Coquests to include all PTW content?

[Minute Mirage]

This is a very nice move from the developers, and it certainly got me interested in this expansion. Now if I could only drag myself away from SMAX...

[dexters]

It's a nice move for those who didn't buy PTW..

A North American (at least) rebate offer for those who bought PTW would be nice.

[alva]

What do you mean North American.....

[dexters]

*bows*

ok, international I'm just being realistic here.

EA/Maxis has a rebate offer going for its Sim City 4 XP since they are releasing two versions. Sim City 4 Deluxe, which includes the core game and the XP and Sim City 4 Rush Hour- which is the XP only.

The rebate, as I understand it, is a way of telling fans who bought the game right out of the gates that "they matter" besides, the XP is dirt cheap, only $20. But the offer it seems, only applies to NA.

The thing with PTW, and I'll say thing frankly, is that it seems like Atari/Firaxis essentially had people PAY THEM to beta test part of the Conquest content, and made a profit out of it. That's just ridiculous. And now, they are repacking the game we beta tested and paid for and selling it back at us with a few new eye candy and features thrown in.

They didn't even bother extending the core game by adding significant new trade of diplomacy features just as a workable UN or something like that. Locked alliances had the potential of creating nice diplomacy, but from what I hear of it, it's just a cop out system where everything is pre-set before you play a game and there is really no real diplomacy aspect to it at all.

If rebate is not thier thing, then at least there should be a "Conquests LITE" which is basically C3C without PTW content and sell it at a lower price. This way those with PTW can just buy that and not feel like they are being screwed by Atari, which is what I think is happening right now.

[WarpStorm]

Oh c'mon. It's been a year since PTW has been out. I feel I got a years worth of play out of it.

FWIW, I think Conquests is easily worth $30 (and I have PTW). The extensions to the core game are a blast and the new scenarios give the game a different feel.

Could they have done more with it? Of course, with more time and money.

[dexters]

The economics of the situation just doesn't support charging people twice for the same game. The only rationale for doing it is profiteering and exploiting the fanbase.

What's even a bigger slap in the face for me was that PTW as it was released was buggy and incomplete. They essentially had people pay them money to beta test an incomeplete game and then sell it back to us again with some new content.

But... I will buy Conquests, because from what I've read, the new content is worth it.

But I'm a peeved that there is absolutely no acknowledgement that those who bought PTW would essentially be stuck with a useless CD when they buy Conquests.

A bit of a compensation for this, through rebates, or a lower prices Conquests LITE pack with only the new additions would be welcome acknowledgement.

Other companies who release XP and a revised edition of the core game with the XP included have no problem bending over backwards to make sure those who bought the original core game don't get left out in the cold feeling like they've been robbed. I point again to EA's Sim City 4 strategy. The XP is retailing for $20, and you get an additional $10 rebate if you can show you bought SC4. This is because they are releasing a deluxe edition of Sim City 4 with both the core and the XP included.

Some of you may wonder what's the big deal if I'm buying Conquests anyways. I guess it's not a big deal in the near term. Atari can count on my $39 cdn in their revenue ledger. But in the future, i'd be less eager to support their products, just by virtue of how they acted in the past. EA on the other hand will get my business.

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Bleyn
I'm sure it will come with all new Conquests bugs instead

Seriously, if it really does come with everything from PTW, there won't be any real reason to buy PTW, for those of us who haven't gotten it yet. Right?

If my version doesn't have bugs can I download them for free?
I'm also glad I did not buy PTW now (never had been much of a MP player).

[Panag]

Originally posted by Verto
So I will be able to play MP with Conquest, w/o having to buy PtW first?

hi ,

indeed , but only at conquest level if all the others in the game have it also , ....... otherwise its back to PTW , .....

have a nice day

[volsang]

I have noticed here at the Local Wal-Mart anyway, that They have stopped stocking the PTW XP and are just stocking the original game. As of the last month or so. So, retail has already caught on to the fact that as soon as the Conquests XP drops, no one will buy the PTW XP.

[Saint Marcus]

and I take it Conquest will have all vanilla-civ3 features (such as the various civs) as well? And that's a stand alone game?

[WarpStorm]

Originally posted by dexters
EA on the other hand will get my business.

THis shocks me. For many years I have thought they were the biggest money grubbers around. They put out a new version of each of their sports titles every year and want $50 for each (no discounts for owning last years version). There is no backwards compatability or support for the previous version. To me, The Sims seems to be the most blatent money gouging franchise on the market.

[WarpStorm]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus
and I take it Conquest will have all vanilla-civ3 features (such as the various civs) as well? And that's a stand alone game?

No, you need Civ3 to play it.

[Saint Marcus]

Too bad...

Will the US version of Conquest work with the UK version of Civ3?

As I recall, this wasn't the case with PTW, where US PTWs didn't work with UK civ3s.

[The Pioneer]

@dexters
Problem is that there is no real rebate system here in Germany. It's a legal think AFAIK. Tough luck for suckers like us



I am not sure what version of CIV3 I had because it was in English and I bought here in Germany, so it could be UK or US or maybe something else but I bought a US PTW and it worked like a dandy. I am about to order Conquests from Amazon.co.uk with the hope that it will work.

So long...

[dexters]

Originally posted by The Pioneer
@dexters
Problem is that there is no real rebate system here in Germany. It's a legal think AFAIK. Tough luck for suckers like us

\So long...

I'm speaking in terms of North America, which I assume is where the bulk of PC game sales are anyways.

The EA/Maxis Sim City 4 Rebate for Rush Hour Xpansion pack also applies only to North America. And the game is retailing for MSRP of 35 Euros, despite the fact that it will be selling for only 20 dollars in the US of A.

I think when you get into the international, a lot of the discounts don't quite apply, for various reasons.

I don't want to sound like I don't care for the rest of the world, but some of the Euro Civ gamers I've seen have been pretty demanding on Atari as well, especially considering the tiny amount of sales being generated in those countries.

With Canada/USA however, I think the bulk of the buyers resides in both, and in terms of arguing my point, I have to keep it grounded of the plausible by assuming they'd do it only for North Americans. It would be nice to argue for a world wide rebate system or a world wide game price discount. Im just not so sure how realistic that is.