(At least) Angry Joe is Going to a Warhammer Demo from CA at E3, post other confirmations here!

[HigoChumbo]

I really don't think the problem here is beta testing. Betas are meant to find problems that require extensive testing to be found. Rome 2 problems were so evident and happened so often that it's not like they were there because CA did not notice them because they didn't release an open beta. They knew the problems existed, they just simply didn't have the time and the resources to fix them, not to mention many are probably just unsolvable issues derived to their insistence on relying on an old game engine.

[CK23]

I really don't think the problem here is beta testing. Betas are meant to find problems that require extensive testing to be found. Rome 2 problems were so evident and happened so often that it's not like they were there because CA did not notice them because they didn't release an open beta. They knew the problems existed, they just simply didn't have the time and the resources to fix them, not to mention many are probably just unsolvable issues derived to their insistence on relying on an old game engine.

That is where betas can help though, again I am not advocating a beta, I'm just saying a little more testing would be good, even by active community members.

[DavidtheDuke]

That is where betas can help though, again I am not advocating a beta, I'm just saying a little more testing would be good, even by active community members.

I think the best of both worlds would be just a select few TW hardcore vets, maybe like 50 just to hack at the build and tell CA what they think. Have them all sign NDAs etc. Seems doable; an open beta would be mostly useless as many people just want to play the game and will click any check mark box to get them there without reading or anything.

[CK23]

I wish thatd happen, I know a few other games have done that and its worked out well. The hardcore guys should be drawn from both hardcore WH and TW fans.

[DavidtheDuke]

I wish thatd happen, I know a few other games have done that and its worked out well. The hardcore guys should be drawn from both hardcore WH and TW fans.

I'd be a perfect candidate

To be frank though I do hope it draws more from TW and maintains rock-paper-scissors-shotgun mechanics without being just a crazy mish mash of balancing issues were just any power unit basically wins.

[CK23]

I'd be a perfect candidate

To be frank though I do hope it draws more from TW and maintains rock-paper-scissors-shotgun mechanics without being just a crazy mish mash of balancing issues were just any power unit basically wins.

WH and TW are a perfect meld honestly. They are very workable, and it'll allow TW to step outside its bounds and draw an audience and it'll help GW gets it IP off the ground without destroying it like has done a few times before will ill-fated attempts. I think that if they keep WH in mind and morph it into a TW game, it'll be a masterpiece that might give us some hope for the future.

[DavidtheDuke]

WH and TW are a perfect meld honestly. They are very workable, and it'll allow TW to step outside its bounds and draw an audience and it'll help GW gets it IP off the ground without destroying it like has done a few times before will ill-fated attempts. I think that if they keep WH in mind and morph it into a TW game, it'll be a masterpiece that might give us some hope for the future.

Yeah, at least the CoW mod handled this pretty well. Though they didn't have to add in dragons and in-depth character progression

Here's to a great Warhammer game, I can't wait to see it in action.

[Vardeus]

I'm signing up for testing too!

I want to pleh...SIGMAR HELP US!

[Frost, colonel]

If the 'right' testers got the game early enough, and CA have the resources in place within Sega's release time table to fix issues, we could in theory get a new CA release, which is a happy initial release. Now wouldn't that make a pleasant change?

Although, bugs are one thing, the game design is quite another, but CA don't have to just please hardened WH fans and TW addicts. They will have their edict for want they consider is general average player enjoyment, for example on release their games often have silly short battles, giving you no time to plan maneuvers, or even zoom in to see all the work that went into the graphics/animations.

What would be nice is if CA would assure us about the 'resources' they are pouring into developing this release, but one has to add that this is a rather naive statement for me to make, because we would never really know a pork pie, or even if said ample resources are in place, whether they are being skillfully utilized. The worst of the pork pies in the past they have delivered to us are along the AI front.

[Dodanodo]

Who the hell ever said CA doesn't beta-test their games? Did CA say that?

[Frost, colonel]

Who the hell ever said CA doesn't beta-test their games? Did CA say that?

I feel I wil deign to answer this by mentioning a little something: The release of RTWII!!!!!!!! But there are perhaps other CA main releases which peeps may indeed like to add?
Now if this was adequately Beta-tested, what went wrong prey tell, no resources(people, time) available to fix things? In which case why even bother with the concept of a semi-open Beta, if they are only going to release lovely bug-fests?

[DavidtheDuke]

Who the hell ever said CA doesn't beta-test their games? Did CA say that?

I did, and even if they do it's apparently inadequate compared to the community giving input.

I feel I wil deign to answer this by mentioning a little something: The release of RTWII!!!!!!!! But there are perhaps other CA main releases which peeps may indeed like to add?
Now if this was adequately Beta-tested, what went wrong prey tell, no resources(people, time) available to fix things? In which case why even bother with the concept of a semi-open Beta, if they are only going to release lovely bug-fests?

Yep. FOTS had a closed beta: http://forums.totalwar.com/forumdisp...ai-Closed-Beta

Probably not a coincidence it wasn't a total bugfest when I got my hands on it, even if it was substantially different than regular Shogun 2 in atmosphere, features, and overall balancing differences. It doesn't seem that hard to do the same thing with 50 or so odd hardcore TW/Warhammer fans.

If the 'right' testers got the game early enough, and CA have the resources in place within Sega's release time table to fix issues, we could in theory get a new CA release, which is a happy initial release. Now wouldn't that make a pleasant change?

Although, bugs are one thing, the game design is quite another, but CA don't have to just please hardened WH fans and TW addicts. They will have their edict for want they consider is general average player enjoyment, for example on release their games often have silly short battles, giving you no time to plan maneuvers, or even zoom in to see all the work that went into the graphics/animations.

What would be nice is if CA would assure us about the 'resources' they are pouring into developing this release, but one has to add that this is a rather naive statement for me to make, because we would never really know a pork pie, or even if said ample resources are in place, whether they are being skillfully utilized. The worst of the pork pies in the past they have delivered to us are along the AI front.

Honestly, I think the hardcore community changes what is considered a good TW as a meta-narrative for the entire community. There could be difficulty-lessening mods/rebalancing for those who want an easier time, I guess (if changing difficulty doesn't do that, that is).

[Yomamashouse]

I hope he learned his lesson from R2TW and doesn't fall for BS fake alpha footage. Sometimes I find the anger routine a bit over the top, but I actually tend to agree with the points he makes with regards to game critiques. I know he loves Total War and Warhammer as much as me so if he feels that two beloved gaming worlds are about to be raped for profit, he will tell us honestly.

[craziii]

I am surprised that he is taken so seriously by so many of you.

[DavidtheDuke]

I am surprised that he is taken so seriously by so many of you.

It's not like he takes himself very seriously either much of the time. And it's mostly because he has access to Warhammer behind closed doors that we're interested here, obviously.

[Frost, colonel]

I am surprised that he is taken so seriously by so many of you.

He certainly comes across as a reviewer who has no criteria other than his own open view, and in this he doesn't hold back. If something isn't right he more than says so, I think gamer's feel they are getting the real deal from him.

[craziii]

He certainly comes across as a reviewer who has no criteria other than his own open view, and in this he doesn't hold back. If something isn't right he more than says so, I think gamer's feel they are getting the real deal from him.

I personally peg him as a reviewer that follows whatever is trendy. sees alot of complains about a game, immediately make a video bashing it. a popular game with alot of praise? out with a video praising it to high hell. all of his videos offers zero original thought, most are just stuff he steals from forum posts. which is what you are praising him of. one thing he is good at, making money from sheeps, no offense

[Frost, colonel]

I personally peg him as a reviewer that follows whatever is trendy. sees alot of complains about a game, immediately make a video bashing it. a popular game with alot of praise? out with a video praising it to high hell. all of his videos offers zero original thought, most are just stuff he steals from forum posts. which is what you are praising him of. one thing he is good at, making money from sheeps, no offense

Well I can't say if you are wrong or right, but you are certainly having a hard dig at the chap.
As far as I remember when he did his review of RTWII, he did state he was a fan of Total War, and looking forward to RTWII's release if I remember correctly.

The point I would like to make, whatever his true motives are, or even how he correlates his info(if he speeds up his review via garnishing info from forums, or Youtube vids, so what), is that he is able to reach a fair no of peeps, warning them if necessary that a game is at a given moment in a poor state. Whichever way this comes about, it can give potential buyers fair warning, a good thing. It is also a smack down to companies which release games that are not ready to be released, which is very much in our favour I do believe.

[PonySlaystation]

I personally peg him as a reviewer that follows whatever is trendy. sees alot of complains about a game, immediately make a video bashing it. a popular game with alot of praise? out with a video praising it to high hell. all of his videos offers zero original thought, most are just stuff he steals from forum posts. which is what you are praising him of. one thing he is good at, making money from sheeps, no offense

yeah lets stick to the "professional game reviewers" who gave for example rome 2 a 8.8 rating ("Great") on 2nd september 2013. Either they never played it at all or they were wearing rainbow glasses sponsored by SEGA while playing it. Sorry but i cant agree with you here.

i agree that AJ sometimes overreacts to some issues and presses the point too much but in the end he had similar thoughts i had about several games after making my own opinion about them. I personally think AJ is very passionate about some franchises and genres and i felt he was "meaning" it and not "copy-pasting" a standard bashing/praising thread of a forum.

[DavidtheDuke]

i agree that AJ sometimes overreacts to some issues and presses the point too much but in the end he had similar thoughts i had about several games after making my own opinion about them. I personally think AJ is very passionate about some franchises and genres and i felt he was "meaning" it and not "copy-pasting" a standard bashing/praising thread of a forum.

crazii sounds like he's trying to talk about AJ like he's supposed to be on the frontier or something of reviewing and we should feel bad being curious what he'll find at E3. It's not really on topic anyway and I'd be more curious to know what other trusted press is going to be there.