Star Craft 2

[lightnessking.]

with "new" I mean it's not an actual new game. (since it's existing for several months/years now.)

[Arntzen]

True, but ee has been around since 1962

Also SC2's first expansionpack is coming out this year!

[lightnessking.]

True, but ee has been around since 1962

Also SC2's first expansionpack is coming out this year!

1962? Yea and santa claus was born on 2 november 2014.

[Arntzen]

WHAT?!? are u saying santa claus dont excist?

[lightnessking.]

WHAT?!? are u saying santa claus dont excist?

No he exists, tho he "was" born on 2 november 2014 (future). And he time traveled back to our time.
Therefore making the sentence was born on 2 november 2014, a correct sentence :')!

[Arntzen]

Just to add something about sc2.
It's probably the only computer game I can sit down and watch replays off for hours and enjoy. Gotta admit I've watched probably 2-300 games either on youtube or on stream.

This to me is another very very good thing about SC2. Also when you play a game and don't realize what went wrong, you can just open your own replays and watch it from 3 views (your own, enemies view and from "observer mode"). Also your able to open a lot of lets say tables where you can see current income/playerspeed, whats in production, what each player has at each time and their population (food count as its called in sc2).

So not only does it help each player but it also makes sc2 more popular. Since the game now have a community like me who barely never plays but watch almost daily.

[lightnessking.]

you can just open your own replays and watch it from 3 views (your own, enemies view and from "observer mode"). Also your able to open a lot of lets say tables where you can see current income/playerspeed, whats in production, what each player has at each time and their population (food count as its called in sc2).

Having a view from your enemies point is a great way to learn how to adjust your strategy, I wish these replays were available in EE .

[DrHouseMd]

Just to add something about sc2.
It's probably the only computer game I can sit down and watch replays off for hours and enjoy. Gotta admit I've watched probably 2-300 games either on youtube or on stream.

This to me is another very very good thing about SC2. Also when you play a game and don't realize what went wrong, you can just open your own replays and watch it from 3 views (your own, enemies view and from "observer mode"). Also your able to open a lot of lets say tables where you can see current income/playerspeed, whats in production, what each player has at each time and their population (food count as its called in sc2).

So not only does it help each player but it also makes sc2 more popular. Since the game now have a community like me who barely never plays but watch almost daily.

Alot of other RTS game, such as aoe2, aoe3, wc3 and CoC had a replay option. EE was made during a time that replay option was available, the developers just neglected to put it into the game.

[Ghost]

The EE community was highly vocal about getting a replay option put in for an update or for the AoC expansion. But, like anything else, video games are a business. When you try to fix time and cost, quality falters. And putting out post-release updates is not profitable.

[P-51]

And putting out post-release updates is not profitable.

Why would you say that? Most companies have to do this because the game would suck without them and nobody would buy from them again.

[Ghost]

Because for most games the only source of revenue is sales. After people buy the game, any money spent on development is done at a loss. Stainless Steel Studios and Mad Doc Software weren't exactly blue chip game development studios. Them and many others do not have the resources for post-release development cycles.

The fewer, more known studios however, want to keep a good, strong reputation for future games and so they take the risk of post-release development in hopes that it will drive sales higher for a sequel game. That's why you see studios like Blizzard, Infinity Ward, Bungie, Bethesda, etc. do updates. But, with the way DLC works on consoles, most companies support post-release development with sales from DLC.

[P-51]

DLC is different then patches though. If the game is released with many bugs and imbalances in the game mechanics or the exclusion of important material, then it would be in the company's best interest to release patches so the game is more playable. Although we are talking about a replay option and that is not really essential to proper game mechanics so I can understand why a patch was not made to include something like that.

[Ghost]

Yeah but what I was saying is that even though patching games would be in the company's best interest, often times someone running the company decides that they aren't willing to risk the costs associated with doing it.

And also my point about the DLC is that the revenue from it will support the cost of developing patches. Companies want to take that risk because if a game goes unpatched then people will stop playing the game before the DLC is released. When a game has no plans for adding additional content, then there's really no reason to patch a game from a business standpoint other than reputation.

A lot of big games used to go unpatched years ago. It's more common now because the sales model has changed from single release to primary release with supplemental releases.

[P-51]

And also my point about the DLC is that the revenue from it will support the cost of developing patches. Companies want to take that risk because if a game goes unpatched then people will stop playing the game before the DLC is released.

Yeah I have noticed alot of people are doing that lately. I prefer expansion packs to DLC though but I guess its more convenient for the developers.

When a game has no plans for adding additional content, then there's really no reason to patch a game from a business standpoint other than reputation.

Exactly, the reason would be for the benefit of the customers. While there may not be any revenue involved it is certainly profitable when you consider the intangible benefits.