An open letter to Mr Meier and Firaxis

malekish · Post by **malekish** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:58 pm

Since Firaxis does not have their own offical forum, I am posting this here. I have also sent a copy to Firaxis via their company feedback form.

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I'm writing with my opinions about SMR! I have played most of Sid's games and many of Firaxis games, I am a huge fan of both Sid and Firaxis. What I bought with the name 'Sid Meier's Railroads!' on it is not up to the standard of quality that I expect with either name 'Sid Meier' or 'Firaxis'

The game is buggy, the AI pathing is horrible. Yes, I know how difficult programming is, but I also know how mature other SM/Firaxis games have been, even out of the box. This game does not meet expected quality of software, not by a mile.

When I see SM/Firaxis on a game title I also expect a certain level of gameplay, this product does not meet that expectation. This game is a sadly laughable joke. Any SM/Firaxis fan that buys this game will look at it after a few hours, or a few days as say 'That it?'. I'm not trash talking the game itself, I'm talking about the brand identity of 'SM/Firaxis'. Very disappointed. You should pull this product off the shelves in shame, rebrand it and put it out with another name.

Please give my regards to Mr Meier and the staff at Firaxis. I do respect their work and I do appreciate SMR! for what it is, but what it is does not reflect the quality inside the box.

Imagine buying a car with the Cadillac name on it and finding the body, interior and performance of a Kia. While Kia's are not a bad car, they do not look, perform or ride like a Cadillac. This is my complaint.

ledhed · Post by **ledhed** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:02 pm

A Big thumbs up for ya mate .

rupertlittlebear · Post by **rupertlittlebear** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:49 pm

Welcome to the real world.
This kind of software is now state of the art.

And I am agreeing with your post.

That is the bad part of the real world.

Ochso · Post by **Ochso** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:30 pm

I agree with you !!!!

CaptainPatch · Post by **CaptainPatch** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 4:10 am

malekish wrote: Please give my regards to Mr Meier and the staff at Firaxis. I do respect their work and I do appreciate SMR! for what it is, but what it is does not reflect the quality inside the box.

Imagine buying a car with the Cadillac name on it and finding the body, interior and performance of a Kia. While Kia's are not a bad car, they do not look, perform or ride like a Cadillac. This is my complaint.

I couldn't agree with you more, but I wouldn't be nearly so kind. This game feels more like "Making A Fast Buck' (as evidenced by the fact that they didn't even bother to bundle in a Player Aid Card showing consists, as every version of RRT --which this is, despite anyone's claim to the contary -- has provided). As opposed to "A Labor of Love" that Firaxis has suggested ever since they announced they were doing another Sid Meier railroad game.

As far as I'm concerned, the only way Firaxis will be able to reclaim any credibility is to release an honest-to-goodness RRT-type game in the _very_ near future. (I'm not holding my breath.)

Habadacus · Post by **Habadacus** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:45 pm

You can add my signature to this open letter. I've never before played any game with the Sid Meier name on it that felt like a Java mini-game that should have been on Neopets, not on the retail shelf.

Firaxis should be ashamed of some of the things they let their marketing department say about this shallow game.

richard · Post by **richard** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 4:05 pm

Habadacus wrote:You can add my signature to this open letter. I've never before played any game with the Sid Meier name on it that felt like a Java mini-game that should have been on Neopets, not on the retail shelf.

Firaxis should be ashamed of some of the things they let their marketing department say about this shallow game.

Hear hear!

darklandz · Post by **darklandz** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 4:26 pm

Ok i can agree some people are dissapointed ... but ... to be honest they never said it would be a 'tycoon' follow up. I'm quite pleased with the game and yes there are bugs but have you seen any games without bugs ??

It didn't take Firaxis long to release a patch (compared to some big names in the game industry)

Don't want to break down anyone here ...

And Firaxis, never heard of your company before to be honest, but you deserve my respect.

David

malekish · Post by **malekish** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 4:34 pm

Go to 'www.firaxis.com' and click on Games, then SM Railroads. What's the very first sentence?

"Sid Meier's Railroads! marks the return of the watershed title in simulation/strategy gaming that launched the popular â€œtycoonâ€

richard · Post by **richard** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 4:54 pm

... and yes, we have seen games issued without bugs. And games that you can at least finish. Even after the patch...

von Beanie · Post by **von Beanie** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:18 am

I have already donated my game to a 10 year old nephew as an early Xmas present. It is a huge disappointment to me, especially after playing the other railroad games which had shown increasing performance over the years. This game seems targeted to a youth audience to make a quick buck (perhaps that's why I saw it at Target tonight), not an intelligent audience looking for a competitive game. I'm afraid the original Sid Meier railroad game is a better game than this one. I will certainly wait for the reviews before I buy another Sid Meier game off the shelf.

Amazing Ronaldo · Post by **Amazing Ronaldo** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:31 pm

Wish I could agree but I can't even get mine installed. I am on my second disk and all they can say is it is a bad disk. If I get a third disk and it gives the same exact error, I would add that their support department has been very disappointing. Doesn't answer emails and then when I call and mention I have had this problem twice they say it still must be a bad disk. Is this indicative of a bad production run as well if I got two bad disks? I have never even had one bad CD/diskette out of all the years (20+) I have been playing and buying games, and now two in a row for the same game? I can only laugh at this point.

-R

snoopy55 · Post by **snoopy55** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:18 pm

Amazing Ronaldo wrote: I can't even get mine installed. -R

What is your system and what is the computer telling you?

Scrooge McDuck · Post by **Scrooge McDuck** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 7:47 pm

I'm enjoying the game very much, perhaps because my expectations are different. I played RT2 and RT3 and enjoyed them, but found them somewhat tedious after awhile. Not so with SMRR. The economic aspects are complex enough to make me think a bit and stay engaged, but I mostly just want to play with the trains and the terrain. Graphically, the game is beautifully done and it suits my purposes very well. If a scenario builder is released, it will stay on my hard drive a long, long time.

My 2Â¢ worth.

Wak!

levy · Post by **levy** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 6:48 am

well i got this game as a present and i kinda like it
have been playing with friends too, its good fun.
too bad there;s a number of bugs in it, like trains going on the wrong tracks, or tracks that cant be used to no apparent reason at all.
that farks up a multiplayer game cause its very costsly.

wish they'd do a proper multiplayer remake of transport tycoon *sigh*

still,.. i think i'll have a game now!

Smr Simple!

An open letter to Mr Meier and Firaxis

An open letter to Mr Meier and Firaxis

Re: An open letter to Mr Meier and Firaxis