rooibos

You've created a strawman here. No one espoused "dumbing down" of the game. It's not a realistic scenario, because not only does it not need to happen, but in fact, outside of AAA Titles, it's not always the case. ARMA3, complicated as it can be- especially with people (as myself) who use full milsim mods, is leaps and bounds above its earliest predecessor. ARMA3 is also an order of magnitude more popular than its progenitor. You're using "oh but popularity will make the game bad" as an argument as to why the game can't be more popular, which is a false argument, full stop. I have no interest, beyond minor bug-nitpicking, in changing the game. None of the "big dogs" even know this product exists and if the game vaporizes and the studio disappears, we're left with nothing. No legacy. No studios out there aspiring to build what CM once had. (There aren't any doing that now either) https://www.reddit.com/r/baldursgate/ This is a 17,000 member strong, moderately active community dedicated to a 17 year old game that hasn't had proper support in years. The company folded three years after its release.

Absolutely. I can't help but feel jaded when the people in charge of the game treat it like some back shelf secret they're ashamed of. Or like some teenage band who are just too cool for "selling out" and as a result, you never get to see them play shows and when they do, they're in the singer's weird uncle's garage and no one else shows up. And merchandise? Good luck, they're not interested in a merch guy because "that's the way they've always done it". You're welcome to screenprint your own Scuttlebutts Tshirts though. Hey maybe they'll even sign it for you if you go to the one show a year they perform... that is, if you even hear about when it's happening. I've got a half dozen friends that won't touch this game with a 10-foot pole because of its archaic downloader and lack of opponent browser. They would absolutely play it, and play it often, if perhaps I were to drunkenly purchase it for their Steam (or GOG or what have you) inventory- as I, and many others have done a countless number of times for other games. And that's not even including internet friends/friends from other games who you might look to get into it (sorry Funtimesguy666 from that weird forum I post on, I'm not buying you CM as it is now. If it were two clicks of my mouse then yeah, you'd have a copy already) or simply benefit from seeing people on their Friends List playing it. Even a small increase in active player base not only means more people to play with, but more content. More maps, more scenarios etc. It's exponential really- more content being generated in turns generates more content. More DARs/AARs/Lets plays which means more visibility as a result. Plus, players who may be on the fence and might feel sort of blase about the game, see positive work being done and more players involved. Someone who bought the game on a whim and has no way to connect to others, or sees that at any given time there's maybe a half dozen opponents looking for games isn't going to go that extra step and might "oh lame this game is dead". Someone who logs in and sees 100 opponents available thinks "oh wow this might be worth sticking to".

That's defeatist and counterproductive. If you're fine with struggling to find opponents, a tiny selection of maps and mods and a company uninterested in modernizing, that's fine. But it's a disservice to the exceptional product itself, and inconsiderate of the product it can be.

I'm sure that really matters, given the sample size. How about you ask any of the...oh wait. It's almost like there isn't anyone else anywhere actually discussing this game. I'm not sure CM will rocket to the level of popularity wherein there's a schism within the community about what features need to be added. That's a terrible excuse. Instead, one can look objectively at metrics like popularity- and see this game has next to zero presence. And if that does happens, that's a wild and incredible thing for BF as a company. CK2 isn't really seen as being niche anymore which is the point. The genre, for the longest time was, and tbh outside of CK2 sort of still is. Underlying mechanical engine complexity doesn't really matter. There are plenty of games *more* complex than CM both complex in terms of engine mechanics, and in term of gameplay systems that are considerably more popular and quite a bit more visible than CM. Look to a game like ARMA, that up until ARMA2 was released was basically an extremely niche "nerd" game that has since grown into one of the largest, most popular and simple best games of the entire genre- if not PC gaming in general. It hasn't lost complexity. It hasn't lost community involvement. In fact there was an entire standalone non-ARMA game launched based entirely off of the contributions of the community. Wanna know how much I've spent on Operation Flashpoint/ARMA as a whole? And that doesn't even consider the mechanics other games adopted from ARMA, making them in turn better as a whole. I don't accept your narrative that CM is "only for" or "will only be played by" stuffy old grognards. This is a game developed by 1 guy, and it only recently jumped onto steam. (I've bought this game several times as well) https://www.reddit.com/r/RimWorld/ 40,000 reddit subscribers. 200+ users browsing There are nearly as many users browsing that sub as there are the *entire forum population of The Few Good Men*. The second hit on youtube for Rimworld has almost 300,000 views and is 2 months old. Ithikial's best video? 1/10th the views and is 4 years old. Searching for "combat mission red thunder" doesn't return a *single video* with more than 25,000 views. Black sea has a handful over 50. Interestingly a 9 year old Shock Force video broke 300,00 and two CM Touch videos broke 200,000. The inactive forum is *indicative* of a problem, not the reason. CKII has a considerable learning curve and a large amount of mechanical complexity. Just because it *can* be used for shenanigans and memes doesn't make that untrue. CKII is a stodgy game about medieval power politics, where combat takes a distant backseat to electing council and assigning peerage. That should be a recipe for "niche" if I've ever heard one. Glancing HE shells off of the sides of a tank resulting in the cowering infantry nearby being blown apart or shredding buildings with AGS-17 should be at the top of the list of "hell yeah that's cool".

It's a clear and obvious demonstration that "niche" or "complex" titles aren't actually "niche" at all. It's not about quality of the product itself, that stands on its own. It's about visibility. Something that objectively improves quality. More opponents. More maps. More mods. More AAR and DARs. We're sitting here praising a single article in a B-list gamer magazine. The game doesn't even have an active subreddit.

Oh wow a single review on a niche gaming website. Really making leaps and bounds with that "visibility" thing. Meanwhile, Crusader Kings 2 one of the most complex titles for PC released in the last few years has surpassed 5 million units sold (and they surpassed that mark 2 years ago) with 4,000 players on Steam just last month. I'm not interested in pursuing anymore CM titles until BF smartens up and moves into the 21st century.

that's what steam offline mode is for. the issue isn't pandering to you, you've already bought it. the issue is the 8 million people who bought a game about driving a tractor or that CM's spiritual ancestor actually sat on steam's TOP 10 best seller list.

probably having a community the size of my mother's bridge club doesn't help

I find movement much easier in older eras. Weapons are not as lethal, there isn't the everpresent danger of near instant artillery or fast movers and spotting is not as effective. Whereas in BS I might really plot out with exact detail a sneaking/cautious path of some infantry through some woods, in RT and FB I don't have a problem just walking them up to the front. It's much easier in this sense, to reinforce holes or shift maneuvers. Small mistakes don't always becomes huge ones as they did in BS (no russian grenade launchers to worry about). You can be a bit sneakier, use movement more effectively. At the same time, so can they. Beware of areas where spotting coverage is poor, you'll rapidly find enemies behind your lines. I had the *opposite* issue, coming from RT to BS. My maneuvers were too brazen, too rapid. I was used to rolling up to a front with fresh men or pulling troops out of a pocket and just marching them somewhere else. That you can't do in BS, you'll be wiped out. While we lack vehicles like Bradleys and BMPs to lay HE into buildings or thickets where you suspect there may be infantry, don't be afraid to employ jeeps or something light skinned vehicles in a support role. Generally, they will die fast if fire is returned from just about anyone, but a .50 from 500yds out can be very effective in suppressing an area. You need every asset you can to make up for the decrease in overall lethality and you don't have piles of 20mm autocannon you can just lob around.

This game has no presence. It's never mentioned on reddit (except for by one notable user, now banned... I know who you are :D). And reddit is the biggest website on the internet. It doesn't have its own subreddit, and everything has a subreddit. There are only a few dozen CM videos on youtube with over 1,000 views. It's not mentioned on gaming websites- Rock Paper Shotgun is pretty much the only one, and even then it's in the "niche wargaming for old dudes" column. Hell, the only reason I bought CMBS or even knew about it was because I remembered the Combat Mission name from its connection to Close Combat, way back when CM was turn based. I used to post on the old SSI boards a lot. Despite what the higher-ups say, I'll still harp that not migrating to Steam is a HUGE mistake. Christ, a game about driving tractors and planting corn sold 8 million copies on the PC.

I wouldn't mind a simple ROE or posture mode. Could perhaps be issued absolutely at the commander level or perhaps per platoon basis, idk. Sometimes seems like it would be a good way to streamline the constant adjusting of target arcs. I.e. Hold fire. Hold fire unless engaged. Hold fire until good targets found. Open fire. Heavy suppression (shoot anything with everything)

Everyone here knows the answer to this though

maybe a campaign mode finally? a proper map editor? Steam support and a large community (LOL)?

Or you could look at games like rimworld who don't just have one coder, their *entire* team is one person and have put out actually weekly updates to the game for 2 years now.

I can't seem to user snipers effectively. I find they get targeted and shot rapidly. The other annoying thing is when their spotter decides to fire his carbine and give away the position before the long gun has come to bear.