A Disappointed Player (Review)

[naq]

so should we add "beta" to the downloading thread title?

[Ermeni]

May I quote?

"Now, seven years later, we have at last reached the point where we feel ready to release this labour of love to you, our fans. We know that it has been a long wait for you, and still we have a long way to go. This instalment is not a finished product, and we have many grand plans that are yet to be implemented. There are new and exciting units to be added, game mechanics to be coded, and historical texts to be written. So even though this is a major milestone in the history of the mod, it is by no means the end of the journey. This is but a first release, a beta version if you wish, and it will be some time still before we can call it a finished product (if such a thing even exists), and to take our mod further we will rely on you to provide us with feedback, bug reports and suggestions."

The beta is close to unplayable for me too but at least I know what I signed up for when I tried out this early release.

[Nicov55]

Criticism is easy. Of course they are still things that need to be fixed and will. But i already enjoy the mod a lot more than i did Rome 2 with all the patches. What is nice with the mod released is that we can share our game experiences, report bugs and discuss ideas so the next release will be the best ever game about antique warfare.

[Goth]

Just a quick note on the AI guys, if you find it is too passive try increasing the movement rates of armies on the campaign map. Eb tends to have slower movement rates than many other mods and the M2TW AI is poor at sticking to its decisions over multiple turns so its armies look like they are just mulling around. By increasing movement the AI suddenly becomes more aggressive as it can make its whole decision in one turn and doesnt change its mind.
A note on the mod though, yes it is a beta and there are some issues, but what an incredible piece of work it is! I for one am loving it
Goth

[Silius Saurus]

You can please some people some of the time, displease most people some of the time but you can never please all the people all of the time.

I'm pretty sure the EB 2 lads have pretty thick skins by this time and I'm sure that they are used to it. Fact is, the OP is entitled to his opinion and if you feel that your opinion should be acknowledged then the price of admission is to have to occasionally read the whining whinging "I don't like this...." sort of thing from time to time.

We live in an age where every manjack of us thinks that our opinion is important. C'est la guerre.

[riskymonk]

I am so embarrassed that you guys find it easy. I played as the lusitani and was having trouble with the rebels to my south as they had some powerful general who wouldn't allow their troops to waver. I lost 2 battles (1 was me ambushing them) and eventually I sandwiched him with 2 army's on my 3rd battle.

I sent my faction heir to take the settlement as my faction leader had inherited some sort of faltering courage trait where troops lose confidence in him as he (I) fled too many times. The faction heir rebelled as he was starving the rebels out and I had nothing but my faction leader and my capital left.

Next retry was the Macedonians. This is where I've learnt that Greek hopilites can withstand brutal punishment as on the first turn I besieged the 2 city's in the south of Greece. Usually when outnumbered I can deal with it as it's just the silly AI but I lost 2 generals in the first Sally out and I ended up having to camp on a hill in the trees on the second city Sally out.

This is the first mod I've played where I've lost and had to restart.

No I'm not bad at tw games as I've smashed vanilla on very hard whilst fending off multiple factions on multiple fronts. I always play the most challenging factions and campaigns but EB2 was too much.

Its going to be very satisfying for me when I carve out a small region in the country and call it my empire as this game is very difficult... so long as I don't play as an easy faction of course.

[ASPGolan]

While a review always takes the game as it is for the end-user, this release was meant for people to have a glimpse of what is coming and for them to give constructive feedback, meaning to take into consideration what was modified so far.

From this point of view, I think that the original post has usable feedback on the battle mechanics and a clear message that players expect more from the campaign itself. If you think EB 2 should be understood in context, than so should feedback. About the campaign, I really don't see why OP is comparing to SS. Europa Barbarorum was about historicity, not about playability. As such, playing Rome you'll always feel overpowered, even when this mod will be more mature.

That been said, that was a rather large post, OP and a lot of playthroughs on a testing version. You should chill out. Nobody here is under any obligation to provide you with your yearly fix of TW.

[Auxor]

This thread shows everything wrong with internet forums, the guy has legitimate criticism which you can't just reply to with "IT'S A BETA!" and yet you all jump on him for it. Stop the circlejerk and allow some actual criticism for once, i'm sure we all would have preferred waiting another few weeks to have much better AI instead of sullying our first experience of the mod with bad CAI and broken skirmishers. The guy is just making the point that the mod is first and foremost a video game, all the historical realism in the world doesn't rectify that. You treat the EB team as professionals in some aspects and then hobbyists in others, you cannot have it both ways.

The AI at release was shoddy and it was a damn shame and there shouldn't be any apologism for that. That shouldn't reflect on any of the other amazing successes the modders have accomplished, all of you need to stop taking any affronts to a video game mod as personal insults and decrying the alleged decline and fall of the Total War Center.

[Poppis]

...i'm sure we all would have preferred waiting another few weeks to have much better AI instead of sullying our first experience of the mod with bad CAI and broken skirmishers.

Nope. I'm quite happy to play an early version full of bugs and imbalances. I was in fact quite amazed that I've had less ctds(0) in EB2 than in EB1.

I think this might be the main problem. Some people expect a fully working mod where they can play a full campaign in when a releases a mod. Some people on the other hand are quite happy being beta testers/bug hunters for the devs, if that means getting access to the mod earlier.

[Campylobacter jejuni]

And we all know the points he brought up are valid. But it IS a beta release! It's "early access" as they call it these days. Of course issues need to be brought up and dealt with, but expecting to not have any is a special kind of silly. And that is the issue the members take with the OP's post.

Fact is, the OP is entitled to his opinion

But not to his manners.

And I don't get this whole "let's not discuss things when they are wrong, every opinion is valid" culture. By being confrontational he essentially challenged people to a fight. That's how being confrontational works.

[Samraat Mahendra Maurya]

Maybe just me, but Campaign AI is the best in any mods/tw game on medium, great and immerse battles which require lots of tactics and no bugs whatsoever, so idk...
EB 2 is a really fun game, although it's quite hard conquering gaul because Macedon declared war on me and kicked me outta greece

[alin]

I can't even comment on the battle AI or the battles in general, since the game crashed for me whenever a unit threw its javelins.

Would you be willing to do some tests to find a solution for this? If yes then please contact me.
I've seen quite a few which have this issue and it doesn't make any sense why for the majority it works but for others it doesn't.

[X MEN]

I know no one wants to hear this but for a 7 year mod this was really disappoiting, and I´m talking about the battles you cannot know the difference of the enemy army and yours and the battles play to long. For the love of god when we will have some good Rome total war era mod for MTW that really feels good to play and put a smile on your face ?

[Seljuq Prince]

I know no one wants to hear this but for a 7 year mod this was really disappoiting, and I´m talking about the battles you cannot know the difference of the enemy army and yours and the battles play to long. For the love of god when we will have some good Rome total war era mod for MTW that really feels good to play and put a smile of your face ?

It's beta for God's sake.. Dont you guys dodn't know what are you downloading..

[Funeh]

I know no one wants to hear this but for a 7 year mod this was really disappoiting, and I´m talking about the battles you cannot know the difference of the enemy army and yours and the battles play to long. For the love of god when we will have some good Rome total war era mod for MTW that really feels good to play and put a smile on your face ?

1) this is beta, learn to read... or go search internet what "beta" means
2) its not like they would be sitting at their homes for 7 years and making this mod 8 hours a day...

[X MEN]

Know that this is a beta...but you know what there is beta mods out there way better

1) this is beta, learn to read... or go search internet what "beta" means
2) its not like they would be sitting at their homes for 7 years and making this mod 8 hours a day...

[alin]

Know that this is a beta...but you know what there is beta mods out there way better

Well then please go there.

We explicitly stated not to expect a balanced game(unit stats, campaign AI) with all the features in this release.
The point of this release was to gather feedback from the community so we can improve every aspect in future releases and patches.

If you're not willing to provide constructive feedback then comments like that are of no use to us.

[X MEN]

Well sorry alin but this is a Thread: A disappointed player review, i can say what ever i want that disaprove in the mod and that is my honest negative feed back to you to make thing better

Well then please go there.



We explicitly stated not to expect a balanced game(unit stats, campaign AI) with all the features in this release.
The point of this release was to gather feedback from the community so we can improve every aspect in future releases and patches.

If you're not willing to provide constructive feedback then comments like that are of no use to us.

[Mediolanicus]

there was no challenge.

After playing several campaigns as multiple factions

Stop rushing and exploiting all aspects of the game and then blaming a mod team for you being (apparently unexpectedly) smarter than AI programmed nearly a decade ago.

Expand slowly and limit yourself to what would be realistic, don't blitzkrieg. don't seek wars, but fight them as they come, and then AI will give you a challenge.

[Shigawire]

Well sorry alin but this is a Thread: A disappointed player review, i can say what ever i want that disaprove in the mod and that is my honest negative feed back to you to make thing better

Sure, you can say whatever you want, if you don't mind how it reflects on your character. What good does your "Honest negative feedback" do exactly? How does it help the developers make things better? By stating things like "This is crap, because I think so. There are other mods out there that are better..." Is this meant to scare away other potential gamers from trying EB2? The specific points made by the OP are honest points, such as the CTD and CAI issues. Those are valid. But when you keep posting negativity just for the sake of it, what is the reasoning behind it? What is your purpose?
At least be constructive in your feedback. Point out what you would do differently.

The tactful guest will take his leave Early,
not linger long:
He starts to stink who outstays his welcome
In a hall that is not his own.