CIV 4: Major disappointment

[sturmtrupp]

Sturmtrupp wrote:
Holy Cow are you Bill Gates. He too, has the philosophy that a slobbering idiot should be able to know everything about an application, at birth. Nevermind my mom still has major problems with outlook.

The reviews of the game I have seen rave about how intuitive the game is.

And it sure is. Everything, I mean everything is there for your disposal. You just click on something, and it tells exactly what it does, click on a spot and it tells you what it has, or what you need to exploit it. This is the first Civ, IMO, that has a completely worthless Civilopedia. Doesn't help that the Civilopedia is now less intuitive, but at least its not needed.

 

[troytheface]

well, ol civ3 was really addictive- and remained that way for a couple years- not a bad run. Civ4? Been a week or so and the same appeal is missing.
Variety of reasons i suspect, but i have noticed that Civ4 is like playing ROME TOTAL WAR without the battles- (the only saving grace of RTW)
Disappointed? not overly - grew tired of RTW in a month...
however, can't get a decent multiplayer game going and i figured that would be the saving grace of 4.
I will finish my current game and give multi a few more shots but then thats about it. Religion is not exciting- just an extra thing to do. It is like click click click zzzzz

 

[William Wilson]

How versatile this post has gotten...

 

[sturmtrupp]

well, ol civ3 was really addictive- and remained that way for a couple years- not a bad run. Civ4?

Well, ol civ2 was realy addictive- and remained that way for a couple years- not a bad run (blah blah blah). Its the same damn thing every time. Just move on and add something constructive next time.

 

[troytheface]

sorry- don't take orders. Apologise for having an opinion. Thought that was part of exsistence. Might want to check your spelling or typing ability there sport-
As to the "add something constructive" i assume u mean sentences like "holy cow are u bill gates?" and talking about the civilopedia. Yes, great insight. lol

 

[Efexeye]

It is not to harass you Efexeye, but I am very puzzled by this passage:
It is incredibly frustrating when people who have ZERO idea about or input into the design process come up with their little "suggestions" about how the product should be. I'm sure Firaxis is feeling it too- every thing in the game is what it is because of a design decision that was made at some point in the process, and YOU WERE NOT PART OF THE PROCESS.
If Firaxis did not want people, who lack a larger understanding of game design, playing the game, then they should not have made it so populistic/mainstreamed. But they did - Civilization for the people! Or do you just want the average gamer to consume and not to think?
I cherish my ability to voice myself when I see wasted potential whether it be towards the social process, political process or the design process of a game. And I hope I am not alone.

Go ahead and "voice yourself". But don't start another b!tch thread when there are already 1000 of them. Logging in here and seeing a bunch of negative comments can only hurt the game, not help it. How many people have been turned off of cIV because a bunch of malcontents came on here and posted a bunch of unjustified, unsubstantiated criticism?

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Just goes to show that 'beauty/quality is in the eye of the beholder'. I loved Civ1 and 2, and found both games to be HUGELY addictive-to the point where it was an act of 'pure will' just to drag myself away from the computer. Civ3, though also somewhat addictive, was not one which I had any difficulty leaving when I knew I had 'had enough'. With Civ4, though, the Civ1 and 2 levels of addiction are back AND THEN SOME!!! I am sorry that some people haven't taken to this game, but the same was true with the transition from Civ2 to Civ3. The fact is, not every version of the Civ franchise is going to appeal to ALL those who liked a previous iteration. I just hope that, now hthb has gotten past the problems he had with the interface, that he will end up loving the game as much as many of us here do (and, btw, the vast majority DO love this game-they are often simply too busy playing it to come here and say so-as has proven the case with me most times .)

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

 

[William Wilson]

sorry- don't take orders. Apologise for having an opinion. Thought that was part of exsistence. Might want to check your spelling or typing ability there sport-
And he is entitled to his opinion - which is that your post was not constructive. And I think he is giving you advice, which contradicts your theory about him giving you orders. I mean I do not think anyone except the moderation can give out legitimate orders here.

And you might also want to check your grammar/spelling as well:

(I am) sorry – (I) don't take orders. (I) Apologise (spelled Apologize – though only if you are speaking American - though if you are speaking English English it is okay) for having an opinion. (I) Thought that was part of exsistence (spelled existence).

Also your language is not very fluent. Happy to help!

 

[William Wilson]

Go ahead and "voice yourself". But don't start another b!tch thread when there are already 1000 of them. Logging in here and seeing a bunch of negative comments can only hurt the game, not help it. How many people have been turned off of cIV because a bunch of malcontents came on here and posted a bunch of unjustified, unsubstantiated criticism?
Do remember that I have never, on this board, stated that I did not like the game. I think it is a fair game, though I do see wasted potential - it can be better!
You raise an interesting point by saying that we, as members of this board, have a responsibility to the public discourse/civilization community. Though luckily most of these "unjustified, unsubstantiated” comments can be detected by a rushed, diffused and rough language - they become less reliable and thus people will not base their opinion on them.

 

[Efexeye]

Do remember that I have never, on this board, stated that I did not like the game. I think it is a fair game, though I do see wasted potential - it can be better!

You raise an interesting point by saying that we, as members of this board, have a responsibility to the public discourse/civilization community. Though luckily most of these "unjustified, unsubstantiated” comments can be detected by a rushed, diffused and rough language - they become less reliable and thus people will not base their opinion on them.

I was referring more to the OP's starting of YET ANOTHER whine thread.

And, yeah, we do have a responsibility. Posting blanket ***** threads is not responsible.

 

[knupp715]

Just goes to show that 'beauty/quality is in the eye of the beholder'. I loved Civ1 and 2, and found both games to be HUGELY addictive-to the point where it was an act of 'pure will' just to drag myself away from the computer. Civ3, though also somewhat addictive, was not one which I had any difficulty leaving when I knew I had 'had enough'. With Civ4, though, the Civ1 and 2 levels of addiction are back AND THEN SOME!!! I am sorry that some people haven't taken to this game, but the same was true with the transition from Civ2 to Civ3. The fact is, not every version of the Civ franchise is going to appeal to ALL those who liked a previous iteration. I just hope that, now hthb has gotten past the problems he had with the interface, that he will end up loving the game as much as many of us here do (and, btw, the vast majority DO love this game-they are often simply too busy playing it to come here and say so-as has proven the case with me most times .)

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

This is exactly what I wanted to say, and yet again Aussie Lurker, you have taken the words from my mouth.

 

[dpaajones]

I've gone from CivII (never liked CivIII much) to CivIV and can I just say that this new version is AMAZING!!

 

[William Wilson]

Just goes to show that 'beauty/quality is in the eye of the beholder'. I loved Civ1 and 2, and found both games to be HUGELY addictive-to the point where it was an act of 'pure will' just to drag myself away from the computer. Civ3, though also somewhat addictive, was not one which I had any difficulty leaving when I knew I had 'had enough'. With Civ4, though, the Civ1 and 2 levels of addiction are back AND THEN SOME!!! I am sorry that some people haven't taken to this game, but the same was true with the transition from Civ2 to Civ3. The fact is, not every version of the Civ franchise is going to appeal to ALL those who liked a previous iteration. I just hope that, now hthb has gotten past the problems he had with the interface, that he will end up loving the game as much as many of us here do (and, btw, the vast majority DO love this game-they are often simply too busy playing it to come here and say so-as has proven the case with me most times .)
This is a really sweet comment and Aussie_Lurker I really respect your initiative. However it does appear like you are simplifying matters - this post and others alike do not have roots in aesthetic differences in opinion. They are all about things like disappointment, sadness, emptiness, feeling like a victim, seeing wasted potential in the game, rage, wasted hopes and confusion.
If a person has some of these emotions it is only human to vent at a public forum, though do we want to hear it? Can we help these tormented souls? How do we deal with this sudden fragmentation of the board?

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

However, I have read a LOT of the complaint threads, and much of the disappointment falls into one of three or four categories, those being:

(a) the game won't work on my computer-well, thats a legitimate complaint IF your computer meets the specs, but even I am having minor graphics difficulties with Civ4 on my computer, but most of them are related to the ATI drivers I have-which is hardly Firaxis' fault IMO.

(b) I don't like the way the UI/graphics look/operate. Well, this is purely aesthetics and, if Firaxis changed it for these people, then can almost guarantee that dozens of people will come out and complain about THAT UI. There will probably be around 200 fan-built graphics/UI mods out there for people to choose from over the next month or so anyway, so it hardly seems like a reasonable complaint to me.

(c) I could do X in Civ3 (or 2 or 1) but can't do it in Civ4-thats just not right or, Feature X acted this way in CivY, and it should be like that in Civ4. Well yet again this is purely a matter of taste. Most people LOVE the new religion and diplomacy system, some don't-same goes with city growth, lack of ICS, # of turns etc etc. Point is, just like the graphics and UI, in coming months there will be hundreds-if not THOUSANDS-of mods and variants which can meet even the most exacting pallette. At the end of the day though, it really comes down to the fact that you CANNOT please all the people ALL of the time-be they die-hard fans or 'wet-behind-the-ears' Newbies (the latter of which, I have to say, I really feel like in Civ4-a feeling I LOVE!!!!)
Oh, and of course there is the fact that many of these complaints occured upon the release of Civ3, and so there is a STRONG sense of deja-vu amongst the more seasoned CFC forum members.

Still, if people want to complain about such things here or elsewhere, well that is their right to do so, just as it is my right to point out why I don't think there arguments have merits (assuming that they DON'T have merit, that is!!)

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

 

[animalstyle]

It seems that all we hear now is that games are addictive....yea well, crack is addictive too.

 

[THARN]

Im wondering what size monitors ppl who are complaining about small icons/text are using? Iv'e watched some battles from up close and I think the graphics are great- not necessary but still great-
like some others have said- a few tweaks here and there and civ 4 will be a real gem.

 

[sturmtrupp]

sorry- don't take orders. Apologise for having an opinion. Thought that was part of exsistence. Might want to check your spelling or typing ability there sport-
As to the "add something constructive" i assume u mean sentences like "holy cow are u bill gates?" and talking about the civilopedia. Yes, great insight. lol

Damn straight, kind of gets annoying when you p4rusing the forums only to find pointless whining. But the post that piss me off the most, and its just not the civ series either, are the ones that say its just not the same as the original. Although, in the Civ's case its worse, because there just wasn't a Civ bashed as bad as Civ3. So its incredibly entertaining to flame the people coming out saying Civ3 is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

 

[sturmtrupp]

Just goes to show that 'beauty/quality is in the eye of the beholder'. I loved Civ1 and 2, and found both games to be HUGELY addictive-to the point where it was an act of 'pure will' just to drag myself away from the computer. Civ3, though also somewhat addictive, was not one which I had any difficulty leaving when I knew I had 'had enough'. With Civ4, though, the Civ1 and 2 levels of addiction are back AND THEN SOME!!! I am sorry that some people haven't taken to this game, but the same was true with the transition from Civ2 to Civ3. The fact is, not every version of the Civ franchise is going to appeal to ALL those who liked a previous iteration. I just hope that, now hthb has gotten past the problems he had with the interface, that he will end up loving the game as much as many of us here do (and, btw, the vast majority DO love this game-they are often simply too busy playing it to come here and say so-as has proven the case with me most times .)

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

This is the true irony with a lot of the malcontents on this board. For the most part Civ2 was the holy grail, while Civ3 was a huge step in the wrong direction, with fancy graphics, dare I say. IMO this game is more of a return to Civ2, with a lot more balancing, unfortunately, with people saying Civ3 was the grail.

I think what this proves is that there is definately a silent majority, with most people having fun, and the same could have been probably said about Civ3. However, its really unfortunate when you are trying to find valuable post and they are continually being pushed down the stack by the same whining. Its not like its constructive anymore, but just whining that the game just does not satisfy them like it should.

 

[weasel77066]

After my first couple of games, I had the same opinion. I was disappointed for a good variety of reasons. Well, it was so different than what I expected, and left out so much that I wanted, that I discarded any idea of keeping it. I was upset. I was disappointed. I even posted on a thread like this cause I wanted people to know.
Well I went to reading on here how much fun people were having, and how much I was missing and decided to give it another go. I re-installed, and approached the game with a different attitude. This game has turned out to be great. Its well thought out. The strategy hasgotten a little more elaborate, a little more intense, and the consequences of just a subtle action can be drastic if not devastating.
Lots of things I would have liked to seen, or have added, but there is plenty time for that. I love game. I jumped to premature conclusions simply because it was different. My advice to anyone is- take a day's break from it, think about it a while, and play again. If you trash it early, you might end up having to buy it again. That would be terrible.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Do you know how refreshing it is to be on SETTLER difficulty, and yet still only maintaining a slim points/tech lead over your AI opponents, it just goes to show how truly DIFFERENT this iteration of Civ4 is compared to previous versions-Civ hasn't felt this new to me since Civ1, and I mean that quite honestly.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.