2013 Combat Mission Poll

[Tuna]

Being a Noobie.. PBEM .. QB player with Con (before he upgraded)..

this one was big with me!

"- allow users to select the unit they want vs. selection everything than deleting 99.9% just to get the one unit you want."

I would also add.. let people with CMBN play people with CMBN/CW or CMBN/CW/MG and vice versa.. no they don't get to play with maps/units they don't' have. but let people play each other in whatever mix they have!

[Michael Dorosh]

I don't particularly find the poll all that interesting.  Namely it's being done on a board game forum so I suspect that skews the results.  I suspect if it were taken in the battlefront community the results would read completely opposite.

It's actually on Video Game Geek. If you are a member of Board Game Geek, you can migrate from site to site seamlessly, i.e. look at VGG content while logged into BGG, and vice versa.

Personally, I belong to a number of sites related to similar topics. Anyone can register at BGG or VGG and I would think many BFC site members would find one or two topics of interest in the wargaming forums at BGG. Note - the "wargames" forum is open for discussion about all three types of wargames - board, minis and computer.

I agree the sampling is small with the poll posted at BGG, but it is nonetheless interesting - the Eastern Front content question has been consistent for three years - but there is an advantage to not having it posted at BFC also. On a third party site it seems less like criticism and I'm not sure a poll would be welcomed there - like going to a dinner party and asking people what they think of the menu in a show of hands in front of the host.

Anyway, thanks to those who took an interest, the responses - and the conversation here - has been interesting. I appreciate the words of support.

[Bison]

I don't particularly find the poll all that interesting.  Namely it's being done on a board game forum so I suspect that skews the results.  I suspect if it were taken in the battlefront community the results would read completely opposite.

It's actually on Video Game Geek. If you are a member of Board Game Geek, you can migrate from site to site seamlessly, i.e. look at VGG content while logged into BGG, and vice versa..

Interesting I'll have to look.

[GJK]

I've been to boardgamegeek and rpggeek but didn't realize that there even was a videogamegeek.  Will have to look as well.  Curious to see what the top rated video wargames of all time are (if it tracks such a thing).

[Michael Dorosh]

I've been to boardgamegeek and rpggeek but didn't realize that there even was a videogamegeek.  Will have to look as well.  Curious to see what the top rated video wargames of all time are (if it tracks such a thing).

The VGG site is extremely under-utilized. I think there are just too many other game sites online - the internet is the natural medium of choice to discuss video gaming, so sites like Gamespot, etc. probably get (or got, if GS is no longer around) the lion's share of interest. I think the database at VGG is reasonably good, mostly from boardgamers also digging in to their 1980s video game collections to populate it. But there is a large disconnect between the popularity of BGG and that of VGG. The VGG forums are tiny - not clique-y, necessarily, just tiny - and almost no one uses the game-specific forums, or bothers to register their collections like they do on BGG. Not sure why it never took off, but I think the interface is probably just more suited to board games than video games. VGG also has more restrictive content uploading rules than BGG which can be a turn-off at times. Not enough useful galleries for screenshots, etc.

[Nefaro]

I would also add.. let people with CMBN play people with CMBN/CW or CMBN/CW/MG and vice versa.. no they don't get to play with maps/units they don't' have. but let people play each other in whatever mix they have!

Their DLC & paid updates system obviously needs to be organized better.  This is supposing that they actually intend various combinations of their expansions to be compatible with each other, which I'm not even sure is the case. 

A modular system where the base game is constantly updated to be compatible, no matter which expansions one of the players owns, is how the DLC train should ride.  I had expected this when I purchased CMBN because back then we were told that future versions would be sold as expansions, not standalones.  Surprise!  The sudden change, along with paid updates (this is the second time for me - CMSF was the first) and the DRM makes it look like they're intentionally avoiding an efficient modular system and compatibility between expansions. 

I've given them a second chance and, based on Tuna's compatibility issues, I've yet to see anything that convinces me they deserve any more than that.  Hopefully their circle of hardcore CMx2 fans keep them in business and they don't alienate any more former customers, for their own sake.

[Tuna]

It's like the night a few of Grogs were on and we wanted to play Civ V.. We all had Brave New World Expansion.. except.. Metal Dog, he had Vanilla.. No problem.. we played a 'vanilla' game with him.. CM should do the same.. if everyone has 2.0, then they should be able to play what module's they have shouldn't matter.

[MengJiao]

People don't take dorosh seriously in the BF forums.

Why should they?

He does make sense. But maybe annoying to hardcore fan boys who worship BF.

  I worship BF.  Am I annoyed?  Not so much.

  By the way, speaking of worshipping BF, I just played a tank battle in my newly-purchased CMFI that I set up in the editor as sloppily as I could (so as to have as little idea as possible about what was going to happen) that was one of the best war -gaming moments I've ever had.  With the old review the battlefield music and the new quasi-Phillip Glass soundtrack after that.

  Yes, it is true: accidently well-placed defending PZIVs will make a mess out of accidently badly placed Shermans milling around downhill...but it was such a fine battle.  Cue dopey music.

[MengJiao]

Neat poll.  The big shocker for me was to see that CMx1 is being played more than the newer releases, or so it's indicated as such early in this voting.

  Oddly enough, I'm thinking of getting CMFI.  That's a CM2 game covering Sicily and Salerno --sorta -- I guess it has no allied units but Americans.  Kind of a Sci-fi world.  But hermetic.  Sorta.

  Note to self:  the Sahariana car is pretty interesting.  The jerrycan armor doesn't seem like such a great idea, but a machine gun and a 20mm gun seems like a fun combination: a lot of firepower for 4 guys!  And presumably they spot well.

   So I'm going to try the Sahariana Company out in a few different situations.

[Sir Slash]

And one version also carries a 47mm gun. Like a jeep with a real bad attitude. And bite.