How are you enjoying the slow death of TWC?

[AnthoniusII]

You are aware I was responding to someone who claimed that the "slow death of TWC" is result of the unpopularity of TW games. The point was to show tha they are financially successful.


I am not sure what you are claiming here. The older titles are mod capable. The Data Table format is more difficult to mod than the text base as well. I think Warhammer has some copyright issues which reduces what can be change. I believe this is out of CA/Sega's hands.


I guess I miss something. I do not remember reading any promises of "patches" for older titles. The only thing I have read is a DLC for Attila. Did a representative from CA make promise that a "patch" for an older title will be release?


The operative word here is full. Unless I am missing something, but I do not believe CA/Sega have made such a promise. I have read that they will not allow all aspects to be modified. So, the very opposite of what you are saying. There is a thread/ post created by wangrin about this. it was very explicit. Some things will always be hard-coded. For the sake of sanity, I suggest that you accept this.


CA/Sega had repeatedly stated that they will not release this information.


Modding is only part of the TWC community. Most come for the mods, but many stayed for the community and the content provided. Unfortunately, content has declined dramatically has competition elsewhere is better adaptive. TWC, essentially, would need to reinvent itself within the community in order to continuingly attract people to stay.
The new generation is very in tuned to social media. The sooner TWC adopt a model in line with that preference, the sooner TWC can revive itself. It needs to start with the concept of community. People like coming back to a place is both relevant, user-friendly, and supportive (community).


The last thing we need is unreasonable highly emotional users with little or no accountability. <sarcasm off>

So CA/SEGA never prommised that will suport older titles BUT you "read" that a patch of Attila will be launched in the future.
As far as I know , since the release of Warhammer , Attila is an OLD title or am I missing something?
Reading (as a result of a prommise or intention or good will) does not create a patch. You should know it better as a good modder.
A game patch is a result of actions and we haven't seen ACTIONS from CA/SEGA for a long time.
You wrote that modding is only a part of TWC's life. I have seen blogs and sites for politics, history etc...
Those sites do not include mods of any game. So what TWC MAINLY offer is the abillity of every member of it to have access to game mods and ONLY when this desire is forfilled then he/she participates in other parts of the site.
I do not know about you but when I came to TWC I was looking for a RTW mod! A MOD not a place to compit ib rhetoric, or politics or talk about TV shows.
Back then TWC had adverticements for online games that I used -so TWC had finansial bennefit) but ONLY because i found them after i found a mod of my desire!
If TWC wont be ablle to offer TW mods then advertisments will be less every day and the site will come to a finansial death.
You admit that CA/SEGA wont allow map changes in to Rome II and Attila games. Then what interest people will find in TWC when tiny mods will be offered in the official site or STEAM?
So far the TW official site was forced to give links of great mods that created here in TWC for TW titles because it had no choice. Because modders kept TW games allive with unique and extensive MODS.
You adviced me to accept that in games somethings will be always hardcoded. I agree. What will be TWC's stance if a modder create a tool for Attila similar to IWTE tool?
Officialy CA/SEGA NEVER gave access/consent to such an extensive tool. Officialy IWTE tool is "ilegal" for CA/SEGA.
IF such a tool will apear for Attila will TWC suport it? Remember that ITWE tool gave a HUGE boost in mods creations that kept TWC members interest for a long time.
Will such a tool for Attila be banned because CA/SEGA wont allow it?
Will CA/SEGA pay the loss of money of add reduse to TWC owner in such case? Because if such a tool will apear in TWC this will make the site the most visitable site of TW fans in the world. In that case adds that will be posted in TWC banners will have big value...Will CA/SEGA cover that losss in MONEY? That is all about TWC's death...MONEY.

[Anthropoid]

I really enjoyed reading this thread. You guys are a good bunch of forumites. I wish I had been involved with this community during its heyday.

[Niles Crane]

So what is the administration's response to this thread? I know they generally stay out of the TD but they can't stay silent forever.

[PikeStance]

So CA/SEGA never prommised that will suport older titles BUT you "read" that a patch of Attila will be launched in the future.

I said they will release a DLC for Attila.

A game patch is a result of actions and we haven't seen ACTIONS from CA/SEGA for a long time.

CA/Sega have patched games in situations they felt it was needed. This may not align with you think, but that's it.

You wrote that modding is only a part of TWC's life. I have seen blogs and sites for politics, history etc...
Those sites do not include mods of any game. So what TWC MAINLY offer is the abillity of every member of it to have access to game mods and ONLY when this desire is forfilled then he/she participates in other parts of the site.
I do not know about you but when I came to TWC I was looking for a RTW mod! A MOD not a place to compit ib rhetoric, or politics or talk about TV shows.
Back then TWC had adverticements for online games that I used -so TWC had finansial bennefit) but ONLY because i found them after i found a mod of my desire!
If TWC wont be ablle to offer TW mods then advertisments will be less every day and the site will come to a finansial death.

I said most people came here looking for a mod. If it is a small or large part of their reason for being here, I will have no idea. I didn't even come to TWC for a mod. I came here to talk game strategy.
Generating traffic is the key. Traffic bring advertising and advertising brings revenue. The key to survival is creating a site that would interest people to come and use the site on a continuous basis. The greater the choices the more likely people will find their own niche. Most of the suggestion I have made in the past is based on this.

You admit that CA/SEGA wont allow map changes in to Rome II and Attila games. Then what interest people will find in TWC when tiny mods will be offered in the official site or STEAM?
So far the TW official site was forced to give links of great mods that created here in TWC for TW titles because it had no choice. Because modders kept TW games allive with unique and extensive MODS.
You adviced me to accept that in games somethings will be always hardcoded. I agree. What will be TWC's stance if a modder create a tool for Attila similar to IWTE tool?

Officialy CA/SEGA NEVER gave access/consent to such an extensive tool. Officialy IWTE tool is "ilegal" for CA/SEGA.
IF such a tool will apear for Attila will TWC suport it? Remember that ITWE tool gave a HUGE boost in mods creations that kept TWC members interest for a long time.
Will such a tool for Attila be banned because CA/SEGA wont allow it?
Will CA/SEGA pay the loss of money of add reduse to TWC owner in such case? Because if such a tool will apear in TWC this will make the site the most visitable site of TW fans in the world. In that case adds that will be posted in TWC banners will have big value...Will CA/SEGA cover that losss in MONEY? That is all about TWC's death...MONEY.

Maybe you should read wangrin's post from his visit with CA here.
I haven't read anything about prohibiting the use of modding tools.
What I said is that CA stated that the map generator is complicated. They have no plans on releasing tool to mod the map. It was also stated that there are "trade secrets" they want to protect. This being said, there has been some success. For example, a group of Russian Modders adding "Khiva" to the map. Also, people have "landed" armies in "Indonesia."

Why would CA compensate GED for any loss? This is an unaffiliated fan site. Total War games have their own forum. There is also "org," TWC have no reasons to support one site over another. If TWC declines further, then it will either the other current sites will have increased traffic or another similar site will appear. If and only if there is a demand for a such a site. if another site were to appear, it will most likely surpass this site as it will most likely be centered on current demand and no reputation baggage that TWC has to contend with.

I really enjoyed reading this thread. You guys are a good bunch of forumites. I wish I had been involved with this community during its heyday.

In the heydey this was a social media0like site built around a strong sense of community and common interest.

So what is the administration's response to this thread? I know they generally stay out of the TD but they can't stay silent forever.

It would require the input from GED. He is really the only person who can actually make any wholesale changes to the site. The staff has been working diligently within this framework. The TWC youtube channel is up and running, the wiki is being improved, content is still producing articles and mods are still appearing on the site. This is step one for increasing traffic; relevant and up to date content. Increasing traffic requires more effort and more changes to the way the site operates and navigates. If you have any ideas that could work, I suggest you share them. The more people who do, the better and easier it will be to implement them. This thread is more of whiny thread than a practical one.

[Owlparrot3]

I really enjoyed reading this thread. You guys are a good bunch of forumites. I wish I had been involved with this community during its heyday.

Anthropoid ,it is our job to make a new heyday .Post positively and be good and nothing can stop us from making a new dawn for TWC .
Which by the way OP is hardly dying .

[Niles Crane]

Anthropoid ,it is our job to make a new heyday .Post positively and be good and nothing can stop us from making a new dawn for TWC .
Which by the way OP is hardly dying .

Well, since you only joined in 2015, I'm not sure you're in a position to say whether it's dying or not.

[Iskar]

I really don't see the problem people have with dying.

[Miroslav Klose]

After having played some TATW for the first time in months, I suddenly felt the urge to visit TWC for the first time in probably two years. It really does sadden me that a discussion on the slow death of TWC has reached 10 pages already. Maybe it's a bit of a trip down memory lane for me, but when I was active, between 2010-2013, I had a simply marvelous time around here. In fact, I even visited and welcomed some friends I had made via TWC. Even now, I have two lasting friends from this forum whom I see every once in a while 'irl'. TWC is, simply put, a great place to meet like minded minds in your favourite topics, whether those are history and politics or games and arts. It's great to see that the level of discussion and debate has remained so decent in comparison to many other internet outlets.

Anyway, I guess that TWC will continue to dwindle, sadly enough. Older members (like myself; damn, 2010 literally seems like a distant epoch) will continue to become inactive. The forums don't attract nearly the number of active visitors they did when TATW came with new releases or ETW was released. Perhaps gaming forums really are a thing of the past. Although TWC might, or probably will continue to decline, in absolute numbers, I think it still is a great place to meet people and discuss things you care about on a reasonable level of courteousness. To new members: ake the most of your time here and look back at it with a sad smile of nostalgia like I do.

[Commissar Caligula_]

It's interesting to see that the four Rome 2 forums put together have 600 000 posts, whilst Attila's forums only have 115 000 and Warhammer has a mere 34 000. That's quite a drastic decrease in content. In addition during this year's 2016 Mod Awards nomination phase only two players nominated mods for Warhammer.

[Iskar]

Consider that more posts can also result from the game being older --> more posts over time, even if the posting rate was a bit lower, and more problems/bugs with the game --> more complaints/rants/bugfix discussions. As such the more polished Attila has at least some points less to talk about, for good.
On the negative side, of course, we probably have increased awareness of how little moddable the games have become, so people that would still have tried for Rome II and set up a modding project would have resigned or not even started this for Attila, let alone Warhammer.

[lolIsuck]

The amount of outrage R2TW caused probably temporarily lifted the forum's activity, on the long term this negative atmosphere and decreasing confidence in CA are less beneficial though.

[PikeStance]

I like how people are placing the blame on CA. CA's sales are up and they are good. The least popular game on here is Empire and that is one of their more successful titles.

Fewer and fewer mods are created with each game on TWC. The modding community is still creating mods on steam and elsewhere. It was the mods that brought people to TWC. The content kept people here.
The solution is simple: promote TWC as the place to release mods and TWC needs to create a different approach to promote the use of the site after people arrive.

[Basileos Leandros I]

How come I noticed this thread only now?!

Ah, the good ol' "Let's talk about the demise of the fora" topic.

And some of you youngins' haven't seen the place back in 2005-2006 when Rome was in full swing and everyone was swirling around this place, new posts literally cropping up minute by minute and a ton of action around these places. It was probably the best time in TWC land, 2005-2006, far more so than after the outrage caused by Empire. M2TW's great release also made it a bit of a golden age up until 2008 or so and then after that a lot of outrage around these places.

2005-2007/2008. The best TWC times.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Repent now, the end times are nigh!

[Niles Crane]

How come I noticed this thread only now?!

Ah, the good ol' "Let's talk about the demise of the fora" topic.

And some of you youngins' haven't seen the place back in 2005-2006 when Rome was in full swing and everyone was swirling around this place, new posts literally cropping up minute by minute and a ton of action around these places. It was probably the best time in TWC land, 2005-2006, far more so than after the outrage caused by Empire. M2TW's great release also made it a bit of a golden age up until 2008 or so and then after that a lot of outrage around these places.

2005-2007/2008. The best TWC times.

Nah. The peak period was 7 April, 2004 to 24 May, 2005.

[Commissar Caligula_]

So for the last 12 years you've just been in a drunken stupor trawling the dimly lit forums reminiscing about the glory days?
Whats so different between now and then? Just the users?

[Basileos Leandros I]

Nah. The peak period was 7 April, 2004 to 24 May, 2005.

So the moment you joined until the moment I joined?

Aha! The system is rigged, I tell you.

[PikeStance]

2003-2005 The site was being developed.
2006-2008 -Steady development; result of that labor of the initial development...
2009-2011 -Site started a gradual decline (Citizen participation decline)
2012-2014 -First signs of the decline of the site itself
2016-present- Site is in full decline.
In a nutshell, the site was at its best during its rise (2003-2005) and its full development (2006-2008). What existed then, does not exist today.

[Commissar Caligula_]

Shouldn't we try to revive the site with suggestions and stuff then? I've got a few, but they'd probably just be too much work to implement and not necessarily pay themselves off.

[PikeStance]

I already made some suggestions. I feel like the site needs to decline a great deal more before their is enough people convince that change is needed. Until then, many think things are fine. If you read above, many think it is CA's unpopularity, which not true, or people do not like forums anymore. I guess it means, sure it is declining, but we can't change it.