CMBN 2.0 - are you kidding me?

[MengJiao]

A big grey area here.  Some see it as the
Devs abandoning CMBN in favor of CMFI engine.  CMBN was supposed to be a platform for Europe add-ons.  But CMFI seems to be a different line by itself.  CMBN got obsolete pretty quickly.  So is that support or abandonment?

They upgraded the engine, which is a good thing and you can upgrade CMBN and CMBN:CWF which is a good thing.  So I'm happy to pay them 10 bucks so that they will keep up the good work.

[LongBlade]

Exactly. We all know you sleep on a pile of hundred dollar bills, LB.

Puh-lease.

I sleep on a mattress of gold bricks cushioned by hundred dollar bills.

[Keunert]

HPS & Tiller do a great job in this regard. i am still thinking about getting the Italy title.

[Longdan]

It seems to me you made a purchase which is your own decision.  It was good.
Then they made something better for your purchase.  They want some money
for this enhancement package.  You think they should give it to you for free because
some other guys gave you something for free.  They do not want to.  You feel raped.
I think you have an undeserved sense of entitlement.  I drive a truck.  It has a certain
size engine.  It works fine.  There is a model out now with a bigger engine.
Does the dealer owe me a newer bigger engine for free?  Why am I writing like this?
I sound like my cousin who teaches Special Ed.

[SgtRock]

Yes 2.0 is both a patch & upgrade. From the Battlefront forums "CMBN v2.0 has lynx available in QB setup", something not in any patch.
Battlefront split the CM2 code when they created CMFI, it's not our fault they couldn't correctly maintain CM2 code the same for two games, what happens when with the next split (East Front game) or next West Front game? To me the issue isn't the cost but, the player nightmare of install/re-install order of the game, patches, add-on modules, upgrades and license issues. You can't even get all of the patches from the Battlefront website for some games. I want to see some sort of utility or automated process to manage the install, update and license of CM games.

[ArizonaTank]

Clearly BF could have evaded much of the criticism if they had just added in some new content as a sweetener.  Some new maps, a few more vehicle variations, some map tweaks etc. 

However, personally, I'm OK with paying the $10 for the patch as it is.

[MengJiao]

Yes 2.0 is both a patch & upgrade. From the Battlefront forums "CMBN v2.0 has lynx available in QB setup", something not in any patch.
Battlefront split the CM2 code when they created CMFI, it's not our fault they couldn't correctly maintain CM2 code the same for two games, what happens when with the next split (East Front game) or next West Front game? To me the issue isn't the cost but, the player nightmare of install/re-install order of the game, patches, add-on modules, upgrades and license issues. You can't even get all of the patches from the Battlefront website for some games. I want to see some sort of utility or automated process to manage the install, update and license of CM games.

  I'd rather the company spent time making games than automating the install, update and licensing.

  For example, let's look at the v2 coding situation:  CMBN and CMBN:CWF are out there working fine.  Should they stop working on
CMFI and work out how to fix CMBN first?  At that rate they would be stuck forever fixing CMBN.  Better that they got CMFI working
and then upgraded CMBN (and even fixed up the Lynx).  That way there is progress on all fronts.  Better stuff faster seems like a better
plan.  And the install and stuff just doesn't seem like that big a deal.

[MengJiao]

Clearly BF could have evaded much of the criticism if they had just added in some new content as a sweetener.  Some new maps, a few more vehicle variations, some map tweaks etc. 

However, personally, I'm OK with paying the $10 for the patch as it is.

You get the Lynx in Quick battles, I hear.

[Nefaro]

A big grey area here.  Some see it as the
Devs abandoning CMBN in favor of CMFI engine.  CMBN was supposed to be a platform for Europe add-ons.  But CMFI seems to be a different line by itself.  CMBN got obsolete pretty quickly.  So is that support or abandonment?

That's my niggle with the whole deal.  Seemed like support moved on rather quickly to me.   All in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.

But add the annoying DRM, and things like the odd update hosting situation, limited download period, etc , and I don't feel like a cherished customer but a wallet that needs to be plundered as cheaply as possible.  If I were financially well-off, I probably wouldn't care as much but I've been a tight bastard these last few years and when I have to make choices, this kind of stuff leaves a bad taste.  I'd go as far as saying that I have as much, and likely more, confidence in buying a StormPowered product.  At least I don't have to worry about scrambling to back up my stuff and digging around 3rd party sites for updates filled with browser-trash installs. 

If they gotta do it, they gotta do it.  I'll also complain about it on occasion.  :P

[Yskonyn]

For those who want something for nothing

[Nefaro]

For those who want something for nothing

Because being condescending to your customers helps..  ::)

..

OK, so where does that put you, the person complaining about the $10 upgrade? In a world of make-believe world, unreasonable expectations based on absolutely no concept of our costs or industry standards. You therefore have some options going forward:

1. Do no buy the Upgrades. They are for people who want new features not originally part of their purchase.

2. Buy the Upgrade and be thankful we offer it at all. Most game developers do not offer an extension of their existing product, but instead charge full price for a new experience.

3. Don't buy the game at all until you feel it is "finished". At some point we will stop making CMx2 games, and at that point you can pick it up for one price and have ALL the features everybody else paid for along the way. Of course they will have been playing for many years and you will have to instead wait many years. But that is your choice.

4. Get so disgusted with us you stop buying our stuff entirely and instead buy someone else's highly realistic, 3D tactical combat games. Or just don't buy wargames at all. Your choice.

The truth of the matter is we probably spent more making the Normandy 2.0 Upgrade than we will receive in revenues from it at $10 a unit. Does anybody think it's a good idea for us to lose money on what we produce? I mean, really... how long do you think we'll continue supporting a small, rather whiney niche market AND lose money doing it?

The market will decide if this is a good strategy or not. The alternative is to either not make the Upgrades at all (i.e. you will NEVER see an improvement to the games you buy) or we will simply charge everybody $100 per base game and offer 3 or 4 Upgrades at no extra cost. But under no circumstances will we go out of business trying to satisfy people who obviously take great joy in being unreasonable.

Bottom line here is if you don't value the features we've provided for $10 then don't buy it.

This is exactly the kind of thing I expect to see.  I'm actually kinda surprised that they've kept the insults somewhat mild in comparison to some of the other crap that's flown in their forums.   It's blow-ups like these that make internet browsing so fun.   :-*

[Yskonyn]

I think it was a hilarious tongue-in-cheek post and I agree with every word of it.
If anyone feels attacked by it, they at least know they belong to the exact group the focus in the post is on.  ::)

[Boggit]

Frankly I just want Battlefront to host their own damned patches and upgrades instead of the crappy hosting sites they're use now.  Those sites install all sorts of crap you don't want and include suspecious files in the download folder.  The $10 is a small quibble if it keeps them afloat.

I disagree a little with that. One of the sites you're referring to is the The Patches Scrolls. The Patches Scrolls is not a crappy site and it's owner Matthias Rauhut makes a serious effort to avoid viruses and other malware infecting the patches he hosts.

I speak from personal experience when I worked with him last year in tracking a trojan we'd found in an update for the "Montjoie" game hosted by the developer Tchounga Games (and sold through Gamersgate) - which had parted ownership of its domain to another party, whose name flagged up lots of red malware warnings by Symantec and Google also subsequently identified a link to a Nigerian based scam.

[undercovergeek]

I think it was a hilarious tongue-in-cheek post and I agree with every word of it.
If anyone feels attacked by it, they at least know they belong to the exact group the focus in the post is on.  ::)

+1

and good for Steve - in a world of Political Correctness and the customer is always right bull**** its refreshing for a company owner to come out and say what he feels - if you dont want my f****** game, dont ******* buy it

[Tuna]

Frankly I just want Battlefront to host their own damned patches and upgrades instead of the crappy hosting sites they're use now.  Those sites install all sorts of crap you don't want and include suspecious files in the download folder.  The $10 is a small quibble if it keeps them afloat.

I disagree a little with that. One of the sites you're referring to is the The Patches Scrolls. The Patches Scrolls is not a crappy site and it's owner Matthias Rauhut makes a serious effort to avoid viruses and other malware infecting the patches he hosts.

I speak from personal experience when I worked with him last year in tracking a trojan we'd found in an update for the "Montjoie" game hosted by the developer Tchounga Games (and sold through Gamersgate) - which had parted ownership of its domain to another party, whose name flagged up lots of red malware warnings by Symantec and Google also subsequently identified a link to a Nigerian based scam.

But you shouldn't have to go anywhere, that you would be 'nervous' about to download a patch.. One of those sites has misleading links, that does try to get you to download crapware putting stuff in your startup.. I'm glad I run No Script and Watchdog, so I can catch that crap.. but the average customer, shouldn't have to do that!