I have been working on the new website for GR. I have some of the old news installed as test data. I ran across my post about EA doing a bunch of cool things to support the mod community for BF2. Keep in mind, this was prior to the release of BF2.
Now, let's recap. EA solicits a bunch of mods to come check out the game and mod tools before BF2 is released. They make all sorts of promises including the release of the tools when the game comes out. If I remember correctly, the tools were delayed at least a month after release. Even after the tools were released, they were buggy, problematic and prone to crashes and data corruption.
Then, they promised official forum support for mods. It never happened.
They promised an official liason for the mods. At first, it was good, but later they fired him.
Looking back, it all looked like lip service to help promote the release of BF2. They made all sorts of grand promises before the game was released, then lost steam after the game was released.
Jump ahead to current day. Players are more pissed off than ever about the state of BF2 including the red bug that DICE says they've fixed, but can't seem to figure out why it's happening. So, what happens? They make a big deal about letting the players Beta Test 1.4. They add a free map after charging people for 6 other maps because again, I think poor sales told EA what the players really thought.
Where am I going with all of this? It really looks like EA steps it up when there is another game release on the horizon, then once the game has been released, they revert back to their old ways. I've said it before, but I feel like EA is a marketing driven company. What we are seeing is marketing, not game development.
Now, let's recap. EA solicits a bunch of mods to come check out the game and mod tools before BF2 is released. They make all sorts of promises including the release of the tools when the game comes out. If I remember correctly, the tools were delayed at least a month after release. Even after the tools were released, they were buggy, problematic and prone to crashes and data corruption.
Then, they promised official forum support for mods. It never happened.
They promised an official liason for the mods. At first, it was good, but later they fired him.
Looking back, it all looked like lip service to help promote the release of BF2. They made all sorts of grand promises before the game was released, then lost steam after the game was released.
Jump ahead to current day. Players are more pissed off than ever about the state of BF2 including the red bug that DICE says they've fixed, but can't seem to figure out why it's happening. So, what happens? They make a big deal about letting the players Beta Test 1.4. They add a free map after charging people for 6 other maps because again, I think poor sales told EA what the players really thought.
Where am I going with all of this? It really looks like EA steps it up when there is another game release on the horizon, then once the game has been released, they revert back to their old ways. I've said it before, but I feel like EA is a marketing driven company. What we are seeing is marketing, not game development.