Updates

[Kool Kat]

Gents:

This new menu rollout is reminiscent of the "enhanced" graphics release a few years back. I remember at the time that David & WDS Co. performed a herculean effort to standardize the entire TOC game portfolio on the Gold Standard Graphics. It was applauded by many players and by me as a great effort to bring the vanilla graphics to more eye-appealing and pleasing state-of-the-art graphics. But no sooner was this accomplished, then David & WDS Co. decided that "enhanced" graphics were needed. Please correct me if I am mistaken, but I don't believe there were many players clamoring for new "enhanced" graphics? Were there any polls or feedback solicited from players on the need for "enhanced" graphics? Of course, as a game developer, David & WDS Co. can rollout out any kind of graphics package they want - with or without player demand or input. No argument there. Thankfully a Gold "legacy" graphics option was retained. Thank you.

Fast forward to today. Now we have a complete menu interface change with an entirely different navigation, flow, and look-and-feel. Again, I ask were players clamoring for an entirely new menu interface? Was the current menu so broken that a new menu needed to be developed and released? Were there any polls or feedback solicited from players on the need for a new menu interface? Again, David and WDS Co. can release any kind of menu interface they wish - with or without player demand or input. IMO I don't believe that's the best marketing strategy for a game developer to not garner player input. The end result is that then the game developer only receives player reaction?

What exactly does the new menu interface do better, faster, organizationally, navigation-wise or by any other measurable metric as an improvement (enhancement) over the Gold standard interface? IMHO, this new menu interface release is so "in your face." It's one thing to release some different graphics that can be modded easily, but it's quite another to release an entirely new menu interface - especially after players have been utilizing the Gold standard menu interface for many years... and then give no option for players to retain the current Gold standard one?

Personally, I don't like being "force-fed" something that strikes at the heart of how I get enjoyment out of the TOC game series. For me, the Gold standard menu interface is simple, uncluttered, elegant, and unobtrusive. Menu icons are mapped intuitively based on how a player interacts and plays the game. There is a right-feeling flow and navigation. Players don't have to figure out and decipher the menu. Instead, they can get directly to actually playing the game. 

Please allow players to retain the current Gold standard menu interface.