Is there any response from Firaxis / 2K ?

[Arrogant]

Firaxis would like to thank their loyal beta testers who, once more, have payed money in order to enjoy the privilege of playing an unfinished product. The amount of feedback received is really touching and enforces our decision to continue walking the same road.

Thank you.

 

[edmund22]

What comes to my mind is... during the live gameplay, Greg promised many blogs on game features, specially modding and stuff. But they never happened. Last thing on the civ5 page is the manual. And the facebook fanpage only has notification about release times.

Kind of a "thank you all, we received you money, we'll let you know when there's a new DLC" feeling from my side.

 

[Ayt]

Complaining that the "normal" difficulty level can be beaten by "normal" people is really a bit ... weird. Play on deity if prince is too easy for you. And don't use any of the known easy win strategies, don't pretend quechua rushes were impossible on deity in Civ IV.

And if you want a real challenge, do what I do. Pregame lobotomy.

 

[Mivo]

Well, Greg did the "Hello, I'm your community manager!" thing back in May, but it seems he vanished right after release.

I wish more companies understood that players are quire tolerant for issues and bugs, if they are being communicated with. Sure, you still have those that would moan and whine, but the majority would appreciate the respect expressed by communication -- and in the long run that is better than any PR before a release, and costs very little.

Oh well.

 

[r_rolo1]

So far , the only response to all of this issues is that they already made 20 patches since version 1.0 ( only 2 got public .17 and .20 )

 

[BjoernLars]

Even though I do not know what exactly in going on in the Fraxis citadel in Maryland, I would be very surprised if they aren’t discussing, planning and working on changes and implementations for the game.

It has only / already been one week since the release of the game, depending on your point of view. Of course certain major glitches and crashes should be fixed in a very timely manner; other more convoluted improvements on the game are going to take much more time.

I think even more of the fan base will be up in arms if Fraxis just keeps throwing out “updates” and “improvements” that contradict each other and keep the game mechanics in a constant state of flux just for the sake of action. These changes should be well thought out and not made in haste. I hope (and have faith), that given enough time Fraxis does will start bettering the game to enhance our addiction to this digital narcotic.

Communication should be a two way street and (particularly certain) members of the CivFanatics homepage have certainly done their fair share of communication, though not always in a respectful and constructive manner.

While the silence on Fraxis’ part does irk the fans, it should be understood that admitting fault, failure, or inability to live up to expectations is not a virtue embraced by many businesses. Despite this short coming, the fan base does need to be reassured by the developers.

A short message from one of the liaisons between CivFanatics and Fraxis would be most appropriate. Put a spin on it that saves you face Fraxis and keeps us appeased.

Perhaps along the following lines...

“Hey CivFanatics! Thanks for all of your feedback that you’ve posted on the forums! We’re keeping our eyes on what you have to say so we can make this the best game in the Civ series. This is just first layer of Civ V and we are ready to work hard to take this game even further!

Some of our upcoming projects include… … … …

… … …and we are hoping to have them out by this date.”

Positive, informative, reassuring.

I am sure that Greg, Elizabeth and friends are busy with the post-release phase, but a little communication would be nice.

 

[metalhawk]

They aren't posting much here, but they have posted on the 2K forums. They haven't disappeared, and Greg has posted that they're listening to the issues people have had (specifically with multiplayer, in this case) and will release updates in free patches to come.

multiplayer

hotseat

So far response isn't overwhelming (I don't hear any admissions about how bad MP setup is, how bad AI is,etc.) but they're still out there working..

Maybe I should take 5 min. sometime and drive over and see what they're up to

 

[Krall]

Could you back up your estimation of one example of some game company actually having done that.
ONE. Even from EA?

Well other then The Sims, probably not, but Mafia also from 2K looks to be traveling down the same path. Anyway, it was mainly a joke, but it's how I feel after playing a polished Civ IV and now playing an unpolished Civ V where they do intend to put out DLC content as they did on pre-order for some rather silly things that should already be in the game.

It's been noted that the AI seems to be worse then what reviews have played, so why can't 2K put out an AI DLC?

The UI is bad IMO, I have to click on these little title bars instead of the actual city?

 

[cccv]

But several people who had the press release build do say the AI was way smarter and harder to beat.

To everyone claiming that the game was "dumbed down" since the press release, an FYI:

http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1177653&postcount=44

The AI in the version of the game the press received for reviews is exactly the same as what's in the retail game you are all playing. It was definitely not "dumbed down for the public release."

As for what will be going in to future patches, I will update you guys when I have that information.

 

[Fistalis]

To everyone claiming that the game was "dumbed down" since the press release, an FYI:

http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1177653&postcount=44

LOL so the AI is what they intended. Can't help but laugh when i look back at all the AI hype now

 

[JohnRM]

Firaxis would like to thank their loyal beta testers who, once more, have payed money in order to enjoy the privilege of playing an unfinished product. The amount of feedback received is really touching and enforces our decision to continue walking the same road.

Thank you.

That is pretty much where I landed on all of this. It seems the be the trend with all video games.

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

It seems fairly obvious that with all the glowing reviews for this game that they were playing a different, pre-release build. Also. consider the hype surrounding the multi-layered AI that was so fun and ground breaking it was tested daily on their lunch breaks.

Maybe in an upcoming DLC we will see this:

Civilization V, DLC add-on pack: Improved AI
Civilization V, DLC add-on pack: Optimized Graphics Engine
Civilization V, DLC add-on pack: Alternate User Interface Bonus
Civilization V, DLC add-on pack: Expanded Multiplayer with included V 1.0 hotfixes

I am not going to pay for a DLC specifically so I can have an Improved AI built in. To me, if they ever fix it (which I am in extreme doubt that they can), then it ought to be free since they have promised us before they had released it.

 

[devily]

It will be hard to do much with AI. If you think about it, it's not like it changed much since first Civ. What changed is combat system, and old AI just don't fit in it. Just imagine if all fights against AI you had was vs 10 units in tile instead of single one.

Yes, it would still be stupid AI, but more challenging and harder to beat.

Hell, now that i think about, Fantasy General had better AI, and more vivid and interesting units. Its better to play that if you want War game with simple economy

 

[shadowplay]

I wonder if DLC makes physical expansion packs a thing of the past.

 

[Fistalis]

I wonder if DLC makes physical expansion packs a thing of the past.

Not sure why you would bother buying a physical copy when you have to link it to steam anyway. A dynamic i'm sure steam as a retailer is banking on.

 

[Ayt]

I believe Paradox sells several web only expansion packs for their games if you want an example of a company doing that.

 

[AttilaTheHun]

Several people mention AI in this thread, as if the game actually had any. Just because the game can move units from one hex to another, it does not mean it has actual AI.

I have been watching Montezuma trying to capture a city state for 300 turns and not being able to do it. He has 4 cities and sends one unit at a time or two, which then stand by the city and get killed in two or three rounds. That's not intelligence.

I am now playing on Emperor level, my third unfinished game - and I am so far ahead in tech and many other categories that mopping up will just be a waste of time.

This means that not only the combat AI is MIA, but the economy AI is as well. It seems that so many things were changed from the tried and true features of previous Civ games that noone on the development team understood how it will all fit together at the end. Unfortunately the AI designers/programmers seem to be the most clueless.

A mish-mash of good and not-so-good ideas, completely out of sync with each other, exacerbated by a hurried implementation has given us a rather unchallenging "game".

I am surprised Sid actually wants his name on this one.

 

[stormerne]

So I was wondering if there is any respons from Firaxis / 2K about our AI complaints ?
Any news?

The Firaxis AI is currently considering your complaint. Please choose an option:

• You'll pay for this
• Very well

 

[Balerune]

The Firaxis AI is currently considering your complaint. Please choose an option:

• You'll pay for this
• Very well

 

[Mivo]

To everyone claiming that the game was "dumbed down" since the press release, an FYI:

http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1177653&postcount=44

Ah, so CFC was just for advertising, and Mr. Greg can't be bothered to visit now and deal with the echo of the botched release?