Firaxis: Stop all information flow!

Atahualpa · May 20, 2001, 11:27

Dont give anymore news about Civ3.
No more Screens. No more videos. No more information on Gameconcepts.

And then when its really the time to get excited about the game (2 months before release) then slowly release some info of the game. But not much. In the meantime. Visit the forums every once in a while and ask bogus questions about something to keep us busy (or those who care).

And please dont show any more screens. Hide your jewel till it is polished!

Or hehe, try the other way and just release some audio files instead of some screens.
I am getting tired of all the screenshots. You do make an opinion based on a screenshot and a screenshot can barely show the game's potential. Videos are better for such tings. But well its very uncommen to release Videos of Games in Development (except for events such as E3) of course.

Ata

Nikolai · May 20, 2001, 13:23

Please, Firaxis: Don't listen to this man! He is, unfortunately, mad...!

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Who am I? What am I? Do we need Civ? Well....

Gramphos · May 20, 2001, 13:48

quote:

Originally posted by Nikolai on 05-20-2001 01:23 PM
Please, Firaxis: Don't listen to this man! He is, unfortunately, mad...!

I think that he may be too excited about the game to stand any more info before he can put his own hands on it

.
Anyway the best solution is to isolate him from any media until the game is released.

That way he won't get any more information, and we not jet affected by this syndrome may get closer to this state of madness as we get more information

.

Bereta_Eder · May 20, 2001, 14:40

LOL @ this thread

Ata, it's not like we have an information overload!

Kc7mxo · May 20, 2001, 15:13

Actually, I'm starting to think that looking at previews is a bad idea. At least if i didn't look at them i'd be dissapointed all at once rather than over a period of months. Ignorance is bliss.

The Rusty Gamer · May 20, 2001, 21:32

This much information, and this much discussion in the forums makes my brain hurt.

When I use to switch on the computer it was to actually play games, lately I've spent more time discussing them but it's hard to stop. Always another idea popping up to talk about. And some of it based on misinformation. Look at the seven civs discussions. Haven't we got others lives to live? Arrrrrgggggg!

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"If you post something often enough, people will start to read it"

Imran Siddiqui · May 21, 2001, 00:43

You want to be lynched, don't you?

godot · May 21, 2001, 13:15

I don't have an opinion about this issue, but I am getting tired of the hype. I'm excited about the game but I'm starting to tune out.

The release is just too far away for me to get worked up anymore. It's like what movie distributors/producers(?) are doing to me by showing movie previews a YEAR before the movie premieres; it pisses me off more than anything. What? I'm not going to see any movie until then? I'll be more inclined to see the movie if I see the trailer 167 times?

The relevance here is that I enjoy playing CivII now and maybe CivIII will be killer but I may move on to something else sometime in the next six months.

Well, I guess I did have an opinion after all.

MrFun · May 21, 2001, 13:25

Unfortunately, Apolyton editors seem to post every preview, and then they state that it has the same information or the same pictures as the last preview. The only previews I appreciate are ones that have NEW information. I do not mind less updates on Apolyton if means that we wait for NEW information or NEW pictures.

How boring and redundant can you get?

Imran Siddiqui · May 21, 2001, 14:46

SIMILAR information, perhaps. But the new previews expand on the old information. You may not care but plenty of people here do.

Atahualpa · May 21, 2001, 14:49

quote:

I think that he may be too excited about the game to stand any more info before he can put his own hands on it

Actually the opposite is the case. The more info I get the less excited I get. And the more info I get the less I care about the info. I havent read any preview lately, simply because they start out all the same (boring) way and there is not much interesting thing to read.
And I see no point in releasing every little feature of the game. I rather think I should find out all these features on my own when the game is out.

Remember CtP2? I knew everything about the game, before I played it. And when I first encountered it, I could play right away. The game had nothing new, I knew everything already. Man that was boring.

quote:

Anyway the best solution is to isolate him from any media until the game is released.

No problem I am doing that for myself already.

godot: ditto

So Firaxis please dont tell anything about the game anymore. No features or something like that. I want to find that out on my own, when I have the game in my hands.
I dont want to experience the "CtP2 Shock" again.

Besides everyone here will, when you suck up every little info on the game. You wont find much fun with the game then.

Thats my opinion,
ATa

Adm.Naismith · May 22, 2001, 04:26

As the old motto "the map is not the territory", I will extend the concept to "the info aren't the game"

Ata, surely you love to discover hidden things and learn game rules by trial&error method; that's fine as mine to quickly browse an available manual, learn a bit more of game rules then start playing.

I don't mind to know any bit of info: surely some things should surprise me, but like watching a sport on TV my enjoyment isn't to guess the rules by looking game actions, more admiring good execution and result (hopefully a victory of my team).

I'll like to know enough of CIV 3 the week before I play it, so I can spend less time to grab the concept and more studying best strategies. A limited demo out a couple of week before the final will be wonderful!

samurai · May 22, 2001, 04:45

All this info. Its like a drug. I havent been able to look at it so often lately, but use ca 2hours just reading through all the news and previews I`ve missed. Its like a drug. Its like "the apolytoners" are sitting in front of me and says:"Come here, read the news, and we`ll show you just how deep the rabbit whole goes." In other words: Its like a splinter in my mind, driving me mad.

So here is my prayor to Firaxis:"RELEASE MORE INFO,NEWS AND SCREENSHOTS. I`M ADDICTED!"

Yog-Sothoth · May 22, 2001, 05:33

I think it's good that we get some info, so we don't have to spend our time arguing about gameconcept that is no longer in the game or is optional or whatever.

Palpatine · May 22, 2001, 06:11

I have to say that i cant get enougth information hehe.

HI Ata btw

Atahualpa · May 22, 2001, 07:22

Studying best strategies right away ?

Sorry, but when I have the game in hands first I want to be amazed and want to say wow and uuuuhh and cool and whatever. And then I'd like to get into the game. Slowly! Realizing more concepts the more I progress.
CtP2 had these cool things when you first sailed around the world and such. And it could have been much cooler, if I havent known right from the start that this feature would exist.
Then I knew exactly when the city radius would increase. And I knew the interface from the screenshots and how to move units was all described. Its really boring when you know a game before you could even play it.
Best thing was that I first saw it when my friend was playing it and he kept asking me things over things. And I explained him all. And then he meant that I must have played lots of games. Well, at that time, I havent played ONE game!

If a lot of things will be similiar to Civ2 then Civ3 will not be the game for me. I want to reexperience the civ genre! Not from scratch, but I dont want to browse the tech tree like I did in Civ2 for example. And I dont want to favor all the units I favored in Civ2.
Maybe infantry units could made a bit stronger ? I found they were always too weak.

Hello Palpatine, btw

ATa

Atahualpa · May 22, 2001, 18:04

I really think Firaxis should consider this!

Bkeela · May 22, 2001, 20:28

I couldn't agree with you more Atahualpa. I was nearly driven mad by closely following the development of Black & White, and the several release date slides were very upsetting.

However, there is a certain percentage of people who actually enjoy the development of a game, and the community that surrounds it, more than the actual game! From this point on, the hype is only going to snowball.

There is only one solution: that is self imposed ignorance. I am going to try my best to avoid the hype, and when I walk into my computer store and see it on the shelf - then I will check out previews etc.

So far, I am failing...

Bkeela.

Atahualpa · May 23, 2001, 03:51

Bkeela: I dont know about B&W, but I found it a very very disappointing game. I stopped playing after I completed the horrible 3rd world. After all I discovered B&W was more work than joy.

About Civ. Me too, I am trying to avoid as much news as possible, but then I always find myself clicking links with Civ3 info. Though I dont read any previews or such.

I am trying to do it this way: I close my eyes to all Civ3 news. I dont read any previews. I dont read every eeneeweenee feature that is published by Firaxis. Then when the game is out, I walk into the store, buy it, drive home and play. And then I will discover all those little featuers and such all for myself. And I will have much fun with the game, discovering new things every day.

Btw, it is WAY too early to start hyping Civ3. They should do this couple of months before the actual release.

And I thought, I would be stormed with "WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY MAN????" type of posts. Interestingly there are people who agree wholeheartly!

ATa

MidKnight Lament · May 23, 2001, 07:28

I'm not even boterhing to read most of the stuff in the prievews anymore. It's mostly all the same, and if there's anything new, I'm bound to see it in the news on Apolyton or in the top 10 or 20 threads. I'm making a point of not letting myself overkill it.

Adm.Naismith · May 23, 2001, 09:37

Quote:

Originally posted by Atahualpa
And I thought, I would be stormed with "WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY MAN????" type of posts. Interestingly there are people who agree wholeheartly!
ATa

That's doesn't happened because we are mostly kind people, firmly believing into right of any person to have a different opinion, not to mention we all know very well it's always better do not contraddict any so evidently crazy person

(Just kidding, Ata, just kidding

)

Father Beast · May 23, 2001, 11:54

About those previews....

Sometimes I think the latest mag or site hasn't actually talked to the guys at firaxis, they just read some of the previews and wrote their own to match it.

that would explain why we don't get much new info.

BTW, when E3 is past, will we finally get something NEW??

OneFootInTheGrave · May 23, 2001, 12:12

I guess that previews have started now, I would expect that we get a new game detail every two weeks until the game is out.

tThis makes the wait bearable for us without a life

Cyclotron · May 23, 2001, 12:16

The world is full of information... some relevent, some not. A person who wishes to stay sane must also realize that much of this information is neither original or genuinely informative. Apolyton, like all other news organizations, should not be held responsible for the originality or actual importance of their reporting. They are doing what they set out to do. If you find there to be a problem with this, you should seriously reconsider reading the news section at all. If you are offended somehow, it's your fault.

MrFun · May 23, 2001, 12:23

Apolyton recently added its latest update -- its an exact replica of a previous preview they had on their site.

I know, because I looked at it, and it indeed, was the exact same article from the same source they had before.

The editors really need to do a better job than this.

Atahualpa · May 23, 2001, 13:23

Naismith: hehe

ATa

Cyclotron · May 23, 2001, 18:29

Quote:

Originally posted by MrFun
Apolyton recently added its latest update -- its an exact replica of a previous preview they had on their site.

I know, because I looked at it, and it indeed, was the exact same article from the same source they had before.

The editors really need to do a better job than this.

Mr Fun, why does it make you mad? Just ignore it. Refer to my above post... News is an imperfect science.

Atahualpa · May 25, 2001, 02:31

-= BUMP =-

SerapisIV · May 25, 2001, 08:38

Civ3 is months away

. So in that time I'm going to have fun debating the game and all the info thats coming out, probably burn out on talking about it around the end of the summer, not touch the game and pick it up again right around release, so I get the best of both worlds, I got to argue over ever miniscule detail of the handful of known screenshots and previews, get to not think about the game for a few months, and then still be excited when the game actually ships, sometime before the next presidential election (I have no faith in seeing a holiday release).

Captain · May 25, 2001, 18:13

No one is forcing anyone to read the news (or non-news previews). If you don't want more info, just don't read it, do something else. I'm sure you can think of other things to do with your time.

Sure, the premature hype may harm Firaxis' market plan, but that's their concern. Some people want the tidbits strung along to keep their interest up, Firaxis meets those needs (somewhat), and those who don't want, have the option of not paying attention. See, both sides win this way so why make one side lose?

As for me, I enjoy the discussions on these boards. Sure they're sometimes a bit repetitive but there's usually a new twist on things that might affect our opinions and just maybe it'll develop into better ideas. Of course there are things I don't care to discuss, but then I just don't read those threads.

After a while, I'll probably get tired of it too, but then I'll just stop posting and reading, do something else, and when interest perks up again, I'll return. In the meantime, it's fun!