People have been leaving Relic? Wasn't that just some of the "action" side of the business after Space Marine failed to sell all that well? On a related note, do Croak and Egon still hang around here?
Both Egon and myself have left Relic. I still lurk here though.
People have been leaving Relic? Wasn't that just some of the "action" side of the business after Space Marine failed to sell all that well? On a related note, do Croak and Egon still hang around here?
Both Egon and myself have left Relic. I still lurk here though.
That's too bad. I hope it was by choice or at least on good terms. I was just joking yesterday that maybe the reason our group got into the alpha was due to the influence of a certain Hypno-toad.
People have been leaving Relic? Wasn't that just some of the "action" side of the business after Space Marine failed to sell all that well? On a related note, do Croak and Egon still hang around here?
Both Egon and myself have left Relic. I still lurk here though.
Say it aint so Croak, this saddens me greatly. What has led to this great exodus of talent from Relic and/or what are you doing now?
So .. the release date has been confirmed for June 25th.
Relic Entertainment's strategy title Company of Heroes 2 will launch for Windows PC in North America and Europe on June 25, Relic and parent company Sega announced today.
Or just put more work into it and make it a better game. Or even just advertise more. In any case I'm very hopeful that it will end up not awful - now that THQ isn't in charge, maybe there is less of an incentive to make it a shitty free to play knockoff that still costs $60.
I've been invited to a playtest with Relic this week.. so if you have any questions that you want me to ask the development team, feel free to share/PM me your thoughts.
All I want to know is what the heck these ranking / leveling shenanigans are all about. Are they going to be cutting me off from units / abilities until I spend 50 hours of playtime, just to "earn" them? Are there microtransactions involved?
Yeah, what Subedii said. I'm very concerned about the MP having a strange unlock system and how that will effect balance. If someone can confirm this is not true or that it, atleast in their opinion, doesn't ruin the game then I will pre-order this right away. Until then I'm holding off.
*Edit - To Croak, Egon, and any other Relic dudes - thanks for making some of my absolute favorite games over the years. From Homeworld, to DoW, to Company of Heroes and Space Marine (which I liked alot, except that last boss fight), I've played and had tons of fun with alot of Relic games. I hope to say the same about CoH2!
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Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
Man they are REALLY intent on keeping even the beta info completely under wraps to a kind of nutty degree that I don't really remember seeing from a pre-order beta before. Especially given that it's April now and the game's releasing in June, they seem to want to keep as much information out of the public domain as possible, which is kind of scary.
The beta forum is invite only (understandable), but on the Sega forums. And you aren't allowed to make any topics about it on the CoH forums or else you're banned from the beta for breaching NDA.
I realise NDA's exist for a reason, but two months out from launch is NOT the time to be hiding details about the game, especially from a beta that is going to be including a frag-tonne of people (basically everyone that pre-ordered). The whole thing just doesn't bode well for me. Maybe I'm overreacting.
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KadokenGiving Ends to my Friends and it Feels StupendousRegistered Userregular
I think they might get rid of some of the F2P/Guild Wars 2 sounding stuff they were doing before they got bought out by Sega. Though Sega does own CA who does a lot of DLCs, so who knows? I'm just hoping the expansion this time will be on the pacific theater.
I think they might get rid of some of the F2P/Guild Wars 2 sounding stuff they were doing before they got bought out by Sega. Though Sega does own CA who does a lot of DLCs, so who knows? I'm just hoping the expansion this time will be on the pacific theater.
Wouldn't that be one heck of an expansion? I mean, they worked the whole cold and snow effects heavily, a Pacific War expansion would use none of those.
Man they are REALLY intent on keeping even the beta info completely under wraps to a kind of nutty degree that I don't really remember seeing from a pre-order beta before. Especially given that it's April now and the game's releasing in June, they seem to want to keep as much information out of the public domain as possible, which is kind of scary.
The beta forum is invite only (understandable), but on the Sega forums. And you aren't allowed to make any topics about it on the CoH forums or else you're banned from the beta for breaching NDA.
I realise NDA's exist for a reason, but two months out from launch is NOT the time to be hiding details about the game, especially from a beta that is going to be including a frag-tonne of people (basically everyone that pre-ordered). The whole thing just doesn't bode well for me. Maybe I'm overreacting.
Short answer: The only people who would be interested enough to be in the beta at this stage are diehard COH fans. And without saying anything about the game, it is diehard COH fans who are most likely to be annoyed by the changes/refinements to the gameplay.
The NDA has, at least for now, stemmed an overflowing river of shit that is just waiting to engulf the internet.
they seem to want to keep as much information out of the public domain as possible, which is kind of scary.
This is never a good thing. Which sort of begs the question of why even have a (semi)public beta, but whatevs. Has the trappings of the Sword of the Stars 2 release all over it. Really too bad.
they seem to want to keep as much information out of the public domain as possible, which is kind of scary.
This is never a good thing. Which sort of begs the question of why even have a (semi)public beta, but whatevs. Has the trappings of the Sword of the Stars 2 release all over it. Really too bad.
Well that sounds horrifying.
Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
I also got into the beat via that PCG give away. Going to check this out tonight!! I hope it's good...
*Edit - First Impressions - Well after playing the beta abit, without saying anything to violate the NDA, I like it. It has some things in it I dislike but overall retains the main concepts of CoH IMO. We'll just have to see what happens.
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Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
I went ahead and grabbed it since I'm sure the SP will be worth that price and I like what I've seen in the beta thus far for the most part. Only thing is, I've already got access to the beta so when I try to add the code to steam it says I already own it, yet this should be the actual pre-order game key. Hope that isn't an issue later...
Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
I played the beta, it was pretty fucking fun. I'm not a good enough player to talk about balancing and stuff, but from where I was standing, it was just awesome. And I beat the computer!
I realised today that I am awful at Company of Heroes 2. I played one game against a single AI and got demolished, while I was building my second unit, they had captured all three central points and had mortar teams preventing me from spreading out, it was a desperate fight to take back my first two resource points from then on until I lost horrendously. If anyone wants to teach me to be not bad so I can actually write something meaningful about this game, then please let me know! I've got a spare beta code or two kicking around from Eurogamer.
I went ahead and grabbed it since I'm sure the SP will be worth that price and I like what I've seen in the beta thus far for the most part. Only thing is, I've already got access to the beta so when I try to add the code to steam it says I already own it, yet this should be the actual pre-order game key. Hope that isn't an issue later...
Ah well, I guess that at least brings it down to a sane price.
I'm still not sure though because I still want to know just what the heck this whole leveling system is about. I mean what exactly do they mean when they say that the beta has the first 40 levels unlocked by default so you can test them?
In any case, how long is this coupon going to last?
New pre-order bonuses are available and the unlock system has been removed.
Pre-Purchase Offer
(a) All pre-purchase users will get access to a ‘Theatre of War’ mini-campaign which will allow them to experience a new single player story from another part of the war.
(b) Plus, the Winter Ambush and Voronezh Front skin packs to customize the look of their multiplayer vehicles.
As well as the single player content and multiplayer skins, pre-purchase users will receive two new multiplayer commanders to customize each army.
(c) The German army will receive the Joint Operations Doctrine, specializing in precise artillery strikes and the Offensive Spearhead Doctrine for players who want to use heavy armor and airstrikes to crush their opponent.
(d) The Soviets will unlock the devastating Anti-Infantry Tactics Doctrine, enabling units like flamethrower tanks and the Conscript Support Tactics Doctrine which allows for rapid reinforcement in the heat of battle.
aka preorder and get access to the most OP commanders and pwn the enemy who was foolish enough not to buy the game early.
Yeeeeeaaaaah. Seems kind of... Unfair. They aren't desperate for money anymore (Probably) being under Sega, so why they're going with this full retail game with micro transactions seems strange and unwise. I just don't want it to flop, even though I'm undecided whether I'm going to get it.
If nothing else, I hope it's successful enough to give us Dawn of War 3 and maybe a new Sphess Mehrine (Or pickup where Vigil left off and make that MMO-turned-Battefieldish shooter.)
Oh fuck this shit. I was thinking of using that GMG coupon to grab it early (I've pre-ordered Relic's PC games since DOW) but this? Skins and stuff they can keep if they want, but dividing playerbase like that is frikken low.
That sounds kind of gross, especially given how expensive the game is on steam to start with
I really want to play and enjoy CoH2 and I don't care about skins but preorder specific commanders sounds fucking dumb
either it is locked to preorders only and is as awful as it sounds or instead it means there's some kind of leveling system in the game to unlock new gameplay stuff and preorders just get them right away. A leveling system like that is something I really don't want either
I guess I'll wait for more information but I am getting a bit worried about this
I suspect these commanders aren't pre-order exclusives. Which would mean they're either early "unlocks" (like in Battlefield pre-orders), or they're going to be microtransactions alongside a suite of other commanders.
Man the lack of official information about how they want to work the multiplayer is really killing this. I'd hate to see an otherwise good game fail just because of obtuse pricing shenanigans.
I haven't checked specifically but the pre-order commanders you guys are talking about sound alot like the 2 unlockable commanders each side currently has. I think it's just an early access thing.
Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
I've played a few (vs AI) matches already; checked out the customizer thing.
The more I play it and check stuff around the more is evident that this whole "3% bonus to this and that" and some of the tactics are going places I really care nothing about.
For me Company of Heroes 1 was a really good and fun game that had some interesting strategic options you could play around with. This seems far less like that and more like a generic RTS with little differences between sides. I really loved my time there playing 1v1 and 2v2, even with the inherent imbalances in asymmetric sides.
It may even not be bad like that, but that's the impression it is giving me, which neither DOW, COH nor DOW2 did before and those were games I loved.
In the end I may end up keeping my COH1 and dedicating a bit more to SC2 if I want some more competitive side (not that I'm that good, but I want some fun competition every now and then.)
I haven't checked specifically but the pre-order commanders you guys are talking about sound alot like the 2 unlockable commanders each side currently has. I think it's just an early access thing.
At least they're not named the same thing. The locked ones are:
Axis: Jaeger Infantry & Assault Support
Allied: NKVD Rifle Disruption Tactics & Shock Motor Heavy Tactics
Still, they may still be unlockable commanders, but the amount of slots in the customizer hint at far more down the road, chances are pay-to-own commanders.
I don't mind paying (or not) for additional Commanders down the line. I can understand that as long as it's balanced. CoH2 has a problem in that they can't just go adding factions to it (and really, it was bad enough in CoH1 when they added just 2), so if they want future additions and support for MP, this seems like the only really viable alternative. A game like this doesn't really have the support for DLC cosmetics that something like DoW2 does.
The problem is if it basically becomes unbalanced and pay-2-win (Kangaroo). It's difficult in its own way because now instead of introducing different unbalanced factions, you're introducing what are possibly different imbalances within them instead.
As for strategy and asymmetry between the sides, that's something that has to come about by working it through. Really that's not too different than Relic's other games. DoW2 was really notable for this, to the extent that it had to have a massive re-working in the "There is Only War" update.
In general Relic have usually been really good about supporting their games over years, and trying to keep the multiplayer playerbase unified. I'm not against this in theory, but how it ends up is probably going to come down to how well they can implement it. In all it still puts me at unease, especially because of the premium pricepoint for the base game.
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Both Egon and myself have left Relic. I still lurk here though.
That's too bad. I hope it was by choice or at least on good terms. I was just joking yesterday that maybe the reason our group got into the alpha was due to the influence of a certain Hypno-toad.
This is what it said for me when I initially signed up but I got access several days later. The possibility still exists.
Say it aint so Croak, this saddens me greatly. What has led to this great exodus of talent from Relic and/or what are you doing now?
edit: thanks for the fun, Relic staff!
*Edit - To Croak, Egon, and any other Relic dudes - thanks for making some of my absolute favorite games over the years. From Homeworld, to DoW, to Company of Heroes and Space Marine (which I liked alot, except that last boss fight), I've played and had tons of fun with alot of Relic games. I hope to say the same about CoH2!
The beta forum is invite only (understandable), but on the Sega forums. And you aren't allowed to make any topics about it on the CoH forums or else you're banned from the beta for breaching NDA.
I realise NDA's exist for a reason, but two months out from launch is NOT the time to be hiding details about the game, especially from a beta that is going to be including a frag-tonne of people (basically everyone that pre-ordered). The whole thing just doesn't bode well for me. Maybe I'm overreacting.
Wouldn't that be one heck of an expansion? I mean, they worked the whole cold and snow effects heavily, a Pacific War expansion would use none of those.
Short answer: The only people who would be interested enough to be in the beta at this stage are diehard COH fans. And without saying anything about the game, it is diehard COH fans who are most likely to be annoyed by the changes/refinements to the gameplay.
The NDA has, at least for now, stemmed an overflowing river of shit that is just waiting to engulf the internet.
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/04/03/exclusive-giveaway-company-of-heroes-2-beta-keys/
This is never a good thing. Which sort of begs the question of why even have a (semi)public beta, but whatevs. Has the trappings of the Sword of the Stars 2 release all over it. Really too bad.
Well that sounds horrifying.
Thanks!
Downloading. Let's see what they've got to show after all this time.
*Edit - First Impressions - Well after playing the beta abit, without saying anything to violate the NDA, I like it. It has some things in it I dislike but overall retains the main concepts of CoH IMO. We'll just have to see what happens.
felt like CoH to me!
I went ahead and grabbed it since I'm sure the SP will be worth that price and I like what I've seen in the beta thus far for the most part. Only thing is, I've already got access to the beta so when I try to add the code to steam it says I already own it, yet this should be the actual pre-order game key. Hope that isn't an issue later...
Ah well, I guess that at least brings it down to a sane price.
I'm still not sure though because I still want to know just what the heck this whole leveling system is about. I mean what exactly do they mean when they say that the beta has the first 40 levels unlocked by default so you can test them?
In any case, how long is this coupon going to last?
and always try to remain on the offensive, keeping the enemy off balance gives a big advantage
also it's really worth learning the hotkeys, they speed up your game by quite a bit
Pre-Purchase Offer
Yeeeeeaaaaah. Seems kind of... Unfair. They aren't desperate for money anymore (Probably) being under Sega, so why they're going with this full retail game with micro transactions seems strange and unwise. I just don't want it to flop, even though I'm undecided whether I'm going to get it.
If nothing else, I hope it's successful enough to give us Dawn of War 3 and maybe a new Sphess Mehrine (Or pickup where Vigil left off and make that MMO-turned-Battefieldish shooter.)
Pre-order commanders?
Oh fuck this shit. I was thinking of using that GMG coupon to grab it early (I've pre-ordered Relic's PC games since DOW) but this? Skins and stuff they can keep if they want, but dividing playerbase like that is frikken low.
I really want to play and enjoy CoH2 and I don't care about skins but preorder specific commanders sounds fucking dumb
either it is locked to preorders only and is as awful as it sounds or instead it means there's some kind of leveling system in the game to unlock new gameplay stuff and preorders just get them right away. A leveling system like that is something I really don't want either
I guess I'll wait for more information but I am getting a bit worried about this
Man the lack of official information about how they want to work the multiplayer is really killing this. I'd hate to see an otherwise good game fail just because of obtuse pricing shenanigans.
The more I play it and check stuff around the more is evident that this whole "3% bonus to this and that" and some of the tactics are going places I really care nothing about.
For me Company of Heroes 1 was a really good and fun game that had some interesting strategic options you could play around with. This seems far less like that and more like a generic RTS with little differences between sides. I really loved my time there playing 1v1 and 2v2, even with the inherent imbalances in asymmetric sides.
It may even not be bad like that, but that's the impression it is giving me, which neither DOW, COH nor DOW2 did before and those were games I loved.
In the end I may end up keeping my COH1 and dedicating a bit more to SC2 if I want some more competitive side (not that I'm that good, but I want some fun competition every now and then.)
At least they're not named the same thing. The locked ones are:
Axis: Jaeger Infantry & Assault Support
Allied: NKVD Rifle Disruption Tactics & Shock Motor Heavy Tactics
Still, they may still be unlockable commanders, but the amount of slots in the customizer hint at far more down the road, chances are pay-to-own commanders.
The problem is if it basically becomes unbalanced and pay-2-win (Kangaroo). It's difficult in its own way because now instead of introducing different unbalanced factions, you're introducing what are possibly different imbalances within them instead.
As for strategy and asymmetry between the sides, that's something that has to come about by working it through. Really that's not too different than Relic's other games. DoW2 was really notable for this, to the extent that it had to have a massive re-working in the "There is Only War" update.
In general Relic have usually been really good about supporting their games over years, and trying to keep the multiplayer playerbase unified. I'm not against this in theory, but how it ends up is probably going to come down to how well they can implement it. In all it still puts me at unease, especially because of the premium pricepoint for the base game.