A petition to CA regarding the future of game modification and CA Games

**~~Tony83~~** · February 09, 2010, 05:50 PM

Posted on behalf of the TW modding community.

If you want to sign this, please go here.

A petition to CA regarding the future of game modification and CA Games

Dear Member of the Modding community.

I am contacting you today regarding a serious matter, that being the future of game modification for games produced by Creative Assembly.

I contact you as a TWC member, although many of you will know me as ex-leader of the Rome Total Realism Team, ex-Member of Hex Council here at TWC, and as a previous Modding Representative on Hexagon Council here at TWC.

I contact you as an equal, and the issue in question affects us all equally and urgently.

I contact you to ask for your support.

As you may or may not know, I have started a petition to CA regarding their current and future games, and the availability of modding tools for the modding community. You can find the petition here.

What I am asking for are modding tools, similar to what was made available for RTW, but has been missing in the last release ETW. What I am asking for is more interaction with the modding community.

As you all know, as the series progresses, it is becoming harder and harder to modify these games. Med 2 had extremely limited tools available, and it seems to me and many other long term modders that it is the intention of CA to gradually phase out any chances of serious modifications being done to their future games. CA makes no public statement on the matter, yet when asked, they do not respond to questions with any clear policy.

Countless times this has been requested. I for one, went to CA two years ago and requested in person. And yet, a response to our requests has been lacking and perhaps ignored. Ten years have gone by now since Shogun Total War. People still play that games modifications still.

I ask you, what future does this give us for our mod teams? for our dreams? for our hope to utilize their new game engine technology?

I see this as a big mistake. For ten years now, modders and mod teams have respected the legal limitations of the TW game engines, and many of the belated "innovations" that their recent games feature were indeed conceptualized and realized, often in rough form, here at TWC and the other TW fan sites such as the Org. We have indirectly forced the company to evolve. And yet my friends, you and I know that they could do much much more.

Comparing the TW games with other serious game modification communities, what is lacking is a regular channel of communication between CA and the people who love their games, and their most loyal customers, the modding community.

What I seek is interaction for us. For our voice to be heard, and for the company to respond in a coherent and regular way by giving us some tools that we can use within respectful bounds. To not be ignored. It has been to long.

We need answers to our questions.

* If they wish for us not to modify their games, they should make a public statement to that effect.
* If they do wish to encourage modding, then they need to release modding tools that can be accessed by us, by license if necessary, so that we can pursue our visions as well.

You and I both know that this will not be detrimental to their future sales. Any new engine they release, each team will want to upgrade after a time. Not to mention the wealth of skilled modders that this will create, that CA could harvest as new employees each year!

The possibilities are endless. All that it requires is vision and bravery.

It can only lead to a better game series, better features, and thriving and ever growing end user and modder communities.

I ask you and your team to join me in this request. There is strength in numbers, and what I am asking of you, for you, may be our last chance to have our voices heard.

How you can help- post a link to the petition in your mod team sub-forum, and also if possible in your fan area. Inform everybody, and ask them to raise their voices.

If you as a member of a team add your post/signature, please state which team you are affiliated with. This will help them understand that we speak together with one voice; that for a matter of such importance we remember the bond that links us together, and put aside our past rivalries, and recognize together that we all share our imagination and creativity that TW games inspire.

Yours sincerely,

Marcus Cornelius Marcellus
Citizen, Artifex and TWC Member.

**florin80** · February 09, 2010, 06:04 PM

* If they wish for us not to modify their games, they should make a public statement to that effect.

Now there`s a bright idea to the benefit of the modding community. Let`s raise signatures to have this accomplished. Well, this or the other one, whichever we can get.

**Arkaeyn** · February 09, 2010, 07:08 PM

I don't necessarily agree with the tone of this tactically, but I certainly believe in the spirit.

/signed

**~~Tony83~~** · February 09, 2010, 07:39 PM

If you want to support this petition, please don't forget to sign the main petition here. This thread is only designed to raise awareness of its existeance and any feelings you have on the matter are best addressed there.

**DukeCanada** · February 09, 2010, 08:44 PM

I urge all members of the TWC and RTR community to rally behind MCM and his petetion! With great numbers there is great power.

Tony, would it be a bad idea to bring this to the official Total War forum?

**~~Tony83~~** · February 09, 2010, 11:38 PM

I've read about the response you've had at the Total War forums, Duke. No real surprises there I guess. However, I will add MCM's letter above to our sub mod forum over at the Org and Mod Realms.

**Ceasar Gubius** · February 10, 2010, 12:06 AM

You have my sword

!

I signed

**Maurits** · February 10, 2010, 06:56 AM

I signed too, it's important that we as modding community unite ourselves and let CA know what we want.

**florin80** · February 10, 2010, 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by Tony83

If you want to sigh this, please go here.

Did you mean "sign"?

**Finn** · February 10, 2010, 07:48 AM

Hehe looks like Pat is to blame for that one.

**~~Tony83~~** · February 10, 2010, 08:08 AM

Originally Posted by Finn

Hehe looks like Pat is to blame for that one.

Lol - trust Pat.

**Pat89** · February 10, 2010, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by Finn

Hehe looks like Pat is to blame for that one.

Shhhh!!!

**MCM** · February 10, 2010, 07:52 AM

Thanks Tones, I am in the process of talking with Tosa Inu at the Org to find the best place to post it in the general community forums as well.

No surprise regarding the official TW forums, although Duke strikes me as persistent

I am sure that if he inquires as to the right way to go about it, there may be a way...

getting close to 5000 views I might add...

ps, you might want to amend your first post in this thread to " on behalf of the TW modding community", since the petition represents the community at large, not me.

MCM

**DukeCanada** · February 10, 2010, 01:36 PM

Well I dont plan to give up MCM. Ill find a way to please the TW forum mods. They did say I could "mention" a petitition so long as I dont link it. Im going to try that and see the result.

**DukeCanada** · February 10, 2010, 02:06 PM

Yes! The moderator was very nice. Check this out

http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/67652/master/1/

**~~Tony83~~** · February 10, 2010, 02:30 PM

Excellent work Duke, very nicely put. Politeness and civility cost nothing, and are far more likey to illicit a positive response. I am convinced that there is a middle ground whereby CA can protect their profit margins, in this cold economic climate, and we can get the modding tools we need.

**DukeCanada** · February 10, 2010, 02:34 PM

Of course, I dont think CA is unreasonable in the slightest. Surely there can be negotiation.

**Arkaeyn** · February 10, 2010, 02:54 PM

I do kinda wonder if there are any stats on how moddability increases profits. I mean, people are still buying Civ4, which may the most intentionally moddable game ever released, in large part because there is so much content out there for it.

But sales charts and business models in the game industry seem to be pretty protected information, as opposed to, say, the movie industry where box office figures are fetishized.