Here's the bottom line...and the reason us naysayers have been proved right.
With Silent Hunter III, expectations were high, but the game was released in an unfinished state and it required significant patching and modding in order to make it a great sim.
With Silent Hunter IV, given the history of Silent Hunter III, we knew what was coming.....another unfinished game requiring significant patching and modding. We were right.
With Silent Hunter 5, the writing was on the wall. This was not only going to be another unfinished game requiring significant patching and modding, but the end user was also going to have to deal with the fact that this game was going to be much more of an arcade game that required a permanent internet connection in order to play it.
So the question becomes why line up to purchase this game at the time of release? To continue to support the franchise? Our sales numbers are pretty insignificant, and Ubisoft as a Publisher made a business decision to move away from a sim and towards an arcade game. So why should simmers reward them?
What was destined to be released was a buggy arcade game that needed a lot of patching and an enormous amount of modding.
That's exactly what we got. So all the people who criticised those of us smart enough not to be pulled in by the allure of the game are now bitching about how bad the game is. No s**t, Sherlock!
The smart move was always to wait at least 6 months to a year to buy the game. At that time, there will be a much better idea of the impact of the patches and just how modable the game really is.
My business decision is pay about $10 for this game at the end of the year.
