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Is CM dying?


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A lot of game companies actually have died in the intervening years. It seems much unsolicited advice over the years has been to adopt the business model of companies that are now defunct. Me, I want Steve to rent 20,000 square feet of office space in downtown Providence and hire 400 employees. That worked out so well for Curt Schilling. :D

fea_schilling11_zps070f8b62.jpg

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Talking of names from the past who was the chap who made the "pissed him off on purpose to make him growl and show his teeth" comment and so sparked one of the most hilariously insane threads ever to enliven these boards? Was it Rommel122? Nice young lad, went into the USAF as I recall, wonder what happened to him.

Hamsters don't get much of a mention on the threads these days. Time was when hamstertruppen were all over the place.

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Long-ago regular ASL-er here (work, kids, and CMBO led me to put it on the shelf over a decade ago). Skipped to the end of the thread just to report that - although I tend to drift in and out of game genres regularly - having tasted the groggy goodness that is CMBN, I have every intention of picking up every bit of the series as long as they keep producing quality product. Have CW already (bought the bundle) and will be picking up the rest as rapidly as I can slip the purchses past the iron-fisted family G-4! :-)

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Me too! Which, BTW folks, will run with the same license on Win, Mac and Linux. :)

(you get 2 activations and can de-activate if you move computers/platforms)

I'm asst commissioner of a long running online league that has a few openings. Anyone here has shown they have good taste :-).. PM me if you are interested in an online league

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Blackcat,

You're thinking, I believe, of Speedy, as seen in post #37 below. Of course, Speedy might've lifted the line from some other CM wit.

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?p=1301009#post1301009

OddballM4,

Actually, your wife is dual hatted, being both G4 and G8. See below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Staff_System#Continental_Staff_System

1, for manpower or personnel

2, for intelligence and security

3, for operations

4, for logistics

5, for plans

6, for signal (i.e., communications or IT)[2]

7, for training (also the Joint Engineer)

8, for finance and contracts. Also known as "resource management".

9, for Civil-Military Co-operation (CIMIC) or 'civil affairs'.

Steve,

How would she know that? Has she been reading the Forums while you were otherwise engrossed? Is she secretly CMing on the side? If so, with whom (vs AI is a grey area)? Do you have an open gaming marriage, or is she restricted solely to game con play? Yes, I know. You're way ahead of Vermont law!

Regards,

John Kettler

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Coming to this a little late but even without having any idea how Battlefront's Finance Books are looking I doubt CM is dying. (Okay purchasing that tropical island was probably a mistake...) It's a very small sample I know but if it's any indication I get quite a few PM's through my YouTube channel wanting to know where to find out more info on the game I'm playing. (And no I'm not asking for a finders fee :D). Word of mouth is key for a product like this. It's also hard to argue against that each expansion, upgrade and (I assume) future pack, will flesh out each title that little bit more. That's a pretty strong selling point and strategy for keeping fans long term.

As for user made scenarios, I agree the editor isn't hard to use but at the same time there's no denying it takes a hell of a long time to do 'right.' I've worked on a little company size engagement focusing on the 101st Airborne around Fournel on D-Day which I hope to release real soon after working out photoshop. But even for something this small it's taken on and off 6 months from start to finish.

Subtle encouragement through an improved Repository for user made content that encourages more downloads could help more people get involved. The idea posted above about the inclusion of high quality map and scenario work in the next patch/upgrade for a game would also be a great reward system that costs essentially nothing if it's community driven.

My two cents plus sales tax.

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The game is a pain in the arse to buy.

Not sold in stores. Only available by ordering online.

My own struggles to just buy one disk, occupied several weeks...

The process is frustrating and discouraging. It requires the right credit cards, and a fair bit of luck.

If the game were available is stores, or if stores could order it for customers, I would have no problems buying it. As it is though, I find the process exhausting.

Otherwise I love the game.

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I'm totally new to the game (having previously played SP at tactical level) and think it's great thanks :)

I bought cmbn through to MG; and cmfi+gl.

The only negatives, for me at least, are the lack of logical structure to the forum (i'm currently halfway through checking out all threads in this sub-forum), and whilst i'm happy with the good quality generic cm2 manual, I expected, for the cost (for cmbn etc, hard copy only, $123 + £23.21import+RM), a decent one for each module too which would have provided a more just perceived value imo.

Anyway, thanks chaps, great effort! :)

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The game is a pain in the arse to buy.

Not sold in stores. Only available by ordering online.

My own struggles to just buy one disk, occupied several weeks...

The process is frustrating and discouraging. It requires the right credit cards, and a fair bit of luck.

I think it's much *easier* to buy from a known website than trying to find a local shop with the CM game you want. I think many companies are moving to Download-only distribution.

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Steve or Anyone on the BF side, thoughts on upgrading the repository or just adding some community made scenarios to the patches?

Many of the scenarios are incredibly well made and I would think adding them in with the description as user made may really help flesh out the game.

The repository is definitely in need of a major revamp. Here’s my .02.

I have no problem paying for good quality content. I think the repository should be setup to allow the players to submit content for sale with a percentage going to BF to cover costs. BF can set the standards for acceptable content just to make sure that the ecommerce site isn't loaded down with a bunch of Junk. Examples of what those standards might be can be seen at the bottom of this post.

I believe capitalism works and if people could earn even a little $ from the sell of their content then there would be much more good content to choose from. User created content can be maps, scenarios, campaigns, even good quality mods are worthy of payment IMO. BF can also set the max price that can be charged for different types of content. I for one enjoy well constructed campaigns, and there is a certain campaign designer that I would have no problem paying $10 for another of his excellent campaigns. Where are you FM Blücher?

Here’s an example of some standards that could be used to evaluate content being placed for sale.

Logical TOE, complete map, clearly defined mission text with clearly defined objectives, clearly defined victory conditions, Multiple AI plans for both sides, Coherent documentation and design notes, Screen shots or videos for buyer evaluations, suggested selling price for the content.

Sample pricing structure for player designed content:

Single scenario: $1.00 - $2.00 max

Campaign: small - $4.00, Med - $7.00, large - $10.00 max.

Maps: small - $.50, med - $1.00, large - $1.50, Huge - $2.00 max.

Mods might be difficult to price but can be priced based on size. $.50 - $1.00 for a small mod on up to $10.00 for a really large Mod would be acceptable IMO

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Charging money for community created scenarios mods etc. would open a whole other can of worms.

Would it present it’s own unique set of issues? Sure it would just like any other application. But keep in mind no one would be forcing a player to sell content at a price. They should always be allowed to offer it for free if they so desire.

I do however believe that even if content is posted for free that some quality standards should be enforced on the repository to make sure that it meets community expectations.

As I stated earlier, I also believe that the quantity and quality of community made content would increase if designers could benefit financially for their efforts.

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Ive thought about this as well. But the idea of someone saying your work is not up to their standards an cant be allowed on their site is kinda messed up. What about someone just learning the ropes an they want to put their work out there. They would be missing out on potential feedback. Having a few privately test things outs wont give you the range of opinions the forums or repository give you.

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The game is a pain in the arse to buy.

Not sold in stores. Only available by ordering online.

My own struggles to just buy one disk, occupied several weeks...

The process is frustrating and discouraging. It requires the right credit cards, and a fair bit of luck.

I'm sorry you had a bad time of it, but I can promise you that if this was the normal experience we'd have been out of business long ago. Sounds like you had some unique problems that made the process frustrating for you. Definitely regrettable, but unfortunately no system is perfect. Especially when dealing with international credit cards (we have no say in what is accepted or rejected).

If the game were available is stores, or if stores could order it for customers, I would have no problems buying it. As it is though, I find the process exhausting.

Hopefully your next purchase with us will go smoother, because it is unlikely you'll ever see it in stores. Retail is dying and the only things they want are the AAA titles. We used to have no problem setting up retail deals, but it's been several years since we've had anything work out.

Plus, retail screws over everybody. It's a bad model for small guys like us who can't afford to bribe, cajole, or sue retail into honoring their agreements.

Otherwise I love the game.

That is the most important thing :D Thanks!

Steve

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Ive thought about this as well. But the idea of someone saying your work is not up to their standards an cant be allowed on their site is kinda messed up.

Don’t think of it as saying your work is not up to their standards. Look at it as saying here are the minimum requirements you content should have to offer it for sell to the public. BF can set whatever requirements they want. What I posted earlier is just an example .

What about someone just learning the ropes an they want to put their work out there. They would be missing out on potential feedback. Having a few privately test things outs wont give you the range of opinions the forums or repository give you.

Posting to the repository currently requires a certain amount of lag time before it appears so most of the community designed scenario that are made now are created and tested using private email and or the forums so that wouldn’t change IMO. If you’re just learning then maybe your first few designs are posted for free until you can build up a reputation with the community. When you see that your free stuff is being frequently downloaded and receiving favorable response then you can offer your next design for a cost.

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The repository is crap. I never look at it. Needs a major overhaul, and/or fan sites need to take up the slack.

@DLaurier This is a niche market. Some concessions have to be made. As for me, I don't care about CM not being sold in stores. Online is the new purchase model. No one buys software in brick&mortar stores these days.

Yes, I agree that BFC needs to make the whole process easier.

BFC, quit releasing half-assed patches like the latest CMFI patch.

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