Warlords- What is it good for, absolutely nothing ugh!

[Sahkuhnder]

It has absolutely nothing to do with the value. Whether you paid $2 or $2,000 for the game makes no difference. The fact is that you paid for a product, were sold a disfunctional product, and the company that sold it to you refuses to fix it.

I do understand that you and others have had problems getting the game to work correctly.

For me personally, I had problems only until the first patch came out. Now that my game works I can certainly analyze the value I have received from it and plan to receive from it in the future.

In my case the company that sold it to me did fix it (with the patch) and I personally plan to buy Warlords when it comes out so I can hopefully enjoy my game even more.

I have found the game to be a good value compared to many other entertainments I could have spent my money on instead.

 

[Shigga]

I think some did forget over the course of the discussion that the civ franchise isn't a pure value for money thing. At least, it's not for a lot of ppl.

For example: I started playing CivI in 1991, with one of my closest friends. We both really got hooked up, and the Civ franchise accompanied our friendship over the years, bc we often play a game when we meet again. And I'm not talking buddy here I'm talkin two decades of trust-with-my-life friendship. The point is, the franchise has an emotional quality for a lot of ppl, so grievances with it tend to be taken more seriously. I was seriously p*ssed with the lousy PTW so I never bought C3C.

Still, the multiplayer seems to work fine so far on IV, so I won't complain on that part. But making us buy the expansion to get the last vanilla patch and making me spend money for being able to keep on playing free mods feels like a personal rip-off to me, bc like I stated in the OP the only really interesting thing included is the Vassal-State feature. If they beefed up WL to make it interesting for all players not only the scenario buffs I'd shut my mouth and buy the thing.

 

[Sohan]

I just really want the vassal states.

 

[Mr. Blonde]

Vassal states, new traits, warlord units, new leaders and Civs. Additionally the mongolian camp unit with ist unique mechanism opens new possibilities to mod.
I think these facts are worth the €25 or so investion.

 

[dshirk]

It was mentioned a few times in this thread that Warlords will be required for future Civ 4 patches. Where was this ever mentioned before? As an FYI, Civ 4 will remain independent of Warlords for any future patches.

 

[The Great Apple]

That's good news!

Thanks.

 

[Shigga]

Well the beginning of a rumor is often a lack in clarity of communication. So thank you very much for throwing some light on the issue. Glad to see that at least somebody official is keeping a finger on the pulse of the community. If, that is, you are who you state to be.

 

[dshirk]

I hope I am who I say I am as well. Hopefully I will have more time to check in now that Warlords is close to release.

And on a side note, I finally got a chance to play the Barbarian Horde scenario. Even if you are not a fan of scenarios, this one is going to make you a fan. There's nothing quite as satisfying as completing a game and realizing that you've set back civilization about 3000 years.

 

[Shigga]

I hope I am who I say I am as well. Hopefully I will have more time to check in now that Warlords is close to release.

And on a side note, I finally got a chance to play the Barbarian Horde scenario. Even if you are not a fan of scenarios, this one is going to make you a fan. There's nothing quite as satisfying as completing a game and realizing that you've set back civilization about 3000 years.

Careful with that axe! ^^ That statement will have ppl drooling and expecting the release by tomorrow night

I don't play scens not because they lack quality, but bc of the concept. Playing a scenario is like watching the movie SAW for the first time, playing it again is like watching SAW a second time. Normal games on the other hand always provide a new setting, another story line and another outcome (well possibly). I just don't like fixed settings.

 

[dshirk]

That's what makes Barbarian Horde so unique. It's a differnet experience each time you play. You actually set the number of turns for the AI to play through before you even start (for difficulty), so you come into the scenario looking at a fully developed world....which, of course, you have an incredible urge to destroy.

 

[monkspider]

I hope I am who I say I am as well. Hopefully I will have more time to check in now that Warlords is close to release.

And on a side note, I finally got a chance to play the Barbarian Horde scenario. Even if you are not a fan of scenarios, this one is going to make you a fan. There's nothing quite as satisfying as completing a game and realizing that you've set back civilization about 3000 years.

I, for one, am extremely pumped for Warlords, and plan on taking a Vacation day when it comes out so that Warlords and I can get better acquainted.

 

[Commander Bello]

@dshirk:
I understand that you are not going to release any details.
Nevertheless, there are some concerns in the community at the moment, regarding the functionality of the Great Wall. People fear that it might come too early (too low costs) or too late (costs too high). In the first case, you could get it while you are still expanding at high speed, leaving it behind your new settlements.
In the second case, it might just be the case that the barbarian storms are already over, and that it will lose its effects for nothing.
An additional concern is that it might be enabled by a tech which already offers many other things, making this very tech a must-have and too powerful.
As I said, I am well aware of the fact that you won't go into any discussion yet, but I felt I should take the chance to put your attention to those concerns.

 

[dshirk]

No comment.

Seriously tho, I understand the concerns. Balance and function, especially since this is a wonder, are at the top of the designer's lists. They've been tweaking it since early in development to make sure it does what it's supposed to do, without giving an obnoxious advantage to the receiving player.

In the latest game that I played on Friday, it encompassed 6 cities, and I made sure to take some screen captures for later release showing some barbarians standing just on the other side of the wall, unable to do anything about it.

 

[monkspider]

Thanks for taking the time to post here Dshirk, it is always greatly appreciated!

 

[Gumbolt]

Im not sure what all the fuss is about. I paid 17.99 for civ 4 when it came out.

I have played over 100 hours+. That means i have paid less than 17.9p an hour for the pleasure of playing the game. Probably even half that cost in reality.

If i watch a film at the cinema it costs me 6-7 quid just for 2 hrs. Its not as though your being charged your life savings to play the game at 17.9 an hour or less in terms of value of price paid.

I think the new expansion will add value and a new element to the game play as an expansion should. Chances are when it arrives around 28th July most people will be raving it.

As for the problems of the great wall etc. They were testing features like the warlord when the original game was released im sure the new expansion will be a balanced great game and have been tested a number of times over. Bound to be more patches if there are other bugs.

I see no problem here. Moving on

 

[Armorydave]

It has absolutely nothing to do with the value. Whether you paid $2 or $2,000 for the game makes no difference. The fact is that you paid for a product, were sold a disfunctional product, and the company that sold it to you refuses to fix it.

It might have nothing to do with value for you but my purchasing habits are almost exclusively dictated by perception of value. With Civ 4, I was sold a functional product that required minimal repair. Those repairs have been dealt with to my satisfaction.

If I had a bad experience with the game then it would alter my value perception and might cause me to skip the expansion. That said, I would not do it over "principle" (these are $40 games for Christ sake) I would do it because of value perception. Fortunately, the game has delivered more than enough value for me even though I experience trivial graphic glitches and, prior to the first patch, the occasional crash if I played long sesssions.

 

[Armorydave]

That's what makes Barbarian Horde so unique. It's a differnet experience each time you play. You actually set the number of turns for the AI to play through before you even start (for difficulty), so you come into the scenario looking at a fully developed world....which, of course, you have an incredible urge to destroy.

Sounds awesome. Thanks for the update and information.

 

[Sahkuhnder]

That's what makes Barbarian Horde so unique. It's a differnet experience each time you play. You actually set the number of turns for the AI to play through before you even start (for difficulty), so you come into the scenario looking at a fully developed world....which, of course, you have an incredible urge to destroy.

Sounds like fun. Knocking things down instead of building them up may be just the ticket for times when when we've had a bad day.

And thanks for dropping by.

 

[dutchfire]

What pisses me off the most is that the translations are rubbish. They translated "power" (clearly military power, otherwise I wouldn't have power in 4000BC ^^" As "electricity" in French, Italian, Spanish, and German.

In the Dutch manual, they translated the electricity name with military power, and they made dozens more mistakes.

 

[gunnergoz]

I for one am very much looking forward to the Warlords expansion and for the mods that will take advantage of the new features that the expansion will bring to us. I think that Civ IV is a game with looong legs that we'll be playing for a long time. I know I will! Had I time, I'd learn some programming just to do some modding myself...