Inquiry for Firaxis personnel

[player1]

Inquiry for Firaxis personnel:

This is one nice Q&A thread.

Rules:
-every Firaxis member, who browse these forums should answer on folowing question with A, B, C, D, etc...
-sometimes comments should be added too.
-these question are for Firaxis only
-for others: please be polite, no extra questions or spam, we don't want to scare people away (for now ;>)
-for Firaxis members: please be polite and answer these questions, even if it means answering all questions with K) or N) )
-for moderators: this thread is put in Strategy forum in hope that some Firaxis mebemer will read it, and to lower spam as much as possibile. If you think that's not good reason then just move it in General forum. Still, if someone from Firaxis actually replies, then make an news item and top this thread.


Question 1:
When will be released next patch (aprox)?

A) February
B) March
C) April
D) won't be next patch
E) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 2:
When will be released next MP XP (aprox)?

A) April
B) May
C) June
D) July
E) won't be XP
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 3:
Will patch have some "radical" chages in gameplay

A) very radical (for ex: new combat system, resourse system, new ways of victory, scientific leaders, etc.)
B) not so radical (for ex: stack movement, new rules for corruption, etc.)
C) more like tweaks (for ex: tweaking corruption & culture defection, retreat rules, unit obsolence rules, etc...)
D) a little (for ex: most thing doable from editor, like unit & gov. stats)
E) similar to C) & D) but only in regard of fixing exploits (pop-rush, IFS etc.)
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 3.1:
Same as q3 but for XP


Question 4:
Which types of MP will be supported in XP?

A) all standard (LAN, internet)
B) A) + Hotseat & PBEM
C) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 4.1:
What will be use of Public Beta testers?

A) to test Civ3 patches
B) to test Civ3 XP
C) to test Simgolf patches
D) A)+B)
E) A)+B)+C)
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 5:
Stack movment: yes or no?

A) yes in patch
B) yes in XP
C) nice idea, but... no
D) to much to program
E) don't have time
F) we are still working on some wonderfull concepts...
G) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 6:
Many players complain about late-game tedium, which is greater then in Civ2. Do you plan to adress that?

A) yes, by stack movment
B) yes, by better automated workers & governors
C) similar to B) but with additional customization (worker task queue, customizing governors)
D) no, it's ok the way it is
E) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 7:
Plans for corruption model?

A) no
B) we will lower it
B) we will just lower waste
C) we will chage the way it works
D) we will add aditional options in editor
E) we will make it more dependent from diffculty level
F) we will add it as an option (like barbarians)
G) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 8:
Culture and lost armies?

A) it's fine
B) we will make it less likely in cities with lots of units
C) units will pull out after rebelion
D) there will be a combat (army vs rebels)
E) same as C) but some units will be lost in process
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 9:
Armies. Powerfull or not?

A) they are fine
B) we will add option to remove units in an army
C) we will add option to upgrade units in an army
D) we will make them more usefull (blitz, pillage, etc.)
E) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 10:
Which forums do you browse most?

A) General-Civ3
B) Creation-Civ3
C) Strategy-Civ3
D) B)+C)
E) Alternate Civs
F) CivFanatic forums
G) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 11:
Why are you not more active on these boards?

A) not true
B) there is not much to tell
C) that's policy
D) they are not polite enough
E) we read most posts, but don't answer them
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 12:
When do you put someone on your ignore list:

A) when someone says that he pirated Civ3
B) when someone complains to much (spams)
C) when someone insults Firaxis personnel
D) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 13:
When Brian Reynolds left, how much that damaged Civ3 project

A) not at all
B) we lost time
C) a lot, we needed to make game from scratch
D) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 14:
Do you think that Civ3 is conservative sequel?

A) yes
B) not at all, it's revolutionary
C) no, it's a bigger leap compared to Civ1->Civ2
E) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 15:
How would you rate Civ3? (1-100)



That's all for now.
I'll put some other questions if Firaxis members show some interest.

P.S.
Sorry for bad english.

[Kc7mxo]

you're kidding right? u actually think anyone of them will respond.

frankly, i don't blame em. if i put my heart and soul into building a car with an electric engine, and then everyone complained cause it wasn't an airplane, i'd probably be rather ticked off too.

Basically everyone here wanted civ3 to be something, but it wasn't what firaxis envisioned, so we were al disapointed.
oh well.

[player1]

Originally posted by Kc7mxo
you're kidding right? u actually think anyone of them will respond.

frankly, i don't blame em. if i put my heart and soul into building a car with an electric engine, and then everyone complained cause it wasn't an airplane, i'd probably be rather ticked off too.

Basically everyone here wanted civ3 to be something, but it wasn't what firaxis envisioned, so we were al disapointed.
oh well.

Who knows.
Maybe they would.
Or at least some of them.

Having all answers with K) or N) is Ok by me.
Or they could at least answer on q10.

I know that they browse these forums.
Only question is were they ready to actually say something significant.


That would be nice...

And polite.

[Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS]

Originally posted by player1
Inquiry for Firaxis personnel:

This is one nice Q&A thread.

Rules:
-every Firaxis member, who browse these forums should answer on folowing question with A, B, C, D, etc...
-sometimes comments should be added too.
-these question are for Firaxis only
-for others: please be polite, no extra questions or spam, we don't want to scare people away (for now ;>)
-for Firaxis members: please be polite and answer these questions, even if it means answering all questions with K) or N) )
-for moderators: this thread is put in Strategy forum in hope that some Firaxis mebemer will read it, and to lower spam as much as possibile. If you think that's not good reason then just move it in General forum. Still, if someone from Firaxis actually replies, then make an news item and top this thread.


Question 1:
When will be released next path (aprox)?

A) February
B) March
C) April
D) won't be next patch
E) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 2:
When will be released next MP XP (aprox)?

A) April
B) May
C) June
D) July
E) won't be XP
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 3:
Will patch have some "radical" chages in gameplay

A) very radical (for ex: new combat system, resourse system, new ways of victory, scientific leaders, etc.)
B) not so radical (for ex: stack movement, new rules for corruption, etc.)
C) more like tweaks (for ex: tweaking corruption & culture defection, retreat rules, unit obsolence rules, etc...)
D) a little (for ex: most thing doable from editor, like unit & gov. stats)
E) similar to C) & D) but only in regard of fixing exploits (pop-rush, IFS etc.)
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 3:
Same as q3 but for XP


Question 4:
Which types of MP will be supported in XP?

A) all standard (LAN, internet)
B) A) + Hotseat & PBEM
C) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 4:
What will be use of Public Beta testers?

A) to test Civ3 patches
B) to test Civ3 XP
C) to test Simgolf patches
D) A)+B)
E) A)+B)+C)
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 5:
Stack movment: yes or no?

A) yes in patch
B) yes in XP
C) nice idea, but... no
D) to much to program
E) don't have time
F) we are still working on some wonderfull concepts...
G) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 6:
Many players complain about late-game tedium, which is greater then in Civ2. Do you plan to adress that?

A) yes, by stack movment
B) yes, by better automated workers & governors
C) similar to B) but with additional customization (worker task queue, customizing governors)
D) no, it's ok the way it is
E) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 7:
Plans for corruption model?

A) no
B) we will lower it
B) we will just lower waste
C) we will chage the way it works
D) we will add aditional options in editor
E) we will make it more dependent from diffculty level
F) we will add it as an option (like barbarians)
G) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 8:
Culture and lost armies?

A) it's fine
B) we will make it less likely in cities with lots of units
C) units will pull out after rebelion
D) there will be a combat (army vs rebels)
E) same as C) but some units will be lost in process
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 9:
Armies. Powerfull or not?

A) they are fine
B) we will add option to remove units in an army
C) we will add option to upgrade units in an army
D) we will make them more usefull (blitz, pillage, etc.)
E) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 10:
Which forums do you browse most?

A) General-Civ3
B) Creation-Civ3
C) Strategy-Civ3
D) B)+C)
E) Alternate Civs
F) CivFanatic forums
G) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 11:
Why are you not more active on these boards?

A) not true
B) there is not much to tell
C) that's policy
D) they are not polite enough
E) we read most posts, but don't answer them
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 12:
When do you put someone on your ignore list:

A) when someone says that he pirated Civ3
B) when someone complains to much (spams)
C) when someone insults Firaxis personnel
D) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 13:
When Brian Reynolds left, how much that damaged Civ3 project

A) not at all
B) we lost time
C) a lot, we needed to make game from scratch
D) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 14:
Do you think that Civ3 is conservative sequel?

A) yes
B) not at all, it's revolutionary
C) no, it's a bigger leap compared to Civ1->Civ2
E) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 15:
How would you rate Civ3? (1-100)



That's all for now.
I'll put some other questions if Firaxis members show some interest.

P.S.
Sorry for bad english.

Actually, it's pretty easy but read "don't know" as I can't talk about it because things change and it may or may not happen. Gonna try and not make this a news item..

1: Don't Know
2: Don't Know
3: Don't Know
4: Don't Know
5: Don't Know
6: Other. The animation prefs we added in the last patch can signficantly improve play time. I can finish a monarch/standard/8 player via space race in under 4 hours. True, it works best in builder strats.
7: Other. You can effectively disable it in the editor already, and even add corruption fighting capabilities to any building. You might see expanded player setup options, including corruption.
8: Don't know.
9: Don't know.
10: Strat and Creation
11: Other. I think I'm plenty active on these forums.
12: Other. All of the above.
13: Don't know.
14: Yes. It was a smart design decision from the start.
15: 100+

And again, don't knows should not be read as "HUH?!". I KNOW what you're talking about and the pros and cons. But I can't see the future and know how it will play out yet, and so I don't speculate.

Jeff

[player1]

Thanks Jeff!

Now, its Soren & Dan's turn.


To others (comments):
You see how someone can respond if you ask them politely.

Question 12:
When do you put someone on your ignore list:

A) when someone says that he pirated Civ3
B) when someone complains to much (spams)
C) when someone insults Firaxis personnel
D) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)

12: Other. All of the above.

Remember,
if someone needs answer then he needs to be polite.

Question 1:
When will be released next path (aprox)?

A) February
B) March
C) April
D) won't be next patch
E) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)


Question 2:
When will be released next MP XP (aprox)?

A) April
B) May
C) June
D) July
E) won't be XP
F) other
K) don't know
N) don't want to answer that (for now)

1: Don't Know
2: Don't Know

Pesonnaly I would be worried about this since answer is NOT "other" then "don't know".
But, I suppse Jeff thought there will be new patch but he doesn't know when (see answer of q7).

[MonsterMan]

Thankyou for taking the time, Jeffrey :-)

[Unregistered]

Yes, thanks Jeff!

[Skanky Burns]

WooHoo!! Thanks Jeff

Note to player1: Change question 1 to read
When will be released next patch (approx)?

When I first read the question I was thinking path?? You mean path-finding - civ already has that... then i realised... but still, dont want to promote confusion

[Skanky Burns]

Originally posted by Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS You might see expanded player setup options, including corruption.

Hmmmm, do I sense some speculation here??

I think we have a news item after all...

[Kc7mxo]

Well! I am very happy to eat my words.

Thankyou Jeff for having the care to spend your time this way.

could someone pass the crow?

[player1]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
WooHoo!! Thanks Jeff

Note to player1: Change question 1 to read
When will be released next patch (approx)?

When I first read the question I was thinking path?? You mean path-finding - civ already has that... then i realised... but still, dont want to promote confusion

fixed

[MarkG]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
Hmmmm, do I sense some speculation here??

I think we have a news item after all...

actually, i think this has been mentioned in the past, perhaps even in the christmas chat....

[vmxa1]

It is nice to see a response from Jeff. I would add that I have to give a very high score, if not 100 as well. Understand that does not mean the game is perfect, but how many games do you buy that you have played week after week? It is not even to say it is my all time fav (too soon to say), but I have gotten a lot for my money, in no small part, due to the board. The ideas here is what has caused by to start anothr game to see how a given idea plays out and play al of the levels, instead of one or two.

[Jack_www]

I glad that I found this thread. I too though find myself spending less and less time in the Civ3 general forums. Must of the stuff in there seems to me to be the same old stuff. I do like Civ3 very much. For a while I kind of got borred of it, but find that all of the sudden I like to play Civ3 again. I just wish the mp and the abilty to make scenarios was included in the intial release. But I still like the game and I am waiting for these things to be added to the game. I hope that we can make scenarios for Civ3 soon. I am glad the Jeff Morris took the time to answer these questions.

[JimMac]

As a civ3-general forum addict, I have just stumbled across this thread and want to add my thanks to Jeff for his reply.

Although there wasnt much light, it is always nice to hear a reassuring voice in the darkness.

Jim

[Alex]

Yep. Thanks, Jeff.

[Oerdin]

Thank you Jeff. It is nice to get some honest anwsers to our questions.

[TechWins]

While it is nice to get a response from Jeff, it is quite dissapointing to see the little elabaration Jeff put into his answers, however, Jeff just answering the questions at all is better than nothing.







Let all of the misinterpretation of my post begin...

[marc420]

Actually, I like Civ3. Or I would like it if I could play with the changes in the patch without the game crashing in the industrial age. About all that leaves as a challenge is how big of an empire can I build before the crash.

I happen to really like the changes introduced with Corruption and Culture. They provide a nice balancing effect to the geometric growth models that most turn based strategy build an empire games suffer from. By that I mean the empire that has one extra city twenty turns into the game has a growth advantage that multiplies from then on. Picture two geometrically increasing growth lines. The one that is a little ahead early ends up way ahead and uncatchable. The new features like corruption did a lot to fix that. Now running over that neighboring civ early on does not give you a huge advantage 'cause the corruption dampens down that curve. I consider this an improvement. Too bad the game doesn't have multiplayer, cause I think this would make multiplayer more interesting. Seems like you are more likely to have a balanced game deep into the game, thus more interesting diplomacy.

Since the last patch introduced that mid-game crash (I've since uninstalled the patch and have been crash free ever since), how about a fix to that problem so that we can actually use the last patch instead of playing the original cd version. A lot of good improvements are going unused due to the crashes.

Of course, I'm still PO'd about having to buy two games to get MP. Pretty much means I'll wait till I can pull that out of an discount bin somewhere. Its not just Firaxis, but I've grown pretty tired of this sales strategy that says lets try to soak our biggest fans out of two or three times the price of the game, while the people who don't like our stuff can buy the whole shebang as a bundle from a discount bin a year later. Most businesses try to treat their dedicated customers better than others --- frequent flyer programs are an example. The computer game industry seems to have the opposite approach of trying to mistreat their most dedicated customers. The people who really love a designer's games and who are willing to run out a pay full price the day they are released first have to deal with buggy games that aren't finished by the release date, then to get the full functionality of the game they have to buy a release pack. The obvious smart strategy for a game consumer is to try not to buy games when they are released. If you can hold off and wait, by the time you buy the game you can get the expansion pack for the full price (or less) than what the original buyers paid for just a portion of the game. Plus you don't have to deal with the "we rushed the game out to be on the shelves for Christmas so sorry about the crashes" blues.

I'm not just picking on Firaxis here. By modern game company standards, Civ3 was a relatively non-buggy pre-Christmas game release.

But it is aggravating to have an industry basically set up a sales model that says if you are really smart you won't go buy the game you really want when it first comes out.

[vmxa1]

The only crash I have encounter is when I drag the movement circle all over the map and it freezes. I had that 3-4 times. I select a unit and then can't find the place I meant to sent it and while scroll the map it locks up. This did not happen before the patch. Got to love Windows, what a system allowing an app to kill it.