Last AGEOD game I will ever buy

[FFj]

dear AGEOD,
as a long time fan it's hard to tell you this. I've spent many fun hours with ROP, WIA2 and Espana 36 in the last years.

But with WON you really screwed it!

I understand you have schedules to respect, but you published the game when it was not yet ready. It was clear that all the gameplay testing went only to test France and some nations didn't even had a few turns of trials. Spain and Turkey are barely playable at the moment...

What about the veeeery looooong campaign...well, look at WIA2: when it was published it was unpredictable in it's gameplay quality, sometimes you walked through the countryside with no oppositions, sometimes the enemy swarmed on you, after the patch 1.10 it became a more recognizable mechanic that didn't make the game lose it's long term planning feel.
You can't make such a long gameplay and do not give an appropriate number of special events and stuff, or your game will lose it's peculiar atmosphere. How many events had ROP for a 8 years gameplay? and how much had WIA2 for both French/indian war and American revolution?
I think you have gone a step (or two) too far.

Why in so many years, even if I swapped three different personal computers, I still have crash to desktop issues? I had to put aside my last WON campaign because my sistem crashed 4 times in a row! I'm fed up to read CTD reports, I compare this game, with CW2 and TEAW, with other big-memory-demanding strategy games, like Paradox or Creative Assembly, and I don't see so many fusses about simple game behaviour. It's simply install, patch and play! With AGEOD I started to be accustomed to post-inauguration patches, double patches and quick fixes.
It may be a noob's rant, but those kind of issues are keeping new players from starting to play in this wonderful community. Nothing's more frustrating to spend your money on a unfinished product that has stability issues.

I must not waste my words on the subject of poor AI, there are plenty of periodical threads that talk for me. I'm baffled how Athena is so good in WIA2 and ROP when in CW2 and WON is so poor.

There may be more to say but I'm digressing. I'm completely deluded by your latest games and I will not be buying your next-to-come titles as I did before. The only hope I have is in the community; games like Espana 36 are rare gems that I hope will have a sequel. I will be watching for fan made mods that will correct developer's shortcomings.

Nothing personal, I'm only a customer who lost trust and loyalty in the product. I hope someday this community will give birth to a new historical-wargames developer firm wich will be more respectful, less greedy and (must be said) with more money and personnel.
By the way, thanks for all the fun

a former fan

[veji1]

regarding the AI, force organisation is always a weakness, when the game isn't complicated in that regard (WIA for example) it's easier for it. Ageod should have developped cheat codes for the AI to better organise its troops (lock them together, teletransport a few times a year, etc).

Re WON.... They went too big, too ambitious and got drowned it the complexity. It's a shame. Look at Vicberg"s mode, what it does is actually strip away excessive complexity that just confuses the engine and AI to make the game better. It could be a great game, the map and units and all the table top part of the game is there, it's about making it simpler and unswamping the engine... But it's work.

[Kev_uk]

Shame. I actually might even buy the game when it released on Steam again, with a hopeful mind that they will not abandon it and continue to improve the AI and the various issues the game still has (clunky Diplomatic system - that is awkward). AI not the best however. I did really find WiA challenging, I liked that game a lot. RoP was good, but not played that so much as I should have. I still have a game ongoing, and the period music excels. I really liked RuS, that was really educational, interesting and a decent challenge. Mods improved that one too when it was first released. I have yet to but the gold edition as I bought it direct from Ageod on the day of release. Must go back to it sometime.

Unlike you, I am not condeming Ageod for a, probably rushed, game. I think it is a matter of faith, but hey, if you don't buy anything else from them and dismiss them for an ambitious game which obviously needs work still, then thanks for telling us.

[vicberg]

Take a break. Come back in a month or two. The AI will be improved. Version 1.10 of WIA made the game work. WON is is version 1.02. You like WIA, yet it took 10 releases to get it likable. You'll like WON. It's going to take a few more versions.

[BruceASinger@gmail.com]

Take a break. Come back in a month or two. The AI will be improved. Version 1.10 of WIA made the game work. WON is is version 1.02. You like WIA, yet it took 10 releases to get it likable. You'll like WON. It's going to take a few more versions.

And your Mod to make it the game it should be.