C&C 3 - Where EALA Appear to Get Everything Wrong

[Sonic 296]

Your not seeing things, I'm actually posting a new blog, we should be updating this section more I know, but I won't bore you with excuses. Lets just get on with this blog and kick things off again.

 

So here we are in August, about 4 months (I'm told) since C&C 3 hit store shelves. And the general feeling around the online community since March is that EALA simply can't get things right. And today's announcement of C&C TV has left a very sour taste in everyone's mouth. You only have to read some of the comments on our forums, the news comments at CNC Den, and if you feel brave enough, the Official C&C 3 Forums. People have already condemned C&C TV a week before it officially gets started. Which is a shame because you never know it could actually turn out to be a positive thing.

 

But the C&C TV announcement is not the only thing that everyone has dragged through the mud. Everything else from the release of C&C 3, to its storyline, poor multiplayer performance has been over criticized, debated, poked and prodded to a point where it seems anything that EALA give us now is simply not good enough anymore. I'm going to be honest, I don't find C&C 3 to be that great, its short on story, the single player missions are uninspiring to play and thats where my interest died. I'm not into multiplayer all that much so I've moved on to other things but since C&C 3 is still in the news I cover it for CNCNZ.com. I still play the odd skirmish game, I test maps that people upload and yeah the classic C&C elements are all in there from Kane, to the FMVs, the classic side bar reborn and some familiar units. I don't hate the game but the novelty has long since past.

 

But the question is, are our expectations and standards set way to high?

 

I'm not making out EALA to the innocent party here though, there are a few things promised months ago that they haven't delivered yet, like the Mod SDK and the long delayed Battlecast Viewer. And I'm sure given time EALA will get these released soon. Especially the Mod SDK because I know that lots of people see modding potential in C&C 3 but they are crippled with this valuable tool. I've heard the Mod SDK could be released before the end of August with patch 1.07. Realistically speaking though, the Mod SDK should have been done and released around or just after the game hit retail. It was hyped up and talked about as far back as December 2006 as far as I can recall. As for the Battlecast Viewer, again this really needed to be available back in March. And EALA haven been very silent on this subject for many months now.

 

Myself and other senior CNCNZ.com staff have been highly critical of C&C 3 in recent times, but I feel most of it is simply venting out of frustration. I've been running things around here for a long time and never once did I bitch or moan about things, I shared my opinions, while try to maintain a neutral perspective on big news stories, where and when ever possible I try not take sides. However all the big egos and general ill feelings towards C&C 3 only fueled the anger inside of me and even I started breaking character, breaking my own rules and guide lines that I set in place years ago. In this process I called C&C 3 shallow, I said that EALA simply can't make a decent C&C that holds up to the original Westwood C&C's, I even questioned our community manager, APOC, and his role in our community, if thats the impression I gave to APOC and our visitors here, for that I'm sorry. I'm only human and when the frustration builds I have to let it out. I promise you all right now that will never happen again.

 

So in the end has C&C 3 been a good thing for our community, or has it created so much debate and ego driven criticism that we will continue to see everything EALA does from this point on put on trial and judged before it sees the light of day. One thing for sure, it has changed the overall attitude of the C&C Community.

[TheBlackOut 7]

I really don't think we're being too critical, IMHO. EALA waits this long to release another C&C and it flopped. It felt rushed, it wasn't anything unique or totally awesome to add to the RTS genre, and the story and acting wasn't like a C&C game.

 

EALA dropped the ball. I'll always forgive. Live and let live. But just to wait this long for C&C 3 and not have it be awesome... Seriously was a let down. Also part to blame was EA marketing. Leaked info, videos, too much showing of the game. I like info, but I basically knew the game before I saw it. Sad, really.

 

 

We (the community) gave them advice, they said they would follow through on it... They didn't.

[Aaron Kaufman 0]

Sonic, I really appreciate your candor and honesty and frankly, I think it speaks for any of the very hardest of the hardcore C&C fans around the community who feel similar to you.

 

If you go talk to Lion, Hexetic, Dario, Banshee, Chickendippers, Steppo, JohnWE, Phoib, Chronojam, Crimson, Assassin and a number of other well known community leaders around the C&C community, I don't find a sour taste in their mouth with C&C 3, I find a lot of appreciation and enjoyment in our game. I find a lot of nostalgic feeling and a lot of "this feels like C&C", fast fluid, and fun gameplay.

 

We did not create C&C 3 to be a break-through genre-busting RTS in the same veign that Company of Heroes and Supreme Commander pursued for example. But if you look at the now very hyped Starcraft 2, so far, it looks like they aren't either. Read the hands-on, talk to gamers who played it at Blizzcon, read the outpour of information, and if you want to talk "hyped", how is a convention with 20,000 people in Korea with the primary purpose to announce SC2...not over-hyped. That game is probably 2 years off still and quite a bit of info is out there. But you know, that is marketing, and its exciting for the SC community in the same way it was when we revealed Joe Kucan was back as KANE in our reveal trailer. You have to market to survive. You have to have a good game first and foremost before you can market it, but you have to market.

 

I think its important that you "know" the game before you choose to purchase it, and its your choice if you want to read an article or watch a trailer or wait to be surprised. My aunt and uncle close their eyes and plug their ears during trailers in movie theaters because they always show too much. I personally love trailers for the most part. Gets me excited.

 

Its perception, some people like lots of info, some people want to be surprised. And we *always* get scolded when we don't show enough info often (Battlecast Viewer for example). So, either way, we will get the short end of the stick from someone, hehe.

 

But back to you Sonic, our development schedule did not allow us to produce the MOD SDK by launch and had our multiplayer launch not been so unexpectedly rocky, the MOD SDK would definitely be out sooner. It was a rocky online launch that has since smoothed out and will continue to do so, supporting C&C 3 is very important to us as we are doing right now.

 

I think the super hardcore C&C fans had a very high expectation for C&C 3 and felt the game should have been closer to Tiberian Sun than it turned out. I don't think we marketed it or portrayed it as any thing other than the way it turned out. Critics have loved it overall, most fans have really enjoyed and treasured the nostalgic feel, the return of FMV's, the fast fun and fluid gameplay. The true C&C is in C&C 3, but to what level that is acceptable is different for all fans. I don't think it's fair to say "flopped" or "ball dropped" in this circumstance.

 

I know you guys are concerned about unanswered questions and apparent inconsistencies, and reading Mike Verdu's blog a couple weeks ago should give you guys some very good hope for the future.

 

Its 4 months SONIC )...we shipped at the end of March and we're just barely in August now )

 

If I look at the landscape of the community, the critics, the polls, the surveys, the majority are very happy with C&C 3.

 

 

Where we didn't follow through on any community advice that was given to us which we said we would follow through on....I don't know. The tiberium and technology agreements are in the past and we openly communicated on those , we shared our opinions and differences, you shared yours and we tried to meet halfway in some respects and kept to our vision in others. I'm not going to tell a modder or an artist to just do it my way or you will flop )

 

The community can turn itself more dire than it deserves to be when in reality, there is a lot to latch on to and a lot to look forward to. C&C TV, Patch 1.07, MOD SDK, Battlecast Viewer, Ladder Season, its almost like a 2nd launch, and its not too late. Sometimes all these things can happen at launch, and sometimes you try your hardest and hope it can all work out. We're ambitious and passionate and its truly for you guys. We chalk up our key learnings and work to improve in the future. You can't run if you can't fall.

 

I'm looking forward to more feedback in the future and looking for ways to turn some of this communities frown upside down. Battlecast Primetime definitely has potential to evolve and be enjoyed.

 

Keep blogging Sonic

 

-APOC

[TheBlackOut 7]

C&C 3 is a good game for the masses. But most of us ain't the masses, so expect to hit some turbulence. And while critics and etc thought it was pretty good, they rarely hold loyalties to one series, they just play and judge the games. Mmm, we of course have a particular affection for a series, C&C of course.

 

And when seeing that C&C different in a bad way, that kind of creeped up our skin. So I look forward to a sequel or expansion to hopefully correct it.

 

The patches and stuff is nice, but I think it's the story we mostly care about here. And when we've (or some of us) have read and hear what WW's C&C 3 was going to be like and then got this on our supper plates, it was like just... Wow, why didn't we get what WW was going to serve us for supper?

 

I think it's the die hard attitude of WW would of done better that causes this. Which I think will never go away, cause WW and the original C&Cs had something in our hearts we can never get rid of or forget, and we'll always compare any C&C of EA to what could of been of WW. I still say it's great for EA to try and take a stab at C&C again and hopefully the apology was sincere and EA will work with that to make the next game more enjoyable to us and I look forward to that day.

[Koen 2]

I keep wanting to post "Do not feed the trolls" signs around the C&C Community. I like how Apoc is replying the past few weeks, pointing out the flaws in certain reasonings. For example, did you know that Tiberian Sun was not a very big succes? I get bored when people bring up the WW argument again. Get over it.

[TheBlackOut 7]

I keep wanting to post "Do not feed the trolls" signs around the C&C Community. I like how Apoc is replying the past few weeks, pointing out the flaws in certain reasonings. For example, did you know that Tiberian Sun was not a very big succes? I get bored when people bring up the WW argument again. Get over it.

 

People never will though, that's what's holding most back.

[Sonic 296]

Its 4 months SONIC )...we shipped at the end of March and we're just barely in August now )

I stand corrected 4 and half months tops.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

TSBO brought up good points, as did Apoc. I played the demo once, and it was good. Although, i think the story could have been closer to canon. A little more time spent on the game's development would have went a long way.