State of the Game video?

[copycon]

I'm interested to know if/when we can expect to see the "State of the Game" video that Cal implied back in December?

I realize that the mid-January date was set tentatively, and I thought that it would be fair to expect a more accurate ETA now that we are in mid-January.

TIA!

 

[Vlaude]

I know my word is not enough to prove anything but I PM'd Cal last week and he told me they will be recording it some time this week. It would be nice if a dev or Cal himself could come in and confirm that but if you doubt what I'm saying just PM him yourself and ask.

 

[canary]

I know my word is not enough to prove anything but I PM'd Cal last week and he told me they will be recording it some time this week. It would be nice if a dev or Cal himself could come in and confirm that but if you doubt what I'm saying just PM him yourself and ask.

Updates are always nice to hear.

It wouldn't have taken Cal more than two minutes to make a post addressing all of stratics about this. Again, there is a definite lapse in communication.

 

[Orgional Farimir]

I'm interested to know if/when we can expect to see the "State of the Game" video that Cal implied back in December?

I realize that the mid-January date was set tentatively, and I thought that it would be fair to expect a more accurate ETA now that we are in mid-January.

TIA!

He said mid January, but he didn't say what year. Give them 5 more years. They are busy redoing holiday events, like the turkeys every Thanksgiving.

 

[Cal_Mythic]

Filming this week. We got wait-listed for camera time because other things came up.

 

[Just Do It]

Everyone be nice now! And don't scare the Dev away!

 

[Trebr Drab]

Filming this week. We got wait-listed for camera time because other things came up.

It was nice of you to say something.
Does that mean we'll see it next week, or will there be a delay for ducks to be lined up, etc.?

 

[Sevin0oo0]

well I'm POSITIVE he and the rest of the crew have All been working hard together, to make this video as successful as the past communications have been. The anxiety is killing you, huh? I'm bringing fresh baked cookies

 

[Evlar]

Given the "State of the Game" title, may I take this opportunity to provide the background music?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEX1dYyvmig

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Given the "State of the Game" title, may I take this opportunity to provide the background music?

YouTube - Funeral March (Chopin; High Audio Version)

piano? really? pffffffft!

I would more properly theme it thusly
YouTube - Cher - If I Could Turn Back Time [Official Music Video] [HQ]

 

[canary]

Filming this week. We got wait-listed for camera time because other things came up.

Yes, that tends to be your excuse on a lot of things (being honest here, people). If there is one thing UO is good at, it is not meeting deadlines.

 

[MagicStar]

Yes, that tends to be your excuse on a lot of things (being honest here, people). If there is one thing UO is good at, it is not meeting deadlines.

Another thing they seem good at is putting up with negative comments and often insults and very few pats on the back
Be happy u got an answer because if i were a dev id have a real hard time biting my toungue at some of these posts

True i wish i could have everything i want in uo but the facts are im not alone here so my needs arent the only things devs need to worry about they need to make it right
Also i have no idea what they are doing and how hard theyre working or what theyre bosses are expecting
I have no idea how much staff they got
All i know is this is the product and i assume they are doing their best so i can either wait and be patient
Or play something else
In no way do i have the right to whine , judge , or insult anyone
If i dont like it i know im free to move on

God you sound like my boss

Fyi - im happy things are being worked on and i hope (not demand) that we have more nice things coming to us in the future

 

[canary]

God you sound like my boss

Wait... your boss asks you to... *gasp*... be competent at your job???

Oh, the humanity!

 

[Vlaude]

Another thing they seem good at is putting up with negative comments and often insults and very few pats on the back
Be happy u got an answer because if i were a dev id have a real hard time biting my toungue at some of these posts

True i wish i could have everything i want in uo but the facts are im not alone here so my needs arent the only things devs need to worry about they need to make it right
Also i have no idea what they are doing and how hard theyre working or what theyre bosses are expecting
I have no idea how much staff they got
All i know is this is the product and i assume they are doing their best so i can either wait and be patient
Or play something else
In no way do i have the right to whine , judge , or insult anyone
If i dont like it i know im free to move on

God you sound like my boss

Fyi - im happy things are being worked on and i hope (not demand) that we have more nice things coming to us in the future

While it was nice of Cal to come in here and post to back up my post about the video being done this week I would say canary's complaint about deadlines was just. It was by no means comparable to the diatribes some post around here calling for people to lose their jobs and soforth. Hopefully this thing will be recorded and broadcasted by the end of the week so we can finally put a number of issues to rest.

 

[Lady Storm]

I am not sure how many of you work in an office for a busy company... Most who do understand the ins and outs of timetables and what if any hitches come along.

For those of you who dont, imagine your household. Mom, dad, kids (say for argument 3 teens) Thats 5 people who have different timetables for work, school, sports, oh and play.
Hours never run the same way twice, dinner has a tendancy of running late, your lucky to eat dinner with all members of the family 2 nights a week if that!

Well in an office its almost the same, only its not family but co workers who fill the shoes of these poor fokes! Cal might be boss but he still must mesh all things together and hope to get things done. Not that the others try to hold up the show its just how "murphy's law" works. What can go wrong - Will go wrong.... no matter how much we want otherwise.

Patience is a virtue, so wait grasshopper... all good things come to those who wait.

 

[canary]

I am not sure how many of you work in an office for a busy company... Most who do understand the ins and outs of timetables and what if any hitches come along.

For those of you who dont, imagine your household. Mom, dad, kids (say for argument 3 teens) Thats 5 people who have different timetables for work, school, sports, oh and play.
Hours never run the same way twice, dinner has a tendancy of running late, your lucky to eat dinner with all members of the family 2 nights a week if that!

Well in an office its almost the same, only its not family but co workers who fill the shoes of these poor fokes! Cal might be boss but he still must mesh all things together and hope to get things done. Not that the others try to hold up the show its just how "murphy's law" works. What can go wrong - Will go wrong.... no matter how much we want otherwise.

Patience is a virtue, so wait grasshopper... all good things come to those who wait.

I actually supervise 57 staff at 18 different sites. I have deadlines both I and my staff are I are to meet. If they are not met, either they (by myself) or I (by my superiors) will receive some form of corrective action.

Things do slip from time to time. As a whole, the UO team is pretty consistent in their ability to not meet deadlines... or when they do, to put out a buggy, not completed product.

edit: Lady Storm, do YOU work for a large company in charge of deadlines? Because if you find this kind of behavior acceptable all the time, I'm going to venture a guess and say 'no'.

 

[phantus]

I am not sure how many of you work in an office for a busy company... Most who do understand the ins and outs of timetables and what if any hitches come along.

For those of you who dont, imagine your household. Mom, dad, kids (say for argument 3 teens) Thats 5 people who have different timetables for work, school, sports, oh and play.
Hours never run the same way twice, dinner has a tendancy of running late, your lucky to eat dinner with all members of the family 2 nights a week if that!

Well in an office its almost the same, only its not family but co workers who fill the shoes of these poor fokes! Cal might be boss but he still must mesh all things together and hope to get things done. Not that the others try to hold up the show its just how "murphy's law" works. What can go wrong - Will go wrong.... no matter how much we want otherwise.

Patience is a virtue, so wait grasshopper... all good things come to those who wait.

If I miss deadlines in my company we lose accounts. That means revenue and that in turn means jobs in the end. Constantly(and I do mean constantly) coming up with excuses as to why things are not ready when projected(notice I didn't say promise) is not acceptable for a business. UO is run in this manner. They slack because they can. Where is my rebuild of Magincia? How many times did we hear that something would be happening with that? Just the most recent example I can think of. There are zounds more.

 

[Vlaude]

I am not sure how many of you work in an office for a busy company... Most who do understand the ins and outs of timetables and what if any hitches come along.

For those of you who dont, imagine your household. Mom, dad, kids (say for argument 3 teens) Thats 5 people who have different timetables for work, school, sports, oh and play.
Hours never run the same way twice, dinner has a tendancy of running late, your lucky to eat dinner with all members of the family 2 nights a week if that!

Well in an office its almost the same, only its not family but co workers who fill the shoes of these poor fokes! Cal might be boss but he still must mesh all things together and hope to get things done. Not that the others try to hold up the show its just how "murphy's law" works. What can go wrong - Will go wrong.... no matter how much we want otherwise.

Patience is a virtue, so wait grasshopper... all good things come to those who wait.

When being late for deadlines becomes habitual, that is when it becomes a problem. I don't have an office job yet, but I do attend university. If I turn an essay or exam in past the dealine guess what grade I get. How would the professors respond to "patience is a virtue, so wait grasshopper"?

 

[canary]

If I miss deadlines in my company we lose accounts. That means revenue and that in turn means jobs in the end. Constantly(and I do mean constantly) coming up with excuses as to why things are not ready when projected(notice I didn't say promise) is not acceptable for a business. UO is not run in this manner. They slack because they can. Where is my rebuild of Magincia? How many times did we hear that something would be happening with that? Just the most recent example I can think of. There are zounds more.

Well, I have noticed even in the dev gatherings they go right from 'comfortably informal' to simply 'unprofessional' (imo of course). Like I've often said, it is baffling that a game run by EA has that kind of lax attitude regarding a business.

 

[Orgional Farimir]

I work for a large bank, which of course is a very customer service oriented industry. If I told you I would put your loan application on "In the next few days, something more important came up" how would you feel?

How about if I said something like "I know you can't buy your groceries, but I didn't get around to filing that fraud claim because something else more urget poped up" how would you like that?

Personally I would change the bank I deal with. If anyone is wondering why UO numbers are falling reason like this are the reason.

Is this all the fault of the current Devs? I doubt it. My guess is EA is like any other large company out there where they expect their employees to do the job of 2 people day in and day out. But guess what so does my work. Infact from Sept-the end of 2010 I was doing the job of 3 people. And yes everynow and then something did "slip through the cracks", but if I let as many things "slip through the cracks" as they do I would be in the unemployment line.

 

[Solskin]

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
- Not me

 

[Ganondorf00]

UO is losing subscribers because it's old and has minimal player interaction, and also because it changed too much so old players have really no reason to come back. I wanted to play some UO a few weeks ago, i had the choice between reactivating here or playing on a freeshard. I didn't choose the freeshard because it was free, but because it was the game i wanted to go back to for a while.

I will watch this video and i hope it has the answer to the classic shard request right at the start, so i don't have to watch it all.

 

[EX_UO Player]

I am not sure who watches the news anymore or pay attention to what is said half the time. I have caught some very interesting points that have came up on the news.

1) This first bit of news is about manufacturing and jobs. In 1993 America was at it's highest in the previous decade in manufacturing and exporting items. The work force was pretty full at the time that to keep up with demand more people were hired. Reports just came out at the end of 2010 that America is now doubled manufacting since the 1993 year and we are more effecient. Meaning that even though we are doubling what we are producing from 1993 and technology adds into this factor, we have less people working even though now you have employees doing mutiple jobs. Where before you have a larger work force now we have smaller work force and doing more work. So instead of 10 employees doing 10 jobs now you have 3 doing 10 jobs. Some people can handle mutiple tasks like that and others cant.

The above news made think of EA approach to their business model and for UO. I think it may work for more manufacturing jobs but not in EA business model. UO, Daoc, and warhammer online boards are full of complaints. It's like the Devs have vansihed. Hardly any responses and /or very vague answers when they do.

2) This was talked about this morning on the news about NY. How the mayor says the unions need to give in or 10,000 jobs will be lost. We all know cities and states are cutting back. Some companies are expanding but some are doing the opposite and cutting back.

So in relation to UO and EA's other online games, to me I see the same trickle effect as the point I posted above. One thing though, is EA higher ups taking cutbacks? Or is it the divisions with in EA are losing jobs while the uppers are lining their pockets. I always thought how funny companies were boasting millions and billions a year in profits but when the economy went down the money....was...not there. I understand you have to invest to continue making money but after years and years of showing profits the money just vanished.

I was taught some strange ritual when I was a child. Save your money because you may never know when you may need it for a rainy day. So I did and still do. Does EA have such a policy? We all have seen other companies that boasted making billions to fall down like the straw hut the little pig built, when the economy wind crash came through. UO at this time may be making money but who knows. That money is not being reinvested back into UO from what I have been reading of late. That last sentence is just my opinion.

 

[HD2300]

A carrot dangler is someone who promises something—to help you out, to give you something, to introduce you to someone, or whatever—and never comes through. When you try to collect on the promise, there is always some reason why they can't give it to you right then, though they tell you they will do it another time. But when "another time" comes along, that isn't a good time either, and so it goes, until you give up on that carrot, and then they start to dangle another carrot. The underlying dynamic is that they are generally getting something they want from you, and they are making the appearance of offering something in exchange, but they never actually give anything in return.

 

[Ox AO]

Filming this week. We got wait-listed for camera time because other things came up.

i would also like to know the state of EA games in general and what affect that will have on UO?

We already see some affects such as the sale of enhancing items and the quick lowering of prices of the new software.

 

[Ganondorf00]

I hope they did film it, so we should see it in the coming days next week. If it's a carrot then no problem, i'm following this because i'd like to play in a classic shard, if the doesn't make one i'll play something else.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

"Filming" this week? Is there going to be FX?

*coughs*

A webcam and 20 mins of his time would take about.. well.. 5 mins to prepare for, sans speech writing.

This isn't a major motion picture or even an indie film. This is Cal with a webcam sitting in his office with the foor closed and a "Do Not Disturb" sign on his closed door.

 

[RawHeadRex]

this thread needs more cow-Mandolin !

 

[MrWilliams]

My word its depressing to see how self centred, impatient and negative the majority of posters are on these boards. I sincerely hope that the Devs realise that the whinging populace of these boards does not reflect the typical attitude of all UO Players, otherwise they might just give up.

 

[Vaelix]

My word its depressing to see how self centred, impatient and negative the majority of posters are on these boards. I sincerely hope that the Devs realise that the whinging populace of these boards does not reflect the typical attitude of all UO Players, otherwise they might just give up.

I was a Siege Perilous player, please keep telling me (And these lovely Oceanic people) how competent the Devs are, given their previous history, at keeping their player base happy with good decisions and properly planned releases / maintenance.

To sum that up, there is a reason these people are "Whinging", as you put it.

 

[MrWilliams]

My word its depressing to see how self centred, impatient and negative the majority of posters are on these boards. I sincerely hope that the Devs realise that the whinging populace of these boards does not reflect the typical attitude of all UO Players, otherwise they might just give up.

I was a Siege Perilous player, please keep telling me (And these lovely Oceanic people) how competent the Devs are, given their previous history, at keeping their player base happy with good decisions and properly planned releases / maintenance.

To sum that up, there is a reason these people are "Whinging", as you put it.

I never said I was happy with the state of the game at the moment, I lost the UO I loved with the release of AoS. However, I think there are more constructive ways to get your point across.

The devs can't please everyone, one look at any of the threads on these boards shows the sheer variety of viewpoints on any subject. However, the petty, unrealistic remarks that some (not you) are making are really not helpful and furthermore depressing to read through before you get to some worthwhile content.

 

[Zosimus]

I never said I was happy with the state of the game at the moment, I lost the UO I loved with the release of AoS. However, I think there are more constructive ways to get your point across.

The devs can't please everyone, one look at any of the threads on these boards shows the sheer variety of viewpoints on any subject. However, the petty, unrealistic remarks that some (not you) are making are really not helpful and furthermore depressing to read through before you get to some worthwhile content.

For some strange reason that statement made me crave pear and blue cheese flatbread pizza. Thing is I never tried it and not sure I would like it. If people didnt whinge/discuss/argue/debate then progress wouldnt be made at times and that is in all aspects of life

 

[Vaelix]

I never said I was happy with the state of the game at the moment, I lost the UO I loved with the release of AoS. However, I think there are more constructive ways to get your point across.

The devs can't please everyone, one look at any of the threads on these boards shows the sheer variety of viewpoints on any subject. However, the petty, unrealistic remarks that some (not you) are making are really not helpful and furthermore depressing to read through before you get to some worthwhile content.

While I agree that some people take it over the top, I also believe "Constructive Criticism" can be found within almost every post, be it negative or positive, you just have to be willing to look past the "Blah Blah"

 

[Lord Gareth]

edit: Lady Storm, do YOU work for a large company in charge of deadlines? Because if you find this kind of behavior acceptable all the time, I'm going to venture a guess and say 'no'.

You may work for a large company with deadlines and I am sure you meet each one. Its just to bad that the behavior your company expects you to show at work does not carry over to here.

Ps. I love the second post in the thread and the fifth post *ROFL*

 

[canary]

You may work for a large company with deadlines and I am sure you meet each one. Its just to(o) bad that the behavior your company expects you to show at work does not carry over to here.

Ps. I love the second post in the thread and the fifth post *ROFL*

You mean professional, to the point behavior? I will openly congratulate those when they do a good job and call them out to task when their standards have slipped.

You may want to re-read my posts. You clearly are missing something. My posts are pretty much straightforward. I would apologize if you do not like them, but honestly? I don't really care.

edit: I'm still awaiting Storm's response for working for a large company. So far I haven't seen anything, which is odd given from her post she implies she knows what its like and as such we should cut people slack consistently. People shouldn't really post such things unless they honestly know what they are talking about.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

My word its depressing to see how self centred, impatient and negative the majority of posters are on these boards. I sincerely hope that the Devs realise that the whinging populace of these boards does not reflect the typical attitude of all UO Players, otherwise they might just give up.

You mean they might not know what they have gotten themselves into?
*whew*

That would rate as one of the most unkind cuts that I have seen ...

Sorry, it would ... it brings an entirely new "dimension" ... mostly of a personal nature: against "the dev's et al", specifically good ol cal ...

you be trolling MrWilliams?

or you be courting like Mister Frog?
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh

 

[phantus]

or you be courting like Mister Frog?
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh

Cran-bole!

 

[MalagAste]

My word its depressing to see how self centred, impatient and negative the majority of posters are on these boards. I sincerely hope that the Devs realise that the whinging populace of these boards does not reflect the typical attitude of all UO Players, otherwise they might just give up.

Ok lets put it to you like this you think we are self-centered and whiny.....

I for one have spent on average about 1,250 dollars a year over 8 or 9 years to play UO..... that's about 10 grand.... I think that my 10 grand is worth more than lame excuses.

I also think my 10 grand investment over 8 years is worth the DEV's treating ME better. Infact I am sure that 90% of the playerbase who's been around at least as long as I have feels that our continued support of this game demands a bit more respect out of the DEV's....... AFTER all WE pay their wages.... were it not for US the customers...... those who have spent years paying to play UO they the DEV's would NOT have their job.

How's that for you? So Yes I do get demanding... Yes I do expect more... After 8 or 9 years of the same old same old BS and being shafted how many times... by broken promises... half finished work... that still is in the BETA stage ...... I think that I/we deserve more.

I have been faithful as all get out to the game.... I have offered 100's of suggestions..... filed countless bug reports.... I do NOT dupe.... script. I try my best to treat other players with dignity and respect... though I have put up with a heck of a lot of BS not only from players but from the DEV's and well quite frankly there comes a time when enough is enough... and one gets sick and tired of hearing the same old promises over and over and over only to have things grow worse.

While my friends have slowly drifted away to other games where they feel the service is "better" .... and the graphics are "WoW" worthy.... I have remained faithful to the game I love..... and IF I get testy about things it's NOT because I'm a B or that I don't give a rats... It's because I do care and I am DEMANDING that things improve..... I will NOT go quietly into the night and give up on the game I care about.... I will do my darnedest to make dang sure that they(the DEV's) know that WE the players want the game to go on ...... and we do NOT want more of the same.... we want BETTER.

So you may sit there and wave your pom poms and say everything is fine.... but I will NOT. I am going to be hard... I'm going to voice my opinion... and I am going to be heard.... So what you do with your time thats up to you.... but I want to play my game..... and I want it out of beta... and I want it fixed. I'm tired of crashing everytime I go to Corgul..... I'm tired of locking up everytime I open my moving crate... I'm sick of seeing my garland on the floor in the EC or up in the floor above in 2d.... I hate seeing the flames of my candles and everything else on the floors above... I'm tired of my paperdoll looking like crap...

I'm tired of getting promised something and having it half done.... at release.... heck they still haven't "finished" the SA yet..... and how long has Magincia been nothing but rubble....

Heck there are still 100's of tiles missing here there and everywhere...

If I did my job like some do theirs people would be DEAD.

I work in healthcare and you better believe that I'm all about QI...... QA and accuracy and precision... I work all alone in a Hospital Laboratory and you better believe I have deadlines to make and I make them.... I don't make folk wait in the ER because I'm "too busy" no..... I drop whatever and get right on it... I am the Queen of Multi-tasking.... and I even do my own repairs... So don't tell me about deadlines and all that... I know about them....

So if you think I'm negative it's not because I don't care... it's because I do..... Because I want UO to be MUCH better... and by gods I'm going to rant about it until it is.

Squeaky wheel gets the grease don't you know. And telling people NOT to say things bad or negative isn't going to change anything or improve it. If you want to make believe nothing is wrong and everyone is just happy as clams then I think you better start finding yourself some happy pills... and a pair of rose glasses... as for me I took my glasses off long ago... I want to see things clearly with a clear head.

You can tell me I'm being mean or negative or whatever but the fact remains that all of America has gone totally bonkers with "not offending"... anyone..... to the point that we now don't care if people put out newpapers, books, or even government letters with serious typo's in them.... we don't care that our children have no idea how to use proper grammar or spell. We are so focused on ourselves that we have forgotten how to be a society... and we have LOST our edge because we have become lazy and lax and we no longer demand quality.... everything in our world is now disposable.... nothing is made to last anymore. And now I'm starting to sound just like my Grandmother..... *grummbles*....

I want and demand good service and I can NOT understand why we can't all work together to make things better.

But I will NOT pussyfoot about and act like nothing is wrong... and I will NOT sit by while nothing gets done and do nothing or say nothing... I'm going to shout at the top of my lungs that I care about UO.... like it or not I'm here to stay to the end.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

^^ This.

It’s pretty much put up or shut up time for Cal. He's dangled enough carrots to lead a herd of horses through hell and back without many seriously batting an eye.

The "end of the year" became "mid-January" and that became "we got wait listed"... One would think he would have scheduled some camera time.. oh... in December when he procrastinated that time. Again, not hard to plug in a web cam and record something.

I don't think any of us expect Spielbergian camera work after the last video broadcast (seriously, we didn't need to see Andy reading the questions... Or Mark drinking a beer...)

The velvet glove approach hasn't worked with this Dev Team, they aren't receptive to an actual critique of their work. They seem far too complacent/content to pump out half-finished and bug-riddled code.

We pancake because we care.

When a p(l)ayer points out a glaring flaw or bug in a system, we have Devs who tell us not to play (Shard of the Dead) or argue that the bug doesn't exist regardless of the mountain of player experiences (Mark and fishing issues). Need I mention "I don't know what a sampire is, skip that one..."?

No, UO’s sky isn’t falling as some doomsayers predict, however, we definitely aren’t getting our $12.99 /month + unfinished expansion + buggy booster’s worth.

 

[Coppelia]

Just a reminder for the people flaming those who complain : negative commentaries may be sometimes hard to take when you work on a game, but you look at your work and you know you could have done better, that's why it hurts. When the criticism is erroneous, you don't care. However when some fanboy defend something you did knowingly bad because of constraints or because it's exactly what your director asked you, you aren't thankful at all. It's the contrary, you become very cynical.
When you see you can do a crappy work and a fanboy force will defend it with rage, the first thing you think is "what a bunch of idiots," not "yeah! they like it I'm going to give them more!"

So go on, flame on those who complain, you encourage EA to take you for stupid children.

Really I wouldn't care more about someone who paid me one month of salary over 9 years, but someone having 50+ accounts of my game would just freak me out. It's quite a few steps further "awkward."

 

[Kiminality]

Just a reminder for the people flaming those who complain : negative commentaries may be sometimes hard to take when you work on a game, but you look at your work and you know you could have done better, that's why it hurts. When the criticism is erroneous, you don't care. However when some fanboy defend something you did knowingly bad because of constraints or because it's exactly what your director asked you, you aren't thankful at all. It's the contrary, you become very cynical.
When you see you can do a crappy work and a fanboy force will defend it with rage, the first thing you think is "what a bunch of idiots," not "yeah! they like it I'm going to give them more!"

So go on, flame on those who complain, you encourage EA to take you for stupid children.

Really I wouldn't care more about someone who paid me one month of salary over 9 years, but someone having 50+ accounts of my game would just freak me out. It's quite a few steps further "awkward."

What about the part where they decide that it's not worth interacting with the community, because such threads become contests for who can create the longest essay on how terrible the devs are.
You're missing that little bit of psychology.
Oh, and the bit where human nature means people respond differently to different stimuli, and so the conditions you laid out won't apply to everyone.

 

[Petra Fyde]

I'm going to lock this.
I admit to being concerned about how things are, I think we all are.
I admit to being less than enamoured of the communication skills of the 'community reps'.
However I also see how destructive and depressing the continual complaints are to the community.
You've made your feelings and disappointment abundantly clear. Rather than work each other up into being depressed enough to give up and quit, let's give it a rest at least till after the weekend. There'll be no response forthcoming before Monday anyway.

As for Cal. When you're asserting how short a time it takes for him to tell us something, bear in mind that he has mentioned before that his 'producers letter' has to be 'passed' by other departments before it can be posted.