The future of SPWAW MegaCampaign releases

Gary Tatro · Post by **Gary Tatro** » Thu May 08, 2003 11:55 pm

Just trying to make a point. I have seen a number of posts similar to yours with a number of people who complain about the bugs or problems with SPWAW saying that MATRIX's should do this and fix that and change this when they got the game for FREE to begin with. I am sort of a cheer leader here and MATRIX's is my team. I tend to get a little protective of them when I thing that people are being unreasonable. I have been playing SPWAW for 2 years straight(almost every single day) and I am still not tired of it. I have never purchased any game that has keeped my interest for that long except for maybe Masters of Orion 2. Well I a glad that you did not get upset. I was not trying to do that. By the way Welcome to the forum.

rbrunsman · Post by **rbrunsman** » Fri May 09, 2003 12:43 am

Yeah, welcome kungfucheez. I actually think Gary is just trying to pad his # of posts so he can reach the exalted status of Matrix Hero like me.

kungfucheez · Post by **kungfucheez** » Fri May 09, 2003 2:33 am

over 1000 posts, I could never make that many posts

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Fri May 09, 2003 3:47 am

Some of us have too much time on our hands.

slyone · Post by **slyone** » Fri May 09, 2003 1:28 pm

Guys,

I think that we are forgetting about the real topic of this thread. It says something about the future of MCs' releases. Has this issue died already?

As far as I know the release was to take place when Watchtower is sold out. Anybody knows if it changed or how many copies are left?:rolleyes:

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Sat May 10, 2003 5:11 am

No, just on the back burner. Still waiting for WT to sell out and most efforts are being ppumped into Combat Leader.

STEELER13 · Post by **STEELER13** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 11:02 am

Yo All,
Quick question....when will North Africa megacampaign be available again? I am willing to spend money for it, and as I understand it, it was originally offered as a download, so obviously it is available to be sold(theoretically---I mean, your servers could have melted or some other disaster occur, but that's what backups are for, right?). Is there a reason this is listed as discontinued? I am really really interested in purchasing or obtaining somehow, this product.
I am posting, as I have received no response to two emails. Please let me know. Thank you.

Jim1954 · Post by **Jim1954** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 4:34 pm

Sorry to burst the bubble but it was never available as a stand alone download. You had to purchase it from Matrix or one of it's distributors. It did have a copy of an older version of SPWaW on it, 5.1 or 5.3, in fact all the MC's have some full version on them.

There are patches that are still on Matrix's homepage for these, perhaps that is what you thought was a downloadable game.

As to the future, who knows. At last look, Matrix still had stock remaining of the last MC, Watchtower, and until they were sold out, then nothing was going to happen on the MC front.

There has been "unoffical" musings about some sort of re-release , and such but I don't know what will happen, if anything.

Wild Bill · Post by **Wild Bill** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 6:16 pm

Having been the chief coordinator for Desert Fox 41 and Watchtower 42 Mega Campaigns, I'm delighted to see the interest that is still here.

Watchtower is still available and being the third in the series, it is probably the most improved. That is not blowing my own horn, just a fact.

The downside is that more folks want EF stuff rather than Pacific. That is too bad. The Watchtower Mega Campaign is a virtual electronic encyclopedia on the war in the Pacifc with its primary focus on the Marine efforts to hold the island against the worst possible conditions. It was an Alamo in its own right but one where the beleaguered defenders carried the day.

Every type of scenario imaginable is here with various routes of scenario choice at the player's disposal.

As to satisfactioin, I have talked with David Heath personally about them and I can assure you he is very pleased with public response. It was the "Mega Campaign" that put Matrix into high gear and into the gaming public's eye.

I think the "disappointment" might be all the hassle that went on initially with setting up the sales system and the problems with the companies that were doing the CDs initially.

Call it growing pains.

I can state personally that I am ecstatic about the results from the Mega Campaigns and I wish we could do at least one more prior to the release of Combat Leader.

The hardest, most challenging and most frustrating work I ever did in gaming were the two mega campaigns plus helping Brent in an advisory capacity with Lost Victories.

Money wise, in my mind the Mega Campaign is worth every penny spent on it. So many hours of fun and the possibility of replay.

So we'll see. If there is another, in spite of the voluminous amount of work involved, I'd be willing to go through just to see it done.

And Gmenfan, you're doing a great job. I lift my helmet to you and offer you a snappy Kunel's salute for your magnificent efforts. Hang in there, Warrior. We all appreciate you!

Wild Bill

STEELER13 · Post by **STEELER13** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 7:29 pm

[FONT=arial]Yo Jim and Wild Bill,
Sorry, still confused. IIRC, when this first came out, it was available by cd or you could pay for the download of the MegaCampaign(like other companies do now--symantec, etc). The SPWAW was always free.

In either case, why can't it be purchased as a download? I figure it could be placed in a zip, as obviously someone has a copy. SPWAW is already available. Many people buy software by downloads now. People like me are willing to pay good 'ol American dollars for it. Am I missing something here?

Why is the decision reliant on selling the remainder of the least popular of the three? Besides, Watchtower is listed as out of stock on the products webpage....actually everything is listed as either out of stock, in development, or discontinued. Is something up?

As for the Wild Bill's comment, I have to admit, I am highly interested in East Front and West Front and Desert campaign, as opposed to the Pacific. I don't know why, but I guess when I think tanks, I think of the first three long before I think of the last, and tanks are the primary reason I play SPWAW. Honestly I would like to try it, but not at the same price I would pay for the Desert or East Front(or a future West Front one)...perhaps bundle it with the others. I realize the same effort if not more was probably put into WatchTower than into the others, but I am just being honest as to my own interests and my limited budget! I am sure others bought Watchtower and not the first two because they are only interested in Pacific. Perhaps a bundling would be best option. Just a thought.

In either case I think MegaCampaigns are a fantastic idea and I would be curious as to the reasons for their apparent demise. Or I'll just shut up and go away if Matrix sells me a download of the North Africa aand the East Front Megacampaigns! [/FONT]

Voriax · Post by **Voriax** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 8:07 pm

Steeler, I cannot remember that any of the MC's would have *ever* been available as download.

There has been some talk about this earlier, you could try to do a forum search about it...I guess the main problem would be that many people still have problems downloading even smaller patches so if person pays $, gets a d/l password and download fails it will couse plenty of extra hassle.
Need to verify that the d/l indeed was broken, identity of persons etc..and what if all seems to go well and d/l is complete but corrupted?

As for sales...I recall Matrix people said that the production run for each MC was 2000 copies. I may be wrong in this but the exact number isn't that important. What is important is that the sales dwindled into few MC's/week towards the end of stock.

So it's not worth doing another relatively large batch of MC cd's. However with current cd burners being very fast I don't understand why not simply sell 'homeburned' cd's whenever there is a buyer? The quality isn't that much worse than a commercially made cd and most buyers can make a backup copy.

Voriax

STEELER13 · Post by **STEELER13** » Sun Jun 08, 2003 6:20 am

[FONT=arial]Yo Voriax,
I am not trying to start a fight, or dictate policy to Matrix Games. I am extremely grateful for all the work put into SPWAW. I understand from your post the website may not be sophisticated enough to handle download purchases. Fine.
As you said, though, they could burn a few copies for the die-hard interested people willing to pay.
I have $25 to pay for the North Africa MegaCampaign. Granted I am only one person, and it is only $25, but I am very interested. Maybe I am wrong, but I am sure I am not alone in trying to purchase the game. I have done searches on ebay, in newsgroups, and elsewhere. I found posts from a couple months back where others were looking for a pirated version as they couldn't purchase it.
I am not going to go for a pirated version(although, if Matrix no longer makes money off the game, is it still piracy?). But I am willing to trade games(East Front, OAW, SPIII, etc), buy the game off someone no longer playing theirs, or something. I would prefer Matrix would take me up on my offer of $25 for the game. I will even take my chance on the zip. I live in PA, about an hour and a half away, so it is not like mailing to a foreign location.
Please, Matrix, let me know. Thank you.

I do have one suggestion:All games under the product page are listed as discontinued, in development, or out of stock. Perhaps you could list an estimated date of release?
[/FONT]

David Heath · Post by **David Heath** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 11:36 am

Hi Guys

I am just going to say spread the word ..... Mega Campaigns maybe back sooner then everyone thinks.

David

slyone · Post by **slyone** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 1:26 pm

Does it mean tomorrow???!!!

But seriously, David, this statement lightens up our hearts. We all keep our fingers crossed.

Akmatov · Post by **Akmatov** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 11:32 pm

Hope your not just teasing us.

I've got Desert Fox, but misses out on the other two due to 'cash flow' and 'domestic relations' issues - how's that for PC talk?:)

Would really like to get the last two MegaCampaigns, so sign me up as supporting the concept.

Klinkenhoffen · Post by **Klinkenhoffen** » Wed Jun 11, 2003 3:49 am

Is matrix open to bribery and corruption. If so then I take back all those nasty things I said about you and megacampains.

I have a big wad of dollars for you if you re release soon.

Klinkenhoffen:D

Birdgunner · Post by **Birdgunner** » Wed Jun 11, 2003 4:17 am

Please don't tease me!

As a latecomer to SPWAW I've missed out on the MegaCampaigns.

So Please Please Please Please Please Re-Release them Matrix.

BTW, Any ETA on the re-release? Sorry, had to ask.

Birdgunner

Wild Bill · Post by **Wild Bill** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 5:51 am

Good things are coming guys. Just hang on..WB

AbsntMndedProf · Post by **AbsntMndedProf** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 6:26 am

Speaking as someone who has been here for a couple of years, I can attest to the fact that if Wild Bill says something is so, you can take it to the bank!

Eric Maietta

Wild Bill · Post by **Wild Bill** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 8:58 am

I appreciate your confidence professor and you guys won't be disappointed...Now I was going to say something else but I forgot

WB

The future of SPWAW MegaCampaign releases

Didn't mean to be snippy

Coming back to the point

desert campaign available?

why the delay

good point about cd

Release

David - tell me it is so!

Please Please Please Matrix

YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!