nwg

From the TotalWar web site:



So you need to activate the damn thing to even get it installed let alone play, online or offline it seems!!!!.

Bleah!

Most here will know my view of this in relation to the abuse of the legitimate owners - very poor decision in my view but all too common nowadays.

The contemporary view of the customer appears to be that we are all thieves looking for an opportunity. Wouldn't life be so much easier if we didn't have to actually deal with customers but just get their money and be done with it?

Frankly, the main personal reason I get upset about these things is that companies with this attitude generally don't give a toss about me, the legitimate owner, after I've paid down my money. The reason I care about this is that some products like ETW and LG are likely to loom large in my personal life for many years to come, certainly more years then CA is likely to give a hoot about me and my ability to activate the game. When CA goes bust during the next tech cycle or Steam simply decides its not worth bothering with ETW because CA has stopped paying the monthly bill (several years from now) but I still want to be able to install and play ETW I'll be right up the creek.

In my earlier life I bought and still own multiple corps worth of Russian Napoleonic miniatures made by a company called Miniature Figurines (the famous "Minifigs") a company long since gone away (though revived again like a phoenix in the last few years) - regardless, my miniatures await my pleasure day and night in a cabinet and don't require me to get the permission of the long dead company which cast them to enjoy a good game.....I think you see where I'm going.

This activation idea really boils down to a form of rental, you don't really own something that you can't maintain yourself or get maintained and have work properly without the originating companies permission.

I struggle to see how all this has gently slipped into our lives and remains legal - surely a form of escrow is owed to the legitimate owners of products like this.

... rant over ... I'll go an have a drink of water now.

M.

I have to agree with you Moopere, I find all this stuff pretty amazing....you buy something but can not use it unless your connected to the net and "activate" it.....as you say, how did this kind of thing ever happen ?.

As I'm 99% sure Empire is going to be pretty poor, I'm starting to feel like not even bothering with it.....we have seen from the past what to expect, and I don't see Empire being any better than what has gone before.

Everyone seems so mad keen to get Empire I think I may have missed something important......what is that I wonder ?.

Heck it's not even a Napoleonic game for heavens sake.

so do these mean you wont register steam anytime and you(we) wont use the community group/s for etw MP games there? if thats the case i will delete NBC page on steam ( http://steamcommunity.com/groups/NapBC ) as there wont be any meaning of that page existing there when two formers of nbc are against that site/firm? i thought reserving the group name "napbc" and tag "nbc" would be a good idea?

edit-nbc page on steam (adress)

Hi Ank,

Don't mistake me here. I am dead against being forced to 'activate' something that I already own - however, steam, as an online meeting place and content delivery system is what it is and I can see the value in it.

I have used steam in the past to play MP half-life. Although I would prefer a completely open system it didn't upset me too much because if I wish to install and play half-life in SP mode I can do it without restriction.

So, in short, don't feel put off in relation to the steam service by the ranting and raving of Moopere. I will not have any issues with using steam to participate in the MP aspects of a game like ETW.

My 'problem' is entirely with the direction that CA, the makers of ETW, have decided to take.

Best regards,
Moopere

AnkLrd, don't panic, leave what you have done....it's good preperation.

What I'm saying here and now is, I have never thought Empire to be as good as everyone else and IF it's NOT got a Napoleonic MP option then I'm VERY unlikey to use it.....that does not mean other NBC members can not use it, but NBC stands for NAPOLEONIC Battle Corps and if Empire is as it says "Empire" then I think I will have to wait, as Dougie and Moopere have said, for a Napoleonic mod to be made, but surely LG will be out before any mod of Empire is built, then we won't need Empire anyway ???????????????, perhaps ?.

Nice ranting Moopere
I agree this sort of thing does stick in your throat.
And i cant see any justification in having to register your purchase even if you only wish to enjoy ETW in SP capacity.
I have no such worries regarding on line MP games (as long as there is no charge ?? I'm assuming here that there is not ???)
I am now considering holding off from buying ETW until i have seen the reaction from the community.
Who knows CA may have done a magnificent job with the game engine working with this style of warfare.
Yes Gunner I'm well aware of your strong preferences for the Napoleonic period, as for me i have said before that all periods interest me so this is not an issue.
If ETW turns out to be a winner and give us great musket , artillery and cavalry battles then you could argue its not a million miles from the Napoleonic period.

Okay i see now. Argh, my english sometimes surprises me too. Anyway, till we see what this "etw" is about http://steamcommunity.com/groups/NapBC can be with us in case of emergency as you all agree.

Same here.


Yes, they may have done, and if so I will say - SORRY !.


Same here, I have loads of books from all periods, but it's only Napoleonic that I'm looking to use MP.....other periods just don't do it for me.


Yes, this is the answer I'm looking for - if it PLAYS brillently and there is something to stop the horrible BLOB winning every battle, then great, I'll use it and no doubt enjoy it, even if it's only on the "edge" of being Napoleonic.

The only way I can force myself past this blocker is to treat it like a season movie pass or some other rental/experience type affair. Something that is to be enjoyed but that won't last...or isn't guaranteed to last (it -may- last, who knows? RTW is still supported after all these years so perhaps I am ranting for nothing).

When I'm 95 years old and PC's are 10,000 times more powerful and ETW is long since forgotten my Russian Napoleonics miniatures will still be waiting for me to view and enjoy as might be my wish...... I guess I am lamenting the passing of the days when buying something truly made it yours to keep, use and enjoy as you wish and not by the pleasure of a third party.




I agree




I'll buy it on the first day I'm sure which just makes me a hypocrite (sigh)...

I'm holding considerable hopes for the modding possibilities of this game. It may be just fantastic right out of the box, but my suspicion is that it might benefit from a bit of "CB" love and care so suit the Army/Corps style game that I and many others certainly seem to enjoy.




I'd probably get a fair bit of enjoyment from mid/late 18th century warfare thats set just immediately prior to the Napoleonic period I suspect, but my true love is post 1806-1808.




Indeed, and if this is all we get I'll be happy enough in the short term. Its almost a certainty that we'll be given at least this much which will be a fantastic base to form a true Napoleonic mod around and I'm sure we'd see stuff appearing from people like the Lordz with 1-2 months of release.

Regards, M.

NTW community getting ready...
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/TheKingsOwn since Jan 30,2008
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/svenska_armen since Jan 04,2009
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Grognards since Jan 08,2009
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/these_13_united_states since Feb 03,2009
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Napoleonics since Feb 07,2009
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/3rdCorps since Feb 10,2009
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/NapBC since Feb 12,2009

but course there are some other very large communities like the Turkish one. They have 50 members now and i think they ll have much much more players very soon becoming one of the largest group as they are all Total War fans. Watch out for "Ottoman" gents! although i dont plan to join... http://steamcommunity.com/groups/etwtr since Oct 30,2008

In fact I liked Moopere idea modding of Etw. But wont be Lordz group occupied with LGS project for at least 1 year? Or they may work on modding of Etw and LOWN (just 1v1?! noooo) at the same time ? Course thats too early for these talks i know. We still have 3 weeks for the release. There may be very enjoyable clan battles as all NTW community getting shaped in steam. But of course, sooner or later everyone ll meet on HistWar fields ...and untill then everyone seems to be having fun with such games i think -Napoleonic or American Revolutionary War !

edit-nbc steam group photo added.

Most, but not all, of the original Lordz team who built NTW2 have now left the Lordz Modding Collective and, as you see, are working on the LGS game. However, when I refer to TheLordz and the possibilities for modding ETW I'm talking about the 'new' Lordz team many of whom worked on finishing NTW2 and providing many more factions. These guys n girls are still active and keeping The Lordz Modding Collective going. I've heard rumour that that are indeed interested in having a look at ETW.

Regards, M.

Anyone going to buy the Empire: Total War Special Forces Edition (which seems to be 20 $ more ) http://store.steampowered.com/sub/1282/ ? or will you get the normal version ?

MMm, yes, I looked at that. Looks like a gouge to me. 6 so called 'special' units for 20 bucks extra....I can't see the value. This got talked about ad nauseum in the totalwar forums and it became clear that these special units are not supepowered units, which is just as well or I'd have completely lost respect for the game. The new units are just different skins / stats....a lot like a mod really (haha!!). I'd prefer to keep my money and mod the game myself hehehe.

Moopere

I will be getting the standard version - I don't like gimmicks !.

Standard version for me too



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