I never really wanted to write this post, as I'm very forgiving, very patient, and I've been standing behind this company for a very long time, but seriously you are losing a customer. Now, I won't talk about you guys making games with passion, etc, etc... because to be fair you have a monopoly on the grand strategy market. Maybe that's why your products are often so broken on release. You have the room and possibilities to make a lot of mistakes, because people (like myself) will buy your products anyway, simply because there is no better alternative. Damn you.
Seriously Paradox, I appreciate you make interesting games. I buy your products, and own all the DLCs for CK2, Europa, and intend to purchase them for HOI as well. I have pumped a lot of money into your products, mainly because, well, they are good products... however, I feel with every expansion you've been breaking the game more than it should. A friend of mine even compared your games to a "subscription" model, where you make DLCs that once you see, you really don't want to play without them, hence you just go and buy it (although it's a hefty price... and I thought that map packs for COD were a joke in price...).
We've seen CK expanding. That's great. I bought it on pre-order, and saw how it looked then. Today, the game has changed massively, and it's great you continue to support it. What's not great however is that you're breaking it at the same time. Every time we see a step forward, we also see a step back. Performance, Multiplayer... CHRIST your MINIMUM SPECS for the game went UP. That must have pissed a lot of people off. Before you say..."Well, if you didn't have problems before expansion XYZ why don't you go back and play that?". It's great you give me the option to revert to older versions of the game. But I paid for those expansions, I expect them to work.
I know CK is single-player focused. That's cool, but you still gave it a multiplayer feature. As a company, if you do something "official" it's your responsibility to actually sell a product that works. CK2 does not have "multiplayer beta" that "might or might not work" (Empire Total War did that with their campaigns. It messed up 90% of the time, but it was cool, it was an EXTRA feature that came out after the game was released. Ages after). On the steam page, you have "MULTIPLAYER" written on it. That means it should work. Well, here's some news: it doesn't.
Now, I get that the game might not be easy to fix. That's cool... It's not easy, I understand that. But does that mean you won't fix it? Does that mean, it's not profitable enough? Well, is it profitable for me as a customer to pay for stuff that's broken then?
Now... as I said, owning all DLCs which I have paid 165.23 GBP for (all purchased on release) AND the game was around 39.99 GBP in pre-order. That means I paid roughly 205.22 pounds for something that is half broken. What is this? Train Simulator? Costs pretty much the same... Well, single-player works, great. Multiplayer doesn't. Does that mean you will refund me half of what I paid? Um, somehow I don't think so. Crap guys, I have the CK2 t-shirt (2 of them) and a mouse pad. I love you guys, I watch your streams, and I don't think I've ever complained about you. I always said "That paradox company! Great guys they are!". Do you know how frustrated I must be to write this?
It's not a "on-a-spot" rant that I just decided to write because I got a multiplayer desync. It's something that's been accumulating over time. Yes, I've abided by your guidelines (forwarded ports, waiting half a minute before session start etc. etc.). With every DLC you release something breaks, and the game becomes unstable. So my question to you is this: ARE YOU GOING TO FIX MULTIPLAYER, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY PART OF THE GAME AS IT SAYS ON THE STEAM STORE PAGE, or have I made a mistake in trusting you to deliver a good and working product?
Again, I do love you, but seriously. I'm really, really angry.
Peace.
Seriously Paradox, I appreciate you make interesting games. I buy your products, and own all the DLCs for CK2, Europa, and intend to purchase them for HOI as well. I have pumped a lot of money into your products, mainly because, well, they are good products... however, I feel with every expansion you've been breaking the game more than it should. A friend of mine even compared your games to a "subscription" model, where you make DLCs that once you see, you really don't want to play without them, hence you just go and buy it (although it's a hefty price... and I thought that map packs for COD were a joke in price...).
We've seen CK expanding. That's great. I bought it on pre-order, and saw how it looked then. Today, the game has changed massively, and it's great you continue to support it. What's not great however is that you're breaking it at the same time. Every time we see a step forward, we also see a step back. Performance, Multiplayer... CHRIST your MINIMUM SPECS for the game went UP. That must have pissed a lot of people off. Before you say..."Well, if you didn't have problems before expansion XYZ why don't you go back and play that?". It's great you give me the option to revert to older versions of the game. But I paid for those expansions, I expect them to work.
I know CK is single-player focused. That's cool, but you still gave it a multiplayer feature. As a company, if you do something "official" it's your responsibility to actually sell a product that works. CK2 does not have "multiplayer beta" that "might or might not work" (Empire Total War did that with their campaigns. It messed up 90% of the time, but it was cool, it was an EXTRA feature that came out after the game was released. Ages after). On the steam page, you have "MULTIPLAYER" written on it. That means it should work. Well, here's some news: it doesn't.
Now, I get that the game might not be easy to fix. That's cool... It's not easy, I understand that. But does that mean you won't fix it? Does that mean, it's not profitable enough? Well, is it profitable for me as a customer to pay for stuff that's broken then?
Now... as I said, owning all DLCs which I have paid 165.23 GBP for (all purchased on release) AND the game was around 39.99 GBP in pre-order. That means I paid roughly 205.22 pounds for something that is half broken. What is this? Train Simulator? Costs pretty much the same... Well, single-player works, great. Multiplayer doesn't. Does that mean you will refund me half of what I paid? Um, somehow I don't think so. Crap guys, I have the CK2 t-shirt (2 of them) and a mouse pad. I love you guys, I watch your streams, and I don't think I've ever complained about you. I always said "That paradox company! Great guys they are!". Do you know how frustrated I must be to write this?
It's not a "on-a-spot" rant that I just decided to write because I got a multiplayer desync. It's something that's been accumulating over time. Yes, I've abided by your guidelines (forwarded ports, waiting half a minute before session start etc. etc.). With every DLC you release something breaks, and the game becomes unstable. So my question to you is this: ARE YOU GOING TO FIX MULTIPLAYER, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY PART OF THE GAME AS IT SAYS ON THE STEAM STORE PAGE, or have I made a mistake in trusting you to deliver a good and working product?
Again, I do love you, but seriously. I'm really, really angry.
Peace.
- 2
- 2
