The TW series: This forums demands vs. Keeping the series Mainstream...Opinions please

[hellas1]

Hi everyone,

I have been noticed a marked "voice" of people here who are fed up with the TW series being unsatisfactory to tastes...Apparently more realism and minimal fluff is desired.

As you may well know, the TW series is a niche series.

This website has seen people battling CA/Activision now Sega/CA over things like historical accuracy, unit sizes, removing "unrealistic elements" from each & every TW game, etc. In my mind this is a "hardcore" stance rather than being a "First person or even 3rd person RPG or sim like Microsoft's series Age of X, Y, Z" and would alienate a lot of people in the mainstream.

In my current understanding, the TW series are more "mainstream" than "hardcore" but seems to be going the "hardcore" route due to mainly a good amount of input from this website and the internet.
The old marketing adage, or at least recent anyway, is on the internet 1 person = 10 maybe even 1 =100/1000, whatever.

Bottom line: Sega is out to make a buck and the TW franchise is it's cash cow product.
Why should Sega go all out hardcore on the TW series, starting with RTW 2 and not stay mainstream?

Please post insights below....
Thanks,
hellas1

[saxdude]

TW is so very far from niche its hilarious that people still argue that its niche, secondly forum demands matter very little to Sega, apart from the modding tools, because thats what this forum is all about, but in regards to mainstream TWC is quite insignificant. Thirdly, they have not really become hardcore, nothing about TW is truly hardcore, at least by the definitions you set up, vanilla is just improving through public demand, realism has improved because graphic overhauls of the decade no longer allow games to be taken seriously with pink pijama parthians.
Total War has just been climbing up the way normal franchises do, not because this site has made any real longterm impact in the series, total war has always appealed to the mainstream.

[Jester]

TW is so very far from niche its hilarious that people still argue that its niche, secondly forum demands matter very little to Sega, apart from the modding tools, because thats what this forum is all about, but in regards to mainstream TWC is quite insignificant. Thirdly, they have not really become hardcore, nothing about TW is truly hardcore, at least by the definitions you set up, vanilla is just improving through public demand, realism has improved because graphic overhauls of the decade no longer allow games to be taken seriously with pink pijama parthians.
Total War has just been climbing up the way normal franchises do, not because this site has made any real longterm impact in the series, total war has always appealed to the mainstream.

Bingo!

[Anna_Gein]

What ?
TW is niche and "hardcore stance" threaten the mainstream public who is the majority but TW been niche is more mainstream than hardcore but anyway everybody who talk here represent the smallest opinion ??????

I don't understand at all the explanation here.

But I am sure tallking about TW as the cash cow will alienate a few people from your argument as they may see or expect to see more in the franchise.

[Bob Doad]

It is definitely not getting hardcore...nor is it mainstream. I mean if I ask people in my school if they have heard of TW maybe 1 of every 100 or so will say maybe and 1 in 500 will say yes. Its not particularly realistic either, just compare it to uber realism(Arma2) and the pinnacle of fluff, CoD. TW lies in between and will likely remain there until SEGA sees profit in more realism.

[saxdude]

Shogun is one of the highest selling games of 2011 on steam, up there with Skyrim and the like. For the record.

[Bob Doad]

Shogun is one of the highest selling games of 2011 on steam, up there with Skyrim and the like. For the record.

Im not saying it is oblivious to the public its just not mainstream. The PC community loves TW and it is big when it comes out or is on sale like many games but I would chock that up to a dedicated fan base. For ex, train simulator during Steam Summer Sale was a bestseller and it could never be called mainstream. Similarly, Arma2 has always had healthy sales even without DayZ despite its lack of widespread popularity. Mainstream is a game that people hear of frequently even when they don't play it and I rarely meet people who play it. However, i will concede that you probably are right since I haven't met too many people who have heard of Skyrim either...

[Love Mountain]

Pc games aren't really mainstream. Jussaying. Consoles dominate quite a bit.

[katsusand]

This forum's members demands are often terrible, most of the ideas presented here will butcher gameplay for the sake of historical accuracy... Some of the players here are not even "gamers"... They are just historical accuracy Wh0res who'd rather stare at a 3D model than play a game. Any idea that seems fun gameplay wise get all sort of criticism because its not "historkaly akkurat"...

[Augustus Scipius]

This forum's members demands are often terrible, most of the ideas presented here will butcher gameplay for the sake of historical accuracy... Some of the players here are not even "gamers"... They are just historical accuracy Wh0res who'd rather stare at a 3D model than play a game. Any idea that seems fun gameplay wise get all sort of criticism because its not "historkaly akkurat"...

+Rep.

I agree with you. There was this hilarious thread a while back where people whined that the Romans fought in a fantasy formation in the screenshots, had the wrong color clothes, thay the helmets were off and even about the characters looking too white skinned. I wonder, do those people even play the game or do they just pay fifty euros/bucks to see if one pixel is missing somewhere or is everything so accurate they can smile and throw the game away knowing future is in sure hands...

[Mincecraft]

This forum's members demands are often terrible, most of the ideas presented here will butcher gameplay for the sake of historical accuracy... Some of the players here are not even "gamers"... They are just historical accuracy Wh0res who'd rather stare at a 3D model than play a game. Any idea that seems fun gameplay wise get all sort of criticism because its not "historkaly akkurat"...

Hear, hear!

[emotion_name]

Hehehe, forum demands this and Mainstream that - when will people realise the Devs/Publishers will do as they please regardless of what someone may believe the demands of a forum are, or what may be considered mainstream!

[Ne Obliviscaris]

Being obsessed with historical accuracy is a lot of fun, thank you very much.
However that is what mods are for.
In order for Total Wars to get better which is what we all want, it is essential that they appeal to the broadest base of people possible. There are more casual gamers who want to see *shivers* dual sword Arcani than the correct wicker weave on an Asiatic Shield. All I hope for is modability with decent historical accuracy, which Rome I did really well.

[Aeneas Veneratio]

Being obsessed with historical accuracy is a lot of fun, thank you very much.
However that is what mods are for.
In order for Total Wars to get better which is what we all want, it is essential that they appeal to the broadest base of people possible. There are more casual gamers who want to see *shivers* dual sword Arcani than the correct wicker weave on an Asiatic Shield. All I hope for is modability with decent historical accuracy, which Rome I did really well.

Having dual wield in the game will grant more potential to the modders, who want to make mods, where it might be better suited.

[bangell99]

Just make the game moddable... It's the best way to keep everyone happy. Its a massive shot to CA's own foot that they keep neglecting this.

[Winterspawn]

Just make the game moddable... It's the best way to keep everyone happy. Its a massive shot to CA's own foot that they keep neglecting this.

So, to be clear, you think their games aren't moddable? Do you even realize what you're saying? The TW series has one of the bigger modding societies of all games, most games don't get any mods at all because they're that difficult to mod. Sure, it's not Skyrim or Fallout New Vegas, but it's still pretty moddable. It could be made easyer, yes, that's always possible, but then the CA would have to spend more time making modding tools (which they already did for the community) and less time on the game itself.

The basic point of this is that they do a pretty decent job at making their game moddable compared to most.

[Asgaroth]

Just make the game moddable... It's the best way to keep everyone happy. Its a massive shot to CA's own foot that they keep neglecting this.

[pajomife]

Shogun sells can't be compared with skyrim we are talking in 1/20, but Skyrim is a multiplatform to. About historical accuracy,i dont care about flying pigs or else,is that i simple dont like play TW games without mods. If they allow us to mod the game to fit in our taste the vanilla one could have dragons, fairies or what the mainstream customers want.

[hochmeister devin]

You know what would grant more mod potential, CA leaving all the fots things in rome 2 files. In fact Id pay $8 for it.

[Sun Jetzu]

I feel that the obvious reality we find ourselves is that there are alot of different things that people on this site wish for in a more realistic tw. But these people are the ones normally who have been part of this tw family for years dating back to shogun. Addressing concerns people have on here in upcomming games isnt a seperation of mainstreaming and not, its an evolution of the game. Face it people who will get into the game fresh start at rome 2 will have all their experiences based on "fluff" we "hardcorers" have tried to get ca to implement. We have created the experiences and the games that so many people have grown to love. Its not mainstreaming, again its evolution.