xma
Settler
Posts: 29
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Post by xma on Mar 31, 2006 4:26:23 GMT -5
The problem is a player leaves OCC and then AI starts spreading, then another player takes over a civ in a OCC game with multiple cities and game over everybody. Happened to my games several times over last month. EDIT: That is, game over due to lockup, not advantage. You mean game locks up every time you get in that situation ?
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Post by zzZhenon on Mar 31, 2006 4:27:41 GMT -5
CS - we live in 2006 - a 6 month old game is old and nothing else some1 who hasnt started playing it yet wont never start espacilly as it s not that a big hit - real breaking hits like halflife (and hl2) warcraft3 (and now wow) diabolo may attrackt people that late time after relase but not a bit above avarage game like civ4 - many games have after half year aallready a 2nd part going out. And i m not sure - but maybe this suppercrapy costumer support gets known in public a bit and discourage new byuers - they did this nonsupport it in civ3 allready now in civ4 - I should have known Oh and don't forget Neverwinter Nights 2 is coming out this summer. Heh I won't be playing much civ around that time.
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Post by Lestat on Mar 31, 2006 8:09:08 GMT -5
"Oh and don't forget cherleders are coming out this summer. Heh I won't be playing much civ around that time. " Huh i will understand those words above but ;D Better going to hunting girls zzzz. In your ages i dont play comp games. But now when im old and sick of fast life i must playing it.
PS Are u threatening to us with NWN2 ? ;D
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Post by Canucksoldier on Mar 31, 2006 9:44:39 GMT -5
CS - we live in 2006 - a 6 month old game is old and nothing else some1 who hasnt started playing it yet wont never start espacilly as it s not that a big hit - real breaking hits like halflife (and hl2) warcraft3 (and now wow) diabolo may attrackt people that late time after relase but not a bit above avarage game like civ4 - many games have after half year aallready a 2nd part going out. And i m not sure - but maybe this suppercrapy costumer support gets known in public a bit and discourage new byuers - they did this nonsupport it in civ3 allready now in civ4 - I should have known Oh and don't forget Neverwinter Nights 2 is coming out this summer. Heh I won't be playing much civ around that time. Not a hit? You should check the sales charts, CIV has been in the top 10 and mostly top 5 selling games in Northamerica since Nov 05. It recently sold more than a million games world wide, sure it's not halflife, but for a TBS game that requires a little more strategic though put into it, it's pretty successful, and the best selling Civ game yet. CS
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Post by Ellestar on Mar 31, 2006 11:13:15 GMT -5
Oh and don't forget Neverwinter Nights 2 is coming out this summer. Heh I won't be playing much civ around that time. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is already released, NWN 2 and Gothic 3 will arrive soon as well It will be a good year for RPG players
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Post by Ellestar on Mar 31, 2006 11:19:55 GMT -5
Not a hit? You should check the sales charts, CIV has been in the top 10 and mostly top 5 selling games in Northamerica since Nov 05. It recently sold more than a million games world wide, sure it's not halflife, but for a TBS game that requires a little more strategic though put into it, it's pretty successful, and the best selling Civ game yet. Yes, they sold a lot of boxes and it proves that Firaxis sucks. Guild Wars sold about a million copies as well but they released A LOT of patches and a free expansion. And their online servers are outstanding (they were so even in beta events). Well, Guild Wars was founded by 3 major Blizzard employees so it has corresponding quality. Some people do work so not to feel ashamed and some do only as much as it needs to make some quick money. That's why everyone buys Blizzard games even if they're from a different genre (like WoW). If you buy a Blizzard game, you can be 100% certain that you'll not waste your money. So it's a safe bet to buy it. Unfortunately, it not true for most other games. Well, Civ 4 is a really good game. Maybe it's not as good as, say, Starcraft that is still more popular than all Civ series combined. But it obvious that developers worked hard and really tried to make a good game. However when we do have a good game with an awful support it becomes even more obvious that after-release support is awful. After all, noone expects much from some noname developer who made small sales from a sucky game. But when a company with such name as Firaxis makes as much money as some other companies but doesn't provide a corresponding support it doesn't look good. In short: Firaxis doesn't come up to our expectations.
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Post by donaldkipper on Mar 31, 2006 16:58:18 GMT -5
well, firaxes isnt really that big
apart from civ (and offshoots) what do they produce
i dont know why more companies dont look at blizzard and follow their business model
but then, u still get stupid kids bitching and complaining on their forums
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reptile
Worker
in desperate need of a new avatar
Posts: 106
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Post by reptile on Mar 31, 2006 18:17:52 GMT -5
Well, a big difference (if not THE difference) between the Firaxis model and the Blizzard model is the money. You have to pay every month to play. You and the company seal a contract - but you can quit it whenever you like. It forces the company to provide support. Blizzard knows that if they ever lower their standards they will lose a lot of customers. Of course, you need to know if it´s really worth it. So far, I couldn´t complain. In the 1 year that WoW is out there have been 10 big patches, patches 11-13 are already announced. They slightly correct some things and also add new content. On the other hand, Blizzard also knows how to milk the cash-cow. The XP has been announced for a while now, it won´t be for free (inspite of the monthly fee). And it won´t be the only XP.
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Post by salqadri on Apr 1, 2006 3:40:49 GMT -5
Reptile, in Guild Wars you DONT have to pay monthly btw.
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Post by Sidhe on Apr 1, 2006 6:10:34 GMT -5
If you know some odd exploits beyond the usual civic bugs etc., then you should probably speak up and make them public, so that anyone will know if they're getting used. I know one or two exploits that aren't common knowledge but the problem with revealing them is that people will then start using them(idiots I mean not decent players) So no I wont reveal them and, no you can't make me oh and no I have never used them, I would rather drink cyanide mmmmmmmm almondy. I believe I've also told Eiffel in a game about it and my clan buddies, but there honourable enough not to use them, and about how I suspected some players of using them. So ask him,or them if he/they can remember them that is. I bet their fixed with the patch too, or rather I'm hoping they are
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Post by Elledge on Apr 1, 2006 11:36:14 GMT -5
Well, a big difference (if not THE difference) between the Firaxis model and the Blizzard model is the money. You have to pay every month to play. You and the company seal a contract - but you can quit it whenever you like. It forces the company to provide support. Blizzard knows that if they ever lower their standards they will lose a lot of customers. Of course, you need to know if it´s really worth it. So far, I couldn´t complain. In the 1 year that WoW is out there have been 10 big patches, patches 11-13 are already announced. They slightly correct some things and also add new content. On the other hand, Blizzard also knows how to milk the cash-cow. The XP has been announced for a while now, it won´t be for free (inspite of the monthly fee). And it won´t be the only XP. Just to point out, those 10 are BIG BIG BIG patches, with pages and pages of patch notes. Usually they include new zones and dungeons, new items, that sort of thing, as well as loads of bugfixes and balance changes. In addition to those there have also been two dozen or so intermediate patches that might cover a dozen or two important fixes and balance issues each in between, and a menagerie of server-side changes now and then that don't need client patches.
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Post by Avogadro on Apr 1, 2006 14:10:54 GMT -5
I do admit Guild wars runs awfully smooth. This being said I can't make any sense of it, too many people running around.
Civ is great lets hope this patch balances and fixes a few issues.
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Post by salqadri on Apr 1, 2006 14:38:28 GMT -5
Also, Guild Wars has an amazing patching model. The "patches" are automatically streamed to you, and are incremental in the sense that once you've already got an update, future updates are relative to that one and thus not so massive. Guild Wars also regularly do small or big updates, and not just that, those updates often reflect the demands of the community on their forums. They have even hired an employee just for community relations (everyone in Guild Wars knows her as Gaile), and she literally interacts with many of the Guild Wars websites out there. She keeps us informed, and even asks what we want, or how we prefer things to be like, and the coolest thing is, they actually do it. It makes you feel so happy. I left Guild Wars for this game, cuz I was a fan of this since Civ I, but I just feel so sad that my favorite game of all time, is in such a state of affairs. And guess what, they have the same money model as Civ! You pay only once to buy the game. Then you may buy an expansion one year after release (which will be April 28th for Guild Wars). And nowadays you can try the expansion for free; its truly addictive, and has AWESOME strategy. Yes Civ is a strat game, but believe it or not, so is Guild Wars. Its not like WoW, its not like FF or EQ, its literally a strategy game once you get into the PvP. Anyways, I'm not going back to it cuz I've already got this game to waste my time on, and sometimes it feels like Im only playing this cuz I feel "loyal" to Civ. No doubt though its a great game, but something awful has happened. Despite all the problems of Civ4 MP, now I just cant get myself to spend time on SP again . But that was the real fun. That was my childhood addiction. But now, I just want to play Civ4, as if Im playing Guild Wars, or Starcraft, or Total War or any other game I've been temporarily addicted for.
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Post by Sidhe on Apr 1, 2006 17:33:04 GMT -5
Salqadri my heart bleeds for you, and I hope, no I pray that they will at some point take on board the loyalty you have shown. I think we're all angry and confused by the current situation, but I hope to see you in game on CIV after the patch( even if it is in the year 2064 ) Damn it so many players I hope to rejoin after this mess is sorted. Good people and damn fine opponents, an honour and a privelage to get my arse kicked.
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Post by tommynt on Apr 1, 2006 17:41:44 GMT -5
CS if u quote me pls quote me right
I said no BREAKING hit - not hit - civ4 is probably the best turn based strategy game out - thats why i play it but it s just nothing thta special - thats why i dont think it can afford that nonservice without being hit back at least a bit
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Post by Elledge on Apr 1, 2006 22:07:27 GMT -5
Guild Wars was really fun - I played for awhile. It reminds me a lot of Magic: The Gathering, somehow - sort of the pick-a-few-things-you-can-use-out-of-a-huge-amount-of-choices sort of strategy genre. Frankly I quit because I didn't feel I was talented enough - I get bored with things pretty quick if I'm not really good at them, and Guild Wars had some pretty serious competition that I was not at all on par with.
I give it an A+ though. Great game, and no monthly fee is sweet.
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Post by Atomation on Apr 1, 2006 22:08:26 GMT -5
Well, a big difference (if not THE difference) between the Firaxis model and the Blizzard model is the money. You have to pay every month to play. You and the company seal a contract - but you can quit it whenever you like. It forces the company to provide support. Blizzard knows that if they ever lower their standards they will lose a lot of customers. Of course, you need to know if it´s really worth it. So far, I couldn´t complain. In the 1 year that WoW is out there have been 10 big patches, patches 11-13 are already announced. They slightly correct some things and also add new content. On the other hand, Blizzard also knows how to milk the cash-cow. The XP has been announced for a while now, it won´t be for free (inspite of the monthly fee). And it won´t be the only XP. Blizzard's warcraft3 had the same astounding level of support (even though some might say the patches were a little late from time to time, you were NEVER DISAPPOINTED by how good it was when it DID come out). I played war3 religiously for approximately 3 years, and that game is just a class act. If civ had that sort of support and attention to detail, it could easily become a top echelon game, because the engine and model of civ4 is excellent, but it lacks the very fine tuned balancing (multiplayer) that war3 was so good for.
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arma
Settler
Posts: 20
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Post by arma on Apr 2, 2006 13:34:00 GMT -5
Hey, no arguments fromme regarding NWN! Can't beat 30+ patches. I built a lot of stuff for that game including my own mega-server which is still running successfully, with more people playing it than total online ammount playing Civ4 some nights lolol, and this is 4 years after release. Already have 3 NWN2 servers planned with coding, writing and design work mostly complete. Will have my proper website for it ready and uploaded around end of the April. A muck-a-bout draft website from 6 months ago is on my space I bought for the game, at armageddonunlimited.net Civ4 seems dying online, but come NWN2 release next quarter it will be dead for me. I woulda modded some awesome stuff for c4 if I thought there were the people interested in playing online. Didn't seem anywhere near enough to justify the effort. I coded 2500 scripts for my main NWN mod alone, excluding the thousands of customised Objects & 120k words of convo. When you provide the support like Bioware does, then the hordes of people like myself return on that investment by spending a few thousand hours each building community resources for everyone. There are thousands upon thousands of very high quality mods, servers, and community resources such as plugings, animations, graphics, tilesets, custom music, everything you can imagine for free for all. There were even 5 months after release - and literally 16 good patches released in that period. Civ4's community mod and resources listing doesn't even come close to 1% of NWNs at even that games 5 month mark. Firaxis doesn't care or maybe doesn't get why it matters. Was it their CEO who was just voted within industry as worst games CEO of the year? It might've been Take Two. One of them was. They didn't care about inspiring people...so this is what they want, and this is what they get.
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Post by salqadri on Apr 2, 2006 13:49:41 GMT -5
Btw I think the Guild Wars ladder system is very similar to Case's ladder system, unless they changed something in the last 7/8 months since I played. Being in a top 100 Guild was a huge think in that game lol and the ladder rankings would only show the top 1000 (thus there were more than a thousand), and each with multiple ppl since GvG (guild vs guild) games require 8 ppl on each side. Point is, the ladder system here is fairly common; its simple and meets many objectives. As far as I see, the truly good players are truly at the top almost all the time, as long as they play. Some people go really high in rank and then stop playing; but we have to allow active ppl lower down to rise, thus inactivity makes you fall in rank. I think thats a good thing. Once you'r back you'll quickly rise to your level rank. I went from 400 to 11 in 1 day after 3 weeks of inactivity. But that was because I got to play teamers with friends that had higher rankings, so there is this problem that good players down the rank may not get as much oppurtunity as for example an average player like me, based on the people they know. That said, after my return the top 10 was filled with new people I never played before, so thats a good thing I think. Thats my pros and cons of ladder. As for ladder dying, you all know what I think the reasons are .
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arma
Settler
Posts: 20
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Post by arma on Apr 2, 2006 14:01:41 GMT -5
P.S. Just got my 1st ladder game since starting this thread. Took one week of checking in 3-10 times a day, just to get one 5 player cton. Unlucky timing or not, and whatever the cause, there's clearly a death smell in the air. If you are guys are right and it's entirely support, and none of this other suggestions, then I hope this patch comes before end of April. You'd imagine the drop-off will snowball into a catch 22 otherwise.
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