Ian Cummings Fairwell Tweet

[MJenness]

Quote: Originally Posted by Legend Killer

Ian was a good Dev. and he did his best for EA and worked well with the community aswell. I feel he deserves alot of respect out of us fans. Ian worked with what he had and what EA aloud him to do. I'm sure some people will disagree and all. But Ian was a good guy for what he did and tried to do for us fans. But I think he just got tired of the pressure of some fans going to personal with him and all the stress of trying to get a game done in a certain time frame. I guess he figures through all this choas that he wasn't getting paid enough to keep going. I don't blame him. He tried his best. Ian you will be missed my friend. I hope the best for you and your new job.

I've heard this tired rhetoric for 3 years now....IF the words of some complete strangers on message boards "drove him to the brink" as you suggest, then Ian was NEVER the right man for the job from the beginning.

I've been in charge of some large groups of people and had great amounts of responsibility in my working career. I've also had to listen to a TON of criticism and "flaming" from those that didn't agree with my way of doing things.

THAT is the price you pay (and why companies compensate people of authority more generously) of being a leader, period.

IF a person crumbles, stumbles or bumbles because of this, then they were not strong enough to be a leader, and change needed to be made.

Personally, I don't think much of what was said here bothered Ian in the least...it only dented his massive ego a bit and because of his lack of maturity, he lashed out too many times in an immature way (i.e.- his stated feeling about people putting videos on youtube) to be taken seriously by many.

On the other hand, I do not think Ian was the sole reason Madden continued to decline in sales...I DO believe he saw that to a great degree his creative hands were tied by the bigger wigs at EA, and many of his "dreams" for a better Madden were simply not gonna' happen.

Anyway, stop with the Ian pity party already. He got enough money and perks to compensate any misery he CHOSE to accept when he took the job.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by MJenness

I've heard this tired rhetoric for 3 years now....IF the words of some complete strangers on message boards "drove him to the brink" as you suggest, then Ian was NEVER the right man for the job from the beginning. I've been in charge of some large groups of people and had great amounts of responsibility in my working career. I've also had to listen to a TON of criticism and "flaming" from those that didn't agree with my way of doing things. THAT is the price you pay (and why companies compensate people of authority more generously) of being a leader, period. IF a person crumbles, stumbles or bumbles because of this, then they were not strong enough to be a leader, and change needed to be made. Personally, I don't think much of what was said here bothered Ian in the least...it only dented his massive ego a bit and because of his lack of maturity, he lashed out too many times in an immature way (i.e.- his stated feeling about people putting videos on youtube) to be taken seriously by many. On the other hand, I do not think Ian was the sole reason Madden continued to decline in sales...I DO believe he saw that to a great degree his creative hands were tied by the bigger wigs at EA, and many of his "dreams" for a better Madden were simply not gonna' happen. Anyway, stop with the Ian pity party already. He got enough money and perks to compensate any misery he CHOSE to accept when he took the job.

I don't believe for one instant he left because of OS or other boards. I don't though agree with your assement he made enough money and perks. How do you know? You need to take his whole salary and divide it by the number of hours he worked in a year. Some of his twitters said he put in 80-100 hr work weeks. I don't know how many times he did that, but you need to put that into the equation and your salary becomes much lower.

Kehlis, I agree that the suits tell marketing what to do, I'm just trying to point out that marketing has a huge impact on the game.

[MJenness]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

I don't believe for one instant he left because of OS or other boards. I don't though agree with your assement he made enough money and perks. How do you know? You need to take his whole salary and divide it by the number of hours he worked in a year. Some of his twitters said he put in 80-100 hr work weeks. I don't know how many times he did that, but you need to put that into the equation and your salary becomes much lower. Kehlis, I agree that the suits tell marketing what to do, I'm just trying to point out that marketing has a huge impact on the game.

Yeah, of course he worked a buttload of OT....every person in a position of responsibilty does. As for how MUCH he was paid, who knows...but HE accepted the job, nobody voted him in or forced him to accept..so again, no sympathy here. It's life..we ALL deal with it in one way or another to degrees.

[blklightning]

Quote: Originally Posted by illwill10

" ian_cummings_xxIan Cummings Going out with one last Madden blog: http://www.ea.com/madden-nfl/blog/a-note-from-ian"

he's leaving, so i assume he wouldn't hype the game for his own benefit. now i really want to see it. hope i didn't just get sucked into some more pr crap.

edit:

btw, i'm thinking he left because there are so many things you can do with games today, that he didn't feel like limiting himself to one game. that has to be boring after 11 years.

[43M]

While I dont think Ian did a terrible job...am I the only one not bummed out by this?

Maybe Im just looking at the glass half full, but I just dont think he did anything special at all to the game...just made promises....alot of which he never kept. The promise of a better game means nothing until it IS a better game.

Madden 10 was a good step in the right direction, and I credit him for that, but ultimately its still an average at best game, and Madden 2011 was just another roster update.

Im not blaming Ian for that (at least not soley), but I just think that a change is for the best. Like I said...it may go downhill, but at least for me, the game is a rental at best at this point, so it wouldnt be much of a difference simply not buying it.

At least this change offers me a glimmer of hope going into the future.

Of course, if Madden 2012 is a nice improvement, I may change my tune a bit.

I wish Ian the best though. Nice guy who had good intentions with Madden IMO, but ultimately fell short of reaching expectations.

[videlsports]

[quote=43M;2042311775]While I dont think Ian did a terrible job...am I the only one not bummed out by this?

Maybe Im just looking at the glass half full, but I just dont think he did anything special at all to the game...just made promises....alot of which he never kept. The promise of a better game means nothing until it IS a better game.

Madden 10 was a good step in the right direction, and I credit him for that, but ultimately its still an average at best game, and Madden 2011 was just another roster update.

Im not blaming Ian for that (at least not soley), but I just think that a change is for the best. Like I said...it may go downhill, but at least for me, the game is a rental at best at this point, so it wouldnt be much of a difference simply not buying it.

No you are not the only one.. when anyone moves on I always hope they land on their feet, but I'm pretty sure salary wise he's okay. Madden won't improve until upper management see a major sales drop. Until then No REAL improvements. Not sure what to expect but to wait till reactions from here, I will not buy for the 5-6 year in a row.

[Segagendude]

Quote: Originally Posted by MJenness

I've heard this tired rhetoric for 3 years now....IF the words of some complete strangers on message boards "drove him to the brink" as you suggest, then Ian was NEVER the right man for the job from the beginning. I've been in charge of some large groups of people and had great amounts of responsibility in my working career. I've also had to listen to a TON of criticism and "flaming" from those that didn't agree with my way of doing things. THAT is the price you pay (and why companies compensate people of authority more generously) of being a leader, period. IF a person crumbles, stumbles or bumbles because of this, then they were not strong enough to be a leader, and change needed to be made. Personally, I don't think much of what was said here bothered Ian in the least...it only dented his massive ego a bit and because of his lack of maturity, he lashed out too many times in an immature way (i.e.- his stated feeling about people putting videos on youtube) to be taken seriously by many. On the other hand, I do not think Ian was the sole reason Madden continued to decline in sales...I DO believe he saw that to a great degree his creative hands were tied by the bigger wigs at EA, and many of his "dreams" for a better Madden were simply not gonna' happen. Anyway, stop with the Ian pity party already. He got enough money and perks to compensate any misery he CHOSE to accept when he took the job.

I actually agree with this post. Well said, esp. the bolded part.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by MJenness

Yeah, of course he worked a buttload of OT....every person in a position of responsibilty does. As for how MUCH he was paid, who knows...but HE accepted the job, nobody voted him in or forced him to accept..so again, no sympathy here. It's life..we ALL deal with it in one way or another to degrees.

I'm not questioning or going after the sympathy area. I was questioning where you thought he made a lot of $. I'm sure that is one of the reasons why he left, most people do leave for that reason.

Also, everyone seems to be clinging onto the notion that one person fails or improves the game. Sorry, not in my book, it's a collaborative effort all the way around.