Matrix Games Forums

all in the title

I'd say it is somewhat active.

It's moving, albeit slowly. Seems that much of the passion has fled from the forums due to the intransigence of the bugs....

It's interesting how passionate the forum was for past couple of years WITH the problems. Yet now WITHOUT most of the pbem issues and bugs there's hardly a peep?

Granted there's still a handful of issues to fix. The v1.08.05 hotfix tackles quite a lot of outstanding items. And of course there's still more to do regarding classic EiA scenario devlopment, AI improvements and such. It would be nice to see folks return to the game and reassess it based on all the work Marshall has put into it lately.

Speaking from my own experience, I bought the game pretty much as soon as it came out. I had never played the board game so it was always going to require an investment in time and effort to learn to play which was fair enough - worth it I thought as I like the Napoleonic era and I love ADG's World In Flames. So interesting historical period meets great game maker....mmm sounds like a hit.

Almost immediately, the bad press began, bugs galore, terrible AI, anger from some over how different it was to the board game etc etc. There was simply no way I was going to invest time and effort in a game with this many problems so I put on ice my plans to learn the game but simply waited and watched in the hope that things would be resolved. Eventually, though, I got tired of waiting and although a lot of progress has been made (and clearly a lot of hard work has gone into putting things right [&o]) I guess I have just lost interest.

Other games have come out that have taken what gaming time I have available. Will I ever go back to this? Maybe - just a shame that as I write, its been money down the drain [:(]

I'm sure there are less players now than there was a couple of years ago, but the forum is primarily a place to report bugs and grip. With only a handful of bugs to go, there is less to grip about, so less activity (and hopefully Marshall will work to get rid of these soon, right Marshall?).

We need something controverisal to talk about or some controversial characters. Maybe get Neverman back?

I drop by and keep an eye on these threads, I took the plunge quite recently, haven't been able to make much headway into learning the game, although theres something about it that intrigues me. So I keep coming back.

I've printed the manual out, I've read some of it, I've dabbled in a game or two as Austria, but haven't had much success in fathoming out the complexities of the game. When just moving your pieces and placing your troops is a test of the cryptic UI, it wears down your enthusiasm pretty quickly.

I still think the game is worth more investigation, and I'm hoping with fingers crossed that Yearworld finishes up his tutorial and reveals all the hidden secrets of the game to mere mortals like myself.

Its good to hear someone is still working on the game. Sort of gives you hope, for the future.

I also hope a lot of the people that were disappointed in the past eventually give the game another shot. Marshall had done a lot of work from that point. I am in 4 games now and although we hit a bug now and again, none of them are bame breakers. As for Neverman; I hope he comes back around. If I remember correctly real life got in the way and he had to drop out of the last game we were in.

It's atill active but somewhat less than it was. I take that as normal aging and bugs being worked out. The game has been out for three years now and it is still selling at a surprisingly constant level. Most games don't live this long but you guys are keeping it alive! No, it's not been perfect nor easy but never boring either LOL!

There are still a few things I would like to add (Classic, IP) if we get the chance then perhaps a total revamp of the engine so that we take advantage of technology changes (This was originally designed for WIN98SE LOL) and also program for actual EiA and not change a design in the middle of the process!

In summary, if I had to do it again, there would be a hundred things I would do differently BUT I would still do it. You cannot please everybody no matter how hard you try but you still gotta try!

I agree completely about working on a classic scenario, and think this will be a popular addition. IP, I'm not so sure about. If you ever do this again, more attention should be focussed on the PBEM aspects, and in particular game speed. Game speed is the Achilles heel of this game.

There are still a couple of things that can be done to address PBEM game speed:

1) add a "let the AI play (autoforage) my land phase" button to the skip menu (how hard can this be to do? It would sure help during the long periods of peace and playing Britain)
2) eliminate file exchange battles for siege battles (file exchange for siege battles is mostly a waste of time)
3) a "done and finish this battle on opponents computer" option on the battle screen
4) sim eco (maybe not be easy, so not on the top of the list)

Yes, I think it is still active. I've got 6 games going. Every now and again we get halted by a bug, but not too bad anymore. It was a popular board game so I think it will live on at some level, but fixes to speed things along would be welcome. As a host for a couple of games I sometimes feel uncomfortable using the AI to perform certain functions (builds and reinforcements) because I know they won't get done.

I agree with Doug(BoerWar). I think now the bugs are fixed well enough games go on pretty smoothly and it sounds like soon hosts will be able to fix most problems with the game so there should be few if any long game stops. If you really want to experience the game you should join a PBEM game as this is the fun aspect of the game not playing against the AI.

Yearworld

Well said!