All gone quiet on the 'ARENA' front...

[* Matolo Swazulu *]

http://www.totalwar.com/en_us/arena/
( http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/28/the-creative-assembly-announce-f2p-total-war-arena/ )
( http://forums.totalwar.com/showthread.php/65121-Total-War%E2%84%A2-ARENA-%E2%80%93-New-Free-to-Play-Game-in-Development-at-Creative-Assembly? )
From the official forums:
Trish CA: 13-01-2014 02:53 PM
If it was canceled, we would have announced it. If we had more information, we would have announced it. If it is a silent time, it means we are working on it! Therefore, no information for now but we are working on it still. Thread closed.


Why announce it so early (28th March 2013) then stay in complete and utter silence....?

[Emperor of The Great Unknown]

Well it could be one of three options.

1) Development could be on hold to work on patching R2TW (unlikely since the patches are fairly lackluster, and they will probably release another DLC to suck another 10$ out of everyone.)
2)Perhaps CA is debating with SEGA on whether or not they are going to cancel it.
3) Perhaps they are actually working on the game and won't show any previews until the game is in a releasable state. (Really hope so but unlikely, Honestly I hope they abandon R2TW and work on a new engine for the next game.)

[Petroniu]

work on a new engine for the next game.)

Even if they do that, considering CA's vision for R2, a new engine will probably mean an arcade fest. This game goes away from real, complex strategy. People often forget these days that it is a strategy game. Also, battles are so "gamey" as opposed to how they tried to represent reality in older games - this is not the TW I am looking forward to.

[Emperor of The Great Unknown]

Even if they do that, considering CA's vision for R2, a new engine will probably mean an arcade fest. This game goes away from real, complex strategy. People often forget these days that it is a strategy game. Also, battles are so "gamey" as opposed to how they tried to represent reality in older games - this is not the TW I am looking forward to.

Completely agree, but honestly I am avoiding total war games for a while now. (A long while)

[RedGuard]

I hope it is cancelled. I was never going to play it anyway even if it is F2p but that's just my morals.

[Earl Dibbles Jr]

I hope they cancel it and make another normal Total War to apologize for the Rome 2 disaster.

[GideonAI]

As I mentioned before, the promotional period for Rome 2's special offer (in which you get Arena cash and Arena beta access) is ending in July. I assume they'll start hyping it up again sometime after that date.

[Musteline]

They announced rome 2 1 year before release, so its completely normal.

[alQamar]

hopefully this project is on ice lads. Do you really want a concurring game that would impact the patching efforts of Rome 2? Me not.

[GideonAI]

hopefully this project is on ice lads. Do you really want a concurring game that would impact the patching efforts of Rome 2? Me not.

CA specifically mentioned that any in-depth multiplayer for Rome 2 was canned to make way for Arena, implying that some of those who would otherwise be working on Rome 2 have been repurposed to work on Arena.

Also, I doubt that Arena's going to be canceled. Rome 2 was (I think) the most successful Total War to date, and unless Sega goes belly-up I think there's plenty of resources for them to continue.

[General Maximus]

Ah, I wonder if it will be playable at all. I am not going to get it anyway, almost all F2Ps are big marketing lies, in the end they are all "Pay 25$ to get 5 virtual coins to buy stuff with" like the stupid evil Zynga model. DLCs will be there, because it is CA and SEGA, and they won't let this opportunity of robbing squeezing people's cash go away. They won't make a game in the first place if they didn't get money, anyway, so this MOBA (even if announced as F2P to trick arcade players and newbies) will undoubtedly have a lot of money-grabbing.

Besides, I recall reading somewhere that it will have troops from multiple eras, and this is going to lead to vast unfairness and balance issues, not to mention a complete disregard for historical factors and situations. It would be silly to see a unit of dismounted plated-knights charging on a unit of formed-up professional and disciplined musketeers like British Redcoats. And if the Redcoats win, they would do so with a whole lot of factors that a F2P MOBA won't ever be able to recreate.

They should not make a MOBA in the first place. They should work on a new engine if they are going to create a new game, so that they don't the next one as badly as they did Rome II.

[JackDionne]

I would provided it was nothing like Rome II. I don't think 10 vs 10 is going to fly either it's hard enough getting 4v4 now, plus I like to control my entire army not just one facet.

[Destraex]

I also hope it's cancelled.
If I wanted this kind of caper there is much better out there like scourge of war and histwar and combat mission cmx2.
Total War would really need to step it up and include huge maps and 20,000 men on the screen that did not fill that map like they do currently!! You know room to maneover for real!

[AngryTitusPullo]

Moved from Rome 2 General Discussions.

There's forums and sub-forums for a reason guys.

[Huberto]

Would be surprised if they cancelled it and CA spokesperson says it's in the works...but truly a MOBA is not where CA should be headed with Total War. Indeed Rome II has shown the lack of fun and the intensity of fan backlash directed at arcade, RTS-style Total War. Call Arena something else and/or stop making Total War games if you must. But Total War is never going to succeed as F2P MOBA. In Mr. Satomi's dreams...

[GideonAI]

Moved from Rome 2 General Discussions.

There's forums and sub-forums for a reason guys.

And yet for some reason, Will CA posted the Arena announcement thread in the Rome 2 General Discussion forum.

[AngryTitusPullo]

And yet for some reason, Will CA posted the Arena announcement thread in the Rome 2 General Discussion forum.

Any questions regarding moderation should be asked in Moderation Commentary Thread. In any case where is the announcement thread ?

[Trish CA]

I don't think I was giving any attitude at all, actually. I was mostly teasing because I have been in talks with the guys from the Arena forum for a while now and they're rad to talk to. The thread was closed because it was the third thread with the exact same sentiment. I guess it is really easy to misinterpret text into anything you would like it to mean.
My gender or age does not matter when it comes to my job capabilities.

On the Arena front, it is still very much in development. I wish we had more to say but we do not at this time. If you are signed for the beta, we will send an e-mail once we do have a little more to say. Thanks for asking!

[* Matolo Swazulu *]

I think you answered a question or two there, but seriously, what was the thinking behind announcing it so early? That's all I'd like to know, as would numerous others I presume...
I mean people not on any kind of forum will have forgotten by now about Arena due to the lack of follow up information. Simply put, it confuses me, as I see little logic behind it. @Trish CA

[GideonAI]

I think you answered a question or two there, but seriously, what was the thinking behind announcing it so early? That's all I'd like to know, as would numerous others I presume...
I mean people not on any kind of forum will have forgotten by now about Arena due to the lack of follow up information. Simply put, it confuses me, as I see little logic behind it. @Trish CA

Actually, they did use the Arena giveaways (15$ of in-game cash + early beta access) as a selling point for Rome 2.