Dear everyone!
I have noticed a varied response to the recent patch, where some people greatly enjoy all aspects of it and some are rather unhappy. I also think this is likely to occur with most patches that re-balance the gameplay (either of some mechanic or between countries, units, etc). There is a solution, however, that should make everyone happy.
At the start screen where you now select what DLC you want to have enabled, you select what patch you want to play. You then have to wait for the game to reconfigure (you can cap the download speed if that is a worry, maybe also add in a tickbox to store this information locally in the future for those who like to switch around) in the same way a popular MOBA type game let's you select region (making the game download some parts and re-configure).
Some possible concerns which should not be concerning us:
1. Is this not just for those who want easy achievements?
No, it is for those who want to play a different patch for whatever reason. I don't judge, and don't think anyone else should either. Someone earning an achievement does not cause me bodily harm, and my self-esteem is not linked to whether other can get some achievement or whatnot, so I do not mind. If achievements earned on patch x are not removed, I do not see why they are not worthy of being earned on that patch. Some may simply want to finish games they had already started on the patch they started them. Not everything is about difficulty or achievements.
2. But what about multiplayer?
Yeah you got me, I cannot sort the issues out that people are having with multiplayer unless steam allows for multiple versions to be used and you can only play with those who have the same version. Which would be great, but not sure steam would be so accomodating.
3. This is completely impossible!
Not really, if you can check the state of the game now and compare it to the current version (say via md5 sum or however people like to do it), there is no reason you cannot compare it to the version the user selected.
4. You really expect paradox to provide support for so many patches?
Well depends on what you mean by support. I do not think they should try to patch the different patches. If you decide to play an old patch you play it as the game was then. Therefore, support for old patches will take approximately no time at all.
Some problems which are maybe problems but not insurmountable:
1. It will take some additional programming, mostly to set it up in the first place (after that, not too much work for each added patch).
2. Confusion for newcomers - easily solved by some scary message "We recommend that you only play on the latest patch unless you are sure you know what you are doing and are very experienced with the game".
So what are the advantages?
1. Everyone can play whatever patch they enjoy, leading to greater happiness for all. As an additional bonus, it is often good for business when a larger proportion of customers like a product.
I have noticed a varied response to the recent patch, where some people greatly enjoy all aspects of it and some are rather unhappy. I also think this is likely to occur with most patches that re-balance the gameplay (either of some mechanic or between countries, units, etc). There is a solution, however, that should make everyone happy.
At the start screen where you now select what DLC you want to have enabled, you select what patch you want to play. You then have to wait for the game to reconfigure (you can cap the download speed if that is a worry, maybe also add in a tickbox to store this information locally in the future for those who like to switch around) in the same way a popular MOBA type game let's you select region (making the game download some parts and re-configure).
Some possible concerns which should not be concerning us:
1. Is this not just for those who want easy achievements?
No, it is for those who want to play a different patch for whatever reason. I don't judge, and don't think anyone else should either. Someone earning an achievement does not cause me bodily harm, and my self-esteem is not linked to whether other can get some achievement or whatnot, so I do not mind. If achievements earned on patch x are not removed, I do not see why they are not worthy of being earned on that patch. Some may simply want to finish games they had already started on the patch they started them. Not everything is about difficulty or achievements.
2. But what about multiplayer?
Yeah you got me, I cannot sort the issues out that people are having with multiplayer unless steam allows for multiple versions to be used and you can only play with those who have the same version. Which would be great, but not sure steam would be so accomodating.
3. This is completely impossible!
Not really, if you can check the state of the game now and compare it to the current version (say via md5 sum or however people like to do it), there is no reason you cannot compare it to the version the user selected.
4. You really expect paradox to provide support for so many patches?
Well depends on what you mean by support. I do not think they should try to patch the different patches. If you decide to play an old patch you play it as the game was then. Therefore, support for old patches will take approximately no time at all.
Some problems which are maybe problems but not insurmountable:
1. It will take some additional programming, mostly to set it up in the first place (after that, not too much work for each added patch).
2. Confusion for newcomers - easily solved by some scary message "We recommend that you only play on the latest patch unless you are sure you know what you are doing and are very experienced with the game".
So what are the advantages?
1. Everyone can play whatever patch they enjoy, leading to greater happiness for all. As an additional bonus, it is often good for business when a larger proportion of customers like a product.
