Mike Breitkreutz, now you're here, can you please say something about MP ?

[TechWins]

guys, the truth of the matter is we still don't have an answer, yet the crowd is calmer and the small riot has faded away. Welcome to the joys of PR, and you all fell for it.

What I meant by my post, "Thanks Mike for giving us a post of that manner", is how he at least responded to all of us. I wasn't expecting a post of him explaining the MP issue but to explain the position of Firaxis. I appreciated the manner Mike took in his post.

[TCO]

I thought it was pretty ominous how he basically agreed that there is a "code of silence" here. That a strategic decision has been taklen not to answer the question.

It's pretty obvious that MP WAS intended to be part of the game, but now isn't. I don't mind them charging for MP as an add-on. I do think it's silly to play "secret" about it.

[Wiglaf]

I'm just annoyed that everytime someone from firaxis posts, we all say something like "a god has spoken" or "we aren't mad at you". When a gaming company gets you to think they have a one-on-one relationship with the consumer, they secure your trust and then your fifty bucks. If I worked as a programmer for a major release, I probably wouldn't care if one of 10,000 users on apolyton was angry at me or thought me a deity.

Time for someone to answer the question. We were all yelling "I'm not buying the game if they don't put MP in" and stuff like that 24 hours ago. Mike posts, directing us to the ATCT link, and it's quiet time. Even the mighty Yin fell victim and bowed to Mike upon direct confrontation.

Granted, I don't expect a press release from him. But judging by some poster's reactions, we got one. What I read was something like:

"Hi, programmer checking in. Can't answer question, email our PR people. Civ3 is going to be great."



guys, we need an answer eventually. all these marketing gimmicks firaxis is pulling on us shouldn't be forgotten because one of their programmers posts an obscure message. hats off to him, because he seems to be a nice guy. but don't get suckered, it's your money and you have a right to get an answer for it.

I would offer an observation that it isn't usual business practice for workers to discuss an ongoing project openly to the public. Therefore the only reason for it in my mind is PR all the way. hope I'm wrong though, but it makes sense.

[tniem]

guys, the truth of the matter is we still don't have an answer, yet the crowd is calmer and the small riot has faded away. Welcome to the joys of PR, and you all fell for it.

Actually I am one of the people that was practically rioting a week ago over MP. It is just hard to get all riled up about a game when I watched in horror as thousands of my fellow countrymen were slaughtered. So yes I am going to continue to ask for MP and say that I am worried about it. But my anger/dedication/furry is just not there.

[Wiglaf]

agreed, but thinking constantly about how down our country is only gives the monsters more joy. My friend lost a brother in the WTC, and the last thing he wants is all the constant media attention, believe it or not. Life goes on, retaliation will be swift, and no way will their damage spread to everyday life.

That being said, CyberShy's question should still be considered an open one until Firaxis' PR can come up with a solid answer. And the odds of that aren't encouraging, so needless to say we should be pretty disappointed in the lack of one up to this point.

[yin26]

Even the mighty Yin fell victim and bowed to Mike upon direct confrontation.

Nonsense. Despite what people might sometimes think, I'm a reasonable person. It is NOT Mike's to tell us everything his own bosses won't. I imagine there has been a meeting at Firaxis, especially after the 'secret e-mail' fiasco that Sid and Co. told everybody something like: "Leak information not cleared by us and lose your job."

Sorry if you can't understand that.

Trust me. I have railed against Firaxis plenty. I have a thread dedicated to the topic about PR. Why not post there and keep it active?

[yin26]

By the way, I am voting with my money. Firaxis will NOT be getting my money for Civ 3 until and unless I can find the complete version in the bargain bin, perhaps in early 2003.

[SerapisIV]

I'm awaiting the "I finally broke down and bought Civ3" thread. You already broke down on your self-imposed exile. You spent too much time on the list and on these boards not to go get the game.

[dainbramaged13]

Originally posted by CyberShy
Thanks Mike !

I think most of us at Apolyton got more attention to the WTC thingy. Read the Off Topic forum, 6 pages of threads about it.

Thanks for your answer.

CyberShy

i know right i have 6 windows open on the OT and 1 on civ3 forums

wiglaf - i have come to read many of your posts lat++++as i have been much more active on these forums lat++++with the release of civ3 highly anticipated, and 10 x more increased since the WTC incidents, and i hvae come to the conclusion that you are highly over-reactive and confrontational about everything. you need to calm down

[Leonidas]

As far as I know no one has bowed to any pressure.

The evidence remains the same:

1) There is a lid on information from Firaxis regarding MP.

2) It seems clear that MP won't be in the Oct release of the game. If you want MP then buy the game in the Spring when the "Gold Edition" is released.

3) I'm disappointed but I'm not angry about it. Obviously the publisher is calling the shots. Just take a look at the MoO3 forum. Same thing happening there.

[tniem]

The other thing is what else am I supposed to say about Mike's comments?

To me it is obvious that they will not answer my questions and that they won't give us a straight answer on MP. It is also fairly obvious to me that MP will not be in the game come October. Plus I have said everything and argued with everyone that not including MP is an important thing to the game. So what else do you want me to say?

So when Mike does post I will say thanks for the reply. Even if he didn't give me what I wanted he gave me something. And something leads to more hopefully if we are polite with our replies. So maybe in the future Mike will say, "Hey tniem was a really nice guy to me when I gave them a fake reply to MP, so maybe I will answer his question about ____________".

[yin26]

You spent too much time on the list and on these boards not to go get the game.

Oh, I think I'll probably buy the game, but once the Gold Edition or whatever comes out. I decided not to spend my money on the Limited Edition because I don't want to see incompetent management in action ('behind the scenes stuff'). Also, we ALL know it will be 3 or 4 patches from now, and probably and over-priced X-pack on top of that, before the game is truly as good as it should have been on release.

So when they've earned my money, I'll consider giving it to them.

[Rasputin]

Actually I find his repsonse disheartening, We are aksed to contact Firaxis direct via ASKthecivteam... I did that and got no repsonse at all, not even a "we are busy right now and will repsond later" .. they are ignoring the MPers as they know they will sell lots of game sto SPers without us... I am sad for our loss of a great game...

[TCO]

Maybe the game is worth paying twice? I mean think of how much good entertainment time that a civ game gives you...

[Wiglaf]

i hvae come to the conclusion that you are highly over-reactive and confrontational about everything. you need to calm down

I take it you are referring to glonk's antitrust topic. I don't think I was overly confrontational there. that's about as polite as it gets when you're talking about a hot issue like that in the OT - no swearing, insults, etc. I don't see where I crossed a line here or there....

In any case I think it's too bad Mike isn't giving us the info we asked for. Of course it isn't his fault, but directing us to a PR link isn't a massive revelation, and it did not deserve all the praise it got. Mike has a job, he's asking for our $50-$70 - we deserve an answer.

So instead of 'thanks, keep up the good work' we should keep on saying what we always were: all this silence from firaxis and their ulterior motive behind a quick October release shouldn't just be shrugged off because of a forum post. Mike seems like a nice guy, but he is - any way you slice it - doing PR. Too bad I'll be flamed for it, but that's my opinion.

and once again, since mike cannot disclose information, and since he has long hours, I doubt he would be at apolyton for any reason other than PR. normally, chatting about a game you're making isn't a sound plan for a game company.