EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

Just looked in the in-game store, and there are some new items.

Two pair of Jack Nicklaus slacks, some new Puma polos, Jack's swing animation (which'll set you back a cool 25K gold coins), the TaylorMade Sim2 Ryder Cup drivers, etc.

[scagwi]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

Just one more thought on this - from someone who, as you all know, doesn't love the gameplay on EA PGA


Did this update really bring anything that would have kept folks on the sidelines or otherwise no longer playing?


Is "more content" really what has been holding back user numbers or even user growth?




I guess I don't really remember seeing many people saying: "I love the game but don't play it much any more, or am no longer playing it, because they aren't adding more courses or content"



I'm happy for more content for all of you who play the game (absolutely!), I just really question if this is indicative of much other than "the Masters is coming so they needed something to pump"

I think this user on reddit captured something:


"If their longest patch cycle since release isn't addressing anything substantial with the gameplay (other than fixing the shrubbery at Kiawah) then it feels like this is it for the game, as far as multiplayer goes. Online is underwhelming and they've done very little to breathe life into it. Maybe coming to gamepass will help with the lack of players, but there's an amusing self awareness from EA that they recognise the problem and their solution is just to increase the matchmaking window from 2 minutes to 5 minutes. Come on."

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

I think adding the 2024 major courses was much-requested from those still playing the game, but yeah...I don't know how many new players will now jump into it just because Valhalla is now in the game. It may bring some people back who stopped playing, mostly because the last course added to the game was Marco Simone last fall and this will add some newness to career mode.

Adding Jack Nicklaus as a playable pro will have some appeal, but again, that's probably directed more at people who already have the game and are big golf fans.

And it doesn't seem online play is really at the forefront of EA's plan for this game - for better or worse.

The fact it's being added to Game Pass and the fact you can buy the game for $14 right now seem to be the bulk of their strategy of trying to bring new players to the game. They added a new "Starter Pack" to the store in hopes of enticing new players to drop down a few more bucks to get some Specs and some coins to give late adopters a quick boost, so they seem to think something is going to drive fresh players to the game. I think the timing, with The Masters just a week-ish away, is also a part of it.

Whether it will work or not, I guess that's yet to be seen...

[bigkev]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

At the end of the day... it's a one year old game. Whatever EA is doing, a lot of golf addicts will buy and move to 2K25 nevertheless. And it doesn't even matter it's still the same old Unity engine and graphics, 2K25 will still be a shiny new toy for them.

[Dawgfan1]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

At this point a year out from release I don't think there's much EA could do to bring back a lot of former players. Most of the ones that stopped playing, will likely never return unless a new game is released. Part of that is just the nature of things, made worse by the state in which this game released. They could spend a whole update cycle overhauling online and adding a ranked mode and a country club/online communities aspect, but would that really bring many players back? I don't think it would. That's not to say they shouldn't do those things, but I think it's worth keeping in mind that most updates will primarily be used by the existing player base and won't bring many people back, so plan accordingly.

[scagwi]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

At this point a year out from release I don't think there's much EA could do to bring back a lot of former players. Most of the ones that stopped playing, will likely never return unless a new game is released. Part of that is just the nature of things, made worse by the state in which this game released. They could spend a whole update cycle overhauling online and adding a ranked mode and a country club/online communities aspect, but would that really bring many players back? I don't think it would. That's not to say they shouldn't do those things, but I think it's worth keeping in mind that most updates will primarily be used by the existing player base and won't bring many people back, so plan accordingly.

If that’s fully true, though, they should release a new game

An ever dwindling userbase over time is a recipe for series cancellation

I’d be fine with buying new games every year if they would make them 30 to 50 bucks max

I personally preferred the old way where we could evaluate what they actually did to earn the money every year as opposed to the live service thing where we are begging for scraps and never getting what we want (some of us)

The laudatory cheers for this content update on Reddit are sort of hilarious if you look at the overall picture in context.

Set the bar super low … then release some content and people are acting like it’s the best thing that’s ever happened! (Not here..Reddit)

[AlanBer]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

If that’s fully true, though, they should release a new game

An ever dwindling userbase over time is a recipe for series cancellation

I’d be fine with buying new games every year if they would make them 30 to 50 bucks max

I personally preferred the old way where we could evaluate what they actually did to earn the money every year as opposed to the live service thing where we are begging for scraps and never getting what we want (some of us)

The laudatory cheers for this content update on Reddit are sort of hilarious if you look at the overall picture in context.

Set the bar super low … then release some content and people are acting like it’s the best thing that’s ever happened! (Not here..Reddit)

I agree with what you say. With EA, I am just not that enthralled with the game play. Adding new courses and Jack is hardly anything I am very excited about.

I just don't care for the mechanics of the game, after having played the game enough to have an opinion. Give me 2K23's swing and it's more punishing rough and layer that onto EA's graphics and overall presentation-- that for me would make news.

So while the additions to EA's game is better than nothing, they still need to do a lot of fixing before I venture to play the game again.

[bigkev]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

It has been the same since the beginning. If you want a golf sim, EA is not for you and probably never has been, HB/2K is your game. If you want a PGA career mode experience, EA is for you. And that's perfectly OK as far as I'm concerned. There's room for both golf game.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

I will say that I am thoroughly enjoying this new update, and actually bought the Pro Pass (the first EA one I've paid for). I want the old-school clubs Jack uses! :-)

This update is designed seemingly for those like me, who were looking for more career mode depth with the '24 major hosts, some additional single player content (Jack Nicklaus and the number of challenges related to his career - similar to Legends of the Majors from TW 14), and some more Masters content (the Par-3 course and more Masters items in the store).

But it also is an update that seems to be for those who already have the game and just want more to do in it - and are OK with how the game is in its current state.

It's not an update that's really directed at making such a splash that a whole new audience is now suddenly interested in it. I think they tried that with the Ryder Cup stuff, and it didn't seem to work all that well...

Dropping the price to an insanely cheap $14 and adding to Game Pass look to be the ways they are luring in those who haven't tried it yet, and then all the content that just got added is a secondary way to drive those people to test it out.

It's kind of similar to the way both 2K21 and 2K23 got added as free PS Plus games...the devs didn't add a ton to the game itself, but making it easily available/"free" surely brought in casual observers to at least give it a go.

[Dawgfan1]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

If that’s fully true, though, they should release a new game

An ever dwindling userbase over time is a recipe for series cancellation

I’d be fine with buying new games every year if they would make them 30 to 50 bucks max

I personally preferred the old way where we could evaluate what they actually did to earn the money every year as opposed to the live service thing where we are begging for scraps and never getting what we want (some of us)

The laudatory cheers for this content update on Reddit are sort of hilarious if you look at the overall picture in context.

Set the bar super low … then release some content and people are acting like it’s the best thing that’s ever happened! (Not here..Reddit)

I don't know enough about the player base numbers to tell how it's changing over time, but over on PS5 I feel like the base (looking at the people doing weekly and seasonal tournaments) has been pretty steady the last several months, most of the dwindling I think came in the initial several months. They very well could release a game next year, and in that case I'd call it a 2-year release cycle over a live service game like what 2K/HB Studios has been doing since PGA 2K19. I personally prefer this over the 1-year cycle where the devs get more time to make the current game better and develop a new game. But of course, we really don't know if that's what they're planning.

The bar is low here yes, but mainly because this was EA's first golf game since 2015 and they rushed the game by 6-12 months. Based on the product that was initially released, live service progress towards a better one was always going to be slow and have more scraps. The bar will not be so low if they release a new game in the future, given they'd have an existing product to be compared to and be expected to build on. Personally, I'm much less willing to jump over to a new game if it's not better than this one.

[scagwi]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

The bar is low here yes, but mainly because this was EA's first golf game since 2015 and they rushed the game by 6-12 months.

Rushed?





It was delayed a full year


And they quite obviously started with the Rory code base
(not a ground up new game at all, not even close)

[bigkev]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

They very well could release a game next year, and in that case I'd call it a 2-year release cycle over a live service game like what 2K/HB Studios has been doing since PGA 2K19. I personally prefer this over the 1-year cycle where the devs get more time to make the current game better and develop a new game. But of course, we really don't know if that's what they're planning.

If EA want to change the swing mechanic and how the game is played, that's the way to do it. Changing everything months after everybody got used how the game is played is stupid, and just make players angry.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

My one concern over this update was that all the '24 major hosts dropped all at once before the first major even happened. Seems odd to do such a thing, when they added the previous major/Ryder Cup courses around the time of the real-life event.

Kind of makes me wonder if any other significant drops will happen thru the rest of the year.

[Dawgfan1]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

Rushed?

It was delayed a full year

And they quite obviously started with the Rory code base
(not a ground up new game at all, not even close)

Bad wording on my part, I meant that the game was rushed and needed 6-12 months more to come out as a good product, not that the game was pushed 6-12 months ahead of schedule. COVID probably pushed back their initial 2022 release year, although I'm scared to think about how bad the game would've looked if it released back then anyway.

Overall though, yes I think the game has many signs of being rushed. The hordes of bugs and glitches at launch, inconsistent course graphics quality, lack of camera options (especially at launch), simplistic AI, lack of drop zones on courses like Augusta at launch, the way the ball is moved away from hazards and manmade obstructions, etc. I don't know what was going on behind the scenes, but the initial product clearly needed more time before it should've been released.

If EA want to change the swing mechanic and how the game is played, that's the way to do it. Changing everything months after everybody got used how the game is played is stupid, and just make players angry.

Fair point, and I'd personally be fine with them waiting until a new game to change things like that. There's plenty of other things to improve/fix with the current game that wouldn't be as drastic as the swing mechanic.

[RIFRIG]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour New Update File 4/2 ver. 1.000.020

My one concern over this update was that all the '24 major hosts dropped all at once before the first major even happened. Seems odd to do such a thing, when they added the previous major/Ryder Cup courses around the time of the real-life event.

Kind of makes me wonder if any other significant drops will happen thru the rest of the year.

I’d say it’s a good indication that focus is on a new game from here on out. Only other potential for an update is Olympic golf event in July at Le Golf National.