The gameplay that made MoM so good, for myself at least, was the zoom in to tactical combat from the main campaign map. I loved it when I got beetles (only a unit or 2, as they were so expensive to maintain,) and could summon skeleton units to plug holes in my lines for example.
A little like the original Total War games captured, the mix of TBS and RTS was a winning formula, until Creative Assembly sacrificed gameplay for graphics that is, and I stopped buying/playing them.
Why don't people make games that we actually want to buy?
I used to buy 3 or 4 games a month, now I buy 3 or 4 games a year, and I have ten times the disposable income that I had then too. It's not that I don't play less, I play more. The only reason is that there is nothing to buy.
I read an atricle recently about the decline of PC game sales and the poor quality of gameplay in those that are produced, and, for once I could see the truth in it. (The article was the editors introduction to this months PC Gamer.)
Too many games are produced to capture too wide a range of people. Gameplay is sacrificed for graphics. Net effect, the game appeals to more, but captures less, nobody is satisfied and the game maker sells less product next time around.
Of course it's declining! There aren't any games that we actually want to buy being made.
One of the, if not the, main reason that I appreciate Stardock so much is that it caters for gamers like us, and does not compromise the game to acheive a wider audience. I have bought, and will buy, every game they produce for as long as this remains true.
Stick to the real 'cash-rich', loyal gamers on PC's Stardock, and corner the market..
Oh, and please... remake MoM.
I agree, keep it TBS... but perhaps make the tactical combat RTS?
8)
