Hey guys...
Just wanted to address some concerns, and I'm using Avarell's quote since he seems to have most of them listed in here:
Didn't MS demand that a pc title (can't remember which) wasn't released before the xbox 360 version erlier this year?
As far as I'M aware, no such demands have been made of MoHA... of course, those wouldn't come through me, so there's a very outside chance of it, but not likely. I'm sure I'd have heard about it.
EA wants to do things right this time, yeah, lets all hope for that but with one delay of at least three months so far, another six months delay isn't doing things right. That's irritating the community.
Absolutely we want to do things right. Absolutely. Curious about your last statement, though. For months and months such a large portion of the community was telling us "Take your time to get it right and polish it up. Don't rush it out like you have in the past just to meet a release date. Finish the game." It can't go both ways. Just sayin.
To me it looks like q1 2007 is past and gone for this title considering no release date or other release information has come from EA yet.
It's strange how the software industry can promise things and when they feel like it change delivery date, that could not happen in any other seller/customer relationship.
Ok, a promise and a news flash isn't really the same thing bot close enough to me.
While I appreciate your frustration, EA's released no official release date for MoHA. Many have picked up on dates that some online retailers are listing, but EA cannot take responsibility for those, unfortunately. I'd hope that you wouldn't get irritated at us because of a retailer that listed an incorrect, or speculated release date.
One other thing that I thought of yesterday was the EALA community thing they had. Not one question got an answer, at least not to the community so you could ask yourself for what they did this. Was it to keep the "important" part of the community silent or was it for the comunity as a whole?
If you ask me, nothing good has been brought to the community from that event. How interesting can it be to read about people gathering in LA, eating breakfast, getting to meet some developers and recieving some gadgets. Because that's just about what we know happened there. Cool, can I have some gadgets too? EA could have spent that time publishing wallpapers or even doing some sharity work.
The Community Day was entirely planned and executed by me, so any negativity you feel about it you can direct at me, not EA as a whole. As for the event, my PRIMARY reasoning behind doing it was to get some key community members in here to give thoughts and feedback DIRECTLY to the developers, and also to show them where we were at thus far. You will hear more from that event in time, though.
That event took place just because EA perhaps could get some "free" input as well as a bribe to gag some hand picked people, in other words, it happened because EA could benefit from it, not the community. Ok, the participants said they liked what they saw of the game but that's just their oppinion, it doesn't say i will.
Do you know how many boards I've been to where they say "Hey! Listen to us! It's FREE input and suggestions!" When we do, now we're the bad guy for it? Everyone used to complain that myself and EA aren't really listening to the community, and then when we do it DIRECTLY (in addition to all the work I do daily on various forums), now we're getting blamed for being selfish? It's a classic lose-lose for us, it seems, and I'm really sorry to see that's the case.
Blackhat has a really difficult work, to keep the community happy - giving them nothing. I saw someone over at EA's forums who asked for some new pictures as a "christmas gift", he couldn't even do that. He had to take the blame on that himself.
The christmas thing WAS my fault. I was going to try for it, but then waited too long because I was swamped with stuff at the time. By the time I had some time to tackle the issue, most people had left for the holidays (people who would have to approve stuff like that). It was entirely my fault. I dropped the ball by waiting too long, and I own up to that. I'm not going to give you some spin on it to cover my butt. That's just the way it happened.
To me it's more important to communicate what they do wrong. They will (perhaps) be rewarded for a good job when they see the game selling statistics. We're not on a lifetime contract with EA, we are free to go elseware if the don't keep their word or missbehave in any way. This past summer I contacted my insurance company to have a look at a problem with my house. They came, had a look but treated me like a criminal instead of a customer asking questions like in a criminal hearing. i would have accepted a simple "no, this isn't covered by your insurance" but not that kind of treatment so now they don't sell any insurances to me anymore. Perhaps it's more expensive at the new company, i don't care, I want to be treated with respect but perhaps that's just because i'm an old salesman. Some people/customers do take a lot of shit and I can't understand why, no customers - no pay check, it's really that simple.
I'm a HUGE proponent of Customer Service, myself. I like to treat customers (and community) right. It's just in my blood. That why, even when I don't have anything new to release, I'm on the forums every day seeing what people are saying and trying to at least be involved in the conversations. Even when I'm not saying much, you all are, and it's important to me that I hear what you're saying. Sometimes, though, there's just nothing to tell you. It happens, from time to time. That's just part of the process in some cases. That doesn't mean that the game is falling off the face of the earth or that we're going to leave you all in the dark about it.
I know you all don't know me personally, but you're just going to have to trust me when I say that you will get a ton of information as soon as I can get it to you. Would you believe that When I started at EA, I created a roadmap with an Airdrop EVERY SINGLE WEEK until release? Obviously, a lot's changed since then, but the ideas for all those Airdrops still exist, and I'll be utilizing them as soon as I can. Because there are a lot of different types of fans out there, some of the information will appeal to you, some will not. But you're GOING to get a lot of info when it's appropriate. Just gotta bear with me for now and trust that I'm not trying to screw you over. Deal?
I will always speak out what i feel is wrong and stand for it, i will never be invited to a EA event.
You SHOULD speak out. I personally don't feel like you've been particularly wronged, but I've listened to you when you say you have. And I'll do my best to try to avoid situations that make you or anyone else feel that way as we move ahead. At the end of the day, I can do a lot... but only so much
I know, i went too far with this one
Not at all. Thanks for the feedback. It is honest, but not bitchy

I'm fine with negative criticism, as long as it's constructive. What I don't like are people who go around bitching about EA just to bitch. That doesn't actually help anyone. However, when someone takes the time and energy to draw up specific concerns, I'll do my best to address them in any way that I can.
*whew* My fingers are tired now
By the way... Happy New Year, everyone!