This game is an expensive coaster

[Kagetora]

No, it looks like you are lacking in patience and are having a public snit over it.<<<<

Yeah, I am lacking in patience I only waited for 8 months without saying anything. Oh and the thing about the dog was a...well it was a joke. Apparently you have about as much a sense of humor as you do an intellect which is none. Many of you really need to quit playing this piece of crap game and go read a book. Then perhaps you could get your IQ's higher than your shoe sizes.

[This message has been edited by Kagetora (edited 26 May 2001).]

[jc173]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kagetora:
Was it ever really advertised? I only remeber it being mentioned as 'planned'. Post me a quote and I may feel otherwise.<<<<

What's the difference? Read the malfador news where at both Thanksgiving and Christmas Aaron said he was working on the multiplayer for the next patch. That was 6 months ago. You can't just spout features you intend to put in to get everybody to buy the game based on those claims then not follow through. If somebody sold you a house and said they would fix the roof and you moved in in good faith and then they didn't fix the roof. Not only would that be unethical as hell but they would be in violation of a verbal contract and would get their asses sued off. That is exactly what happened here.

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Actually there's quite a bit of difference between an actual advertisement/contract and a list of features that may be implemented. There are laws that govern advertising, but I don't think a todo list is covered anywhere under contract law. It might depend on how the list itself was presented etc etc but I digress. If you want to get into the realm of contract law and other legalities, well nowhere in the those two news updates does it specifically state that either of the two updates in question refer to TCP/IP implementation of multiplayer games. The first refers to a utility to assist with muliplayer games which I guess is the PBEM tool, I can't be sure since I've never really taken a look at it though. The second update only refers to multiplayer enhancement.

[Resident Alien]

Close your eyes, listen to the sound of your breathing..... in, out, in, out...... be one with the sound of your breathing. Relax. Your mind is a calm pool.....

You like it, or you don't. If you do, play on. If you don't then, don't play. It's simple. You don't need to have the Last word. It's only a game.

[God Emperor]

Kagetora,
Just as a note; none of the mods in mod pack or my mods (ResearchDesign or Klingons, Romulans, Shadows, etc) actually give the AI an advantage. All they do is better optimise the way in which the AI operates - eg equips ships, does its research, reacts to political overtures, etc.

Now you can argue (with some justification perhaps) that this means that the game wasnt fully complete, but, the game architecture is far beyond any other game I have played.
Also, the willingness to undertake patches clearly demonstrates Aarons committment to the game.

The main thrust of my comment here is that the game should not be written off and assigned to the dustbin - any comments you make in this direction are unfounded.

I believe that you should limit your comments to the lack of TCP/IP support (which I would like to see at some point too) - most of your other comments reflect a lack of play experience with the game or the mods that are available for it, and appreciation of what has been done to date.

As a final comment, I too was reading the forum prior to the games release and noted the cries from people to have the game released as soon as possible, in whatever shape is was. I believe that Aaron responded to these demands to some extent and this made me wary initially of purchasing the game - I didnt actually order a copy until the second patch was released around Christmas time and I was able to assess peoples feedback in the forum.

Since I received my copy though, I have greatly enjoyed the game and many of the mods, despite some issues, and have not touched another game since.
For me (a very picky gamer), this places the game in the same Category as MOO2 and Civilisation in the addictiveness stakes.

As I said earlier, feel free to give your opinion regarding TCP/IP (in a non-imflammatory manner), but, dont cane the whole game - particularly if you havent experienced all of its potential (via mods, PBEM, etc).

[Master Belisarius]

Kagetora: if you want to play Online, you don't need to wait anymore for the TCP/IP feature in SE4! Simply go and play Homeworld or Imperium Galactica II, or wait for MOO3 and Stars! Supernova, or something else fantastic game.

[Atrocities]

Very well said God Emperor. Your skill with diplomacy is without second.

[Richard]

Actually I have had some time to cool off from this as I took in Pearl Harbor (pretty good, you should check it out).

Kagetora, like everyone on this forum, has a right to his opinion. At the time I reacted rather harshly to his accusations of myself and Aaron being unethical, immoral, crimnial, and such and attempting to assert that we lied to him. I will not apologize for my reaction to that as everyone who knows me knows that I try to be more than fair in every situation.

As far as TCP/IP goes it is something we would like to finish but it is not something we promised at the time of sale and is not listed as a feature of the game. I never stated otherwise. Part of the problem is we are sometimes too open with our fans and some people don't know how to deal with this. When a new load comes out in beta I actually post the full history file showing to the world all of the bugs that are fixed instead of hiding them like many companies do. We also try to help the folks working on the game. I have acted as a medium on many occasions when a specific person had a suggestion on fixing the game and somehow Aaron missed his email. I have been working extensively with Doug Fields to get Play By Web off the ground and worked with him and Aaron to help fix the command line problems with 1.35. I also worked with cdmag to get the modders work recognized (as they deserver) in a larger venue.

So eve though part of me is still upset I will offer you a deal. If you really feel that slighted please drop me an email with another Shrapnel Game of your choice and I will mail it to you. Now I am not admitting fault by doing this and I don't plan on doing this for everyone else. But obviously some bad blood has happenned here that is not good for the community, and our community needs every player.

So if your serious about resolving this instead of shouting and calling names just drop me an email at rdarnese@shrapnelgames.com.

Thanks.

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Sarge is coming...

Richard Arnesen
Director of Covert Ops
Shrapnel Games
http://www.shrapnelgames.com