It feels different to me this time

Ever since accidentally "discovering" Shogun in a Babbages long ago, and falling in love with it, I've always waited very impatiently for the next release or expansion. I would soothe myself to sleep for months beforehand imagining what units I would use to form a Roman legion, or how musketry units would affect the battles, things like that.

This time though I find myself strangely indifferent to the release of a title I always envisioned would be the highlight of the Total War series...Napoleon!!

I'm not sure if it's because of ETW's issues (I couldn't get it to run properly without CTDs until July), or the fact I am totally obsessed with an MMO right now (Aion). I suspect it's a bit of both.

I sincerely hope NTW is playable right out of the box, and there are no glaring at release issues (eg, no AI naval invasions) like ETW had. I really want to see this game successful, and actually earn good reviews.

I want to go to sleep peacefully at night again.

I know how you feel. I have gone from really hoping ETW will be excellent, to wishing NTW to be an utter flop so CA get the message. I would hardly be surprised if this is so, although the "you-can't-know-that" crowd will no doubt hop straight on my back.

Originally Posted by Rt. Hon. Gentleman

I know how you feel. I have gone from really hoping ETW will be excellent, to wishing NTW to be an utter flop so CA get the message. I would hardly be surprised if this is so, although the "you-can't-know-that" crowd will no doubt hop straight on my back.

Agreed i really want ntw to fail and ca to suffer. I'm fed up with their crap and they need to cease to be.

Originally Posted by Bulgaroktonos

All who want CA to fail are ignorant and disloyal. You know what happens if NTW doesn't sell, don't u ?

CA goes bankrupt.

It's that simple.

The people on this board really should decide if they want to rant CA to death and play EU instead and enjoy the great real time battles...

Disloyal because im tired of half finished **** and lies? don't make me laugh.

and well duh i want them to go bankrupt. I'd laugh my ass off.

it may just be that you're getting older too... i can't help but feel some of my indifference is simply related to aging, as every TW i have bout I have played less and less.

Heh, I remember thinking to myself when Sega bought CA how great it would be that they were out from under the thumb of Activision. I didn't know I could be so wrong.

I am afraid to let myself become enthusiastic.

That`s because the whole ETW, NTW release is different. A full standalone release so soon after the last? The mess of ETW. the feeling that NTW is a rehash remake of ETW, but in story mode? The propaganda that`s so similar to ETW`s propaganda? To be collared by Steam again and lose any control of the program you paid for?

I find it hard to see why anyone should be excited at all.

All who want CA to fail are ignorant and disloyal. You know what happens if NTW doesn't sell, don't u ?

CA goes bankrupt.

It's that simple.

The people on this board really should decide if they want to rant CA to death and play EU instead and enjoy the great real time battles...

Originally Posted by Bulgaroktonos

All who want CA to fail are ignorant and disloyal. You know what happens if NTW doesn't sell, don't u ?

CA goes bankrupt.

It's that simple.

The people on this board really should decide if they want to rant CA to death and play EU instead and enjoy the great real time battles...

Ohh. Guess I`d better stop criticising poor CA incase they go bankrupt. Hey, CA, here`s more of my hard-earned cash from the sweat of my brow because Bulgaroktonos thinks I should to save you, i don`t mind if you`re product is less than advertised and I waste my money. Here take it.

Originally Posted by Bulgaroktonos

All who want CA to fail are ignorant and disloyal. You know what happens if NTW doesn't sell, don't u ?

CA goes bankrupt.

It's that simple.

The people on this board really should decide if they want to rant CA to death and play EU instead and enjoy the great real time battles...

Honestly I don't care. I was a fan of the TW series, but the attitude CA/SEAG shows since the last title is not acceptable for me.

Originally Posted by Bulgaroktonos

All who want CA to fail are ignorant and disloyal. You know what happens if NTW doesn't sell, don't u ?

CA SEGA goes bankrupt.

It's that simple.

The people on this board really should decide if they want to rant CA to death and play EU instead and enjoy the great real time battles...

Fixed that for you

Originally Posted by Bulgaroktonos

All who want CA to fail are ignorant and disloyal. You know what happens if NTW doesn't sell, don't u ?

CA goes bankrupt.

It's that simple.

The people on this board really should decide if they want to rant CA to death and play EU instead and enjoy the great real time battles...

The only people who have the "right" to take my money to subsidize failing businesses is the US government.

I'm not about to "donate" anymore money to CA so they can stay afloat. If they fail, that's their fault, not mine.

Look, I don't want CA to fail, I really don't. Anyone losing a job in a harsh economic times like these is nothing to joke about. But I do want them to understand that releasing products full of bugs and missing advertised features is not the way to keep customers around. Nor is dropping support for ETW six months into its life cycle.

Something about this debate feels familiar.... Oh wait! I know:

.."Vista freaking sucks! Oh how Vista sucks! Burn Microsoft!"

..."Win7! Redemption! Glory to the MS!"

Originally Posted by bwmcmaste

Something about this debate feels familiar.... Oh wait! I know:

.."Vista freaking sucks! Oh how Vista sucks! Burn Microsoft!"

..."Win7! Redemption! Glory to the MS!"

Yes, Windows 7 is godly compared to Vista, but I have a feeling it won't be the same for E:TW/N:TW...

Originally Posted by bwmcmaste

Something about this debate feels familiar.... Oh wait! I know:

.."Vista freaking sucks! Oh how Vista sucks! Burn Microsoft!"

..."Win7! Redemption! Glory to the MS!"

Yes MS did make a good come back from a bad product they heavily invested in, but they are huge and can take the hit, also who else does PC OS's? They also don't have a company who owns them hovering over them.

CA were heavily invested in ETW, sales were good, but lies/biting off more than they could chew and faulty product have harmed faith and trust in their product. NTW needs to do quite well to give them the strength to continue. I am such a fan of the series that I am willing to give CA my dosh, not because I consider myself to be a mug, but purely that taken as a whole, this series with the mods, has given me many hundreds of hours of decent gaming fun, that is to be found nowhere else. I recently spent £1500 on summer motorcycle clothing, I won't even ride that often, but besides safety(I could of spent less) it shows my commitment to a hobby I hope to enjoy, although at my age I had better be careful on a 160MPH bike

As for the TW series, ETW on release was such a let down, mostly with the crashes, screwed saved games, and then the patching fiasco with the screwed sound, that even though ETW is now IMHO quite good, it has dampend my enthusiasm for the game. NTW will hopefully be no worse than mediocre, CA don't seem to have had much time on it.

I still take the view(for now)that CA have my support, even if a couple of games aren't that good, certainly up to their next major release, because I am investing in my main hobby. But I do hope Sega/CA understand they are on thin ice, I mean how much damage has the negative feed back from the unhappy customer done to CA? How much power do we have? Enough I think for CA to have made that appeal that poor scores like that on Meta-critic could harm them.

I do understand peoples anger over ETW, but if alot of you are in the series for the long haul like me(unless CA have really lost the plot for good) I don't quite get your in ability to look at the picture abit more long term, surely it's our hobby isn't it? It may be going through a rough patch, it's just that alot of posts seem more negative than is helpful, to us and CA. Maybe the problem is the fan base don't feel CA are listening, so they resort to shouting and screaming or just outright despondant negativity incase they get heard, perphaps that's a good analogy?

Originally Posted by Bulgaroktonos

All who want CA to fail are ignorant and disloyal. You know what happens if NTW doesn't sell, don't u ?

CA goes bankrupt.

It's that simple.

The people on this board really should decide if they want to rant CA to death and play EU instead and enjoy the great real time battles...

ca lied they put themselves in this situation,
napoleon will fail because there rushing it out and dont give a about the actuall game, they just want our money

what they said about empire was bassically false advertising i dont give a dam if they go bankrupt, any company that makes a new games every year is bull ####
too bad ca cares more about money than quality

Originally Posted by Bulgaroktonos

All who want CA to fail are ignorant and disloyal. You know what happens if NTW doesn't sell, don't u ?

CA goes bankrupt.

It's that simple.

The people on this board really should decide if they want to rant CA to death and play EU instead and enjoy the great real time battles...

ca go bankrupt vs. bilk us out of more money

tough choice indeed

i wish it was that simple.

So, Bulgaroktonos, I suppose you like being lied to and then INSULTED in Public Relations Blogs? You like that Keiran Brigdan and Mike Simpson and Jack Lusted will always avoid giving a straight answer about their shortcomings?

Originally Posted by Bulgaroktonos

All who want CA to fail are ignorant and disloyal. You know what happens if NTW doesn't sell, don't u ?

CA goes bankrupt.

It's that simple.

The people on this board really should decide if they want to rant CA to death and play EU instead and enjoy the great real time battles...

Hate to break it to you, but company loyalty is not a virtue.

If CA thinks that they may go bankrupt, perhaps they will make an effort to avoid lying to their consumers.

Maybe there is some link between CA's advertisment and actuality, just as there is some link between the campaign and battle map terrain in Empire, but I can't for the life of me spot it and am thus disinclined to the prospect of purchasing a spinoff, lest it all be empty spin again.

If NTW is as big of a disappointment as ETW is then CA probably needs to go bankrupt. There is a serious penalty for screwing up and there are not may second chances. CA and needs to wake up and release a solid product.