Now if they were Really Fiendish...

[Jethro83]

As annoying as advertising is, its the most effective way at this point in time to keep things free.

We could see advertisments in the nest patch. Like you see Lincoln on the diplomatic screen and he decides to declare war, well you advisor can say " this war is brought to you by the fine folks of PEPSI COLA , for those who think young ".

I'd actually find it amusing seeing civ leaders in the Diplomacy screen trying to sell you something (real anyway).

Caesar in modern era could be advertising an online used-car dealership since he looks like he could sell me a used car anyway.

[Grrr]

...and lots of beta testing...

Firaxis knows the meaning of these words?

[Inverse Icarus]

Originally posted by Grrr

...and lots of beta testing...

Firaxis knows the meaning of these words?

yes, they make people pay $50 for the oppurtunity

[Hrafn]

I would not play if this happens...

[Thrawn05]

Originally posted by LordAzreal
Anyway, I'd rather see a service with loads and loads of ads than one I have to pay for. That's how free online services get their money... ADVERTISING!!!

Don't forget merchandising!

Barf: Merchandising? What's that?

Yogert: Come, I show you.
Yogert: Merchandising! Merchandising! Where the real money from the game is made!
Yogert: Civ3 the T-Shirt!
Yogert: Civ3 the Lunch Box!
Yogert: Civ3 the Comic book!
Yogert: Civ3 The Breakfest Cereal!
Yogert: Civ3 the Flame Thrower!
Yogert: The kids love this one.
Yogert: And last, but not least. Civ3 the doll, Sid.

Sid Doll: Buy my Games!

[Thrawn05]

Originally posted by LordAzreal
Caesar in modern era could be advertising an online used-car dealership since he looks like he could sell me a used car anyway.

At least he won't be screaming out "PIZZA! PIZZA!".

[TCO]

I talked about this months ago and everybody told me I was high. Now it doesn't seem that impossible.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
According to Sid Meiers interview by KGN during the GC tour in Germany, he's in doubt that Firaxis is powerful enough to develop and maintain a massively multiplayer game (whatever it would be, just he was asked).

Here's the quote (translated from German):

Krawall: In the press conference you said great things about the internet. "Civilization 3" has no multiplayer part. What about a massive multiplayer version of "Civilization"?
Sid Meier: Well, I think such a burden our small business can't take. Massively multiplayer games need big investments in technology development, massive market analysis and lots of beta testing. But if our publisher wants such a title, we can talk about it (grins in the direction of the Infogrames PR manager Michael Wetzel).

Krawall: But basically you'd be interested?
Sid Meier: Of course I'd like to see, how far I could go in this sector. It's a new, exciting, but at the same time repelling world. I don't know. Really.

Fascinating! Great article. About what you would expect also. I think Sid is dead on with his comments. He and everybody else is intrigued with the idea of pay-per play. But it is an open question if Civ is popular enough to support this.

[TCO]

The concept of looping in advertising is a great one as well.

People are eventually going to figure out how to crack this nut.

[dunk]

It doesn't matter if they make it a pay subscription or free.

There will always be unofficial places where you can play for free.

[DarkCloud]

But those will be illegal

[Grrr]

Their is no law governing apolyton, is there?

[Scientia]

Re: Re: Now if they were Really Fiendish...

Originally posted by LordAzreal
That is the exact problem that chased me away from Ultima Online. I wanted to subscribe, but when I heard about a monthly subscription fee... NO WAY!!!

Wow . . that brings back memories. What chased me away from UO was the lag problems, rampant PK's with excessive cheating, and an unbalanced economy that prevented you from making any money outside of stealing or joining a guild. The shopkeepers kept running out of money because everyone would sell common items to them for cash.

I was a beta tester for UO (still have the CD's somewhere). I was also a beta tester for Meridian59 (Captain, Meridian Militia). This was long before I knew about any of the Civ games, and I admit that the negative aspects of MP in those games is what prevented me from playing MP in Civ II (or any of my other MP compatible games for that matter).

I think Civ III MP might be worth trying, as long as the programmers anticipate/fix any exploits that upset play balance. You'd be surprised (or perhaps not) of what some players can come up with to bend rules and cut corners and achieve an "edge". There was a cheat in Meridian59 that allowed you to increase combat stats by standing in an open doorway and attacking doors. Combat in cities was prohibited, but I found a way to attack other players (PKers) by casting a defensive spell that caused damage to everyone nearby if I broke concentration by moving.

There's not really anything directly comparable to this in Civ III, but if a cheat such as MULTI still existed (or the ability to hexedit client side game files to affect stats), I imagine most players would be angry to learn that it was used in an MP environment. I'm sure everyone here would agree that when MP does roll out for Civ III, the winner should be the player that plays the best strategy. Of course, there will be some luck of the draw with starting location, resource availability, goody huts, etc.

The exciting part of the MP challenge is in anticipating opponent strategies (not the same old AI ICS) and devising effective counter-strategies. A little bit of brain over brawn!