I Can't Believe it..

[General Brock]

I was in my local Electronics Boutique today and saw a retail copy of CMBB second hand for only $5 (Canadian) There is a whole whack of other games many years older than CMBB for much more... Just goes to show in my mind no matter how good a wargame is, it will always be a niche product. The masses simply don't like them in general so they drop in price. Hell Diablo costs more than $5 and it's almost 10 years old!!

[Cannon-fodder]

Yeah, I've noticed the same thing in England... Can't even FIND a copy of CMAK on its own, and don't wanna shell out £15 on two games I already have.

I've also noticed that today's average gamer is incredibly stupid. I've tried to introduce Combat Mission to loads of people, and they've barely even made an effort, usually since 'the graphics are too crap' or because 'it's too hard'. Shame, this game deserves to really be something. Even PC mags ignore it. In the next CM, the guys really need to get the graphics looking good.

[Macphail]

im living in china, and im from canada. i havnt been back there in years, so i have to get all my games here, or have them brought to me by mates. my friend from england brought me cmak, i installed it, and ignored it for a couple of months because i didnt understand it. i played victoria instead. if any of you know that game, you know it has a hell of a learning curve. anyway, i was bored one day, and decided to really have a go at one of the scenarios. cant recall the name, but it was in afrika, and i had 4 psw 222, a a 120mm FO, some inf, and a tiger comes in a few turns later with some more inf. I havent even thought about another game in months now. i admit, i was put off my the graphics at first, but it looks alot better in motion, when u pass your turn, but most gamers are not patient enough to get even that far. it takes alot of thinking to place your units, and you have to know exactly what they all do, how to use them etc. its easy for us, cause we are all wargamers from way way back, and we know the difference between a tiger and a marder. further more, we actually care. that makes us a rare breed indeed.

i agree its a pity the game sells for so cheap.

[Stoffel]

To me its not a real pain that the big masses dont play this game.

We dont have that much geeks and little children around on the forums,most are adults willing too help a friend/fellow gamer.

A small group of enthousiastic people also contributes nice things like mods and scenarios.

Let the big masses stay away from our game

[MikeyD]

I'm reminded of how the author Henry James would often complain that he just wasn't capable of writing BADLY enough to please the mass market. Now, if CM only allowed you to shoot women, children, and farm animals during a battle they'd have a commercial hit on their hands

[ October 12, 2004, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: MikeyD ]

[dieseltaylor]

MikeyD

LOL

and congrats on your 4000th post : )

[Tifosi]

Originally posted by Stoffel:

We dont have that much geeks and little children around on the forums,most are adults willing too help a friend/fellow gamer.

As a CM newcomer I couldn´t agree more with this. Especially all the patient folks who don´t mind playing PBEM games with somebody who is relatively inexperienced in the gènre and far from being a tactical genius!

[MikeyD]

"...and congrats on your 4000th post"

Holy Crap! I didn't even realise! If only my boss knew how I spent my time at work!

[Aguirre]

It sometimes seems to me that gamers (or at least gaming publications and retailers) are becoming less and less accomodating of anything other than the usual fps/rts/etc. fodder. A decade ago you could find reviews of the V for Victory/World at War games in 'mainstream' gaming mags, but now you never hear about operational (or any other serious) wargames except in niche publications. Although I appreciate that relative obscurity does tend to seperate the wheat from the chaff to some extent as far as the community goes, think it's a great pity that companies like BFC are penalised for trying to do something different. While I'm sure that wargames are not everyone's cup of tea, I think there are a lot of people out there who would appreciate games that have a little more intellectual depth than the current staples, if only they were exposed to them. I really annoys me that CM remains obscure and Stars!: Supernova Genesis remains unpublished (and with a name like that, how could it not be a console hit?) while Warcraft III (a game with a decade-old interface and combat system that were never much good to start with) sells extremely well. Oh, well.

end rant

[DeaconBlue]

Years ago, I got introduced to "Squad Leader" and it knocked me out....I couldn't believe there was actually somebody 'out there' who made the perfect game.... Later I read somewhere that "it was easier to find true love than to find a fellow wargamer" - that was about right. While it may not be everyones thing, those of us are out here and we think too much to ever be the majority. I too, have tried to introduce a few people to CMBB/CMAK but I only get strange looks and condescending smiles, usually. Those who do seem interested get put off that the graphics aren't "Doom 3" or "Counterstrike". (Don't get me wrong, I still have "Quake Arena" and "Unreal" loaded on my machine and play every couple days, but since I got CM.....well, I really can't get interested in any other so-called wargames.) That game "Blitzkreig" really blew, although the graphics were really nice.

I too, never post here and only sometimes visit the forum and have never played a CM game against another human (too anti-social/introverted) but at least its nice to know there are others out there.

My hat is off to those who made,produced,tested and manufacture CM....and also to those over at Der Kessel and the Scenario Depot who continue to make great scenarios to add to these games and to really bring value to them.

[Pzman]

Originally posted by MikeyD:

"...and congrats on your 4000th post"

Holy Crap! I didn't even realise! If only my boss knew how I spent my time at work!

LOL, I think a lot of people could say that.

[Folbec]

Originally posted by DeaconBlue:

I too, never post here and only sometimes visit the forum and have never played a CM game against another human (too anti-social/introverted) but at least its nice to know there are others out there.

You are missing a lot by playing only the AI.

Try PBEM on one of the gaming club sites.

got to "ressources" :

Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin Weblinks

- Band of Brothers

- Blitzkrieg Wargaming Club (http://www.theblitz.org/)

You will get a few severe defeats during your first play against human games, but it is worth it.

I play on Blitzkrieg, the spirit is not too competitive.

[hoolaman]

I think the problem is that you need to know some real world combined arms tactics, what all the units are and what they do, and master the interface.

You also need to read the manual. Most people are not up for any of these things.

[Cthulhu Dreams]

the learning curve on this game is very steep, and while it has great multiplayer depth, it lacks the balance of starcraft.

Obviously it's not going to bust out in the mainstream market any time soon with those two key points.

[von Lucke]

Originally posted by Cthulhu Dreams:

the learning curve on this game is very steep, and while it has great multiplayer depth, it lacks the balance of starcraft.

LOL!

Dude --- warn me before posting stuff like that, OK? I almost blew soda all over the screen!

"...lacks the balance of Starcraft."

HAHAHAHAHA!

[-E]

Originally posted by DeaconBlue:

Later I read somewhere that "it was easier to find true love than to find a fellow wargamer" - that was about right.

ROFL! That's why I bought my first computer in '84... as nothing more than a wargame opponent! (when everyone was still buying the to "do their checkbook" and ended up doing nothing more than games, I was buying it to do nothing more than games!)