Total War: Rome 2 launch 'totally unacceptable' says creative director

Total War: Rome 2 creative director Mike Simpson has apologized for the launch issues and laid out some plans for how to address them.

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Total War: Rome 2 had a less-than-stellar launch, with technical problems that garnered it harsh reviews from users and some critics. The Creative Assembly promised weekly patches, but creative director Mike Simpson has taken a more hands-on approach with a personal apology.

In a post on the forums (via PC Gamer), Simpson calls the launch issues "totally unacceptable and a big deal for us." He says that in their haste to fix the problems, they haven't done enough to inform users about the plan, and so he laid out a roadmap of updates going forward.

He notes that roughly 2% of players reporting a technical issue, but he calls that "too many." He suggests that those with technical issues visit the support forums, and if it isn't already addressed there, he promises a response to any posts. He also invited feedback for any gameplay or balance issues that players might find, to help in planning post-launch and rebalancing support.

"To these people we are really very sorry that you are having problems, we really want to get you enjoying our game," Simpson said. "Rome 2 is a big and complex game and, especially on PC, we are always conscious of the wide variety of different combinations of hardware out there and, while we do test extensively before launch, it is clear that we have failed some of you and we will look at the way in which launch games in the future. Again, I know this is scant comfort to you if you have a set-up that is not performing well, but we do intend to fix your specific problem--whoever you are and whatever it is--as soon as we can."

Editor-In-Chief
From The Chatty
  • reply
    September 10, 2013 9:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Total War: Rome 2 launch 'totally unacceptable' says creative director.

    Total War: Rome 2 creative director Mike Simpson has apologized for the launch issues and laid out some plans for how to address them.

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      September 10, 2013 9:52 AM

      apparently it was because it was released

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      September 10, 2013 9:56 AM

      As a gamer, I like that someone from the developer stood up and took some level of visibility to the issue. BUT, I don't like this trend. I think it could easily set a bad precedence where the publisher will adopt the idea of regularly pushing out a product before it's and and just assume, or even strong-arm, the producer or some other significant or visible person, to fall on their sword like this to take the community heat while they try to patch it.

      Yes, testing pc games is hard(er than console games). BUT, the community that can form around a solid title can seriously extend the life of the title, so it can be invaluable to spend the resources to get it right.

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      September 10, 2013 10:06 AM

      I'd be far more likely to buy Total War games if they weren't always a buggy POS. I got Shogun 2 on a Steam sale, played it co-op, and twice our game got corrupted and couldn't continue. I gave up on it after that. By the time it's on sale you'd figure this kind of thing would be sorted out, but I guess not for Total War.

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        September 10, 2013 11:24 AM

        [deleted]

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          September 10, 2013 11:35 AM

          I tried it a few times earlier and it seemed to work? What did they fix?

          One thing I really wish they would do with Co-op Total War games would be to let you give control to your co-op partner some of your units before the battle started rather than have them simply watch you play. In Shogun2 it seemed to fight in the same battle at the same time you needed to have your own units in close enough proximity to be a supporting army. It'd be a lot more fun to grant control of your cavalry at the start of one of your battles and work together.

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            September 10, 2013 11:53 AM

            It would de-sync and freeze and the save was corrupted. It only happened after at least several hours were put into the game, which made it all the more aggravating.

            It's good to hear it's fixed though. Maybe I can find someone that wants to install it again with me.

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            September 10, 2013 6:39 PM

            You can give your units to co buddy during battle.

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      September 10, 2013 10:14 AM

      It's definitely far less polished than Shogun2. I hope they fix some of the issues, but many of them are pretty large and I would think hard to patch in easily. I'm sure it'll get better over time but I worry it might not be as fun as S2 until the first really big expansion pack where they can revamp large items like the UI/UX a bit to bring it in line with S2.

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      September 10, 2013 11:15 AM

      The turn length is what kills me....20+ seconds per turn to wait for AI moves...in the beginning when you have like...1 settlement and have to end turns relatively quickly to build up your forces...

      real fun Creative assembly...wtf were you thinking?

      fix this and the game is manageable...I won't get into the bizaare AI.

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        September 10, 2013 11:39 AM

        Every fucking time the AI tries to siege one of my cities I have to go out and attack them myself since they just sit there doing nothing and I don't want to wait for the timer to expire.

        I don't remember the AI being this bad in any Total War game ever, and that's saying a lot.

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          September 10, 2013 11:46 AM

          I really haven't seen this problem yet, but you are far from the first person I've seen mention it. I had a super annoying issue last night where I had some troops attempt to light a gate on fire. First they didn't seem to light their torches at all and were too busy trying to get themselves lined up perfectly, then they finally do but the enemy AI has troops near the gates so they keep opening and closing. When they are open the torches don't hit anything since they go right through the open door. Must have lost a couple hundred more troops than I should have so I reloaded and decided to wait a turn to get ladders. Pretty much come within a couple minutes of a victory and the game crashes. Grrrrr. Anyways, besides these minor gripes, I am actually liking it overall. My biggest complaint would be that the battles just seem too fast.

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        September 10, 2013 3:23 PM

        You've never played a Civ game have you?

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      September 10, 2013 11:31 AM

      Wow, um, glad I didn't get it yet?

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      September 10, 2013 7:09 PM

      [deleted]

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