the game and patch a couple of days before release date, so they only have to press play at 00:00? Will this release some pressure on the servers?
3. will CA provide enough servers for the release day to go smoothly? Can we have some kind of confirmation of this?

I know it is difficult to answer all of these questions, because we have no idea about the organisation and the amount of hardware that will support the downloading process on release day. Yet with Shogun 2, Napoleon and Empire I have had little issues downloading the patches on release day ... Will this be the case again?

If there is allready a thread on this subject I apologise.

[CDR Hurricane]

Rome 2 will be distributed by steam servers, not special Rome servers or CA servers... so basically, if Rome overloads the system, then it will overload the system for everyone. I think that is pretty unlikely, or don't expect to be able to install Skyrim on Rome 2's release day either... right?

In any case, I find it incredibly annoying that you need to download from their servers to play your "hard copy." that is the worst joke ever.

Oh, and yeah, preloading confirmed. So you won't be competing with steam preorders for downloads. (source)

[Geniuswas]

In any case, I find it incredibly annoying that you need to download from their servers to play your "hard copy." that is the worst joke ever.

The main game will be installed through hard copy, but only patches and the free Pontus DLC will be downloaded... which shouldn't be much.

[Vlaanderen Vrij]

Has this been comfirmed? Considering the fact that the main game is 30GB, a patch can easily be 1GB right? 4 factions, all kinds of tweaks, etc. ...

[Smiling Hetairoi]

Might be some minor downloading issues but massive rage on the TWC forum.

[Geniuswas]

Has this been comfirmed? Considering the fact that the main game is 30GB, a patch can easily be 1GB right? 4 factions, all kinds of tweaks, etc. ...

I'm pretty sure hard copies would supply 85-90% if not all of the data of the game. I've seen first day patches to be up to 3GB, but that shouldn't be a problem.

[Vlaanderen Vrij]

Might be some minor downloading issues but massive rage on the TWC forum.

The massive range is the one thing we are certain about.

[Aeneas Veneratio]

I'm pretty sure hard copies would supply 85-90% if not all of the data of the game. I've seen first day patches to be up to 3GB, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Logical approach, certainly, but if CA reveals that most/some of the culture pack and Pontus are already on the hard copy by default, people would complain that the DLC is just an unlock.

[Geniuswas]

Logical approach, certainly, but if CA reveals that most/some of the culture pack and Pontus are already on the hard copy by default, people would complain that the DLC is just an unlock.

Yeah well nothing we can do about that but complain :L

[kamikazee786]

guys i have a question, if i bought the hard copy and i got it before release date then will i be able to install it beforehand so that i only have to download the day 1 patch when the game is unlocked on sept 3rd ?

[Goose Springsteen]

Hey guys, isn't it worth remembering that there will be a pre-load so (at least in theory?) the pressure on the steam servers won't be as great as many will have preloaded the majority of the game files?

[Frost, colonel]

guys i have a question, if i bought the hard copy and i got it before release date then will i be able to install it beforehand so that i only have to download the day 1 patch when the game is unlocked on sept 3rd ?

Good question, but I don't think it works like this.

[Rittsy]

There shouldn't be too much pressure on the Steam servers. The game's popular, but not enough to crash Valve's pride and joy. As for the day one patch...could be anywhere from 20mb to 5gig (unlikely but possible).

[111289]

Nothing will go wrong on the steam servers I think, they're way to big for that to happen. The total war center on the otherhand.....

[Zerosliver]

Probably low download speeds on steam, so hardcopies will be preferred (unless it's another fiasco where you have to redownload everything).

[gaunty14]

On release day I imagine this will happen a lot "steam servers are too busy to handle your request, please try again later".

[davieholgate]

tw center will be empty playing Rome II... until they realise CA didn't change the sandals

[GrudgeNL]

Steam's servers have been improved a lot in the past few years. During the summer sale this year, the steam store didn't even crash once (in my case). Let's also not forget Steam will allow us to pre load the game before launch.

Unless Gabe Newell releases Half life 3 on sept the 3rd.. yeah. I think the steam servers will be fine.

[d4g4n]

what patch?

seriously, your consideration is this; either digital, which means pre-load the game + playing @24:00 vs hardcopy, where you pay more and might get the dvd the 2nd day + you have to download the game through steam anyway...

now brainer for me!

[GussieFinkNottle]

Will the patch be included in the pre-load, does anyone know?