Maddenite Investment Group

[ac11367]

Disclaimer: The below is as far-fetched as it can get. It’s just an idea off the top of my head. It’s as far fetched as getting everyone to boycott EA’s football.

It’s obvious that EA, as any responsible corporation would, caters to its stockholders rather than customers. As much as I’m having fun with NCAA and Madden 08, it’s still baffling that last gen features such as formation specific audibles, slide pass protections, formation shifts are still not implemented on current gen. Not to mention the turnover issues. There have been 3 installments worth of current gen football under EA’s belt.

As much as we complain in forums, the company is not going to improve the products to our liking. The only way to exert some sort of influence is to start an investment group that invests in nothing but EA’s stock. Imagine all football gamers unite, invest $10 a month into the pool, and gradually buying up EA until our portfolio accumulates into a significant percentage of the company’s outstanding shares. Our investment objective is to see improvements on football games. Getting a return on our investment is secondary to that. We’d hire a representative that would go to the stockholders meeting. If the company does not improve its football franchises up to our standard, heck, we can sell all the shares to Activision, Ubisoft, or Take-Two, if they are interested.

[JBH3]

Quote: Originally Posted by ac11367

Disclaimer: The below is as far-fetched as it can get. It’s just an idea off the top of my head. It’s as far fetched as getting everyone to boycott EA’s football. It’s obvious that EA, as any responsible corporation would, caters to its stockholders rather than customers. As much as I’m having fun with NCAA and Madden 08, it’s still baffling that last gen features such as formation specific audibles, slide pass protections, formation shifts are still not implemented on current gen. Not to mention the turnover issues. There have been 3 installments worth of current gen football under EA’s belt. As much as we complain in forums, the company is not going to improve the products to our liking. The only way to exert some sort of influence is to start an investment group that invests in nothing but EA’s stock. Imagine all football gamers unite, invest $10 a month into the pool, and gradually buying up EA until our portfolio accumulates into a significant percentage of the company’s outstanding shares. Our investment objective is to see improvements on football games. Getting a return on our investment is secondary to that. We’d hire a representative that would go to the stockholders meeting. If the company does not improve its football franchises up to our standard, heck, we can sell all the shares to Activision, Ubisoft, or Take-Two, if they are interested.

Wishful thinking...

[pf8363]

i like the idea... but its not gonna happen

[FORMULA316]

Quote: Originally Posted by ac11367

Disclaimer:heck, we can sell all the shares to Activision, Ubisoft, or Take-Two, if they are interested.

Heck no! EA trades approx. 4,692,600 shares on the market, of that, EA controls the majority so you just can't sell that to whomever to enforce change. And F.Y.I., EA recently purchased 19.9% stake in Ubisoft.

[Brandon 2006]

Quote: Originally Posted by FORMULA316

Heck no! EA trades approx. 4,692,600 shares on the market, of that, EA controls the majority so you just can't sell that to whomever to enforce change. And F.Y.I., EA recently purchased 19.9% stake in Ubisoft.

If EA ever bough out UbiSoft or Take Two I would stop gaming.

[Steven123]

Dude you can't stop EA, they're no different then the Nike corporation that makes a sneaker for only $10 in those workshops and turns around to sell them for $200. It isn't personal, it's just business.

[Leahmic223]

Don't buy the game, it's that simple.

We just need to stop buying the game.

If all the hardcore gamers just stopped buying the game, that would take a chunk out of their pockets.

Plus the 60 I spent on Madden could have been the 60 I spent elsewhere, I am renting Madden from here on out until they prove they can make a stellar game without tons of glitches.

[Trevytrev11]

Quote: Originally Posted by Leahmic223

Don't buy the game, it's that simple. We just need to stop buying the game. If all the hardcore gamers just stopped buying the game, that would take a chunk out of their pockets. Plus the 60 I spent on Madden could have been the 60 I spent elsewhere, I am renting Madden from here on out until they prove they can make a stellar game without tons of glitches.

Yeah, this seems to be a more logical idea.

Stop buying the game. When their earnings plunge below expectations or guidence due to lower than expected sales, then they will be forced to figure out why. They will then discover that the consumer is unhappy with their biggest product.

Until then, there is no need for them to change their ways. Why spend more money on a product if it isn't going to earn you more in profits? That's just bad business.

Here is the real problem: Every year the majority of people go out and blindly buy the game the first few days regardless of it's quality. This basically sends a message to EA that it is OK to put out half-assed products because the consumer will blindly buy them.

If people just had enough self control to wait a week or so, they would find out ahead of time that the game is flawed and then can decide to not purchase the game or at worst purchase it used on ebay or from the used bin at a Gamestop or EB games, which then protects EA from earning profit from that second hand purchase. Unfortunately, most people can't contain themselves and year after year lineup at midnight to buy the game and then get angry that the game isn't what they expected....yet again. If they could just hold off one week one time, it would surely send a message to EA that, "Hey, we are not going to blindly buy the game anymore, you have to earn our business going forward."

This idea would cost nobody any money: Start an agreement petition of people who will wait atleast one week next year before purchasing Madden 2009. People have a year to plan something to do that week to tie them over for the few days that they would otherwise spend playing Madden. While it would take a whole lot of commited people, imagine the impact it would have if Madden sales next year dropped off 10-20% in the first week. Instead of seeling 2 million copies, they only seel 1.5 or 1.6.

---------------------------

The other idea:

Take that investment money and start your own company to produce your own football game. Start generic, save yourself all of the licensing fee's and develop a fan base....think Winning Eleven!