heliodorus04
Posts: 1647
Joined: 11/1/2008 From: Nashville TN Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Joel Billings Here's my post from the other thread: Re the Stalingrad withdrawal issue. It is one part myth, one part design. Many units destroyed at Stalingrad were rebuilt and sent to the Western Front. These are the units that we have set to withdraw with the assumption that had they not been destroyed, they, or units like them would have been sent to the Western Front. Now there is some disagreement about this because some of the units were being formed in Germany and took on the names of units that had been destroyed in Stalingrad. IIRC the guys working on this replied that many/most of these units were just starting to be formed and that resources did come from the main pool that would have otherwise been available to go east. In the game, if you have a unit destroyed, it is rebuilt by resources otherwise available in the East and if it was set to withdraw it is still rebuilt and then withdrawn. Bottom line is if you don't lose these units at Stalingrad you end up better off than if you lose them, which is as it should be. Helio, as I 've said before, I'm sorry you are not happy with the game, but no game pleases everyone . Your continuing to hit the same points over and over again (including having this mythical Stalingrad issue on your sig) is not getting you or the game anywhere. I have never used the forum blocking mechanism before, but I am going to use it now as I see you adding nothing to the conversation at this point and are simply wasting a lot of people's time and energy that could be much better spent elsewhere. I wish you the best and hope you find a game to play that you can enjoy. Look, Joel (though I know you're not reading me). Above I have emphasized in bold/underline a prime example of your cognitive dissonance. Please forgive me for repeating my (and some others', though not all) prime complaints of the game repeatedly because they unfairly relegate Germany to a bit player in a Soviet re-enactment campaign foisting itself off as competitive Strategic and Operational level game (by a company that claims to be an industry leader in both design and product support). I don't recall making many complaints against the AI (which is the only opponent against which I can have an enjoyable, competitive game), nor not enjoying the game. This was a thread about PBEM. It's quite something to accuse me of having the 'mythical Stalingrad issue' in my signature in a thread in which the prior paragraph states that the 'Stalingrad issue' is "part by design." You want to focus on the "design" part, and highlight your rationale, while simultaneously ignoring the down-stream consequence on strategic control and competitive balance. Meanwhile, you wish to characterize other opinions about the facts as "myth." If you acknowledge the fact as you have above, then to characterize differing opinions as you do demonstrates what I have harped on for some time as problematic (to the game) bias and inconsistency. There is a reason I chose the signature I have. I choose this Stalingrad withdrawl fact to criticize your game because it is the easiest, least nuanced point around which to show your company's lack of consideration to both strategic control (of Germany) and anti-competitiveness. It is the easiest fact of game design around which anyone with a rudimentary understanding of World War 2, as well as gameplay, can see that the sides are treated unequally. In a sentence, people can see the problem. It's taking a lot longer for your team, though. As for my complaints about price point and discontinued support, and the beta test characterization, that is an attempt to shame your company into fixing the problems of the game we paid a price premium for (which is probably impossible at this point since the code is too rigid to fix easily, and you want to focus on future titles), or discounting a future purchase in acknowledging certain points about your WitE product, your customer base, and your business model. With regard to the former, when people ask, I will respond. I am not being unfair. Your Stalingrad issue was your design, and you must stand beside it and own it. I am neither lying nor over-dramatizing the point. Methinks thou dos't protest too much. With regard to the beta test allegations, you can shut my mouth on those simply by figuring out the math and promising us a reward for our loyalty. I honestly do think we deserve financial consideration for your next product, given that we paid $30 more than Blizzard charges for its best-in-category games. If you think your support is sufficient, I could research patch support in the Starcraft and Starcraft 2 series of games, which might go some distance to silence your supporters on how great your product support is. And while it would be easy to say that Blizzard has more staff and sells multitudes more units, this would bring us back to the beginning: design a more competetive, better playing game, and the rest follows.
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Fall 2021-Playing: Stalingrad'42 (GMT); Advanced Squad Leader, Reading: Masters of the Air (GREAT BOOK!) Rulebooks: ASL (always ASL), Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game Painting: WHFB Lizardmen leaders
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