a STATEMENT OF ACTIVISION TO THE CIV COMMUNITY

[Alexander's Horse]

Maybe people should take this media release to their local consumer protection agency and point out the bugs. Consumers have been very tolerant of Activision till now - but now they are saying they don't care if the game is flawed. Maybe its time for consumers to flex their muscles. If Activision was selling toasters or cars they wouldn't be able to get away with selling defective products. The multiplayer side is clearly defective and unfinished. That's consumer fraud and there are heavy fines in most Western countries for that.

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Chaos, panic and disorder - My work here is done.
[This message has been edited by Alexander's Horse (edited January 21, 2001).]

[MarkG]

from CGO

quote: Front Office Football Central is reporting that EA Sports has no plans to issue a patch for its NFL GM sim, Front Office Football 2001. Despite claims from users that own Voodoo based video cards that the game is unplayable due to instabilty problems, the company issued a statement that the it could find no technical problems that were in need of a patch. An EA representative also stated that the company simply had no additional funds to continue to support Front Office Football 2001.

sound familiar??

[Kautilya]

I didn't buy CTP1 but now I understand all the anger from those who did.

My first impressions of CTP2 were positive but after reading various posts I have realized:
1) CTP2 isn't really a new game but more of an extended patch of CTP1. Charging full price for it is an outrage. Although since I didn't pay for CTP1 I can't personally complain about being swindled on that front.
2) Even though CTP2 isn't very innovative it is still not a finished product. Stopping support now is another outrage.

Oh well. I suppose the whole CTP saga is a text-book case of how to swindle custormers with shoddy half-finished products. The pity is that they had some really good ideas like stacked combat and reducing micromanagement.

[Wyrmo]

I'm most happy with getting a pirated version of this game, cuz it not only mean I haven't wasted money on a game that will never be done, but it also means that Activision isn't getting this money.
How can they make a sequal to a game and remove so many good features from the original one?
Like hotseat, PBEM, scenario-support in MP?
The AI sucks, diplomacy isn't finished and the game is generally buggy.
Scenario-support is what was most important to me, as well as hotseat, since me and my girlfriend loved playing CTP hotseated, and also making custom maps. Without the ability to have custom maps in MP, I will never buy this game, wich I thought I would do if it was good enough.
I bought CTP, and I don't regret it. I pirated CTP2, and I don't regret that either.
Just my oppinion.

[MrFun]

I am an angry. :frown:

Not because I cannot accept the fact that companies are created to make money, not because I cannot accept the fact that companies have other projects to do. These are facts of business that I do accept.

I am angry because Activision has decided to completely neglect customer relations with CTPII players from here onwards.

I own only two games from Activison: CTP and CTPII. I am also a novice modifier for CTPII, but now, I will not be buying any more games from Activision. In fact, I am considering selling CTP I and CTP II once Civiliztaion III is released.

I have played Sid Meier's Civilization gmaes since the Super NES days. I am anxious to see how well Firaxis does with Civilization III.

[ucel]

quote: Originally posted by jkadabomb on 01-20-2001 05:24 PM Alright Activision, I have been defending you from the start, but now I am totally pissed off after the work Ive seen other companies put into their games. 1. Look at valve. They fully supported HalfLife and spent many a month creating the free addon of Team Fortress Classic for it. In fact this was a very awsome mod. Along with that from the original halflife they added multiplayer support, and tons of customization ability. HalfLife has also been followed up with many patches and fixes. How long do you think it took them to create this? 2. Sierra created a free EXPANSION PACK for its great game of Ground Control. This aint no little scenario folkes. These are only too examples but you can also look at plenty of other games.

Only one short and simple question:
How many patches has Microprose released for Civ2?

I think it was more than 10. And they didn't give it up...

quote: We have been reviewing the posts by various forum members calling for additional patches to make the AI more challenging for them (...) These requests, which sound simple, are actually long, complex feature additions that would require up to 3-4 months of programming and testing time.

The game was released two months ago and there are already some mods which try to repair AI bug. They were written by people NOT from Activision and it has taken them less than 3-4 month to write it. Maybe the reason is they are not from Activision...

Let's wait for Civ3.
ucel

[CC_Fully_Completely]

To whoever wrote that message, if you make a patch for CTP i'll be your best friend, and if you guys make an expansion pack, we can be more than just friends!

[Gwap]

Up to now, I've not considered a game's producers as an issue when deciding what to buy... this will change.

*All* software has bugs... some serious, some minor, but bugs nonetheless. It is the way companies deal with these bugs that determines the longevity of the company (despite a certain company from Redmond apparently bucking that trend).

Unfortunately, many companies (and most games developers) cannot afford to provide after-care for their products. Setting the authorities onto this sort of thing would open the flood-gates, and may result in fewer titles at higher prices... and niche products such as those in the turn-based strategy games category may disappear entirely... there is much more money to be made of shoot/beat/race-em-ups.

So we have to hope that Firaxis/Hasbro take the moral highground on this one, patch any bugs (and there *will* be bugs) and provide the degree of openness that Activision have done (up to now).

P.S. If Activision is dropping the product entirely, why not throw the source code into the public domain... I'm sure there won't be much earth-shatteringly groundbreaking in the code anyway

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Nostalgia isn't what it used to be
[This message has been edited by Gwap (edited January 22, 2001).]

[Lee Johnson]

I can't say I'm surprised. I can't say I'm happy about it, either, but it's my fault for giving Activision my money in the first place. The company has demonstrated lukewarm support for its products time and time again; those of you who paid for the steaming mound of crap known as Heavy Gear (1) should know what I'm talking about. That game never worked properly on my system, and the patch that would have fixed its most egregious crashing problems was never officially released.

In my cynical view, the publishers are cutting their development costs by releasing incomplete products, and then refusing to budget an adequate amount of time and money to actually finish them properly.

Thanks for nothing, Activision!

[Chris B]

quote: Originally posted by MarkG on 01-20-2001 04:21 AM I guess this means goodbye. I would personally like to thank the CTP1/2 team members for their cooperation and help over the last years, from the last days of TFGC2S(and the first of Apolyton) until today.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr, this mkes my blood boil!!!!! After serving us so long and so ardenty, tere just ackin up and leading us in the dust?????? This doesn't make sense at all.
Also, Im curious to know what "other projects" the team is moving on to?????
What could be more worth their time than Call to Power??????

[Martock]

How i long for the days of the commodore 64 where games were produced for the most part by companies that cared for it's customers. WE were the cash cows to these companies and they treated US like gods. every game came with manual that explained every aspect (or the vast majority of them anyway) of the game and the games themselves weren't rushed to meet some marketing deadline (well they may have been under a deadline but it was a damn reasonable one that allowed the game to be made correctly)...sigh.

well those days are long gone now. i will NEVER buy another Activision game again. Activision needs to be humbled and disgraced before the industry. let them serve as an example to the others.

out of curiousity, anyone know a lawyer for a class action against Activison? maybe we can get our money back or at least spook that worthless company. (i wish that big grin was in fact an evil grin!)

[rah]

This was my first AND LAST experience with ACTIVISION.

And for any EXECs that may read this........

There is a profit to be made by customer service.
Companies that don't provide it disappear. And I hope Activision does too.

It's been over a year since CIVII MP was released. There were some initial problems and enough of them were resolved quite quickly. And the game was always playable. And guess what, the game is still selling. And people are waiting to pay $$$$ for CIVIII.

So live and learn or go bankrupt. You can all guess which I would prefer.

RAH
Word of mouth is a powerfull tool. Every persion you piss off tells ten more.

[Atahualpa]

Sad sad sad story.

oh well at least Elite Force is quite

ATa

[ajbera]

quote: Originally posted by Martock on 01-22-2001 09:39 AM out of curiousity, anyone know a lawyer for a class action against Activison? maybe we can get our money back or at least spook that worthless company. (i wish that big grin was in fact an evil grin!)

Most attorneys will provide a free consultation session. It can't hurt for a dissatisfied buyer to approach a lawyer and discuss the possibility of a lawsuit. It is entirely possible that a lawsuit is not feasible for one reason or another, but, then again, it may be feasible. I haven't bought the game yet (I was waiting for Wes' mod, but now I'll wait 'til the prices drop really low and get it from the bargain bin or eBay) so I can't initiate a suit, but one of YOU can, and I recommend you do. I'm as tired of this bulls**t as anyone, though I'm not $50 poorer because of it. But we irate gameplayers must give voice to our grievances, through legal and economic channels when appropriate.

[Steve Clark]

quote: Originally posted by MarkG on 01-21-2001 09:12 PM from CGO Front Office Football Central is reporting that EA Sports has no plans to issue a patch for its NFL GM sim, Front Office Football 2001. Despite claims from users that own Voodoo based video cards that the game is unplayable due to instabilty problems, the company issued a statement that the it could find no technical problems that were in need of a patch. An EA representative also stated that the company simply had no additional funds to continue to support Front Office Football 2001.

sound familiar??