Don't Do That!

[yin26]

I suppose your signature speaks volumes about your listening ability.

Read it again for the joke. Get it yet?

[HalfLotus]

Firaxis has limited resources. I appluad their decision to focus most of it on game development rather than PR.

[HalfLotus]

Originally posted by yin26


Read it again for the joke. Get it yet?

Your style (or lack thereof) and attitude indicates that you believe it.

[yin26]

Firaxis has limited resources. I appluad their decision to focus most of it on game development rather than PR.

Gee, wonder why they have such limited resources...hmmm? Naaaaaaw. (let's see if you get that one...) By the way, ALL companies have 'limited resources,' in case you were wondering.

Your style (or lack thereof) indicates that it's the truth.

Ouch! What a devilishly stylish retort! By the way, I have a style ... you just don't like it (in case you were confused on that point as well).

[Pembleton]

Originally posted by HalfLotus
Your style (or lack thereof) and attitude indicates that you believe it.

Yin's troll machine has you trapped and you can't get free! But keep trying. Don't give up!

[yin26]

Odd, isn't it? He has me on 'ignore' and then hangs on every thread I post. Sad, actually. Interesting, though, in a kind of 'stalker' way.

[Bisonbison]

Originally posted by yin26

However, it looks like they keep him running around doing a million other tasks when he should be pouring his heart and soul into the Firaxis Web presence and the ensuing good PR that constantly updated information and feedback would bring.
...

Having said that: Yes, it's frustrating. Sometimes maddingly so.

...

Don't confuse the recent past with the company's overall performance. As I said: I don't think it's a priority for Firaxis. Yes, Civ3.com is a huge step in the right direction for the company ... but other issues still haunt them.

...

Bisonbison: Talk about chilling out, dude. You're busy talking about beating kids and I'm just making simple statements about a company that doesn't put a premium on PR.

Sorry that bothers you. Stick around. You'll have a much, much harder time 'chillin', dude' if this gets you so riled up.

Ha.
Well, you're right, the gaming community at large seems really taken aback by the constant three stooges-esque fumbling of the civ3 PR effort.

Or maybe not. For a game with the brand recognition of civ3, prioritizing information releases that only touch the 5% of fans MOST devoted to the game is not going to sell more units or broaden civ3's reach. It's just not. That's not to say that fanatical civ communities like apolyton don't contribute to a game's shelf-life or value, but I think firaxis would rather divide their time between more casual gamers (or more casual strategy fans), who might only today have realized that the game was coming out in a week, and those who make finding out civ-related news a daily obsessive ritual.

Civ3.com has frequent updates, funny and informative info, a wide variety of screenshots, and a webmaster who spends some time browsing community sites. What more can we ask for?

What exactly would you like them to do? Give you the source code?

<i>Edit:</i> By the way, I am actually asking what you would like them to do. And don't tell me to go hunt down other threads where you made these points brilliantly, I'm pretty sure your imaginary list of debating rules shoots that one down too.

[yin26]

First: I understand that they are targetting the casual gamer (or so it seems) with their PR. Then on the other hand, they have taken so many ideas from the hardcore people and put them in the game. It's just ironic.

As I have said before: I only wish their outward face more accurately reflected the good work that more often than not is going on underneath the hood.

Source code? No. How about just being up front when PR problems occur? That would help.

[ndnls]

I should have qualified myself better, and I don't mean this thread
as a smear against the people at Firaxis. I understand they're
only human.

What my point is is that they should of rectified the error asap
instead of leaving us ranting ourselves blue in the face for what
turns out to be a simple clerical error. The espionage forum has
dozens of posts about how they shoulden't have "removed"
the steal tech ability.

Well, I guess it would be too much to ask them to hire a full time
staff just to look the Apolytoners with all of the other thing the need to take care of.

[HalfLotus]

Originally posted by yin26

Gee, wonder why they have such limited resources...hmmm? Naaaaaaw. (let's see if you get that one...) By the way, ALL companies have 'limited resources,' in case you were wondering.

So you indeed agree on more resources for PR and less for game development?

[yin26]

Of course not. But don't you think improved PR could likely result in improved sales, which in turn gives you more resources to put toward game development?

I'm talking simple stuff here, HalfLotus. I'm not expecting them to make personal visits to our houses and play a few games with us. In fact, I think the Civ3.com site is too fluffy and in many ways a WASTE of Dan's time. Thoroughly updated FAQs, as much info about units and AI as can possibly be posted, prompt updates on the site when something is found to be wrong ... those are the nuts and bolts things I'M talking about here.

[HalfLotus]

Originally posted by yin26
Of course not. But don't you think improved PR could likely result in improved sales, which in turn gives you more resources to put toward game development?

I'm talking simple stuff here, HalfLotus. I'm not expecting them to make personal visits to our houses and play a few games with us. In fact, I think the Civ3.com site is too fluffy and in many ways a WASTE of Dan's time. Thoroughly updated FAQs, as much info about units and AI as can possibly be posted, prompt updates on the site when something is found to be wrong ... those are the nuts and bolts things I'M talking about here.

I give up.

[yin26]

LOL! So, did I make it on to your ignore list yet?

[HalfLotus]

Originally posted by yin26
LOL! So, did I make it on to your ignore list yet?

You used to be, but it seemed too much like censorship.

[Bisonbison]

Originally posted by yin26
First: I understand that they are targetting the casual gamer (or so it seems) with their PR. Then on the other hand, they have taken so many ideas from the hardcore people and put them in the game. It's just ironic.

There's a jump in your logic here that I'm just not following. You say they're targetting the casual gamer in there PR efforts (so far so good), then you say, "on the other hand" they've taken ideas from the hardcore people and put them in the game, then you say that that dichotomy is ironic. Why don't you just say that you'd like them to target the hardcore people? It sounds like you think the hardcore fans DESERVE to be targetted since they've contributed so many brilliant concepts to the game.

Why should that be the case? Are there more than a few hundred or a couple thousand hardcore civ fans in the world? Hardcore enough to rack up a king rating at apolyton? I don't think so.

It just seems like you're begrudging them their legitimate effort to market the game. They want to be able to surprise people, they want to keep some secrets for the release, they don't want to kill off the excitement of new info by making every day new info day.

Thoroughly updated FAQs, as much info about units and AI as can possibly be posted, prompt updates on the site when something is found to be wrong ... those are the nuts and bolts things I'M talking about here.

As for the immediate site updates when something is found to be wrong - if someone finds the time to contact Apolyton and other such sites, isn't that enough? It's the only place people heard the incorrect statement in any case. Don't you think retraction/correction #16 for the day is going to confuse casual Carl when he visits the site?