Civ 4 Reviews Are Bogus

[Trafalgar]

I'm not sure why so many people on this board seem to view discussion of bugs as personal attacks. Look, we know there are bugs in the game...why do so many continue to act like this isn't the case?

Because they are morons?

 

[Psyringe]

Look, we know there are bugs in the game...why do so many continue to act like this isn't the case?

Look, we know that the game has some *very* good aspects, why do so many continue to act like this isn't the case?

Actually, I think it matters a lot how the criticism is voiced. Sheer bashing, slamming, and personal insults will of course result in other people acting defensively or even "striking back". But fact-oriented, non-aggressice, constructive criticism (like "I don't like feature A because of reason B, I think it would be better if they did it the C way") is quite likely to yield fact-oriented, non-aggressive, constructive replies (like "feature A doesn't bother me because of reason D, also, if they implemented C, they'd run into problem E.") You can see in a couple of threads that people can talk about the game, and even voice radically different oopinions, without getting at each other's throats or calling each other names.

Because they are morons?

On the other hand, I might have been too optimistic ...

 

[Neomega]

I have run into many instances where the game needs 2 or 3 minutes to "catch" itself, where I have to sit back and wait and do nothing.

I have a 2800 Athlon with 512 Mb RAM.

If you have a 1200 Athlon or 1.2 Ghz Pentium, with 256 RAM.... I would suspect these waits would take more like 15-20 minutes. They come at strange times and are fairly unpredictable... so if you think you are locked up, you may just need to walk away for a while. It's not locked up, but it's going to take some time.

Also be sure to turn down all graphics settings to the lowest possible.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I have run into many instances where the game needs 2 or 3 minutes to "catch" itself, where I have to sit back and wait and do nothing.

I have a 2800 Athlon with 512 Mb RAM.

If you have a 1200 Athlon or 1.2 Ghz Pentium, with 256 RAM.... I would suspect these waits would take more like 15-20 minutes. They come at strange times and are fairly unpredictable... so if you think you are locked up, you may just need to walk away for a while. It's not locked up, but it's going to take some time.

Also be sure to turn down all graphics settings to the lowest possible.

I have an athalon 1800 (1.2 ghz) with 512 ram and an xtasy card. I've never had such waits. I play on large maps and with standard settings.

 

[Royal]

I wish people would quit complaining about the game. If you can't play the game or don't like it, then quit trying. Quit coming to this forum and venting on all the other members who love the game and play it all day long with no problems. If you have a 5 year old PC that your not willing to upgrade (or don't know how) or buy a new one, then you shouldn't own a computer at all.

Dell XPS Gen 4
3 GBs of RAM
3.8 GB P4
Nvidia 6800 256MB Video card.

I can play Civ 4, minimize it and play other games at the same time.

If you don't want to keep up with technology, then don't expect to be able to play new games.

Thank you!!!

 

[Royal]

I'm not sure why so many people on this board seem to view discussion of bugs as personal attacks. Look, we know there are bugs in the game...why do so many continue to act like this isn't the case?

Because they are morons?

That's a personal attack!

 

[Multiplicity]

reviewer dont play the games as extensively as we do, so they dont likely see all the bugs that start to crop up after while of playing.

And you know this how, exactly? Can you make such an overgeneralization and apply it to *every* game reviewer out there? Sure, we can base this reason from the time it takes to put up a review from the time the game was distributed, but were you standing behind each game reviewer to see what they were actually doing?

Many, many review sites praised the game through high ratings. To say that every single one is bogus is illogical. The thing here, the reviewers had difference experiences with the game than what the thread starter had. To say that their more positive experiences are bogus does not make sense.

 

[ACEofHeart]

and I just love the people who have NO problems with the game but spend their gaming time coming back here and belittling people who ARE having problems..
IMHO if your PC meets or exceeds the "recommended specs" and it still doesn't run or runs like crap you have every right to complain..!!!

My car is 5 years old and can still out perform most of the new ones

 

[Trafalgar]

and I just love the people who have NO problems with the game but spend their gaming time coming back here and belittling people who ARE having problems..
IMHO if your PC meets or exceeds the "recommended specs" and it still doesn't run or runs like crap you have every right to complain..!!!

My car is 5 years old and can still out perform most of the new ones

I agree. It is in the best interest of all Civ fans to get this game running smoothly and bug free. The only way to do that is to complain about problems/bugs we encounter. It is ridiculous to deny there are problems when they clearly exist.

 

[Psyringe]

it is in the best interest of all Civ fans to get this game running smoothly and bug free. The only way to do that is to complain about problems/bugs we encounter.

I agree with your first sentence. The second sentence ... well. If you send your bug reports to Firaxis, then I agree. This way Firaxis will learn about them and can fix them. Firaxis also reportedly scans the Bugs thread, so adding it there makes sense too.

How opening several complaint threads in the general forums, partly with very misleading names, can contribute anything positive to the game is, however, beyond me. The (currently quite overheated) general forum is not a place where Firaxis can possibly monitor all these threads for complaints.

So do you agree that, in order to improve the game, we should send complaints and bug reports to the proper places where they can actually have an effect?

 

[Nuh Uh]

My review? I give it a C+.

 

[Smidlee]

I agree. It is in the best interest of all Civ fans to get this game running smoothly and bug free. The only way to do that is to complain about problems/bugs we encounter. It is ridiculous to deny there are problems when they clearly exist.

According to the OP the problem is the reviewers. The reviewers should have told him the game wouldn't work on his PC. Now how to get those bugs out of the reviews is going to be tough.

 

[Traxis]

It is in the best interest of all Civ fans to get this game running smoothly and bug free. The only way to do that is to complain about problems/bugs we encounter.

Complaining doesn't help. Sending detailed bug reports to Firaxis does. Posting on a forum saying the game sucks because of bugs helps NOBODY, all it does is incite flamewars and unpleasantness.

 

[oldStatesman]

Complaining doesn't help. Sending detailed bug reports to Firaxis does. Posting on a forum saying the game sucks because of bugs helps NOBODY, all it does is incite flamewars and unpleasantness.

Sure it does. It publically puts issues out there that one may not know about if the only place to get info was the industry review sites or the company selling the product. (Game Sites are the same beast as Car Magazines...and most know that each car manufacturer has it's own pet magazine mouthpeice out there...)

(Oh yeah, for the first week or so the official Civ4 support site directed anyone having issues with the game to check here, Apolyton or another site that escapes me, since they had no support system of their own in place. Maybe that's why there are so many with problems here...there was no official place to contact T2.)

Works the same way in the real world too...state controlled media hates open communication channels that are unmonitored ...they can't control the message.

Thank gawd for the internet...the Last Bastion of Free Speech.


Besides, these forums would be a really dull place if everyone had the same view. I enjoy reading the well writen, funny, or more reasoned and intelligent posts on any viewpoint; I deal with the spammers, flamethrowers and other useless little folk who live under bridges by putting those types I find most annoying in my ignore list. Easy feature to use.

 

[Trafalgar]

So do you agree that, in order to improve the game, we should send complaints and bug reports to the proper places where they can actually have an effect?

Unfortunately, sending polite e-mails to corporations rarely changes anything. On the other hand, large public demonstrations of discontent seem to work wonders.
And what better place is there to complain than in a public forum related to the game?

 

[Psyringe]

Unfortunately, sending polite e-mails to corporations rarely changes anything. On the other hand, large public demonstrations of discontent seem to work wonders.
And what better place is there to complain than in a public forum related to the game?

On which exact data do you base your assumption that stiffling large public discontent in public forums will be more effective in improving the game as sending mails to Firaxis?

I've sent mails to Firaxis (and Microprose) on various occasions. I always got an answer, and the problems I mentioned have usually been fixed. From my experience, the people there work very hard to iron the bugs out and don't need at all to be pressed to do this by "public demonstrations of discontent". I also don't really understand why anyone would assume that Firaxis will *not* support their flagship (for which they will want to sell at least one expansion pack) for a long time in the best way they can. Even if you do think that Firaxis acts purely upon financial interests, then not supporting this game would still be the most idiotic thing for them to do.

We and Firaxis sit together in the same boat. We both want the game to be as good as possible. Work together with them instead of publicly attacking them.

I think it's very sad that a need for "public demonstrations" is construed as a justification for instigating flame wars in this forum when this is - at least from my experience with Firaxis - clearly unnecessary. It's sad for Firaxis, because it shows that their long support for Civ3 didn't pay off when people don't believe that they will support Civ4 the same way. It's sad for these forums, because it means that people are actively using them in order to create the public dissent they think to be necessary to put Firaxis to work. And it's sad for all the users who come here with questions about the game and have to wade through several complaint- and flame war-threads before they can get any answers.

If you think that all this is indeed necessary to improve the game, then please, show me data you're basing your assumptions upon. It must be pretty convincing if it justifies all that.

 

[Trafalgar]

On which exact data do you base your assumption that stiffling large public discontent in public forums will be more effective in improving the game as sending mails to Firaxis?

I've sent mails to Firaxis (and Microprose) on various occasions. I always got an answer, and the problems I mentioned have usually been fixed. From my experience, the people there work very hard to iron the bugs out and don't need at all to be pressed to do this by "public demonstrations of discontent". I also don't really understand why anyone would assume that Firaxis will *not* support their flagship (for which they will want to sell at least one expansion pack) for a long time in the best way they can. Even if you do think that Firaxis acts purely upon financial interests, then not supporting this game would still be the most idiotic thing for them to do.

We and Firaxis sit together in the same boat. We both want the game to be as good as possible. Work together with them instead of publicly attacking them.

I think it's very sad that a need for "public demonstrations" is construed as a justification for instigating flame wars in this forum when this is - at least from my experience with Firaxis - clearly unnecessary. It's sad for Firaxis, because it shows that their long support for Civ3 didn't pay off when people don't believe that they will support Civ4 the same way. It's sad for these forums, because it means that people are actively using them in order to create the public dissent they think to be necessary to put Firaxis to work. And it's sad for all the users who come here with questions about the game and have to wade through several complaint- and flame war-threads before they can get any answers.

If you think that all this is indeed necessary to improve the game, then please, show me data you're basing your assumptions upon. It must be pretty convincing if it justifies all that.

Are you seriously telling people not to complain in these forums?
If they spent 62 dollars cdn and the game doesn’t run they should keep quiet and send Firaxis an e-mail? They should only praise Firaxis for this game or say nothing?
Not only does it stifle debate it hurts all Civ fans. People have the right to complain when a product does not work as advertised, and corporations must be held accountable. How can problems be fixed if we don’t complain about them?

 

[Royal]

Are you seriously telling people not to complain in these forums?
If they spent 62 dollars cdn and the game doesn’t run they should keep quiet and send Firaxis an e-mail? They should only praise Firaxis for this game or say nothing?
Not only does it stifle debate it hurts all Civ fans. People have the right to complain when a product does not work as advertised, and corporations must be held accountable. How can problems be fixed if we don’t complain about them?

You don't have to clog up the forums with your complaints while some of us, who's copy runs fine, are trying to have a nice conversation about Civ4. I am not saying you can't complain, but do it somewhere else so that others can talk in peace. I truthfully think there is no way Firaxis will be reviewing this thread right now listening to your complaints. Send them to the right person. I wish to know what you are attempting but telling other civ-ers, which have no connection to Firaxis, that your game sucks, while the other civ-ers don't give a d***.

If you want the problem addressed tell someone who can help, like maybe FIRAXIS.

 

[Sorceresss]

You don't have to clog up the forums with your complaints while some of us, who's copy runs fine, are trying to have a nice conversation about Civ4.

My Civ IV runs just fine...but I do not want a "nice conversation" regulated by the thought-police. I remain open to read complaints : clog or no clog.

 

[snepp]

You don't have to clog up the forums with your complaints while some of us.... *blah blah blah*

Try this (experimental treatment):

Quit reading and quit replying to this thread.