Yes. I do not see my buddies every day and this is a great pastime for some of us. Why would you put down something as harmless as MP Ra that might be fun for others? Why do you even care?
I thought I'd made that obvious ... but I'll reiterate: I care because some developers are pouring their time, personnel, and money into a "feature" that is, in many cases, completely unnecessary. Not to mention one that, clearly, doesn't even work much of the time. That means less time, fewer coders, and less money going toward things that are far more important: a fun FTF experience, solid AI play, and general bug-fixes/improvements being the three most obvious. Games aren't developed in a vacuum and no company has infinite resources, so I do tend to care when a ton of effort gets poured into making a 20-minute game like Ra into some sort of bizarre online experience that completely eliminates one of the most appealing aspects of the game (i.e., it a fairly deep game that also plays quickly). It also means new releases are being pushed back, which is something I care about. I'm looking forward to many of the games I listed earlier, so it's both disappointing and disconcerting to learn that those releases will inevitably be delayed while Codito scrambles to fix a "feature" that, again, appeals to a small-but-vocal minority and doesn't even really enhance the game it's attached to. Finally, just to be clear: I truly do NOT care what you, amn624, do with your time, what games you play, or how you play them. Nothing could possibly be of less interest to me. If stretching 20-minute games into week-long marathons is your thing, then more power to you. It's the developers' time and resources that I care about. While they scramble to implement (and fix) alleged "features" that appeal to a narrow audience, everything else gets pushed aside. So instead of playing Puerto Rico in a couple of months, I'll still be reading threads like this one, alternately laughing and crying at all the time and effort expended into trying to turn Ra into something which it is not. That is why I care.
Puerto Rico (March) Roll Through the Ages (April) Le Havre (May) Tigris & Euphrates (March) Tikal (February ... which has a week remaining). ++++1 here as well. I also appreciate a good multiplayer experiance - but man, RA simply does not compare with the games you listed - especially the big one : Puerto Rico. I hope the developer appreciates just how many people, like me, are looking forward to a good implementation of Puerto Rico (and Tigris & Euphrates for me) on an iOS - hope these are not being delayed too much ! But anyway hats off to the developer for a great RA game, and hopefully knock-out versions of Puerto Rico and co.
Codito deserves a lot of credit for securing the rights to many fine boardgames. And they seem like good guys who are determined to do these games justice. That list I used was pretty much cribbed from an item Codito posted at BGG. To read the whole thing (which mentions a handful of other games, as well), follow this link. And, yes, I think most people would agree that Puerto Rico is the heavyweight of the bunch. Personally, Through the Ages tops my list ... or maybe T&E. Setting aside the online multiplayer debate for a moment, it's encouraging that Codito has done a good job with Medici and Ra. They've been responsive to bug-fixes and feature requests, implemented some interface tweaks, stayed active in the iOS community, etc. Those are all good things.
Hey folks, Obviously online play is an issue people are passionate about -- one way or the other, and as usual we can't let a flurry of comments go by without weighing in. (We know it's something you all appreciate about us, and we simply can't imagine not being responsive to our customers!) Some of you may have seen almost this exact response on BGG, so bear with us -- we want to respond in both forums and of course we have the same thing to say here too. We still believe that online play is an important feature that many people want, and that if you're going to play online it is important that the game can be continued later. (Note that it was never our intention for games to be played over weeks, rather we didn't want the inevitable interruptions to prevent a game from being finished!) Here's the scoop, since it seems to be called for: We are, in fact, contractually obligated to add online play into some of our projects. Our thinking was that, while other projects were in the very early stages, we should add the feature to Ra which had already been released. We could get the kinks out, and then it would be easier to release future titles with that feature already in place. We didn't want to spend time "reinventing the wheel" developing our own online servers so, when OpenFeint announced a turn-based multiplayer solution, it seemed like the perfect fit -- particularly since it was not at all clear that GameCenter supported interruptable online play. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens in development, that decision has ended up costing us some time and, yes, likely has delayed our other projects. However, we still feel it was better to have learned the lessons and apply that learning to future titles (we believe we're one bug fix away from having a totally solid asynchronous system, and that adding GameCenter will be easier for having had the OpenFeint experience.) As for the rest of the games listed here, we already had plans to step up our development starting in March, so those added resources will be used to ensure that the eventual release dates of our titles are as close as possible to the original. We also still intend to include online multiplayer in all of our games, but you can rest assured that our number one priority is releasing more board game apps and ensuring that they are of the highest quality. Hope that helps soothe some nerves and answer some questions. Thanks to everyone for your support, and for understanding that we all have the same common goal here: to play our favorite board games on our mobile devices! Codito Development
"Alleged" features? Heh. No, it's not alleged, it IS a feature. And if it was contractually obliged, than it had to be implemented. And I doubt that your assumption of a "narrow audience" is accurate. The success of GC, Plus, Open Feint and Crystal speak loudly to the opposite point of view. Meanwhile, you have just had your concerns answered by Condito. Yes, you may have to wait a bit more. But for those who want MP, they will have it. Better that many be served rather than just those who want stuff now, I guess.
Really? How's it working out for you? It doesn't sound like that was the case for Ra; re-read the Codito statement above. Ra had been out for quite awhile without any sort of online component whatsoever. It sounds like they chose to re-visit Ra. Nice try on the logic trap there, but it didn't work. Those services are not completely dependent upon online multiplayer, nor is that the only feature they offer. Hell, I'm on GC and OpenFeint every single day, and I've never used either one for any sort of online multiplayer, ever. Which I never actually said. Arguing a few points is fine; putting words into people's mouths is not. And "many"? Please. "Vocal minority" would be closer to the truth, at least as far as a game like Ra is concerned. A game like Puerto Rico might be a different story (and probably will be, at least for "live" multiplayer matches), but are you honestly trying to claim that people are clamoring for AOM on Ra? A bidding game? It is to laugh.
Also, amn624, can I add that I think it's pretty funny (and more than a bit ironic) to see how vigorously you argue against AOM, at this very site, in terms of another game? It seems like your arguments can be a bit ... situational.
Right. And this is strange because......? You really have to be kidding. 1) I have no problem with Ra async, since you can view everything once you're back in the game, the tiles you own, what the other players own & remaining tiles. 2) O2 async makes no sense at all, because other than a log of the last single turn, you can easily have forgotten (probably will have forgotten) what cards your opponents has available. Thus, only sync is the logical way for MP.
How is that comment even relevant?! Ok, I'll answer. Actually, It will be. Thanks for taking the time to fix it, Codito. Yeah, sounds like they had to. Or are you suggesting that they should ignore contractual obligations? Ok. Great. But a lot of others do. And my take on them is that MP will only grow. Wow, talk about putting words into someone else's mouth.
I agree that Ra is not a good game to play *entirely* at a slow pace, but asynchronous play allows you to sort of automatically find a time to get a lot of turns in together when you can. What I mean is that you might take a turn and then it could be hours before your opponent takes a turn, sure, but they might also pop up and take a turn right away. Then you and your opponent end up taking a bunch of turns in succession. It just works out. And there's nothing about asynchronous play that stops you from planning a time for friends to play the game at the same time, thus playing a quick game in entirety. That's not always possible, though. I was enjoying my online games, until they stopped working. So, yes, I really want the online to work. For me it really enhances the game. I just wish it worked and I'm sure it will at some point. Right now, though, Ra has gone back onto the back burner while I wait for online to work. I'm a bit tired of playing the AI.
Sorry, lots of irons in the fire right now. We think we may have finally tracked down the issue that was causing games to go out of synch, and we've fixed some other issues with the game, so we're hoping to submit an update to Apple today. GameCenter support is still in progress, but we are working on it. In other news, our "March Madness" sale start today, which will run until April 4th. Ra and Medici are both at rock bottom prices! By the end of the sale we hope to have our next game ("Tikal") out, and while we may run a launch promotion in conjunction with that next release, you definitely won't see prices any lower than this! Happy gaming! Codito Development
I still can't see paying 3 bucks for a game that's been out this long and still has functioning issues. It's too bad too, ra looked decent
Well, I'm another that sure hopes to have a working online in Ra soon too. I'm looking forward to testing out that update.
Hanging by my thumbs. I was playing this with two buddies and of course, never finished one epoch but we're definitely looking forward to this. And....TIKAL! (one of my favorite games) Crunc, I'll be inviting you as soon as we're online again. ----------------------------------- amn624 = pistachioko in Ra and Samurai
I just invited you to a game of Samurai with another person (I don't believe they are on TA, though.)
Update soon? Still hanging by my thumbs for the Ra update and Tikal. Any word on when they will be submitted? Thanks!
Yes, need that update! ... but then again, I want it to really work this time, so take your time and make sure it's 100%!
