Metacritic reviews

[Redwolf]

IFF one accepts the proposition that you put forth that reviews are the only way to gain new customers, then sure; reviews are important.

Of course, your proposition is as usual complete balls, and therefore so is your conclusion.

That's because you never learned to read.

I never said anything about "only".

I would normally make jokes about homeschooling but that's apparently a level too high already.

[JonS]

because of your history, you get no benefit of the doubt. I read the words you write, and will respond to them as I see fit. If you want a more benign response, try not being a sanctimonious dick ALL the time.

[Battlefront.com]

Easy. While I would think Redwolf's shoulder would be tired by now, what with how long that big chip has been sitting on it, let's keep it civil.

Of course reviews matter to someone who finds a value in that particular review. But to say that any review, no matter how piss poorly written or where it's posted, matters is utter nonsense. How would anybody ever make sense of the world if they took each and every review literally and without question? If that were the case then as soon as the person sees a second review that in ANY WAY conflicts with the first one, then the person would be completely adrift and unable to make a decision about a purchase. Which is total nonsense.

So why should we get our knickers in a twist if someone is out there bad mouthing us? We can not do anything to stop moronic, juvenile negative posts. We can't do anything for people who don't like wargames who stumble upon CM and couldn't ever like playing it. We could dump a million bucks into the UI, graphics, kitten videos, etc. tomorrow and it won't change anything. And if someone wants to donate a million bucks for this purpose I'd be happy to prove my point

And what is the point of this anyway? To say a couple of cranks matter? They DO NOT MATTER, try as they might. If they did matter I'd do what other developers do... beg people who play the game, and love it, to "vote for us". I could have 1000 people over there in a blink of an eye if I asked them to. Take a guess what that would do for our score. But I don't ask favors of people when there's no reason to bother them.

Steve

[Kenzie]

kitten videos

Okay now there's an idea. Cat pictures on the main menu and loading screens.

Or better yet, replace all the soldiers in the game with anthropomorphic cats. Cats with helmets on their heads. The metacritic score will then go through the roof.

[JonS]

will this do?

[Kenzie]

Ohh, that's perfect. I would play the hell out of that.

Like the Great Weasel War in the Mouse Guard comics. Except WW2. You could have a mouse army fighting a weasel army. With rabbits used as fast transport and scouts.

[Whiterider]

I´m suspicious of "experts" opinions and reviews. Most "experts" work for companies (with their own interests). Depending of the circumstances they can defend one opinion and the opposite in a short period of time. There are "experts" of music, literature, sports, games, politics... Follow the money and you will see who they are: mercenaries.

Will the ignorants open their eyes some day?

[Apocal]

Are those 2D hex games?

APOS has a worse interface than CMx2, hands down. I spend about a third more of my time fist-fighting the UI compared to CMx2 games. That isn't to say its an inferior game (or superior for that matter) but acting like CMx2 is uniquely bad in the interface department is simply disingenuous. Or ill-informed. Now WALB is quite a bit better in that regard, its control scheme is nearly perfect for the game's scope, but its pedigree is from the competitive RTS games/community rather than ASL, so that's to be expected.

Right now, my main complaint with this is that there isn't some kind of lobby system or pre-made IRC chat room linked directly to the games for finding opponents on the fly.

It's because people like this go there to vote:

I will never understand why you guys focus on a bad review from a no-name reviewer who's sole purpose on YouTube seems to be vomiting hours upon hours of nearly content-free videos onto their servers. Seriously, look at the number of hits the review received: less than 1500. Almost nobody saw this review. If people had not linked it on this forum previously he almost certainly would not have broken 1000 views -- and probably between 700-900 unique hits. The number of people making purchasing decisions based on this guy's video (especially since its literally years late) probably wouldn't break out of the the tens, at most.

Basically the casual gamers (a term I usually hate to use, but I will in this case) who just want to play an easy game that lasts no more than 10 hours and holds their hands all the way from start to finish.

Eh... I disagree, a good interface should hold the player's hand, even a slower-paced real time game like the CMx2 series. A player shouldn't need hours upon hours of poking, prodding, testing and theorycrafting to figure out how to make the AI do what they want, the interface should give them clear, concise direction and the tools to make the pixeltroops do what they intend with minimal (unintended) side effects.

[altipueri]

Hello Kitty

Go and look at the Juju TweakedUI Skinpack thread in the mods forum.

I want the Hello Kitty setup and I want it now.

Quick BFC this is you instant route to getting the game popularised.

Somebody more clever than me could try posting examples here in the main forum.

Kitty is way to go boys, not least because it will drive all the hard core players nuts.

[Michael Emrys]

I think the intro movie should be of a kitten being hacked to pieces with an ax followed by closeups of the gore oozing out. Just to get players in the mood, you understand.

Michael

[mjkerner]

I think the intro movie should be of a kitten being hacked to pieces with an ax followed by closeups of the gore oozing out. Just to get players in the mood, you understand.

Michael

Where's Imolestcats when you need him?

[GSX]

For about 75% of our total audience, perhaps. As anybody whose frequented these Forums over the last 13 years will know... Eastern Front is my favorite topic, but I'm not blind to the reality that the Western Front is where the sales are at. I bet if we put out an all inclusive 1941-1945 Eastern Front game it would be outsold by a Battle of the Bulge game.

Argue all you like, but if you haven't been on the sales and development side of gaming then kindly keep in mind that you don't know what you're talking about

Where Eastern Front shines, from a sales standpoint, is it's predictability. The Eastern Front is HUGE and offers us tons of game opportunities. Each one is almost as likely as any other to sell strong. Not fantastic, but strong. Which means we are more willing to develop Eastern Front games because we are confident they aren't risky. Provided we scale our development costs to the effort it's a win-win for everybody. It's why we have waited so long to do Eastern Front, in fact. We had Modern and Western Front "fund" the game engine we now have. Which means we don't need to plow huge resources into the game portion of the Eastern Front since it's already (mostly) developed. If it wasn't I can assure you we wouldn't have an Eastern Front game already well under way.

Steve

Ooh I dont like the sound of that 'well underway' statement. That usually means 1-2 years out for your guys and I was thinking 2014-summerish. Please dont tell me your going to put out a Bulge game before an EF one?

I didnt buy the Italy one as it was more Westfront and Im not even sure I will buy the CM module for the same reason. Another Westfront (Bulge) game would just bore me to tears I think.

Over a year ago BF stated that Id be playing 3 new games by now and so far Ive not played a single one, so any update on when Ill be playing a new game that isnt a Westfront one?

However, I do understand that you all have to eat and if the ETO is providing a well balanced diet, please dont make the game I want if you have to live on potatoes and soup.

Cheers

[Lt Belenko]

For about 75% of our total audience, perhaps. As anybody whose frequented these Forums over the last 13 years will know... Eastern Front is my favorite topic, but I'm not blind to the reality that the Western Front is where the sales are at. I bet if we put out an all inclusive 1941-1945 Eastern Front game it would be outsold by a Battle of the Bulge game.

Steve

Christmas Day 1973 when I opened my first war game, Panzer Blitz, my first thought "What is this Russian/German war you speak of?"

Until that point my only knowledge of the Russian Front was Col. Klink and Sgt Shultz's fear of a transfer there. I love the East Front too.

Can't wait for the battles on the steppe to begin. Patiently buying ETO games in the interim.

[kensal]

will this do?

Wonderpets!

[superwoz]

This set of CM games get poor reviews because these games full of design flaws. I’m mystified at the ludicrous oversights in this game that BF lets stand. BF does extensive research into battles, dates, landscapes, and structures to create an accurate gaming experience which we all appreciate. Yet many of these simple to correct flaws have been discussed many times on the boards with zero response by BF. The lack of deference to ‘us’ the customer is bewildering. The forum is full of needed changers but also wonderful ideas to improve this game, yet BFs attitude is; the game is good enough so F**k off . . . But please purchase our next CM game.

[Fenris]

And 3...2...1...

[Battlefront.com]

Ooh I dont like the sound of that 'well underway' statement. That usually means 1-2 years out for your guys and I was thinking 2014-summerish.

And here we go again... if we tell you a date and we miss it we get skewered. If we don't tell a date we get skewered. It's a fun game, but not a new one.

Since you haven't been paying attention, I'll clue you in to the fact that nothing takes us 2 years any more.

Please dont tell me your going to put out a Bulge game before an EF one?

No.

Over a year ago BF stated that Id be playing 3 new games by now and so far Ive not played a single one,

Well, that's your choice. We've released 2 new games this year. We had hoped to have another 2 done before the end of the year, but that's not quite going to happen.

so any update on when Ill be playing a new game that isnt a Westfront one?

Other than "soon"? No.

However, I do understand that you all have to eat and if the ETO is providing a well balanced diet, please dont make the game I want if you have to live on potatoes and soup.

ETO and Modern are the only two broad categories we have any definite plans to support.

This set of CM games get poor reviews because these games full of design flaws.

And it gets positive and glowing reviews because it's crap? Because I can point to a lot of really good reviews of CM, but customers and game reviewers alike. Which indicates to me that you really don't understand how things work.

The forum is full of needed changers but also wonderful ideas to improve this game, yet BFs attitude is; the game is good enough so F**k off . . . But please purchase our next CM game.

What parallel universe do you live in? Because that's about as far away from this universe as you can get. But I suppose if you think that we have a) the time and the interest in responding to every single nit-pick and pet peeve that someone expresses here AND push everything out of the way to make sure it gets into the next release... well, you have us there. We don't have the time or the interest in doing that. Just making an ever improving, ever better game using feedback from customers.

And it's a hard pill to swallow, I know, but many of these "needed changes" are not. Some are actually harmful some technically impossible. Make a game like this yourself and you'll quickly find out what I'm talking about. Or heck, point to any game that does tactical warfare better than CM and I'll give you a Gold Star for your insightful views on game design and production.

Steve

[MikeyD]

That usually means 1-2 years out for your guys

CMFI showed up out of the blue with no waiting time roughly the same time as the CMBN Commonwealth module. The Gustav Line module with full season changes followed reasonably close behind, then the big CMBN v2.0 upgrade, then the Market Garden module. Now, two weeks after Market Garden is released, you claim to have to wait 2 years for new product? Let me guess - CMFI 'does count' in your calculation because you didn't purchase it. Didn't purchase CM:Afghanistan either, and maybe didn't purchase the CMSF NATO module. Am I right? In that case it would indeed be a long 2 year wait between products!

[AttorneyAtWar]

I personally can't wait for the eastern front, then I can do my best "Cross of Iron" impression.

"I will show you where the Iron Crosses grow!"

[Lt Belenko]

Yet many of these simple to correct flaws have been discussed many times on the boards with zero response by BF. .

I just noticed 17414 posts for BFC.... superwoz if I told you once I told you 17414 times don't exaggerate.

[sburke]

This set of CM games get poor reviews because these games full of design flaws. I’m mystified at the ludicrous oversights in this game that BF lets stand. BF does extensive research into battles, dates, landscapes, and structures to create an accurate gaming experience which we all appreciate. Yet many of these simple to correct flaws have been discussed many times on the boards with zero response by BF. The lack of deference to ‘us’ the customer is bewildering. The forum is full of needed changers but also wonderful ideas to improve this game, yet BFs attitude is; the game is good enough so F**k off . . . But please purchase our next CM game.

Look Junior, if you can't read that isn't BF's fault. If you could you might have noticed BF's response to Lukeff on the mg 42 modeling as just one example of their actual customer responsiveness (as opposed to your fantasy world). Funny, if BF's idea of the game is "good enough" why does each module, patch and upgrade include enhancements, changes and updates many of them coming directly from discussions on this forum?

Oh wait you probably can't read this either.. never mind.

[GSX]

CMFI showed up out of the blue with no waiting time roughly the same time as the CMBN Commonwealth module. The Gustav Line module with full season changes followed reasonably close behind, then the big CMBN v2.0 upgrade, then the Market Garden module. Now, two weeks after Market Garden is released, you claim to have to wait 2 years for new product? Let me guess - CMFI 'does count' in your calculation because you didn't purchase it. Didn't purchase CM:Afghanistan either, and maybe didn't purchase the CMSF NATO module. Am I right? In that case it would indeed be a long 2 year wait between products!

Not quite true Mickey.

I have already stated that I did not buy the Italy game or it's Module. CMFI is only 1 game with 1 module and so you can't count it as two games.

I purchased all of the CMSF modules and Afghanistan too and so you are not right there.

Also Steve stated that 2 games have been released in the last year, I thought there had only been one game released in 2012 which was CMFI and two modules in 2013. Unless there's a game out there I've missed then if there are no more games out in 2013 and one is published in 2014, then it will indeed be 2 years between new games.

[JRMC1879]

As an aside, I do think the logic based recommendations from places like Netflix and iTunes are quite good. I actually do use them as a first line of defense against crap. If I have doubts then I look at a couple of the good reviews and then a couple of the bad ones. I then assess, based on what I know about the product, how relevant I think the criticism and praise might be.

For example, if I look at a new release from a band and the criticism says "this is utter tosh!" I dismiss it as having no value. If the criticism instead says "I've bought all 6 of their previous releases and loved the direction they were going in, but this seems like it's gone off the rails" then I start to pay attention. If I'm very familiar with the band's work then I can very quickly see patterns in the criticism and praise. People saying "this is worse than X release" means something to me if I also have an opinion of X release. Sometimes I love it and that probably means the criticism drives me to make a purchase

I also put far more faith in professional reviews than end user reviews. But again, if they conflict with my understanding of the product and how I intend to use/enjoy it, then I give it less weight in my decision.

And of course I sample what I'm about to buy. That is, after all, the ultimate test. Movie trailers, 30 second music clips, first 10 pages of a book... whatever it is, that's the single most important thing for me. And with games, it's the demo. If I don't like the sample then I usually move onto something else. If I do, I buy. Doesn't matter what the reviews say if I am able to form my own opinion.

Metacritic scores, themselves, mean absolutely NOTHING to me. Not for games, not for Amazon products, not anything. They are not useful.

Steve

Yes I agree with this totally and do much the same. My point about Metacritic in relation to CM was that he was trying to suggest that a high metacritic review would lead to thousands of new players... which in my view is utter tosh. It may catch a very few waverers - but the large majority of people who buy CM are wargamers already and know of the games existence and reputation without need to refer to that site for their buying decision.

I simply dont agree you can deall with CM as you would a Total War title and make it appeal to the same wider market that buys that game. The very reason I love this game is that it doesnt appeal to the majority of players like that who think Total War is the height of realism. Long may it be so .... My only concern with the game is that BF make enough money at it to keep producing stuff. I will buy everything without a second thought and there is no other game or company I do that with.

[JRMC1879]

This set of CM games get poor reviews because these games full of design flaws. I’m mystified at the ludicrous oversights in this game that BF lets stand. BF does extensive research into battles, dates, landscapes, and structures to create an accurate gaming experience which we all appreciate. Yet many of these simple to correct flaws have been discussed many times on the boards with zero response by BF. The lack of deference to ‘us’ the customer is bewildering. The forum is full of needed changers but also wonderful ideas to improve this game, yet BFs attitude is; the game is good enough so F**k off . . . But please purchase our next CM game.

This kind of post mystifies me. Aside from the fact why he bothers in a forum for a game and company he doesnt like - the content is so far removed from reality it makes you wonder as to where the bile comes from.

[Wodin]

Superwoz had decided to make a new thread in the CMFI forum to rudely slag off the game..odd. People like him should try and make a game themselves but it's likely he has no talent to do it.. He needs to think about all the hardwork and dedication and passion it takes to create a game like this. Then some moron comes along ripping it apart in an offensive manner.