The Futile Polls thread: Next Historical TW game (after Warhammer)

[HigoChumbo]

A few polls just for fun, knowing that TWC is not representative of the whole TW audience and that this subforum in particular (General TW Discussion) is rather underpopulated and therefore the results might be highly flawed.

Without further ado:

THE CONTENDERS

First of all let me clarify that this is exclusively for the next major Historical Total War game after Warhammer, and CA has already confirmed that it will be set in an era "they haven't tackled yet", so all sequels for existing games are ruled out. For the sake of keeping things condensed I'll also stick to the most popular/requested options, and leave out things that seem to be more unlikely (like a WW2 or modern TW game, specially when we already have games like Wargame or Steel Division ).


Warning: IMAGE HEAVY

(by the way, if you guys have some cool related images to share, please do so, it will help me complete some categories. I've researched some of them much more than others, so it might look one-sided)

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Bronze Age (Mesopotamia/Egypt/Greece)

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Ancient China (Warring States Period and others)

All of this is probably really inaccurate, but I have no clue about the period and I'm having a hard time finding material.

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The Mongols (13th. Century Asia focus)

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Pike&Shot-Rennaissance (16th.&17th. Centuries)

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German vs Ottoman at Viena 1529


c. 1540–45 Charles V’s double-barreled wheel-lock pisto



















A couple HUGE resolution images (open in a new tab to zoom):

• How a Pike and Shot Battle looked like (Nordlingen 1634, notice the Tercio pike blocks with their musketeer "sleeves")
• Vienna in 1683
• Siege of Breda (1624)
• Strasbourg in 1664

For more feel free to give this a look:


https://de.pinterest.com/HigoChumbo/estalia-inspiration/

Victorian Era (post-Napoleonic 19th Century)

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World War I

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THE POLLS

Feel free to suggest any other poll you find relevant or interesting

1. General one option poll

Choose the period you'd like to see the most.

https://strawpoll.com/y627232

2. General multi-option poll

Choose all the periods you'd really like to play in a Total War game and leave unmarked the ones you are not that interested in.

https://strawpoll.com/c24reg6

3. Victorian Era vs. Pike&Shot/Rennaissance

Which of these two would you prefer in a Total War game?

https://strawpoll.com/7ww3yz2

4. Victorian Era vs. WWI

Which of these two would you prefer in a Total War game?

https://strawpoll.com/2f6dcaz

5. China: Warring States Period or other?

If a Total War game was focused primarily in China, would you prefer it to be during the Warring States Period or other?

https://strawpoll.com/d153592

Anonymous nationality poll

Where are you from? Mark all the options that apply. (*direct link private poll)

Note that I chose the categories thinking of the application to this topic, not trying to make an equal, fair representation of all origins, so I hope I don't offend anyone with my choices (or lack of them )

https://strawpoll.com/b5747y1

Potential nationalist bias poll

In which of these periods would you say your country/region of origin was in a golden age and/or had a major geopolitical relevance? (mark all that apply)

https://strawpoll.com/77edxxa

Please, don't hesitate to make any suggestion or point out any flaw you might encounter.

[WhiskeySykes]

I like the title

I only suggest removing the 'Warring States' from China, and leave the option just 'Ancient China,' or choose another period. Ancient China, concurrent with the Warring States, where the kingdoms aren't the focus, that's doable. The problem with Warring States is it doesn't meet some basic criteria. Qin Shi Huang purged the record for his scholar-elite to consolidate their power. The Legalists' erasures, revisions, and distortions of the times are so complete, historians can only guess at the customs of the kingdoms. There's no material for CA, is what I'm saying.

[HigoChumbo]

Ok. I can't edit the polls themselves anymore, but I changed the title of the description (Ancient China: Warring States Periods and others). Given that some of the other games might also include China, I guess we could consider them as other options for other chinese eras besides Antiquity (13th century China would be a center point in a Mongol focused game and 19th century China would probably be featured in a Victorian game (Opium Wars), and even the possibility would be there to fit it in Rennaissance (Ming Dynasty during european exploration) and WWI). There China was also home to an important Bronze Age civilization (Yellow River Civilisation, Shang and Zhou dynasties), but including it in a Mesopotamia focused game seems unlikely (would leave factions too disconnected)



By the way, given that all votes save for mine are from US members, could someone explain to me why everyone is voting for 600BC to 1000AD as a relevant/golden age period and no one is voting the 18th century? Am I missing something?

[WhiskeySykes]

Not sure. Maybe they like the classics.

[Intranetusa]

By the way, given that all votes save for mine are from US members, could someone explain to me why everyone is voting for 600BC to 1000AD as a relevant/golden age period and no one is voting the 18th century? Am I missing something?

Lol, well the 18th century isn't a golden age for the US, and the US was still a small fry at the time. The Louisiana purchase wasn't until the early 19th century, which doubled US territory. The late 19th-early 21st century is the US golden age.

And maybe those folks are American immigrants born in Europe, Asia, or Africa since it states "county of origin." Or they misread the poll and thought it was about their favorite timeperiod.

[WhiskeySykes]

Or they misread the poll and thought it was about their favorite timeperiod.

We have a winner!

[HigoChumbo]

Lol, well the 18th century isn't a golden age for the US, and the US was still a small fry at the time. The Louisiana purchase wasn't until the early 19th century, which doubled US territory. The late 19th-early 21st century is the US golden age.

Well, I'd say gaining independence is relevant enough (specially given the conditions, with a big war involving some of the big players of the time, like the UK, France or Spain), and the point of that poll is to get a rough idea of how much nationalism influences the choice of future Total War settings, so said plainly see in which periods do people think their nation did something big enough for them to want to play as their nation (or region, whatever) in that setting.


In any case, I'm positive that the Revolutionary War in the 18th century had more impact in the history of the United States than the period between 476 and 1000 ad I'll assume the title of that poll was too long

[Intranetusa]

Well, I'd say gaining independence is relevant enough (specially given the conditions, with a big war involving some of the big players of the time, like the UK, France or Spain), and the point of that poll is to get a rough idea of how much nationalism influences the choice of future Total War settings, so said plainly see in which periods do people think their nation did something big enough for them to want to play as their nation (or region, whatever) in that setting.
In any case, I'm positive that the Revolutionary War in the 18th century had more impact in the history of the United States than the period between 476 and 1000 ad I'll assume the title of that poll was too long

Well, the Revolutionary War/18th century was certainly relevant for the US, but the US was still a small fry country that didn't have "major geopolitical importance" (as worded by the poll) in the world during that time. The poll says "golden age or a major geopolitical importance," so even though the 18th century was relevant for us Americans, America itself wasn't in a golden age and didn't have major geopolitical impact (say compared to Britain or France) at the time.

[Frunk]

By the way, given that all votes save for mine are from US members, could someone explain to me why everyone is voting for 600BC to 1000AD as a relevant/golden age period and no one is voting the 18th century? Am I missing something?

Pretty much what Intranetusa said. They could be referring to their ancestral "country of origin". In my case, that would be Wales. (I selected 1815-1915 in the poll, though). I also seem to be the only one who's voted for any of the WWI options, which notwithstanding all the issues that have been raised with that, does appeal to me, probably because of the historical involvement of Australia in that conflict.

[HigoChumbo]

Well, the Revolutionary War/18th century was certainly relevant for the US, but the US was still a small fry country that didn't have "major geopolitical importance" (as worded by the poll) in the world during that time. The poll says "golden age or a major geopolitical importance," so even though the 18th century was relevant for us Americans, America itself wasn't in a golden age and didn't have major geopolitical impact (say compared to Britain or France) at the time.

Fair enough. I was trying to avoid a wording in which someone would essentially tick all periods (for instance, as a Spaniard I could justify playing as a somehow relevant Spain-based faction all the way from Antiquity to the Napoleonic wars, and even in the 20th century when we were a back-alley craphole there are key periods in Spanish history like the Civil War which are kind of a big deal here, and voting for almost all options would have made the poll rather pointless)

I myself tried too to reduce it to the minimum, and went for the Caliphate of Cordoba (476 to 1000 AD option) and the Spanish Empire/End of the Reconquista (1453 to 1715 AD option), leaving out things like the Roman Empire (which I guess could be considered a Golden Age in Spain but not strictly a Spanish Golden Age).

probably because of the historical involvement of Australia in that conflict.

Actually Anzac Day might make me delay my visit to Turkey ^^

[WhiskeySykes]

For the second poll, I chose all of them but Victoria. I'm American, my ancestry rooted in France, Germany, and Sweden, (1% sub-Saharan African lol), but I self-identify by state and nation not by ethnicity. I always choose Sweden or the United Provinces in Empire, but I prefer the Spanish, Russians, or Turks in Medieval.

Unless the Qing, Shogunate/Meiji, Gurkani, Howaytat, Babi, Mtetwa Paramountcy, the Confederate States of America, the Indian Wars, and Empire of Brazil are depicted or playable, there's a breakable Chain of Command in battles, units can be retrained and reequipped, and the campaign mechanics are somewhat tailored to each government type, that era wouldn't appeal to me. There were too many changes happening all over the world at once. Maybe as a (truncated) expansion of a future Empire 2, but the era as a whole doesn't interest me.


PS - I chose 1715-1815 as my nation's golden age, because my sympathies are anti-federalist. If "any" was an option in the first poll, I would have chosen that. I don't have a favorite yet, its a toss-up between Age of Discovery and Warring States-Han Dynasty China.

[Intranetusa]

Fair enough. I was trying to avoid a wording in which someone would essentially tick all periods (for instance, as a Spaniard I could justify playing as a somehow relevant Spain-based faction all the way from Antiquity to the Napoleonic wars, and even in the 20th century when we were a back-alley craphole there are key periods in Spanish history like the Civil War which are kind of a big deal here, and voting for almost all options would have made the poll rather pointless)
I myself tried too to reduce it to the minimum, and went for the Caliphate of Cordoba (476 to 1000 AD option) and the Spanish Empire/End of the Reconquista (1453 to 1715 AD option), leaving out things like the Roman Empire (which I guess could be considered a Golden Age in Spain but not strictly a Spanish Golden Age).
Actually Anzac Day might make me delay my visit to Turkey ^^

That's understandable. It's difficult to word it to avoid being overly broad or too narrow. It's up to interpretation I guess, as Whiskeysykes here being an example.

[NostalgiaFan]

I choose China in the first option because since the poll is talking about the next historical title I think it would be wise to start from there in the assumption of a new engine and "rebirth" for CA with Total War so they can have a solid foundation for future titles like they could of had with Shogun 2. It would be less complicated then starting in an era with a need for so many different factions so they could make the product more polished.

However in the case of what era I would want most of all that would require more diversity and scale it would be the Mongols with Pike and Shot second in line.