The Limited Edition "tech poster" is an insult to gamers.

Kautilya · November 1, 2001, 20:33

Ok in the grand scheme of things this might be a small feature but is anyone else as disgusted with this as I am?

This is the worst poster I have seen in any strategy game. For those of you who haven't seen it, it is basically a printout of the science adviser screen. That's it. No other information at all. And even this they didn't do properly. The print is out of focus and it's pretty impossible to make out the symbols.

For comparison sake consider the Imperialism-2 poster whichis of a similar type and material and from a similar game. It has the entire tech tree on one side and the unit and terrain stats on the other. Very useful and convenient. And that came free with the regular game.

To have such a shoddy product as an extra in a limited edition is inexcusable IMO. While gameplay features like multiplayer,scenarios etc take a lot of effort it would have required only marginally more effort to have produced a decent poster with useful information. It is simply a case of not caring enough to produce a quality product.

While the overall game is quite decent it too has many signs of being sloppy and rushed which other posters have written about. The tech poster is just one of them.

orange · November 1, 2001, 20:52

why did Firaxis do such a poor job? I mean, these are simple slip ups that should not happen when you're carrying the civilization 'banner'. C'mon Firaxis, what's going on?!

Any chance you could scan it and post a ss?

Bane · November 1, 2001, 20:55

I agree w/ you 110%. It is a work of crap -- Did I say it was a work of crap. I cannot believe that something like that would be released -- it makes the whole game smell rank.

Shame on you..tech poster my arse...crap on paper is more like it!!

dainbramaged13 · November 1, 2001, 20:55

Orange, no need. THEYRE EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE TECH TREE SCREENSHOTS THAT YOUVE SEEN, ONLY SMALLER, admittedly on glossy paper

Kautilya · November 1, 2001, 21:01

I don't have a scanner but if you have seen screenshots of the in-game tech adviser then you have seen the poster. They just printed it out; that's all.

I don't understand why they did such a shoddy job either; like I said making a decent poster is a small thing which doesn't require much effort. My guess is they just don't care.

The rest of the LE. is pretty much in same vein btw. The videos are 5-6 minutes each and more like infomercials than anything. The designer notes seem to be missing. The tin box is decent but even here the background art appears to be just some random pattern.

Kautilya · November 1, 2001, 21:04

BTW those of you who have the LE : a question.

Where are the designer notes? I couldn't find them.

Also how many pages does your manual have. Mine has 235 pages but some people said 248 or more. I am wondering if I got the regular edition manual by mistake and whether the longer manual has the designer notes.

Delthayre · November 1, 2001, 21:07

Indeed, the poster was dissapointing (but the tin is lovely...I gues it's a personal taste thing). The inadequate poster is really dissapointing in light of the fact that Civ 2 shipped with a usefull tech tree. It was a full sized poster with clear symbols and unit information with every tech. Hmmmm...maybe I should dig mine up again for nostalgia's sake.

Leonidas · November 1, 2001, 21:13

Most games I bought that had tech posters were very nice, like the ones that came with Age of Empires and Shogun. Real quality.

I didn't buy the LE - I would have thought that at least the poster would have been decent. . .

And this is supposed to be CIv3 - Sid's flagship game - his "golf" game sure looks impressive though. . .

Gee, you don't think the gaming industry is trying to ween us off TB games do you?

Nawww. . . they'd never do anything like that. . .

Christantine The Great · November 1, 2001, 22:33

It doesn't bother me much. It's not like they lied about it. It's the tech tree. I am disappointed about how the LE lacked any real big distinction, though. I would pay $5 for the box, everything else I don't really care about. I just wanted the box.

I think most "complaints" are just people not getting what they expected.

Travathian · November 1, 2001, 23:11

Wow, I'm glad I didn't buy the LE then. I was greatly impressed with the SMAC and CivII tech tree foldouts. Heck, I pinned them to the wall by my computer when I got em. I actually thought the normal edition of CivIII would have a poster, but I guess I didn't miss anything. This is disturbing indeed.

TheDarkside · November 1, 2001, 23:18

CtP:2 had a decent poster chock full of info. cheap paper but who cares, i read the text on it not the glossy sheen.

Kautilya · November 1, 2001, 23:22

"I think most "complaints" are just people not getting what they expected."
Well I expected the poster to be at least the same quality as Civ2,SMAC,AOK etc. That's completely reasonable but the poster they gave didn't even come close.

What pisses me off is the attitude that the poster seems to represent. They did put some effort into making a decent box (which could be seen before purchase) but when it came to the inside stuff they seem to have thought: "we know these are the hard-core fans and anyway they won't see what's inside until they buy it; let's just put any junk we can make and put it in and they will still lap it up".

Surely these people have seen the posters in other games including their own and they knew this was a shoddy,substandard product.

Sadly while the core gameplay is quite decent that same attitude is there throughout the game with multiplayer, lack of scenarios, an incomplete editor,wonder movies etc. There seems to be a general philosophy of eliminating features which have become standard in this type of game. Any one of these isn't that important but put together it's quite disappointing.

SuiteSisterMary · November 2, 2001, 00:12

Quote:

For those of you who haven't seen it, it is basically a printout of the science adviser screen.

There's no doubt about it; it's even got the 'next age' 'previous age' 'done' buttons still on there.

And you CANNOT call it a poster. It's four five inch by five inch or so bits of cardboard, side by side.

ixnay · November 2, 2001, 01:18

Also, the "exclusive making of Civ3 video" was the preorder one we saw circling around a few weeks ago. The only worthwhile part of the LE was the tin.

Bkeela · November 2, 2001, 01:33

Well, at least you have your biscuit tin.

Bkeela.

LordRiker · November 2, 2001, 01:39

i agree the banner did suck, and i've been noticing a pattern amongst the Legendary Game Designers.. There Masterpeice games seem to suck. Richard Garriot and Ultima 9 buggy POS; B&W by Peter Molyenux it was as good as all the hype and it was real buggy and now Sid Meier and Civilization 3.. ugh.. the nail in the coffin. Alpha Centuari was alot better. What a disturbing trend, I hope in some patches they can salavage Civ 3

yin26 · November 2, 2001, 01:43

Well, even though I was the first guy to suggest a 'Civers Edition' way back (http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=23466) and was delighted at the announcement of the LE, I also put in a warning:

Quote:

When Ultima9 came out, I jumped at the chance to buy the Dragon Edition. It included a cool (old-school) cloth map, game music on a separate audio CD, "simulated leather" spellbook and manual, 8 tarrot cards, an ankh, Ultimas 1-8 on a separate disk, a letter of thanks from RG, and a HUGE box! I gladly paid $70+ for it. [Note: The game itself was buggy, the box so damn big that stuff rolled around inside and got messy and bent, the ankh was REALLY cheap, the tarrot cards cartoony, the best of previous Ultimas unplayable under Windows, and they released an "enhanced making of U9 cd" a few weeks later instead of in the box--which pretty much ruined the experience.]

History repeating itself. Ironic for a game about history, eh?

donarumo · November 2, 2001, 02:02

Although I have complaints about the game included with the LE - I wish they would have added more stuff including a better tech tree poster - maybe a nice cloth one or something.

DanS · November 2, 2001, 02:27

Didn't Origin just go belly up, Yin?

Things to come?

November 2, 2001, 03:42

Just to chime in with the rest of you who think the Tech Tree Poster is a POS!

Not a lot of time or energy went into the design or the making of it, that I'll tell you; not even worth an extra dollar; for you folks who haven't been bitten yet, stick with the regular edition.

yin26 · November 2, 2001, 03:48

Dan: Let's hope not.

marcuspeddle · November 2, 2001, 04:00

Quote:

Originally posted by bigfree1
Just to chime in with the rest of you who think the Tech Tree Poster is a POS!

Not a lot of time or energy went into the design or the making of it, that I'll tell you; not even worth an extra dollar; for you folks who haven't been bitten yet, stick with the regular edition.

I called Chips and bits last night and changed my order from LE to SE. I asked if they were shipping to South Korea and the guy said, "I don't see why not" but he wasn't sure. Anyway, except for the tin the LE sounds pretty useless. I can buy Danish cookies at the local grocery store and get a nice tin. Well, in a couple of weeks I guess I'll have Civ3. Can't wait!!!!

yin26 · November 2, 2001, 04:02

Also I hear that the promised designer notes aren't even in the box. LOL

Kautilya · November 2, 2001, 04:14

Yin,
Thanks for the link back to the age of innocence.

BTW I love the line about "other cool stuff" in the description about the LE.

Let's see there is:

1) A five minute video clip about Sid Meier which is basically a bunch of guys talking about how great the man is.

2)Designer notes : Written in invisible ink perhaps.

3) the tech poster: well we all know about that by now

Oh and the "making of Civ cd" is a seven minute video clip which is basically an extended commerical for the game. Apparently the same thing as the video preview posted elsewhere.

To the person who made the Limited edition: what were you thinking?

If someone wanted to deliberately piss off Civ fans, he couldn't have done a better job.

LtChambers · November 2, 2001, 05:39

LE is worth it just for the tin and the fact that THIS IS CIVILIZATION 3! I gladly paid the extra $10 for Civ3 LE even though I could tell before I bought it that it wasn't going to be much extra. However, when I got the bonus CD and put it in I watched both videos - one of them is basically a trailer for the game, as been said here, but at the end it says "WE'VE RUINED YOUR LIFE ... AGAIN!" That was honestly one of the funniest things I've ever seen! It's funny because it's true. There isn't any doubt about this game - once you get into and get over the initial slowness of the game you won't be able to stop. It's the exact opposite of the first two games - instead of starting off quickly and ending with long drawn out turns, it starts very slowly and difficult and gets easier! Anyway, if you don't like the tech tree poster (it is rather cheap :P) just turn it over and it's a nice long "Sid Mieir's CIVILIZATION 3" logo which you can post up instead.

hexagonian · November 2, 2001, 10:07

Quote:

Originally posted by LtChambers
...and the fact that THIS IS CIVILIZATION 3!

Sorry, but that is no excuse for a shoddily produced poster that normally comes standard with any other game - LE or not.

The fact that this is civ3 SHOULD mean higher quality!!

Fintilgin · November 2, 2001, 10:25

Actually, I don't think Firaxis had much to do with putting together the LE. I think that kind of thing is mostly the responsibility of the publisher. In other words, Infrogrames.

Who knows why the developers notes aren't there though...

I'm glad I stuck with the regular edition. From what I've seen, `special editions' are almost never worth any extra money.

Joe

Urban Ranger · November 2, 2001, 13:46

Quote:

Originally posted by Leonidas
Most games I bought that had tech posters were very nice, like the ones that came with Age of Empires and Shogun. Real quality.

What? Shogun doesn't have any tech posters. As a matter of fact tech isn't involved.

mathgoulet · November 11, 2001, 23:32

According to you guys, I'm happy not to have bough the LE edition...

It looks like it's just to make some money...

TCO · November 11, 2001, 23:44

This is pretty sad. They could have made some decent money by differentiating the product (cloth tech map, etc.) and still generated more good will for Sid and for Firaxis. What a waste.