It started with Heroes of Might and Magic V - 3D all the way, but you can't see where's what - the exact position of anything on the adventure map was hard to gauge. Especially if you're in a cave!

In fact, often I would feel physically sick playing HoMM V, and so I quit, and did not buy any of the expansion packs. And when I saw Heroes VI, I realized that the franchise is dead and buried to me.

Other strategy games went the 3D route, as well. Some added exactly 0 (zero, nada, nothing, naught) new content or features, only moved everything to confusionland, I mean, to 3D view. Such is Eador, with its move to MoBW.

And now Age of Wonders - here's another game I won't be purchasing. And looking at the prices (39.99 EUR for me, in Finland for the non-deluxe version) I'll be saving a bit of money. Also, since I've been avoiding 3D fuckery as much as possible, I have not had to purchase powerful graphic cards, so I've saved there, too.

I've played a few 3d games, but they weren't making them as shiny as the new AOW3 so there was never any real question as to running them. To rate them, Civ 4 has the be the ugliest of the Civ series, though the gameplay isn't terrible if you are a complete noob. Not that you should play any Civ besides Alpha Centauri anyway. Now that I have played Divinity 2, I think we can retire 3d. Action RPGs have no strategy anyway.... Why in god's name is Europa Universalis now in 3D?

3dish works for RTKXI, though.

Well..3D alone doesn't make a game bad and 2D alone doesn't make a game good...but there's a general tendency for all games that the dev invest more in more highqualitygraphic and effects and less into content, balance, a complex rulesystem, story,...

One can't judge about AoW3 allready and speaking about MotBW, it was planned as a kind of remake from the beginning and after the new Bugs where erased it was a bit slower then Genesis but had a better campgainmode, a new UI and a better look...everybody has to decide if he favors the fast 2D genesis or the slower 3D MotBW.

Yeah, no. Just no.

Oh I bought quite a couple of 3D games. Both have their charm. Unfortunately some devs want to follow 3D fashion and choose to make their games 3D but forget that it needs to function properly. It's not just an aesthetic choice. If I feel that 3D enhances gameplay, I'm all for it.

OK, but how about the second paragraph in my post (copy/pasta):

In fact, often I would feel physically sick playing HoMM V, and so I quit, and did not buy any of the expansion packs. And when I saw Heroes VI, I realized that the franchise is dead and buried to me.

Am I really the only one who finds some of the strategy games lost clarity by going 3D? And AoW 3, from the screenshots, is clearly one of those.

Well some people get motion sickness when playing 3D games. I will have to see how it looks like when I start the game to truly judge. It's different watching a video or playing. :)

Yup, that's a game with a nice 3d look. The banners can get a little cluttered when you zoom out during big battles, but otherwise I love those graphics. :)

I really wasn't talking about motion sickness. In fact, I was talking about something one can judge even from static images.

But, whatever. True. RoTK xi makes 3D work well, and even I like it. Or better say, don't dislike it.

Totally agree, Scotti. 3D sucks. Sure it does not make a game bad per se, but it does make it worse. It is ugly, and if it isn't ugly on release, it will be ugly in a few years. And since these aren't action games you only play an few hours and never again, this becomes very annoying.
I love the Fantasy Wars and Kings Bounty remakes for example, but so ugly...at least Kings Bounty has a very pretty 2D Inventory and portraits. I can't understand the point of these ugly 3d portaits in Aow3. The beautiful 2D portraits of Aow2 fascinate me everytime I look at them.

Adding 2d portraits would probably have cost more money. I am not certain whether it would be cost effective or if they would be receptive to making a portraits DLC. I don't feel that AOW3's 3d is terrible, and maintains the charm of the series. I do find the requirements a bit odd, as the game doesn't look packed with anything that would require much processing.