Paradox Washing its Hands of HOI3?

[firefly2442]

Bohemia Interactive Studios (OFP,ArmA,ArmA2).

+1 Stardock


With regard to the thread topic, I really hope 1.4 will fix some of the issues. While I think they probably are striving for a game that is too complex for a small studio I applaud them for giving it their best shot and continuing to patch the game. With all the DRM nonsense from Ubi and EA these days, it's harder and harder to find development studios or publishers that actually care about their customers.

 

[mbabbs]

I'm giving Paradox the last chance with Victoria 2. I won't buy or pre-order it immediately. I'll await for the (real, not from betatesters who's reviews are obviously written by the marketing department) reviews. I will buy it if it's completed and good. If it's terrible on release I think there is a small chance I will ever buy a Paradox game again, except from the bargain bin.

I don't think you are alone with that view.

 

[Colonel Dreux]

paradox supports its games like no other company

Actually, the company they just bought, AGEOD, does a better job of supporting their games. I'd argued that anyway. They personally fix whatever problems you have if you send your files into them. And 2 years after the game was released. Hopefully Paradox learns from them... again.

 

[FmrPFCBob]

I think PI has admitted they aimed too high with the innovations for HoI3 and the pre-release testing didn't meet expectations. It seems from several posts by devs they have really listened to the feedback/backlash since HoI3 came out and they are making changes for future releases. AFAIK Victoria 2 is coming next from the new release team and there is supposed to be an expansion for HoI3 but I don't know if that team has any other projects first.

It shouldn't be long before we can see the results of these changes.

 

[glarnak]

I think this is true.

When HoI2:Armageddon came out I felt it was a disaster. I was upset, felt like Paradox pulled a fast one on me. Judging from forum posts, many people were thinking like me. But after a long wait it finally became a nice game, and I was confident that Paradox learned their lesson.

So I bought HoI3 a few days after its release, and it was much worse.

Yes, my trust is severely damaged.

Same, I bought the EU3 and the experience of it and the expansions, made me wait a looong time before I bought another PI game. (Hoi3)

I was looking forward to Vic2 though, but I am really not sure I have the confidence that is needed to buy it. I am a consumer, I vote with my wallet.

 

[vinnie1912]

Funny how despite a history of every game Paradox releases needed a minimum of 6 months to become 'playable' people assumed that HOI3 would be awesome at release and bought it blind.

There are a lot of good fixes in 1.4 but its not perfect. Some things can be fixed with mods, some cant.

If the supply system was fixed and the US AI was more aggressive I'd put the game ahead of HOI2 final.

 

[Slan]

The whole system wouldn't work without us who buy the game and help makeing it playable for those who wait for the patches. I can understand those who still complain about the current state of the game. Then again, it was to be expected. What I can't understand is why did the long time PI costumers think that this will be different?

 

[unmerged(45977)]

I personally didn't think it would be different. That's why I didn't buy it.

I don't buy that much games anymore, from any developer, because the quality of most games has just been disappointing the last few years.

I must say I like some open-source or independent games (like Dwarf Fortress) more than most €55 games with a huge development budget.

 

[unmerged(20829)]

During HoI3 design Paradox surely did some mistakes ... it's by far the most (only) disappointing Paradox game (at least according to me)... and it's not about bugs, it's about many aspects of the game not being as fun as they were in HoI2, but all they did they did in good faith.... and believe me they will not stop supporting it... they have passion for their games and won't stop supporting HoI3 untill things will get good enough.

 

[vinnie1912]

Really the only concept I dislike is the free form diplomacy, but I can use a mod to historically confine that to my liking.

 

[unmerged(84132)]

Funny how despite a history of every game Paradox releases needed a minimum of 6 months to become 'playable' people assumed that HOI3 would be awesome at release and bought it blind.

There are a lot of good fixes in 1.4 but its not perfect. Some things can be fixed with mods, some cant.

If the supply system was fixed and the US AI was more aggressive I'd put the game ahead of HOI2 final.

I may be rare in this, but I really enjoyed EU3 at release. Was it anywhere near the quality it is today? Not at all. Even still, I had a blast.

That being said, people forget things. At the time HoI3 came out, EU3 was about as good as it was going to get, so people (me included) probably assumed (albeit wrongly) that HoI3 was going to be at least decent.

On a side note, Paradox still holds a very niche market. While it is no excuse as to why they release games the way they do, they do not have the kind of cash that Blizzard had/has. Their games do not sell Starcraft numbers and they cannot develop games for 5+ years and expect to rekindle their coffers. That and I am pretty sure Johan (and the rest of the team) likes getting paid.

Their 3rd party titles have seemed to pay off; pay off in a way that has allowed them to actually hire a QA/QT firm. Lets hope that their decision to do so will make for a fantastic Vicky2 as I would really love to play a good game for that time period and scale.

 

[jelay14]

Paradox supports their games. Its signature series is HOI.

I always thought their signature series was Europa Universalis.

 

[Capzero]

Personally I am still having fun with HOI3. It runs smooth, rarely crashes for me (I have located crashes to somethig residual leftover from other games). Some games go very well and are quite challenging others kinda boring as one side or the other just wins easy. It was the same way with CIV originally. Some games you got a good spot and just pwned the AI and others you got walked over before you could start.

It has been MANY MANY years since I have seen a game release that was not bugged day 1. I have found PI to be responsive and concerned about the quality of their product.

The gaming market today is very competitive and has limited budget. Unless you are Blizzard you will release when you have to. If you can't handle bugs and issues in early releases then stick to the purely mass market products. As a niche player I expect and understand these issues will arise and I stand behind a company that dares to make a turn based grand strategy WW2 game in a market of WoW and CoD.

 

[unmerged(68225)]

Why are you here?

After reading the comments, I am wondering why are most the people posting comments still coming to this forum? If you really think this game is so broken that it cannot be fixed, or that PI is so untrustworthy, what is making you come back to this forum and whine about how bad things are for you when you play this game? I have been playing the game since it first came out, I have not had any problems that would make me think the game is broken. I have some features that I would have like to see better implementation (better editing and levels for HQ's as one example). I still go back and play HOI2, there are things I like about it better than HOI3. But I find myself playing HOI3 more than 2 because it is giving me a better game experience. I understand that if a game does not meet expectations, people get upset. Better that you go to another game that you feel will give you that game experience that you want. Spare the people that are enjoying the game your negative comments.

 

[delra]

They hate when other people enjoy something so they come here to open our eyes so we can see how horrible the game we love actually is.

 

[Slan]

After reading the comments, I am wondering why are most the people posting comments still coming to this forum?

Probably to save those poor souls who hasn't bought the game yet

 

[Mortu]

Judging by EU3, we are 3 (three) expansions away from Awesomness. Also, since EU3 was not broken at release, we are probably 4 (four) expansions away.

 

[Lothos]

To people bashing PI I have the following to say

Rome Total War
Empire Total War
Napoleon Total War
Medieval Total War

(Sega) People get baned on the forums for complaining the games do not work and they pretty much wash their hands of it. People buy the game for the eye candy then flip out cause the game is horrible with a superbly horrible AI. The devs do not reply to posts on their support forums and the lie about the AI being improved with each and every release. Not only that but when you strip the game down it is beyond simplistic, you build a building and build units that is about it cause the diplomacy for the AI is "kill all human players if we have a border".

I have played several HoI 3 games now with the latest patch and did not let the AI control a single thing for me. I must say the level of detail and options in the game is beyond any strategy game I have ever played! The sheer complexity of the game is not only astonishing but also a dream come true to myself and many others. Granted their are issues (how could there not be) but they take time to fix and discover. Many issue can not be discovered until it hits the mass market.

Anyways my 2 cents PI A++ in my book (and no I don't get paid by them so don't accuse me of it!)

 

[FmrPFCBob]

Speaking of expansion, aside from major overhauls to supply and such, what do you think will be added?

 

[unmerged(84132)]

I have played several HoI 3 games now with the latest patch and did not let the AI control a single thing for me. I must say the level of detail and options in the game is beyond any strategy game I have ever played! The sheer complexity of the game is not only astonishing but also a dream come true to myself and many others. Granted their are issues (how could there not be) but they take time to fix and discover. Many issue can not be discovered until it hits the mass market.

Anyways my 2 cents PI A++ in my book (and no I don't get paid by them so don't accuse me of it!)

Yes this game is complex and yes they could have found most of the bugs pre-release. What most people are unhappy about is not the bugs, but the poor implementation of many features. AI, supply, naval warfare, etc.

Lets hope their QA route with Vick2 will greatly benefit them.