The game has just been released and though I haven't played it I thought it would be interesting to write about some of the differences in the things that Paradox (developer of EU) and Firaxis/Infrogames do with respect to their fan base.
I know some of you don't like the core gameplay of EU but as you will see I am comparing them on criteria which transcend the gameplay differences.
1) Beta testing: EU2 has had extensive beta testing with outside beta testers for many weeks now. Some of them are the forum regulars at the EU forums. Immediately this means that some of the most experienced players will have a chance to examine the game closely before it's been released. Can you imagine how much better Civ 3 would have been if people like Korn and Velocyrix had been doing the beta-testing? Some people have suggested that it takes too many resources to have outside beta-testing but AFAIK Paradox is smaller than Firaxis and it doesn't seem to have stopped them.
2) Patching: The first patch has already been announced and it will be released in days !! And this isn't because the game has some terrible bugs but just to give gamers the improvements that Paradox has made just before release as soon as possible. Compare that with Firaxis where we don't know when the patch is coming or what it will contain.
3)Freebies: I am told that EU box comes with a world map with all the EU2 provinces and the flags of the various countries. No one was told about this before. What a nice gesture!! Compare that with the Civ 3 LE where they didn't even give the things that were promised.
4) Interaction before the game: While Dan Magha and Soren Johnson have done a good job of interacting with fans after the game was released, there wasn't much interaction before. With EU however the Paradox team is seen regularly on the forums and actually consults with and listens to fans about what they want. I think that also has helped make it a better game.
I believe that if you take all these points it is hard not to conclude that Firaxis isn't as interested in the fan-base as Paradox. Regardless of what you feel about the respective games this means that Civ 3 is not as good as it could have been and that EU2 is a better game than it would otherwise have been.
BTW if any of you want to discuss to the gameplay differences go right ahead.
I know some of you don't like the core gameplay of EU but as you will see I am comparing them on criteria which transcend the gameplay differences.
1) Beta testing: EU2 has had extensive beta testing with outside beta testers for many weeks now. Some of them are the forum regulars at the EU forums. Immediately this means that some of the most experienced players will have a chance to examine the game closely before it's been released. Can you imagine how much better Civ 3 would have been if people like Korn and Velocyrix had been doing the beta-testing? Some people have suggested that it takes too many resources to have outside beta-testing but AFAIK Paradox is smaller than Firaxis and it doesn't seem to have stopped them.
2) Patching: The first patch has already been announced and it will be released in days !! And this isn't because the game has some terrible bugs but just to give gamers the improvements that Paradox has made just before release as soon as possible. Compare that with Firaxis where we don't know when the patch is coming or what it will contain.
3)Freebies: I am told that EU box comes with a world map with all the EU2 provinces and the flags of the various countries. No one was told about this before. What a nice gesture!! Compare that with the Civ 3 LE where they didn't even give the things that were promised.
4) Interaction before the game: While Dan Magha and Soren Johnson have done a good job of interacting with fans after the game was released, there wasn't much interaction before. With EU however the Paradox team is seen regularly on the forums and actually consults with and listens to fans about what they want. I think that also has helped make it a better game.
I believe that if you take all these points it is hard not to conclude that Firaxis isn't as interested in the fan-base as Paradox. Regardless of what you feel about the respective games this means that Civ 3 is not as good as it could have been and that EU2 is a better game than it would otherwise have been.
BTW if any of you want to discuss to the gameplay differences go right ahead.
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