My concern is pretty basic:
•There are players with very strong preferences for HW1 'vanilla' (aka pre-remaster).
•Against everything we said about the remaster before/after release they still expect HW1 engine mechanics.
•This isn't HW1 engine. (we made that very, very clear prior to release)
•Many players of remaster have no basis for that bias (no actual experience with HW1, or indeed no 'muscle memory' about it)...
•Those new players are the ones enjoying the game(s) - and where we got our very happy ratings/reviews from. Because in that context - these games play great, look great, etc.
•Because the remasters are not the classic games, I don't consider the remaster design broken. Period.
Some of you will disagree. On the flip, some will say 'yeah, it's not exactly HW1, but it's still fun, still emotional/epic'. I've ready that in reviews and responses to 'is this any good?' threads over and over. It is a valid (and I would say the predominate) view.
- I'd prefer more players to play the game without a 2nd-hand bias for something they themselves have no experience.
But always, there's a reason a 'vocal minority' is called a 'vocal minority'. They're vocal, and not the majority of players.
That isn't an attempt to minimize the validity of their views - heck, in our case we've been working to address those views in ways that would have never been considered in the past... the nightmares I'll personally have about the formations and strike-groups code & systems will haunt me for the rest of my life. But I also hate that new players are potentially dealing with the most bitter and negative people possible - people who don't bother to think about the other player's perspective. I've heard new customers ask about 'broken formations' - it's frustrating from my perspective because not only do I disagree, but even taking into account the concern - the other player has no context for that, nor is it valid for half of the experience (HW2 campaign). Instead, they're just worried about something with no context to severity or relevance to their direct experience.
I'd rather new players play, form a personal experience, and hopefully grow the fanbase for the game/universe - because that's how we do more of this work and keep updates coming. If we can't do that, if we can't justify more effort and investment - who benefits?
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I won't begrudge 'purists' their viewpoint or preferences - I want some of what they do, and I am in a position (along with the team) to do something about that. So, we'll get there.
The chat lobby is V1 right now. V2 will rock ya'll. Lots of other stuff is coming as well, and our player base has sky rocketed due to the sale (well over 2000 people right now).
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