Is Matrix dying?

[wodin]

Cross wires here..my message was telling Iain I sent him a PM:)

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: wodin
Iain PM'd you:)

Actually, it was Paulo and I asked him to also ping Iain. [8D]

Regards,

- Erik

[terje439]

I'm not here that much anymore, and the reason for that is one that actually annoys me a little bit. The games I've bought lately have been Slitherine, and although those games also have forums here, it is easier to get in touch with the devs at the Slitherine forum...
A forum merge is one I would like, now I am posting in some posts here in the general forum every now and then, but when I am posting about games I've bought, I have to go to Slitherine.

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: terje439

I'm not here that much anymore, and the reason for that is one that actually annoys me a little bit. The games I've bought lately have been Slitherine, and although those games also have forums here, it is easier to get in touch with the devs at the Slitherine forum...
A forum merge is one I would like, now I am posting in some posts here in the general forum every now and then, but when I am posting about games I've bought, I have to go to Slitherine.

think that is a valid point and goes wider. I've always played a lot of AGEOD games and the AGE community tends to post/discuss on their forums rather than here and that was true even when they were under Paradox's (mis)rule

No reason why it all needs to wrapped together, but the wider community of people who buy Matrix/Slitherine/AGEOD games are scattered across three different sites

[IainMcNeil]

The forum merge has happened. If you check every new release either lives on Slitherine or Matrix. However we cant retrofit it forums that already exist so it will sort itself out over time. We want top avoid fragmenting the community as much as possible. The Steam forums don't help here but we can't do anything about those.

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

The forum merge has happened.

Not really since there are still different forums [;)]
I know that the forums are merged per ce, however they still operate in different places of that weird place known as internet, and as such (atleast to me) feels like different independent forums. Might just be me though.

[IainMcNeil]

I think you may misunderstand. Look at the Bulge forum just released. It forwards you to Slitherine Bulge - there is no Matrix Bulge forum.

Look at the Thirty Years War forum on Slitherine - it forwards to Matrix. There is no Slitherine forum.

This has been happening for new releases for some time but cant be retrofitted. They only have one forum and where it sits depends on which community it fits better with.

[operating]

Yes, there is only one forum I visit at Steam, which is the CTGW forum. For the most part the commenters there are completely lost (not a lot of depth to the forum), although I do see Slitherine Staff occasionally do support there. Many of the posters there need help or basic information, often I refer them here to the Matrix forums or Slitherine forums (as Iain's sub forum suggests) to see what these 2 forums have to offer. Nothing at the Steam forum compares to the thought and energy that has accumulated at the Matrix or Slitherine CTGW forums. I feel many Steam followers miss out on the activity of these other forums, not just with CTGW, but these forums in general. There are a lot of really smart cookies right here who go the extra mile to help others....[;)]

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

I think you may misunderstand. Look at the Bulge forum just released. It forwards you to Slitherine Bulge - there is no Matrix Bulge forum.

Look at the Thirty Years War forum on Slitherine - it forwards to Matrix. There is no Slitherine forum.

This has been happening for new releases for some time but cant be retrofitted. They only have one forum and where it sits depends on which community it fits better with.

But terje439's point is valid. Most of the discussion actually occurs on the AGEOD forum, those of us who are active on both will often try and direct people over there ... not to reduce traffic here but to help point people to where the most active discussion is.

Not least there are regular posters on the AGEOD boards who I don't think have any presence at all with the Matrix boards.

[aaatoysandmore]

I have to say that is one of the turnoffs here is having to goto several sites to discuss a particular game by the same company or merged companies. 3 or 4 forums to bind them but one forum to rule them all. [:D]

[parusski]

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

Errr.. no

Never been busier. Never had more developers coming to us with games. Got to go - meeting with the Pentagon.

The Pentagon - I KNEW IT!!.

[parusski]

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

We haven't had a flagship wargame release for a while so there has been a drop off in forum traffic. The next one will be Decisive Campaigns 3 which is looking awesome!

The number of major serious wargame & strategy game projects under way has greatly increased. We are funding a greater number and bigger games than ever before.

And I can't wait for DC3...but guess I will have to.

[Missouri_Rebel]

I was being facetious. Maybe a smiley face would have conveyed that a little better?

Oh, and I think we 'get on' just fine. That is a good thing, right? You know I don't speak British very well.


But the dry spell in recent games was factual from my standpoint.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Missouri_Rebel

I was being facetious. Maybe a smiley face would have conveyed that a little better?

Oh, and I think we 'get on' just fine. That is a good thing, right? You know I don't speak British very well.


But the dry spell in recent games was factual from my standpoint.

warspite1

Yes it would have avoided any doubt. But no harm done - we've all done it [:)]

[Freyr Oakenshield]

As for me, I like the direction things are going in at the moment. I can't say I can see any signs of kicking the bucket...

[operating]

ORIGINAL: Freyr Oakenshield

As for me, I like the direction things are going in at the moment. I can't say I can see any signs of kicking the bucket...

Sorry about the misconception of the this thread on Matrix, it was not the health of Matrix that was being questioned, it was more on that the Matrix forum was faltering. However, as you can see today it is alive and kicking![:)]

[RCHarmon]

I'll mention a problem that I have with Matrix. I support a small developer that was picked up here at Matrix. Norbsoft and the SOW series is really a great series. The SOW Gettysburg game is very well done. Norbsoft almost always gives us what we want. It is very favorable to modders.

Problem is that matrix got involved in the decision making for SOW Waterloo and it has really hurt the series. Matrix said change to 'My Gui' Norbsoft did and it is a disaster. The ease of play is gone now and modding difficulties are also a price that we must pay. Sorry, the old interface was just fine and we have plenty of younger players who do just fine with the old interface.

Also, Matrix told Norbsoft to get Waterloo out by the anniversary. They did an incredible job with Waterloo with combined arms and the like, but in the end not enough time was given to other areas. The problems with formation getting jumbled and crossing up hurts the game. Norbsoft was not able to develop a true Napoleonic game in the time allowed.


So, if Matrix is big and bad and wants to make the calls with Norbsoft then the SOW series is going to disappoint and I'll leave it behind.

[JWW]

The only problem I have had with Matrix is that the sorry %*%*$*###s have so many good games out that I have had to impose some restrictions on what I buy. I have become a specialist. There are too many interesting games out there to do otherwise. These days I have the AGEOD games on my computer and WITE and WITW. And that is all I play. And I could easily just pick one and specialize in that because both are games that take some time. There are still some really basic things about the AGEOD series and WITE/WITW that I am just understanding despite having played the games several years, things in the "AGEOD for dummies" or "WITE for dummies" category. Okay, I also played Distant Worlds for a while because it is a really great game and I got it on sale. But I had to abandon it because I just don't have time for it. Even though I think it is one of the best games I've ever played, an amazing game. I just enjoy AGEOD games and WITE/WITW at little better. There are others I would like to play. But I just don't have time. And it is the fault of this dying company.

I realize the post is really about the forums, but I just had to throw that in. I think the forums are fine, though, too. I know where to go for what I need and don't see a problem there. Though I might see that someone new to Matrix/AGEOD/Slitherine games might get confused.

[IainMcNeil]

Yes we did talk to Norbsoft about the timing of the release of Waterloo but they said they were going to be ready earlier and we held it back for the Anniversary, we did not bring it forwards. Once we agreed a release due we all worked towards it. We absolutely did not ask them to hit a date they could not meet. That would be ridiculous. Once a date is set by the developer, wheels are put in motion and campaigns booked and other releases planned around it and moving a release at this point is expensive, but again, we never had any request to do so or any thought there was a need to.

The UI was iterated many times with Norbsoft and we want through many versions. This was not imposed by us, we worked with them to make it more approachable to new players. It was not done against their will and they understood the need to make the game more approachable to new players, after all they are the ones who designed the new UI. Now you can argue about how it works and what you prefer but you have to understand there is a fundamental difference between a new players requirements and an advanced player. An advanced player wants to be able to do things in as few clicks as possible. A new player needs a very limited number of options presented at a time so they are not overwhelmed. These requirements are completely at odds. I know the team are still working on a variety of improvements for the game.

The above comments seem to be made on partial information and assumption. Hopefully this has cleared up that particular issue. After all there must be a reason why Waterloo has sold significantly more than Gettysburg did when it first released, so it must have got something right.

Ok whats next….

[aaatoysandmore]

Estimated time for delivery of Steel Tigers??? Well, Iain you did say what's next.[:D]

Screenshots anything throw the dogs a bone.[:'(]

[zakblood]

a large bone tossed

there you go[8|][;)]