Mike Epstein's discussions

Story seems to be playing a much larger role in the final chapter of the Gears trilogy. Looking back, the original Gears' plot was minimalistic at best and while Gears of War 2 helped expand the universe, its central plot didn't go far beyond "We're taking the fight to the Locust!" Gears 3 sticks out in my mind by… Read more

I agree that more people will probably start playing, but I also think that means there are going to be a lot more players who give up on their games half-way through. Is playing on the hardcore team enough, or do you think having to deal with an influx of half-hearted players will be enough to push you out of the… Read more

Even the Civ name is what drew me to the game, I think the Civ name has been one of the games biggest problems, there are too many expectations of how the game should feel in order to be true to the series. The game isn't trying to be faithful to its past, which I think is a good thing, but players with that… Read more

I've been hearing about the game. I'm personally thinking about doing something a little different, but being free to play is definitely a plus, so I'll look into it. Read more

Ok guys, so if you've got an idea for what to play next, let me know here. (Obviously, if you said it somewhere else in here I'm still going to see it, so don't fret you've already posted your idea.) Read more

I agree, but for many gamers checking in consistently every day of the week for five minutes is than they would spend on a console game. The plan is definitely to make people play more, but most fb games attempt to hide that by discouraging players from playing too long, until they reach a point where they'll be… Read more

I totally agree. I just think that it's funny, because isn't the idea of most Facebook games to be less time-consuming than other platforms? Read more

Wow. In the discussion I mentioned before, we were talking about how we both loved RPGs but dont play them anymore. He said it was because he didn't really like to spend so much time grinding, and I said it was because they don't make RPGs like they used to. It seems like this may be a bit of a phenomenon... Thoughts? Read more

Do you think this proves that there's hope for better Facebook games? Or do you think that this is as good as it gets, and proves that Facebook games are lost cause? Read more

It is complex, but I think a big part of it for us, as old-school civ players, is that our past experiences were mostly single-player, and this very... not. I definitely think that the less willing people are to talk with each other, the less satisfying the game will be. Read more

True. Another effect of playing the game in real time. For me, there are times when I'm frustrated because I know there's something I should do, but I become disheartened because to do it I need to start getting people on board with a larger plan. Doing things like building stuff or learning new techs isn't nearly as… Read more

Earlier today, I was talking with somebody about how I would've liked this game more when I was younger. Have any of you guys ever felt like your nostalgia for a certain type of game has gotten in the way of you enjoying something new? Read more

Here's what I'd like to know: Read more

I'm honestly not sure what happened. Looking at the number of each sim on daily basis, though, it seemed like people were switching whenever it seemed like one group was gaining the upper hand. Case in point, the British were medium-sized, then they became one of the most powerful groups for a long stretch. In the end… Read more

Yeah it was tough. The key is to set up a schedule, or at least figure what type of victory you're going to try for. I'm going to try and be more organized in my/our next game. Read more

I thought I could change my fate... Oh well. Read more

Guys, note the expanded announcement above. I'm in a public game, number 2808. It's pretty close to the beginning. Feel free to come join me. I'll let everyone know if there's another organized game to join. Read more

Yes if you go into the throne room and click "your games" you can view completed games. Read more

Yea I'm seeing that now. Working on either setting up a new game or jumping into a public game as it starts. I will keep you guys posted. Read more

Logistics aside, have you seen a lot of the more active player jumping to particular civs? I noticed that one of the top guys from my group (The Romans) jumped over to the Brits at some point. Does it seem like that's a common occurence? Read more