d4rkl0rd,
I cannot disagree with your assertion that MP is far more important than many of the more cosmetic or esoteric features that apparently have made it into the gold cut. However as you point out it is this very importance that makes it an obvious candidate for postponement to the beancounters (i.e. it is sufficiently desirable to be worth paying for separately).
My guess is that the product has been architected with the goal of MP as a clear and immutable goal. All the low level hooks to enable MP at the object-interface level in the game engine are probably there, the careful design required to expose the MP functionality correctly (i.e. the way it should play) and the amount of time it would take to test it adequately are the things that probably got traded for the tactically more lucrative SP-only first release.
SITS,
Cricket, Cricket?!? how did you know?. (You got me...I'm a British import)
Dr mjs0 says - Take two doses of reality a day and we'll soon cure you of that optimism thing.
You're right the way Firaxis handled the PR was abysmal, but I would encourage people to understand that there is a world of difference between incompetence or indifference and malice. In practical terms other than the bad blood it creates on this site and other of its ilk it will probably have very little impact on sales. Unless you are part of a tight knit community such as Apolyton or lucky enough to have immediate friends and family who share your interest in Civ you are unlikely to discover the joys of multiplayer. Unless Firaxis has something truly unexpected up their sleeves SP will be the primary source of revenue, just don't tell the beancounters until the MP support is finished.
Yin26,
Not much to say except I understand where you are coming from and agree with much of what you say. We all have the choice in a free world of voting with our wallets on the behaviour of corporations. I would have preferred Firaxis/Infogrames had been more honest wrt the MP situation but I am not strong willed enough to deny myself my CivIII fix in order to make a point. I applaud your stance as I would anyone who takes a stand on a point of personal conviction. Given that we have to wait several months for MP then if, as I suspect, it is an expansion pack (i.e. not free) I will probably wait a little longer until it hits the bargain bins.
(I am dreaming {hint hint} that Firaxis/Infogrames will allow me to play MP on a LAN with an original CD in one of the machines and the ExpPack CD in the other) {Uh oh here comes reality
}
I cannot disagree with your assertion that MP is far more important than many of the more cosmetic or esoteric features that apparently have made it into the gold cut. However as you point out it is this very importance that makes it an obvious candidate for postponement to the beancounters (i.e. it is sufficiently desirable to be worth paying for separately).
My guess is that the product has been architected with the goal of MP as a clear and immutable goal. All the low level hooks to enable MP at the object-interface level in the game engine are probably there, the careful design required to expose the MP functionality correctly (i.e. the way it should play) and the amount of time it would take to test it adequately are the things that probably got traded for the tactically more lucrative SP-only first release.
SITS,
Cricket, Cricket?!? how did you know?. (You got me...I'm a British import)
Dr mjs0 says - Take two doses of reality a day and we'll soon cure you of that optimism thing.
You're right the way Firaxis handled the PR was abysmal, but I would encourage people to understand that there is a world of difference between incompetence or indifference and malice. In practical terms other than the bad blood it creates on this site and other of its ilk it will probably have very little impact on sales. Unless you are part of a tight knit community such as Apolyton or lucky enough to have immediate friends and family who share your interest in Civ you are unlikely to discover the joys of multiplayer. Unless Firaxis has something truly unexpected up their sleeves SP will be the primary source of revenue, just don't tell the beancounters until the MP support is finished.
Yin26,
Not much to say except I understand where you are coming from and agree with much of what you say. We all have the choice in a free world of voting with our wallets on the behaviour of corporations. I would have preferred Firaxis/Infogrames had been more honest wrt the MP situation but I am not strong willed enough to deny myself my CivIII fix in order to make a point. I applaud your stance as I would anyone who takes a stand on a point of personal conviction. Given that we have to wait several months for MP then if, as I suspect, it is an expansion pack (i.e. not free) I will probably wait a little longer until it hits the bargain bins.
(I am dreaming {hint hint} that Firaxis/Infogrames will allow me to play MP on a LAN with an original CD in one of the machines and the ExpPack CD in the other) {Uh oh here comes reality
![EEK!](https://apolyton.net/core/images/smilies/eek.gif)
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