Imperator: Rome - Status Update (Apr 2021)

[JellyMajster]

Just wanted to add some words after the salty ones.
I am in love with Imperator, and will keep playing it untill we get update! Rome is eternal!

 

[Lamisatr]

I agree with all but CK III. It's a barebones game with 2-3 years of development needed to bring it on par with CK II.

The base game is not bad, don't get me wrong. But it becomes quite repetetive after a few games and it's far too easy to blob or play in general. Strategy games without challenges aren't proper strategy games.

Ok, i'd say its in good shape in terms of health and engagement and a future, even though many feel as yet it's bare-bones. They won't strangling it in the crib any time soon that's for sure.

 

[Dnote]

Nope, this is them quietly backing out the room at night before turning the light off.

When we've stopped development on a game in the past, (recent examples, Planetfall, Battletech, CK2), we've been quite clear about it in our communications.

 

[RonBurgundy]

sadly in the real world, to hire more manpower =/= to more income and profits, moreover when we are speaking bout a product that to PDS is barely profitable, I am not saying that Imperator is a bad game, in fact, it had become one of my favourites of paradox by the concepts/(mechanics the game own but if we loom at the player base, how many videos the game generate in YT and reviews on comparison to other and older PDS games, it is clear to Paradox what would be more profitable to invest their resources, understandable, but I am not on the boat with that.

I understand that but I:R is such a visually stunning game with so much potential. No Man's Sky was able to turn itself around so I thought that was going to happen with I:R. I figured PDX would get it up to standards with other games so they could sell content for it for years.

I'm just very disappointed

 

[MrNewVegas]

Sure, but there's space for GSGs too, you cant be saying the genre is dead and only choose your own adventure books with a GUI slapped on top are viable?

One should attribute Imperator dying to the launch being a trainwreck and the DLC barely adequate rather than any particular dislike on the part of the players for the classic GSG format.

 

[Lamisatr]

When we've stopped development on a game in the past, (recent examples, Planetfall, Battletech, CK2), we've been quite clear about it in our communications.

Well, CKII reached the end of its life and a sequel was in the works it was also highly successful, I can't comment on the other games, but the circumstances surrounding IR in comparison to CKII are very different.

And you know what? You're probably best leaving it to us (players and modders) to sort out anyway.

 

[MrNewVegas]

When we've stopped development on a game in the past, (recent examples, Planetfall, Battletech, CK2), we've been quite clear about it in our communications.

You must have known before making this announcement that "we are taking a 12 month break AT LEAST from developing any new content for our game because nobody plays it" is immediately going to make everyone assume that you're taking imperator out the back to shoot it.

People aren't going to suddenly pick it up, and after 12 months you have this huge gap of experience which will delay it even further. Why bother restarting after that time?

 

[Indyclone77]

As someone who beta tested Imperator from before launch and supported through to the current day, it is ofcourse a very sad occasion for both the Playerbase and the developers who have given their all to make 2.0 the best that it could possibly be.

I have faith that this isn't the end of Imperator (Surviving Mars has recently had life breathed into it once again) but if it is better that it's gone out on a high!.

 

[Uxigadur]

This is dissapointing. Deeply dissapointing.

 

[MohawkWolfo98]

When we've stopped development on a game in the past, (recent examples, Planetfall, Battletech, CK2), we've been quite clear about it in our communications.

So what is the plan Paradox has for Imperator post 2021? Are there confirmed plans to restart again after this year?

I know I sound like an entitled gamer, but I invested a lot of time and passion in this game in the expectation that whilst it might not last as long as EU4/CKIII, it will still be developed. After spending in the Alexander DLC to support the developers and the excellent way Imperator was developing, this feels like a huge let down.

After the events of the last week I feel really let down as a Paradox fan.

 

[Limak]

One should attribute Imperator dying to the launch being a trainwreck and the DLC barely adequate rather than any particular dislike on the part of the players for the classic GSG format.

The launch was a mess because the overall design decision of the original IR format was rejected by the player base. They tried to move the design towards a different type of game but sadly it was too little too late.
Honestly I think they haven't quite figured out the proper formula for this period. They tried a bit of everything but it seems it did not work otherwise we would not be here.

 

[Lamisatr]

One should attribute Imperator dying to the launch being a trainwreck and the DLC barely adequate rather than any particular dislike on the part of the players for the classic GSG format.

Yep, the launch killed it, whatever efforts came after were never going to save it. They tried to pass off a place holder game as premium $50 product, a pretty typical gaming industry approach.

 

[Dnote]

You must have known before making this announcement that "we are taking a 12 month break AT LEAST from developing any new content for our game because nobody plays it" is immediately going to make everyone assume that you're taking imperator out the back to shoot it.

People aren't going to suddenly pick it up, and after 12 months you have this huge gap of experience which will delay it even further. Why bother restarting after that time?

So what is the plan Paradox has for Imperator post 2021? Are there confirmed plans to restart again after this year?

I know I sound like an entitled gamer, but I invested a lot of time and passion in this game in the expectation that whilst it might not last as long as EU4/CKIII, it will still be developed.

After the events of the last I feel really let down as a Paradox fan.

Just to clarify, we're not expecting new content to turn up before the end of the year (maybe some fixes, we'll see), because its going to take some time for new people to get up to speed and for them to actually develop something. But the idea is to have a full team on the project again as soon as possible.

We're just not sure what asap translates into time wise right now. I can't magic developers out of thin air unfortunately.

 

[MrNewVegas]

The launch was a mess because the overall design decision of the original IR format was rejected by the player base. They tried to move the design towards a different type of game but sadly it was too little too late.
Honestly I think they haven't quite figured out the proper formula for this period. They tried a bit of everything but it seems it did not work otherwise we would not be here.

Yes, as I said, the launch was a trainwreck.
If you're in the business of selling things and then you tell people what you are going to try and sell them and then they say "this is garbage we are never buying this" and then you don't change it and nobody buys it, you have just had a "trainwreck" of a launch.

 

[IsaacCAT]

because its going to take some time for new people to get up to speed and for them to actual develop something. But the idea is to have a full team on the project again as soon as possible.

Please, do not hesitate to tell them to use the Forum, twitter, etc.. while they are at it. We will appreciate it and will make the best to help them

 

[olivenkranz]

Just to clarify, we're not expecting new content to turn up before the end of the year (maybe some fixes, we'll see), because its going to take some time for new people to get up to speed and for them to actually develop something. But the idea is to have a full team on the project again as soon as possible.

We're just not sure what asap translates into time wise right now. I can't magic developers out of thin air unfortunately.

I hope that you or any Imperator Dev will be able to give us good news in the future.

 

[AggaWackTan]

Not happy at all. I think this has really lifted the veil on how bad Paradox's DLC model is, in that in anticipation of a new patch/ DLC, we instead hear an announcement that just leaves uncertainty and most likely means a ceasing of development. I think most players expected the next announcement to be trade/ diplomacy and had been waiting for it. It's annoying to be giving feedback for 2 years on all these systems that have been in other Pdx games that should have been in IR only for the game to be closed down.

Ngl it hurts to have supported the game for so long, from it's terrible launch to the promise of 2.0 back to this. Pretty fed up with paradox now

 

[Atacama]

I was just going to get into this game since I've been hearing so many good comments about the current state of Imperator.
For a moment I was scared that support was going to end completely. I guess if it's just a break, no problems. I have time to get hyped for the next big update in the long term.

 

[Nak'Arosh]

I'm massively disappointed by this news.
You had one of the most engaging period of history with personalities like Caesar, Scipio, Hannibal, Alexander, Crassus, Pompey, Vercingetorix and many others and despite all the history and events happening we ended up with a mediocre game at best.

For the love of Jupiter next time PDX (in 10 years or so) come back into the Classical world just have this game focused on Gens (families), bring out the characters and just completely forget of this mixed blend you tried here because clearly it does not work! We got a game about Rome without the politics and cursus honorum, you completely missed the point of this era which revolved around charismatic personalities that influenced the State and the people around.

I bought every single piece of DLC and supported till the very last but you giving up on this showed you really need to learn a thing or two from the CK team on how to make a game truly engaging.

Thanks anyways for the time and effort you put into this project.
A disappointed classicist

That whats happen when you create a Game about Rome and Focus on Greek States, it's a disaster like the Greeks States and Alexander that conquer the world and die young.

I said times ago, focus on barbarian... but they kept following the steps of Alexander.... if they focused even on Persian that had a war with Rome for more than 5 centuries

Legion is superior to Phalanx in any battle.

The game is good but what @Limak said here is right.
The lack of good Cinematics was a another problem.

Rome has the biggest Period of any game that Paradox will Create in any Historic period. Yet the Dev Teams did a good job to not let this game unfinished with bugs.


And thank to the Devs that made this 2.0 update a good game. Hope they can Help in ohters in their projects.

 

[Torugu]

We're just not sure what asap translates into time wise right now. I can't magic developers out of thin air unfortunately.

Well, if you ever find how to magically create software developers, let me know. I could introduce you to some people who would happily pay seven figures for that...