Combat Mission : Shock Force - patch 1.11

In article <0gQ4l.26030$J84.25569@tornado.fastwebnet.it>,
reckall.RemoveThis@hotmail.com says...

> > 1) Lower their development costs by offering less
> > content
>
> > 2) Broaden the game's appeal/audience
>
> > Everything else that you read about these games has to be
> > viewed through that prism.
>
> Hmmm... I'm sorry for Battlefront, but this doesn't seem to be a sound plan.
>
> 1) You are worried because the sales of your games are declining, and, to
> put a stop to that, you *offer less content*??

I'd say the answer to declining sales is to offer *more* content. This
seems to me like the topic of the lecture on the very first day of
BUSI101.

> 2) I really don't see how an obscure war can "broaden the game
> appeal/audience" more than WWII

Hands-down the most popular wargaming venue, if I recall correctly.

> Had Battlefront cut the corner by offering a CM2 composed by the first three
> titles, interlocked, updated to the latest engine (CM:AK) and with the still
> missing early war part (AKA: "Combat Mission: Steel Panthers"), I would have
> bought it up stat (let's put aside for a moment the DRM problem). I don't
> understand how they can hope to make more money by offering less and about a
> less interesting period.

I'd say their optimal move would have been to release COMBAT MISSION:
MODERN BATTLES, and offer a rich sampler of 1945-2006 combat. This
could have been built upon by subsequent expansion packs - COMBAT
MISSION: FULDA GAP, COMBAT MISSION: ARAB-ISRAELI, COMBAT MISSION:
VIETNAM, etc.

A fictional war between the USA and Syria is problematic for any number
of reasons - not the least of which is "obscurity" - but this could have
been overcome by first employing *broader* appeal, as you point out.

--
Giftzwerg
***
"Obama team probe of Obama team finds no Obama team impropriety"
- Headline, LA Times

On 25 dec, 22:25, rus4e....DeleteThis@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> BF appears committed to making money selling content-thin modules that
> can be developed for a small-fraction of what it cost to put out a CM1
> title.

The real question is : can they churn them out fast enough to keep
their heads above water ? They're planning to release a module every 3
months and a new base game every year. No doubt they've calculated
that is what's needed to keep in the black, but can it be done ? I
don't think so, even when they devolve the module creation part to
outside teams.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx