Post by EA Dev "Anim8or" regarding changes to M10 ...

[Derrville]

Quote: Originally Posted by LAKE4742

Guess if I was a dev working on Madden 10, I could just go back and play Madden 06, 07.....08......and 09, to understand where all of the skepticism, and criticism comes from. How much are videogames these days? Oh yeah, $60! Not to mention, that there's another game (5 years old) that already......forget it.

This.

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigwill33

One of the things that goes unmentioned a lot of times in a place such as this is how easy it is to just throw anything out there on the web even if you have no basis or clue of what you are talking about and then have it be heard and taken as truths. When people hide behind their keyboards and mouses it can be easy to sling these insults and slander. It is even easier to read them and take them to heart. One of the things we are going through now in this new world of user direct feedback is fine tuning things so that the worthwhile gets through while trash gets sorted out and taken to the proverbial curb. I hope the developers and producers of these games realize that what they are doing is truly epic here. It is probably the single greatest thing they could have came up with and we can only hope it pays off. And that for every person out there that just wants to stir things up that there are hundreds or thousands of fans of this series relying a few diehards to help right the ship that is Madden. I can speak specifically to myself in these instances. Coming up to this scene and dealing with many producers and game makers over the years I have come off as demanding and possibly insulting. However most of that was due to my lack of knowledge of what really goes into making these games. And reading these boards and knowing what I do now, I realize that it the case for so many others. Is it easy to create an account and come in and cry and moan about such and such and how this is broken or this should be in and how hard can it be. It is harder to sit around and read and learn and ask questions get them answered and then be constructive down the line (a place where I like to believe that I have reached somewhat in my 10 years doing this stuff online). So to the EA team, I want you to know that you have to have thicker skin guys. These boards are just a model of how society is in general. There are a lot of a holes out there. When you dig a little deeper sometimes you find some seeds in the manure, and if you nuture those you may have something grand on your plate someday. I want to personally thank the team for trying. This is not an attempt to suck up, or get on their good sides. It is just something that has been earned, and whether or not the game is great or has some kind of fatal flaw I have to admit you tried. I see this now. And I know it is not easy, but we are taught as kids that if you try your legit best then at the end of the day that is something you can put your hat on and lay your head down and be proud of. Kudos guys.

Agree with everything said will. I like the information contained in anim8tor's post, but the business person in me just wants that post removed all together. It reads badly (company attacking it's customers) and has spawned pages, and pages of debate over people being too critical or anim8tor being too touchy. While there's positive stuff in the post information wise, I think it's a negative overall and definitely highlights the risks of having developers interacting with the customer base. You must have a very, very thick skin, ignore the attacks, and focus on the issues as they relate to the game. While some readers will give anim8tor a high five for the comment, others, who haven't followed the entire thread and don't know what he is responding to will read it and walk a way with an entirely different view, a view that could possibly affect their view of EA as a company which could ultimately affect their buying decisions.

Sadly, anim8tor has not been heard from or seen since that last post. Word is that after this post, that he was subsequently moved to the animation team on Godfather 2 where he was involved in an 'accident' after being forced to wear the motion capture suit while reenacting the choke maneuver for the game.



When asked to comment on anim8tor's timely move, Phil Frazier said 'Lets just say I made him an offer he couldn't refuse. But eh, he's lucky... he nearly got moved to EA's new work in progress... Free Willy, and uh unlike the Godfather, it's not based on the movie'.



Enjoy!

[Lava]

I can definitely see where he's coming from and I don't blame him one bit for the way he handles it. I think he did about as good of a job of expressing his frustration without flaming as he could. Thanks for all your hard work man, some of us appreciate it.

[lgxjames]

I think something important to take out of this....(maybe I shouldn't say this)

But it appear by that blog we get things we complain about the most, Which hmmm that don't seem like it's going to go over well eventually with the whole summer being nothing but complaining and politicking for madden 2011

Then again maybe that isnt bad, As long as Ian doesn't take to much negativity to heart

[Vikes1]

In my opinion, 99.9% of the time, the people posting here on OS have treated the Madden developers very respectfully. Many times thanking them repeatedly for even the slightest bit of info/news.

Theres always going to be those few, that don't use much tact with their complaints. But again...in my opinion, I believe the developers would be hard pressed to find a forum that has... or would be, as welcoming or respectful as Operation Sports. Just saying....

[ghostlight85]

Sometimes the internet can be such a cowardly, worthless place.

I tried to read through some of that running animation thread. I tend to agree that some of the running animations have been off in the past, but some people in that thread are just completely disrespectful. If I was a developer, spending MY time on the boards to get feedback from the community, I would be hard pressed not to tear into someone who was tearing into me. The bottom line is these are people.

We have a tendency now in society to be empowered by our positions as customers, to a sickening extent. We think that just because we pay for a good or service that we can treat the people providing it like complete waste. It is really pathetic, and I really wish there were something that could be done to correct it.

Some of the posters on here are disgusting.

I hope that Simon and the rest of the EA team can see, though, that there are some decent, thoughtful people on here as well. And I hope that the mods on this board take care of the ones who aren't, because they could end up ruining the best thing about this forum, which is the developer interaction. It WILL make the game better. We will most certainly miss it when it's gone. People like the people in that running animation thread are making it a real possibility that this is a one and done kind of experience.

It's not about sugar coating what you think or anything like that. There is a huge difference between watering down what you have to say and putting the basic COMMON DECENCY filters on it that should always be on. Yikes.

I hope you guys (EA Devs) don't get put off from this process because of a minority of posters, some of whom should have been banned by now. There are plenty of things I don't think are right yet on madden, and I'm hoping that this community can respectfully help to get them to where they need to be.

[Ian_Cummings]

Quote: Originally Posted by Valdarez

Agree with everything said will. I like the information contained in anim8tor's post, but the business person in me just wants that post removed all together. It reads badly (company attacking it's customers) and has spawned pages, and pages of debate over people being too critical or anim8tor being too touchy. While there's positive stuff in the post information wise, I think it's a negative overall and definitely highlights the risks of having developers interacting with the customer base. You must have a very, very thick skin, ignore the attacks, and focus on the issues as they relate to the game. While some readers will give anim8tor a high five for the comment, others, who haven't followed the entire thread and don't know what he is responding to will read it and walk a way with an entirely different view, a view that could possibly affect their view of EA as a company which could ultimately affect their buying decisions. Sadly, anim8tor has not been heard from or seen since that last post. Word is that after this post, that he was subsequently moved to the animation team on Godfather 2 where he was involved in an 'accident' after being forced to wear the motion capture suit while reenacting the choke maneuver for the game. When asked to comment on anim8tor's timely move, Phil Frazier said 'Lets just say I made him an offer he couldn't refuse. But eh, he's lucky... he nearly got moved to EA's new work in progress... Free Willy, and uh unlike the Godfather, it's not based on the movie'. Enjoy!

Very clever...well done sir.

FYI - I did tell Simon to stop posting for a bit - I could tell that the negativity was getting to him and the main risk is that he has been kind of out of the loop with the rest of the game so he can easily mis-speak and get himself (and us) into a lot of trouble. I personally have never met anyone with passion (and ability) that matches Simon's, so that's why I didn't want him to have to deal with this type of brutally honest feedback until the game is closer to finished. I feed the important and valid information directly to him (and he goes through me back to you all).

[roadman]

Thanks for pointing out the positives DJ.

Ghostlight has a great post.