Medal of Honor Airborne summit review

[rudedog]

My Medal of Honor Airborne Article is now up and ready for your review.

Please read the full article as a lot of issues where brought up at the summit. We now have some follow up answers from EA also in the article. - Click here (http://www.fpsadmin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12959) to read the full article
I know I missed a lot of things, if anyone has any questions ask them here and I will try and post an answer (if I have one)

** update from Blackhat regarding Ranked servers - yes he still emails me after my review :salute:As of right now we are shipping with No Ranked program.
That means:
- No unlocks (there’s a system that lets you pick running with all weapon upgrades on, or all off on a ded server)
- No stats kept by EA
- No stat that they can track themselves
- They can run the server we are releasing
Other sites reviews:GameSpot (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/medalofhonorairborne/news.html?sid=6175943&om_act=convert&om_clk=multimodule&tag=multimodule;previews;title;3)
Afterhours (http://www.after-hourz.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181)
Gamertag Radio (http://www.gamertagradio.com/)
Worm's World (http://www.wormsworld.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=1) - Bulletworm ** just added
Total Airborne's Review (http://www.totalairborne.com/page.php?do=mpsummit) ** just added
YiY77tTnlqA
Youtube link via TotalAirborne
MP screen shots:
http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php/d/3404-1/MOHA_7.jpg http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php/d/3386-1/MOHA_1.jpg http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php/d/3398-1/MOHA_5.jpg
Click here (http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3343) to view all images full size

[rudedog]

Please leave your comments here. We will also be posting links to other articles as they come online.

[Wolverine]

I am totally at a loss for words. :mad:



Edit:
One positive thing, if you can call it positive. At least EA is consistent. I should have known better than to get my hopes up for this game.

I feel sorry for Blackhat. I bet he would love to find a big rock to crawl under about now.

[RaDioAcTivE]

Kudo's to you guys for walking out. It's just so sad considering the last year of Blackhat asking us all of the questions about what we'd like to see in the game. I'd put a lot of hope into this title. :mad:

I cannot believe the line, "worse then Pacific Assault" was even possible for a modern day release.

[rudedog]

Please note and I may have not made this clear.

Lots of things where "in" just not in the box. They would or will ship after in the form of patches...People are not going to wait around for EA to patch something after games like PA, where they waited and waited for nothing.

The game itself played great, however with out any support for dedicated server it's going to go nowhere fast

[Manzi]

great article !

[Wolverine]

I read in an xbox review at gamespot that xbox will have ranked servers. Is this true for PC as well?

[rudedog]

we really did not touch base on the ranked part of it at the summit.

However in other conversations, I had with BH. He mentioned that there may be something to that effect but more like stat servers then ranked.

[Wolverine]

I hope that turns out to be true as BF2 style ranked servers would be a show stopper for me and many others.

Oh, also, any word on the game being delayed again?

[rudedog]

You know I heard that on another site today. I will check

This is the first Im hearing of it

[RaDioAcTivE]

I hope it will be delayed so they can make the needed changes. It's in everyone's best interests to see this thing ship as playable as possible.

One would think that a company like EA would understand something as basic as this. It's sort of like selling a car that doesn't run well and trying to tell the customer to bring it back to the shop in a month and we'll fix it for you.


What can we honestly expect them to change in the little time left before the intended ship date?

[rudedog]

** update changed or removed one line.

I've removed the line about walking out in protest.

After talking to some of the guys I've come to the conclusion I should have not spoken for everyone else and I apologizes to the rest of the PC guys for that.

We all walked out more or less on our own and met up someplace where we could talk about what just happened privately. That is when Blackhat came over to ask what was up.

Sorry for the misinformation.

[necrodoggy]

Thanks for sticking to your guns Rudedog, I just hope that they listen to what you had to say. I find it very disturbing though that they were so unprepared with the dedicated PC server. Wasn't that something that you and others had brought up last year?

[Timber]

Screwed again by EA! What a shock.

[rudedog]

I more or less brought up the need for dedicated server files, meaning a low profile install for server admins.


I asked for that and was given a listening server :confused: . But Blackhat and EA are working on these. We've already been told a dedicated server will now be included.

Blackhat has been working his ass off to get us at least some of the things we asked for.:salute:

[rudedog]

Just added a link to Bulletworm's review/article.

Link in first post

[Ghost-Ryder]

Wow I just been catching up for about 2 hours reading all I can find.This reminds me so much of the COD2 Release we had expected a lot even stuff we thought would be automaticly in the release wasn't even there.

I and the rest of my clan have been waiting for MOHA for about 10 month now in the hope it would be a great MP WW2 game and replacing the COD Version.As with COD2 release I do not understad why the simple stuff easy stuff is not in the game.I am a TDM guy and don't like S/D at all but it is so populare in the community so i can not understand why they did not include it, really it is a no brainer.

6 maps wow that would last us for about 3 month.

Now to the Unreal engine I have been playing and been an active Admin for almost 10 years.I run servers for the original Unreal game then Unreal Tournament and UT2k3.It always had redirect of some kind (it was a compresson program build in for faster downloads the game took care of the decopression before using the file.).What is it with the guys upstairs why do they inciting on going backward in time and I mean 10 years back wow that just shocks me.The big Kahunas need to get out of there offices and take a look at the real worls and new stuff that has been out for a long time.

It was alomost like when UT2k3 came out the biggest MOD in the game was Instagib it was a big part of UT I mean big.5 time bigger then S/D is in COD.The devs just gave it a blind eye ,they did not spend much time inproving it at all.They even left it out in the Demo.We all thought why are they giving us the coold sholder?It wa almost like a game in it self.

But anyways since COD4 and Crisis is coming out soon and it is looking realy good . I will be waiting to see more first hand reports on MOHA before I will buy it and I will tell all my Clan Members to do the same.Ever since COD2 came out it tought as a lesson talk is cheap.I am not going to wait and wait for them to bring out what should have been in the game in the first place.

I had high hopes for this game :mad: :mad: :mad:
Cas sera sera

[GIXOHOLIC]

Hello Rudedog.......first off I would like to say thank you for the info that you have provided to all us fans of the Medal Of Honor Series.....that being said I would like to now start with the next portion ..... my RANT.......correct me if im wrong but a 12 player multiplayer server???.....that will never fly whether its for xbox or the pc.......what is EA thinking , are they deliberatly trying to kill Airborne, Of course we all expect better graphics and gameplay heck, that goes without saying . Most of us have waited for so long , loging onto our computers waiting for newest news and acticles about the game only to find out THAT!!!.....and now were being told that we should wait for a patch before we purchase the game..( although I really do appreciate the heads up advice from you)......I really dont want to get nasty with EA but I guess the guys that left EA to create the Call OF Duty Series were visionaries........I would also like to thank Blackhat for the incredible job he's done at EA (Forums)....personally I do not know the man but if he still has hair on his head and not downing about a few dozen Advils a day its a miracle.....again........no disrespect to EA.....but please listen to the fans and do the right thing......thank you....GIXOHLIC

[Mike Nomad]

I more or less brought up the need for dedicated server files, meaning a low profile install for server admins.


I asked for that and was given a listening server :confused: . But Blackhat and EA are working on these. We've already been told a dedicated server will now be included.

Blackhat has been working his ass off to get us at least some of the things we asked for.:salute:

While I appreciate all he does, the truth is these things should've been addressed right from the getgo. It is not like they had no source of information or opportunity to learn from other's bad experiences ie., Call of Duty II.

I'm sorry, EA started this fiasco off with a superb footshot. The TWELVE (12) player maximum in MP for PC is the deal stopper.

That.... has to be a bad joke. :undecided

[Diva]

Thanks Dog for all the information

very sad


Deja Vu .............PA all over again.

If they dont listen to you guys from the summit or take the advice from the community I hope CoD4 wallops all over that game!!!!!!

[[ELS]WRX Boy]

What can I say that already has not been said? Severely disappointed does not even come close to how I feel. What the heck did they do with the huge list of wants/needs that we all put together after they asked? Wipe something with the list before flushing? I just don't get it. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[sgTsTuFz]

um ... i guess the fact that PC games bring more revenue than all consoles combined hasnt stayed in mind at EA

just bring the game to the market without any dedicated server script and not even a pretend of a nod to the pc multiplayer gaming audience .. thats an intro ?

for the Xbox yah.. ok.

be that way.

[Boomer]

I'm at a loss for words Rude. I can only assume the console market is more important to them than the PC market. How many times have we been telling EA to take as long as they need before releasing this. With what I have been hearing so far, I will play the wait and see game as I did with PA; and I never bought PA (thankfully).

Thanks for the right-up Rude.

-Boomer

[Mike Nomad]

I'm sorry, but I expect better from EA. This is such a wretched experience dealt to us by EA and their "magnanimous" executives. After all, they're not beginners... they've been around for a while and should by now, "know the ropes".

I'll certainly remember the pending release and perhaps the actual release of this game as the most bungled and ill-planned that I've ever seen.

As far as I am concerned, thus far;

AIRBORNE IS STILLBORN

[OldDog]

Wow I just been catching up for about 2 hours reading all I can find.This reminds me so much of the COD2 Release we had expected a lot even stuff we thought would be automaticly in the release wasn't even there.

Me, too...reading. And, yeah, it does kindof remind you of the CoD2 release, doesn't it?

6 maps wow that would last us for about 3 month.More like an hour or 2 given the game types. Read Bullet-Worm's article...he was pretty bored in a short period of time.

Now to the Unreal engine I have been playing and been an active Admin for almost 10 years.I run servers for the original Unreal game then Unreal Tournament and UT2k3.It always had redirect of some kind (it was a compresson program build in for faster downloads the game took care of the decopression before using the file.).What is it with the guys upstairs why do they inciting on going backward in time and I mean 10 years back wow that just shocks me.The big Kahunas need to get out of there offices and take a look at the real worls and new stuff that has been out for a long time.This is what baffles me the most...EA had to really WORK at not including the MP capability in the Unreal engine, and change it to a half-assed console port. I don't get it...unless...the target is not this community...or, marketing decided that EA should come up with a compromise solution that would 'satisfy' both communities.

[Timber]

The Thing I can't understand why did EA asked for everybody's input if they were not going to listen, and top it all send out a un-finished game, and then fix it with patches. I don't get it, I just don't. I don't mean to put Blackhat on the spot, but I figured you would of chimed in here and say no no everything ok, you guys and gals are going to get everything you asked for, it was all a misunderstanding. But nothing, so I'm thinking you've been betrayed as well, and everything in the article that rudedog wrote is true. I can't tell you how disappointing this is. Well this is one gamer that won't be buying this game. Or trust EA ever again to do the right thing.

[HellBilly]

Please leave your comments here. We will also be posting links to other articles as they come online.
ok man... im lost :)

here was my post
wow .. what can i say ... i think we are all feeling the same way

i dunno guys .. the money it takes in upgrades to keep the pc up (DX 10 is right on top of us )
.. and the attention that the 360 gets ... is it worth it ?

i think IW is better then EA ... but for sure its the lesser of the two evils

================================================== =====

to Jim >> BTW happy B-day man ... sorry its so late but tweedle dumb and tweedle dee over there got me to the breaking point

wow mike is here .. i thought he was banned ;)
tell wiz. i said HI .. you two guys done a great job @ IWN .. glad to see your still around

[rudedog]

Welcome Hellbilly good to see you over here.

Mike or Wiz was never will never be banned here.

[HellBilly]

Welcome Hellbilly good to see you over here.

Mike or Wiz was never will never be banned here.


i know brother ... they should have never been banned @ IWN to start with

thank you for the a safe haven for the honest PC gamer ... i very much look forward to my time here ...
forgive me i didnt want to hijack this thread .. i was just saying "HI" :salute: now where is butch :)
=======================================
but ya back on topic .. i think EA has made way too much money on the playstation 1 days and really just dont care ... they got the BF corner locked up unless IW takes it away ..(which i doubt)... i think IW is looking to be the counter strike for the 360

but looking back on EA and the moh thing
ive played . moh . moh underground. moh:aa.spearhead. and breakthrough
the only one IMO that was any good was moh:aa ( MP wise)
spearhead was ok but we just paid for custom maps that should have been in a patch ... i like what Rungsi said about it
"i know it sucks.. i made the map ( thunder) and still had to buy spearhead "

but now break through ... lol... whats the release dates again .. cause we all knew they was just trying to beat cod1 realease date to get some easy cash

my faith in EA is gone ... they have to earn it back

[Mike Nomad]

.....<snip> my faith in EA is gone ... they have to earn it back

One .. to the point statement is worth 10,000 superfluous words!

___________________

I am in full agreement.

How you doing?? Good to see you... I hope all is well with you. ;)

[RaDioAcTivE]

Here's at least a couple of things that have been posted in the last few days to give us at least a little hope that Airborne can yet be stuck in an incubator and saved.

Blackhat posted this over at EA:
"Okay, I still see tons of people panicking about a lot of stuff they read in several reviews. First and foremost, I told those writers and most of you all many times that some of the biggest concerns were resolved before they even put their articles up, so stow the wounded routines on that stuff.

I've also explained repeatedly that the other concerns they brought up are being explored. Some have already been addressed, others are being investigated to see how long they'd take to get working. The whole point? To give you that information as soon as possible. There are a few of you who are just going to keep getting more and more mad, but frankly that's not resolving ANYTHING.

The big picture here is that concerns from the community were dealt with, several of them within minutes of them being brought up. MINUTES. That's exactly the kind of support you all have hoped for, and you've gotten it. MoHA has shown a remarkable amount of involvement with the community. That involvement, however, doesn't mean that every little request is going to be there in the final game. That's the reality of game development.

Also, as I've said elsewhere, this is a brand new engine. We're the first ones releasing on this version of it, and when you do the math, you'll realize that there are going to be some speedbumps along the way. This team is doing everything they can to address those in a fashion that makes sense, and will get the most done in the least amount of time. This, too, means that not everything on everyone's wishlist will be in the final build. It does NOT, however, mean that anyone on this team is lazy or stupid, or anything else you want to call them.

In fact, these guys are doing all they can to make sure the game is as good as possible for you, despite many of you spitting in their faces. Even when you've been told already that many of the issues were put to rest, you still just want to be angry. Then you ask me why I'm not responding. Well, I'm not here to participate in your anger. I'm not going to jump into threads just to support that you're pissed off. My primary interest is in getting this game to be as enjoyable to as many people as possible. If you want to help in that process, then by all means, please join me. If you just want to be angry for the sake of angry, then you're wasting everyone's time.

Now... the big three issues from the summit were addressed. I'll be getting information to you soon about several of the other ones, including some of the common ones from these and other boards. Until that information is out, however, I encourage you all to sit tight, and help to get this place organized, constructive, and working towards the same thing this team is working towards every single day - a great game"



And from an interview with the Creative Director John Paquette from EA:

"Besides "Objective Airborne," MOH:A. also features "Deathmatch" and "Team Deathmatch" -- all supporting twelve players on PS3 and 360, and an as-yet-undetermined amount more than twelve on PC - and, well, that it. For now. According to Paquette, downloadable content, including new modes and new maps (augmenting the initial six), is a done deal, though not a dated one. "We actually have a team here to support the launch of the game and downloadable content." he says, "including any new modes that we want to add on."

In that interview he's referring to the XBOX version but it still sheds a little light that more maps and gametypes are on the way via a patch at a later date.

[ButchCassidy]

I read the whole post and to be honest he is venting against the all too many ill informed rants that have taken place in the official forums.

It's still a case of the jury being out for Airborne until they officially tell us all exactly what's included.

I can understand his frustration but he must also except that the community overall are not impressed with the reviews which put such a poor light on the readiness of the PC MP version to be shipped as was clearly suggested by the reviews.

The EA team thought they had a near finished product it would seem.
But the community reps pointed out glaring errors and threw the whole version seen and the devs into turmoil.

The difficult thing for many to accept is that the community feedback process failed to make the impact that either they were led to believe it would or choose to believe it would.

Either way it failed and many were simply aghast at after a year or more of feedback so much was missing from the version shown at the MP summit.

EA have now it would appear made statements to the effect that much is going to be included either with the release or very quickly after.
We shall all be hoping that does in fact prove to be the case.

[MajorWoody]

Either way it failed and many were simply aghast at after a year or more of feedback so much was missing from the version shown at the MP summit.
Amen to that.

They should put the game off for a month and square away all these details.

[[FS]Nastyrash]

I can see both sides here and tbh i'm torn on what the right response should be, on one hand you have to applaud EA for aranging an MP summit, this along with IW's recent event seem to show devs wanting to produce a game more suited to a gamers/admins requirments (i mean this seems like common sense to me and why it's taken so long for them to appreciate, better game, more sales, more profit, lord only knows) HOWEVER they can't expect people to sell their souls like journalists do at these things for advertising revenues etc, if the game isn't up to scratch. if they did sell out who would respect them in future? make the right game if you want people to say the right things!

i know BH is pissed and i imagine he's under some pressure, probably his idea to arrange it and now he's reaping the whirlwind, this is a shame i imagine he did it with the best of intentions and he probably feels a little betrayed (i do not believe this is the case of course) which might be the wrong word even, i imagine he's probably being told by the suits at EA, this was your idea and look at what these reviews state, uproar, fans saying they won't buy it etc etc, your fault...

the simple truth is, it is not his fault, it is not worm or RD's fault that the game was flawed when the summit was held, YES they may have fixed the main concerns now, BUT that is not the point, it's dropping the ball to have had the game in such a state and not expect it to be reported, amature hour! this smacks of cod2 and release date syndrome come hell or high water. i mean it's so close to release date now how much can be achieved in such short time?

makes me laugh, you invite a guy who represents admins and you have a game that has no admin facility, dedicated server, c'mon what the hell do you expect?

i am like most others i believe in the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so i will probably still buy the game IF i know there will be more content produced down the line. the current amount is shocking and will not sustain an MP game for any duration and i do not buy games for the SP alone generally (if i do, only from bargain bins long after release)

i would say for the record i don't like BH's response of, we fixed this and that so stop crying. personally i'd prefer a little honesty in saying, we messed up but thx to the guys from the summit we're back on track, humility is imo EA's best defence here not attack.

IW have tried the HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO US MORTAL routine with cod2, if EA have any sense they will see where that got IW and more importantly what IW did to try and rescue what little reputation remained after that bastard child cod2 was spawned (i'm still bitter lol). i know not what cod4 will be like, it may be awful but i genuinely believe they have tried to incorporate gamers views a little more this time and the content seems much more like an MP focused game than MOHA seems at this point.

i would say moha have a golden opportunity here, there is a maxim in dealing with people "under promise, over deliver" cod4 is kind of on a hiding to nothing, the games so hyped now that anything other than near perfect will result in a backlash.. EA have had the backlash prior to release, they can only go up and if they are clever and put together a promise to release X,Y and Z by way of patches they can rescue this big time, time will tell

christ thats a biggy for my first post :D hello btw to any i know from the other places (forums not mental wards :) )

[Mike Nomad]

With ALL thats been said, and while taking into consideration all the HOPES of what might be said and offered in the immediate and near future, the true facts remain;EA and its BIG WHIGS chose to ignore 99% of the recommendations the users furnished, in what the users thought would be at least considered. Additionally, its fairly evident that EA developed MOH:Airborne primarily with consoles in the forefront of the ongoing development of the game.They knew the summit blew up in their faces when they saw that the best part of the PC community was highly disappointed and in fact, INSULTED by what they were shown as a multi-player game! A Game that OBVIOUSLY was developed for consoles and ported to the PC! I refuse to kid myself into believing it was an innocent mistake as some would have you think!! EA is not going to "make it all better". Get over it... EA threw us a screwing in favor of consoles!

When one takes all this into consideration it becomes GLARINGLY evident that SIX MP maps is a joke... a very BAD joke. TWELVE total MP players is a tragedy and deadly tragedy.

Stop and think for a moment.... we've been harping on the number of multi-player maps and total players now for how long?? We are staring at COD2 EA style!!

WHY HASN'T EA or BH or anyone from EA COMMENTED and then made DIRECT committals ABOUT OR CORRECTED THE FACTS AND FIGURES????

Why haven't they clearly and emphatically stated there are more maps and definitely more and how many players in the PC version?

Because they don't know, weren't prepared for the user backlash and now are scrambling to make changes!! Users are irked because it clearly appears EA had their mind made up that they were/are gonna do things their way come hell or high water!! Or, they've been stunned into utter silence because they already see the handwriting on the wall. CoD4, RO2 and a number of other, well done, new releases are gonna put Airborne to sleep and under the rug!

As I've said before, I'm in the "SHOW ME" mode now. I went for all the hype, I believed everything Blackhat had to say, I supplied my list of recommendations. FOR WHAT?? I now feel it was all a stroke job!! Until I see what's really up with the MP side of Airborne, my opinion remains;

AIRBORNE IS STILLBORN

[[FS]Nastyrash]

That's a pretty stark picture you paint mike, you may be right (the benefit of exchanging opinion and debate) and as i stated above i believe they have made some ridiculous decisions, but i'm an optomist by nature and until i know the game sucks after playing it and also knowing that they won't be supporting it in the future with patches, i'm keeping my powder dry at this stage.

you are entitled to your opinion and tbh i don't disagree you on many things concerning developer arrogance/lack of investment/inability of making games for gamers, or whatever it is that has left most of us dissapointed concerning recent offerings.

imo worm has stated he thought the game was fun, just too shallow with the lack of content, in which case perhaps all is not lost, worm is suggesting there is potential, BUT it needs much more to follow to make it work and be the game it can be.. what i'm saying is, if we get totally into boycotting or writing MOHA off now, is it not going to be a self fulfilling prophecy? i mean if i was EA i wouldn't commit to something like dev support to a game that's dead in the water (i know this is their fault by their making the game the way they have initially, but it's like stepping in dog shit, you can sit there wishing you hadn't and talking about how bad dogs and irresponsible owners are, but that ain't going to help your smelly foot :) )

as i said inviting PC gamers to these events is a step forward, this must show they were trying to do the right thing? in which case they are learning, lets not make that lesson so punative they recoil and never do so again. surely we can express disatisfaction in a way that leaves room for dialogue and progress rather than losing all hope?

[Mike Nomad]

After all is said and done, the bottom line is all about money... profit and stockholders. EA undoubtedly aimed at the console market as being the "profit center". It probably is.. low map count, low player count, easy net coding etc.. No future headaches. Yep! The consoles are a profit center.

Unlike the PC market, where EA is obliged to support the product with patches and updates.

EA has already dismissed a number of developer departments whose work was completed on Airborne. They've geared down to a skeletal set of workgroups to bring Airborne to; Release To Manufacturer (RTM).

Anything that's hastily done, so to speak, in the "last minutes and moments" will be minimal else, the possibilities of new bugs being introduced will sky rocket.

So drearies, don't expect miracles for Airborne.. EA has, as they say, "Screwed The Pooch" and the PC users are the "Pooch". If this isn't CoD2 all over again I don't know what is.

Then again, in light of the allegations against Epic, the creators of the UE3.0 engine, by Silicon Knights in their lawsuit (http://forums.raidersmerciless.com/showthread.php?t=1641). There may be a great deal more at stake in the background at EA since they too, licensed this engine.

[[FS]Nastyrash]

going slightly off topic here, consoles are a hell of a lot easier and more profitable to develop for, along with low expectations from console players who have never been involved in PC gaming if i were taking a business decision, as much as i hate to say it, i'd go down that route myself. so you have to ask, if not a solely business decision, why else do they do it and is there anything we can do to nurture that side and try to fight the dark side :)

i said at the time i genuinely felt that cod2 was an attempt to "uneducate" PC gamers into the console world with an inferior product, i have always seen the threat of consoles taking over as a huge concern.. if all the major devs said, you know what i'd rather sell games to people that will pay a higher game price, accept less content, less effort and demand less support (and incidently pay for that continued support they do get), what will we do? shout and protest? tell them what mercenary bastards they are? will that change anything?

i have a horrible feeling about the future if consoles start comming with mouse and key support as standard, we may end up looking back at dedicated servers, free community content and all the things PC gaming is so much better at than consoles as "the good old days" :(

[rudedog]

I clarify my stand on this.

I can and will only report what was shown - end of story. Gone are the days I report on promises above the facts, from EA. Why, well for every single release sense MOH:AA, I've been told the same thing over and over again. EA will support this game differently then the past game. What you experienced from (fill in the blank MOH title here) will be much different this time, we promise.

How many times can you report or review a game on broken promises? For all the people who where there and state this is different this time
1) Where not around for all these other times
2) Have they been to other summits.
My biggest gripe people overlook was, EA hyped this MP summit and where very tight lipped in regards to what they where going to show us. Then at the summit where was EVERYTHING. Like mentioned by worm on the official forums the other day, I'm the admin guy in the community and you showed me nothing. What do you expect from me?

Heck, the game play was great (Airborne) and so much like AA to me. It was so much better then when I played Pacific Assault at the PA summit.


I've asked BH a number of times after the summit and before the embargo date for hard facts or another preview (No I did not want another free trip. I think all of the PC guys are trustworthy and would never leak any code if given - Hell I stake my rep on that) but that was out of the question. We could not get to see these fixes in action before the embargo was lifted, thus I could not report on them accurately.

Blackhat now thinks I will never trust EA but I don't think he really gets it. I gave EA a big chance because of him and only him. Because of what he showed me personally and his ACTIONS within the MOH community! I really want to trust EA. I did trust EA up until the summit and where did it get the server side of the community? Put me back in the same position I was in before they hired Blackhat.

I would have also thought Blackhat would have stopped by FPSadmin to ensure my members that they where working on things before ship date, since I was the most vocal about certain aspects of the game.

Note to EA, don't complain about people complaining about your product. You should have given us an MP preview a long time ago so you could fix all these things you asked us for. Hell I had a conference call with you over a year ago and gave you a long laundry list of items needed for this game to succeed (admin side of things). You delayed the game how many times to get things right then you tell us, it's there it will be in a patch after the game ships?

We (PC guys) all told you that there would be a very large backlash because of what you showed us, you should have made an effort to give us another (send home) preview so we could have written about what we actually saw! I don't think anyone would have written about the listening server if there was another preview with the actual dedicated server. For some strange reason, it did not take you very long to get it in the game, from what I remember it was playable the following day, so why not include it in the game you showed us? These are just some of the questions that just don't sit well with me and make me not trust you AGAIN.

There is so much more I need to write about but I'm busy with work and currently on the road. I will follow this up later on tonight......

[rudedog]

Nastyrash;52221']going slightly off topic here, consoles are a hell of a lot easier and more profitable to develop for, along with low expectations from console players who have never been involved in PC gaming if i were taking a business decision, as much as i hate to say it, i'd go down that route myself. so you have to ask, if not a solely business decision, why else do they do it and is there anything we can do to nurture that side and try to fight the dark side :)

i said at the time i genuinely felt that cod2 was an attempt to "uneducate" PC gamers into the console world with an inferior product, i have always seen the threat of consoles taking over as a huge concern.. if all the major devs said, you know what i'd rather sell games to people that will pay a higher game price, accept less content, less effort and demand less support (and incidently pay for that continued support they do get), what will we do? shout and protest? tell them what mercenary bastards they are? will that change anything?

i have a horrible feeling about the future if consoles start comming with mouse and key support as standard, we may end up looking back at dedicated servers, free community content and all the things PC gaming is so much better at than consoles as "the good old days" :(

Good points nastyrash.

One last thing.

After reading your post, we may get some patches after release but right now they will be the results of supporting their cash cow, the console. Hell I bet my rep, this game would not be released on PC if it was not that it was developed on the PC in the first place. Hell why do you think they used the Unreal engine? Because it's a great PC engine, hell no. Because it's a great console engine that they can release a PC side and make extra $$ - the only good thing console games have given us is they reduced the cost of the game, why because they don't put that much effort into the PC side of things now a days.

You want happy fluffy game talk go check out the other community sites that cover Airborne, I'm here for my members not my relationship with a publisher or developer. Some sites need to remember who their real customers are

[[FS]Nastyrash]

Good points nastyrash.

You want happy fluffy game talk go check out the other community sites that cover Airborne, I'm here for my members not my relationship with a publisher or developer. Some sites need to remember who their real customers are


i presume that isn't directed at me :)

HOWEVER they can't expect people to sell their souls like journalists do at these things for advertising revenues etc, if the game isn't up to scratch. if they did sell out who would respect them in future? make the right game if you want people to say the right things!

i have to say it's a sad state of affairs which ever way you look at it, consoles are i fear gamings future as they make more money and you can't beat the suits..

you can see the dark side flooding the forums now, OMFGZORZ.com or cod.com as some call it, even now the more PC orientated sancturies like iw's own forum are becoming infected, ATTACK OF THE CLONES, they are comming.. we are on the brink, kind of like the last ones, the jedi before the rise of the empire (ok we aren't anything like that lol, i just wanted to be one, at least once :D, not a little green one though, or one with purple tenticle head things but other than that i'm good ) perhaps the fight is lost, perhaps not but i honestly don't know if we really are seeing the end?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNbLCA4WHCk&mode=related&search=

[rudedog]

i presume that isn't directed at me :)

Sorry nasty, that was NOT directed at you.

[[FS]Nastyrash]

Sorry nasty, that was NOT directed at you.

no appology needed m8 i didn't think it was :)

[U-z-i Kidding]

Wouldn't it be good support if EA pulled a couple of guys that were at the summit back in to try out the dedicated server features? Also having the opportunity to test out the other features that were a major cause for concern on the pc platform. Information that should be readily available before release.

It would certainly make an interesting read and would determine if in fact these problems have been addressed to an extent that doesn't interfere with server setup and gameplay.

[necrodoggy]

Rudedog, I just wanted to chime in here that I agree completely with your assessment of both EA and Blackhat. In my opinion (an opinion that got me banned from totalairborne.com....a lovely EA fanboy site) Blackhat dropped the ball by not getting it across to the intellectual midgets at EA that the PC gaming community is not just a bunch of 4th grade drop outs panhandling for quarters for another Idiotbox rental fee. We are loyal adult fans who have real jobs and real money; who run clans and servers and are willing and able to spend a shit ton of cash on a good game that is well supported.

EA screwed the pooch (as was so eloquently put previously) by trying to pass off a console game with no MP support by calling it a PC version. The maps were designed for console, the controls were designed for console, the cvars (or lack thereof) are designed for console, the limited MP was designed for console, everything was designed for console with PC as an afterthought. This is the same stupid crap that IW did with COD2 and look what it got them...the first ever WORLD-WIDE SERVER AND GAME BOYCOTT, now that's something to be proud of, pissing off the entire world takes a lot of doing.

Having set up an MP summit with sub-standard MP support was simply stupid on Blackhats part (I am assuming that BH had a lot to do with setting up the summit) and ludicrously inept on EA's part. I thought these guys were gamers and a game company not a bunch of coding n00bs.

Keep up the good fight Rudedog, you've always done a great job for the PC community and I thank you for it.

=LMAO= NecroDoggy

[HellBilly]

all in all i dont blame balck hat ... i think most of us think alot of him and his efforts
BUT
he works for EA ... which makes me think his hands are tied ..
i think most of the old moh:aa guys that are left know whats up ...
we have been stepped on time and time again ,while BF getts everything it could ever want

im done hearing this if fixed and its worked out ... we'll fix it in a patch ... the support will be there
EA has shown over time that they could care less about us PC guys

the only way to fix it is witha big patch the day it comes out and get some good solide feedback from guys we know

i dont even think id trust a MP demo at this point

EA can make a game look so good in a demo but then when u get it its trash ..
remember the spearhead demo ... walls that blew up .. shutters that opened and closed ... lol.. was like that out of the box

then there is that need for speed hot pursuit 2 demo .. my god does that look great ... its like spyhunter 2012... then the fullversion sucked way bad ...

i guess ill just have to wait to hear from you guys