Marine Module as Referendum

[Runyan99]

It strikes me that BFC will soon have some hard data in their hands that, while not likely to be released for general consuption, might well be quite meaningful to the good folks at BFC.

I believe Steve indicated that CMSF sold pretty well. No suprise there, as probably most people who played any of the CMx1 games and liked them also bought a copy of CMSF on faith. But now comes the Marine Module. How many will sell?

It occurs to me that if BFC looks at the number of Marine Module expansions sold, and then divides that by the number of copies of CMSF sold, they will roughly have the percentage of people who bought CMSF and liked the game enough to spend more money on it.

I wonder what that percentage will be?

[patboy]

30 % !

[Cpl Steiner]

I bought the BFC direct-sale version as I wanted CM:SF to be a financial success for BFC. In retrospect I now feel I paid over the odds for CM:SF considering how badly bugged it was on release and how cheap the Paradox version is compared to BFC's.

This raises an interesting question. Will the modules only work on one version of the game? If I bought direct from BFC, will I have to buy the modules direct too - at an inflated price compared to those produced for the Paradox version?

I will probably buy all the modules - that's the collector in me - but I would like an answer from the (conspicuously absent) BFC mods on this sometime if it's not too much trouble. Basically, if we bought the BFC version of CM:SF, do we have to buy the BFC versions of the modules too, and will they cost more than the Paradox versions?

[C'Rogers]

Personally I expect that the modules will only get about half the people who enjoy it to purchase, many may already be played out, some may not see the benefit in putting out more money.

While it depends how much time and resources they put into I would guess (without any real knowledge) that a sale rate of 25% or higher should be considered a success.

[Thomm]

Do we have a price estimate already?

The price should have a strong influence, shouldn't it?

Best regards,

Thomm

[DzrtFox]

I for one will not spend another dime on anything related to this product until some basic problems are fixed. I shelled out my money up-front for this game the day it came out and have sat here patiently waiting for them to fix problems that for me ruin the game.

1.04 was a big step in the right direction, but until they fix issues like shooting through hills & walls and not being able to play multiplayer I would hope that nobody will further support this mess.

[C'Rogers]

The price should have a strong influence, shouldn't it?

Well being we don't have a content estimate either there is a lot of ifs and maybes for the questions.

As someone who really likes the game there are things the module could do that I wouldn't care to pick up. If it just adds new units I won't care to spend a lot of money (some will), new terrains/weather conditions though would get me to shell out pretty quickly.

I do agree with the original poster that the module will kind of be a benchmark but depending on a couple of things what a "good" percent would be is tough to say.

[gautrek]

Originally posted by C'Rogers:

Marine module.

YYYYYAAAAAWWWWWNNNNNN.

But if (and its a big IF ) and when a Brit module comes out i may consider buying this game but then that still depends on whats broken.

[c3k]

Hmmm,

Years ago I bought a game called "Trespasser", loosely based on the book and movie "Jurassic Park". The game was horrible. THEN I read the reviews. All the reviews panned the game. They told me it was horrible. I swore I'd never buy a game without reading a review on it first.

I broke that vow with CM:SF.

In my hopes of suppoting BF.C I pre-ordered TWO copies of the collector's edition. In retrospect, this was a mistake. The game was broken on release. V1.04 is playable (or NOT broken), but that hardly makes it a good game. I am hoping against hope that BF.C can and will release patches which bring CM:SF up to their previous standards.

Will _I_ purchase ANY modules? <shrug>

BF.C has lost me as a supporter. I now put BF.C in the same class as all the other software producers. The motto of that class seems to be "caveat emptor".

Release it when it's done, not one day sooner.

Communicate and support it.

Fix it.

Good luck.

Ken

[zwobot]

I guess I am going to buy any marine module (and likely any follow up module(s)).

The game is a bit unplayable for me right now in multiplayer because of WeGo and the way TacAI behaves. However I enjoy singleplayer in realtime, still with some bugs I have to admit (for example units not firing at grids they have only limited LOS - afaik the 8m grids/action spots are to blame for this).

[Topo]

Don't know if i'm going buy a marine module, think yes but i think also this not improve the game so much.

Better to have a new more modern "red" army (Russia? Ukraine?...);

with an addon like these, the asimmetrical warfare isn't the unique option.

Excuse my english...

Saluti.

[Panzer76]

10-25%

[M1A1TC]

Would it be awesome if it added USMC/British and Iran/Russia ? I think that would be a huge seller

[Steiner14]

If they are clever, they put the solutions for the current problems into the module.

[Cpl Steiner]

A Russian module would make a great addition to the game.

Back-story justification: Moscow is one of the cities attacked by terrorist dirty bombs linked to Syria. Russia wants to be at the forefront of any retaliation against Syria to reassert her authority on the world stage. The American administration welcomes Russian involvement as many US troops are still bogged down in Iraq and it will mean a lighter US footprint in the Syrian invasion. Weeks before the invasion the green light is given for a Russian mechanized division to roll southwards from Georgia across eastern Turkey and form up on the northern border with Syria.

Game Mechanics: Russian formations, including all their latest tanks and equipment, not to mention air assets etc., become selectable in the Blue force mix.

Added Bonus: Using the Blue vs Blue scenario option, it becomes possible to set up confrontations between US and Russian forces in a fictitious middle-eastern flashpoint such as the Saudi oilfields. It also become possible to have Red forces with Russian air assets for other fictitious scenarios.

[MikeyD]

Let's not forget a combined Stryker/Marine package is likely to considerably prolong the game's shelf life - make it that much more tempting to potential purchasers. Its likely by the time the game's useful life is over more people will have bought the combo pack than the original standalone game - that's assuming the two will eventually be bundled together into a megagame.

[V]

WW2 please. kthnxbai.

[GSX]

If all a Marine Module does is add a few similar US units then no sale here.

This game has been lying idle on my PC for months now, I dont even have the inclination to fire it up as I know that 1/2 way into any scenario I will be bored with it.

The initial excitement of firing of my Javelin has long since dwindled into another also ran game.

I liken CM-1 to Bat Out of Hell. Meatloaf never quite got there with subsequent albums. BF could do anything for you, but they wont do CM etc....

[Ryanwtod]

I would personally love to see a Marine module. Also seeing new theaters besides syria to operate both the marines and army troops in would be awesome as well there are plenty of hotspots out there now

[Treeburst155]

It's kinda sad to read so many negative posts from the lower member numbers. Sigh....the glory days are gone. I'd guess the percentage of CMSF owners that will buy the next offering will be under 25%. I certainly won't.

Treeburst155 out.

[DzrtFox]

Although I think some of you have good ideas for modules, aren't you more interested in seeing the game in front of us work correctly before seeing a bunch of Russians or US Marines still able to see and fire through mountains and walls? Do you think new units will add to the enjoyment of a game with limited single-player value when you can't even connect to a multi-player game? Will the next module come out with new cool units who still don't do things that jive with reality?

I just don't understand how you can talk about adding things to a foundation this shaky. It's like building a new house on a fault line.

[Abbott]

Originally posted by Treeburst155:

It's kinda sad to read so many negative posts from the lower member numbers. Sigh....the glory days are gone. I'd guess the percentage of CMSF owners that will buy the next offering will be under 25%. I certainly won't.

Treeburst155 out.

Hello Treeburst, nice to see you around again. I came to the same conclusion about the lower member numbers posting their dismay with CM:SF. I was/am terribly disappointed myself and I am holding out for the next patch. I think the problem lies with the software industry itself, especially the gaming companies. Unfinished products that do not do what they say they are going to do seem to have become the norm. Release is where the influx of cash is, so release when a pay day is in sight then try like heck to live up to the hype..

[thewood]

What disturbs me the most relative to CMSF is that those lower numbers were a lot of the people who defended CM1 in fromt of some of the naysayers in the day.

I have noticed that hours go by without a single post in this forum. That is only 3 months after release. That should be all the referendum you need.

[Treeburst155]

Hello Abbott, thanks for the welcome. As Thewood stated, it's been three months since release. Maybe in about three MORE months they'll get this thing worked out.

[istari]

Just one more story to add to the others here. I pre-ordered CMSF as both a thank you for all the good times with CMX1, and also as a statement of faith in BF's commitment to quality.

While I was prepared for the game to fall short of the genius of CMX1, the atrocious state of the game on release and some of the fundamental problems that plague it even with 1.04 are causing me to give up hope with CMX2. LOS through objects is a killer. I suspect LOS could have been fixed by now unless there are serious problems with the underlying engine.

My guess is ~20% for those who purchase Marines after CMSF. Assuming that number's in the ballpark, I'll be curious to see if BF interprets it as a lack of interest in the Marines rather than considering that many sales for CMSF were driven by memories of CMX1, not the actual game value of CMX2.

I want BF to succeed, and I'd love to be proven wrong in the future. Nonetheless, CMSF has left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Chris

P.S. To those who say that "it's a sign of the times", I disagree. I think the state of PC games has actually gotten better over the past year or two. This year I've played M2TW Kingdoms, STALKER, Portal, Half-Life 2: Ep 2 and Bioshock. Some of the best experiences in 20+ years of gaming, and even STALKER was patched up to a delightfully playable state pretty quickly after release.