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Jimmer -> RE: Is This Game Playable Yet? (10/4/2008 2:39:33 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: NeverMan
EDIT: I guess what a lot of people here who think I complain/whine too much don't understand is that I was here back then and I was screaming my lungs out for EiA and TCP/IP, both of which got ignored.
Well, while I would prefer TCP/IP play over PBEM, I'm glad you lost the argument. For, then, we would have nothing EiA-ish for at least another year (and I might never accidentally run into it then ...).
However, you are mistaken (or, using selective memory) to say that you were ignored. Your choice was defeated, primarly because there were far more people on the other side. I've seen the poll. I forget the numbers, but your position was simply outvoted.
Were they wrong? Perhaps. There seems to have been a lot of the other side who have disappeared from the debate. Perhaps they simply gave up on the game. Or, it's possible they don't want to be reminded that this was their idea. I don't know.
But, what we have now is what we have. There's no point in asking for TCP/IP as the next project. It would kill the game to take that much of Marshall's time away from the game.
I don't care if you "whine" or whatever. I do it myself. But, my preference would be that we debate constructively instead of destructively. It does absolute no good to say "I told you so"; they cannot change the general path they are on. Let's get the current game cleaned up close to "completely", and THEN push forward on other major improvements.
By the way, I (probably like you) would like to see full, original EIA as a TCP/IP-enabled package. I would pay extra for a server service to house the data (which is the only way the game could be secured properly). Etc. So, my preference is to ignore the idea of an EIA SCENARIO (don't bother wasting resources on it), and go straight to full EIA IP play instead (say, version 2). However, before we can do that, Matrix must turn a profit on the game. And that means getting this game, as Mary Poppins would say "spit-spot!"
I "think" Erik and Matrix are right on target as to how to get there. I don't know all of their plans, of course, but they seem pretty good right now. Hasbro would have written off the whole project if it didn't make boodles of money in the first three months. Firaxis would have cut it off at the knees after 6. Matrix is the only company I've seen willing to stick with a good idea like this, no matter how much it hurts.
The seed is here. The game has great promise: I've now played 4 games in a row (as France) through the first year, and I've not been able to get into London until at least July every time. That is a HUGE improvement.
I think they are on the right path NOW, using what they have. They can't go back in time and change things. So, to get to IP play, they have two options:
1) Blow up the current game and start over. This would be financially disastrous for them, and they most likely wouldn't survive. So, that option is out.
2) Mold what they have now into and acorn that can grow into an oak tree.
(I may have created a false dichotomy here, but, simplified, this is pretty close.)
I think that second option is the only one that will work. They need our help to do it, though. I'm going to stand behind them until the project either succeeds or fails. For, there really is no other path to choose.
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