Why no responses by Firaxis?

[Brundlefly]

Originally posted by ****gyRA


OOOOHHHHH!!!!! That will show them! Don't play the game you have already paid for.

Man, I wish I was a strong as you are.

My post really wasn't about "showing" them anything. I just wanted Jeff to consider if he made an ethically sound decision to spend "poly time" (possibly with pizza and beer using the $50 I purchased Civ III with) while I have a Civ III game that in both its original and patched form is buggy, unbalanced, and unplayable.

[ACooper]

Originally posted by Feephi



My post really wasn't about "showing" them anything. I just wanted Jeff to consider if he made an ethically sound decision to spend "poly time" (possibly with pizza and beer using the $50 I purchased Civ III with) while I have a Civ III game that in both its original and patched form is buggy, unbalanced, and unplayable.

If you don't know how to play with it, then put it away.

[Random Passerby]

I agree. The uneducated person might foolishly say that you volunteered that $50 entirely on your own and deserve to bear the consequences of that decision, but what they fail to realize is that Firaxis has ALIEN MIND CONTROL SATELLITES forcing people to buy CivIII against their will! That's what really makes the lack of PR so unethical.

Not that I'm trying to be a Firaxis apologist, I just disagree with people going off on consumer-power trips. It's bad business practice to make yourselves this inacessible (particularly after a reception like CivIII has had), but I fail to see how it's immoral.

[Libertarian]

Morality is a private matter, between a man and his God or conscience. We are talking here about ethics.

[Brundlefly]

Originally posted by Random Passerby
I agree. The uneducated person might foolishly say that you volunteered that $50 entirely on your own and deserve to bear the consequences of that decision, but what they fail to realize is that Firaxis has ALIEN MIND CONTROL SATELLITES forcing people to buy CivIII against their will! That's what really makes the lack of PR so unethical.

Not that I'm trying to be a Firaxis apologist, I just disagree with people going off on consumer-power trips. It's bad business practice to make yourselves this inacessible (particularly after a reception like CivIII has had), but I fail to see how it's immoral.

I'm amazed at the clarity with which you present the argument of an "uneducated person". When I'm reading your words it's almost like you "become" the uneducated person.

[ACooper]

I heard that Firaxis rents bandwidth on Major League Baseball's mind control satellites.


.....Must....Go.....Kiss.....Picture.....Of.....Si d.....Now...................

[Libertarian]

Does this mean I can take this tin foil and clothes hanger off my head?

[Flight]

no

[woody]

First of all, I enjoy Civ3 a lot. I also understand why Firaxis doesn't post here: there are far too many whiners and complainers. I think we'd all be better off if the forum moderators would ban the trolls and whiners (like Yin and Lib). If they were banned, maybe we'd read more from Firaxis. At the very least, we wouldn't have to read their drivel anymore.

That said, I'm not all that happy with the way Firaxis is keeping us informed (or not informed, to be more accurate). I understand them not wasting effort here, but their home page should have updates on future patches and a possible time-frame. There should be a list of bugs that Firaxis has acknowledged.

Firaxis needs to provide some information. As it stands now, I certainly won't pre-order another Firaxis game. From now on, I'll wait a few months until a mostly bug-free version is available.

The current version is okay for now, but I won't be happy if it's the final version. I'd like at least some confirmation that there will be another patch in the next 6 weeks or so. If they go the expansion pack route instead, they've just lost any hope of future sales to me.

[Libertarian]

Oh, stop whining.

[FrantzX]

I'm just wondering, how many gaming companies keep a constant dialogue with the fanbase?

[Encomium]

Originally posted by Feephi



My post really wasn't about "showing" them anything. I just wanted Jeff to consider if he made an ethically sound decision to spend "poly time" (possibly with pizza and beer using the $50 I purchased Civ III with) while I have a Civ III game that in both its original and patched form is buggy, unbalanced, and unplayable.

Indeed. And why do we the consumers have to spend hours tinkering with the Editor to make the game more playable?? Wasn't it ever playtested??

BTW, not only is their no Cheat Mode, we can't make Scenarios. Perhaps Firaxis is figuring on selling more Scenario CD's to suck up more of our cash. If so, this game won't have a fraction of the life of good old Civ II.

[Master2000]

Firaxis isn't the only developer who can't figure out how to keep a dialoge with their customers. I wish they could look at the NewerWinter Nights forums, they surely rocks.

Don't forget that some Firaxians comes from MicroProse and that was the worst company all times when it comes to customer care.

Don't worry, they sure up to something. Otherwise, why should they need 20 beta testers? Play SimGolf?

[Libertarian]

Don't worry, they sure up to something. Otherwise, why should they need 20 beta testers? Play SimGolf?

Could be. They already have a bazillion beta testers for Civ3.

[OneInTen]

There should be a list of bugs that Firaxis has acknowledged.

It's unlikely that Firaxis will do this, for the same reason most companies don't do this - making public a list of things that are wrong with your product isn't sound marketting.

It's senseless to try to argue against something like that, because it seems to be one of the central philosophies of marketting that you should never say anything that could even be remotely construed as admitting your product is less than perfect.

Personally I think it's like politicial scandals - sure they take some short term flack for admitting they've made a mistake, but if more of them had the guts to do so I think in the long term people's respect for them would be much higher.

Though for all I know Firaxis' financial reality may not allow it to take anything other than a short term view ... so I'm not going to speculate any further on the "what ifs" in this area.