New Year. How about BioWare bucking up and actually putting out an Annual roadmap?

[Nemmar]

That is exactly what is required. But, Ea/Bioware dont understand that subs are based on trust.

 

I am convinced they dont do it cause they simply dont know themselves. I get the feeling that this game is at risk of closing every 6 months. When EA execs get tired of not milking enough millions off us.

You know... just like every EA game. They want to extort the millions. They dont care about providing a quality service and a profitable customer relationship. They have no clue about business and are a time bomb company. If not for that FIFA and Madden that people keep buying we would are ridden ourselves of the cancer known as EA, and maybe moved on to having a properly support and sucessful MMO.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Nemmar

[Arkerus]

That is exactly what is required. But, Ea/Bioware dont understand that subs are based on trust.

 

I am convinced they dont do it cause they simply dont know themselves. I get the feeling that this game is at risk of closing every 6 months. When EA execs get tired of not milking enough millions off us.

You know... just like every EA game. They want to extort the millions. They dont care about providing a quality service and a profitable customer relationship. They have no clue about business and are a time bomb company. If not for that FIFA and Madden that people keep buying we would are ridden ourselves of the cancer known as EA, and maybe moved on to having a properly support and sucessful MMO.

 

So ridiculous that I dont even know where to start.

 

IN case you weren't paying attention this game is one of EA's leading products for the past two quarters. WHY would hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people play a terrible product they hate? They wouldn't. I don't think you know what a profitable customer relationship is because this game is the exact definition of a profitable customer relationship. EA is providing a product and they make a profit on it. A lot in fact. Eventually it wouldn't work as people would stop playing but that isn't happening.

 

Did they mess up out the gate? Yep. Did they fix a lot of the issues and create an even better product? Of course they did or no one would be playing. People aren't THAT dumb that they just throw money at a product they don't even like.

 

On to the quality service question...

 

That's pretty much in the hands of the developers and project managers. No one at EA who's life depends on creating quality work sits around and says "you know what, I don't give a crap about my job, I am going to produce some terrible games".

 

If you, at any time, feel like your money isn't worth the product they have created YOU ARE ALLOWED TO LEAVE and thus prove your point.

 

But you and I both know its just lip service. You like this game. You like it enough and you can't leave. What you are doing, however, is making yourself sound like the crowd of angry gamers who have some belief that EA purposely kills games. I'm sorry, but I don't think a business would even make a profit if their SOLE agenda was to kill every game they touched.

 

You just want to sounds like the "in" crowd and prove you are cool enough to hate on EA. Its just hypocrisy on your part because you know its not true.

Edited January 5, 2014 by Arkerus

[JoeeyyMagzz]

+1 For Roadmap! This is a fantastic idea and I also have seen other MMO's do it. Actually, the first MMO I saw do it was FFXIV after their initial release and absolute failure. It fully outlined their comeback and everything to follow within the first year.

[Arkerus]

Have you not been paying attention? We did get roadmaps last year like the summer of SWTOR and the winter after. We are still waiting on a new one, I agree with that, but to suggest that BW doesn't do this whereas others do, is a flat out lie. They have done it. We just need the next one.

 

There has already been some news about 2.6 so it's not that things are silent but I would like a bit of a longer overview again. But please don't act like BW never did it and are afraid to. They have done it.

 

They conveniently ignore the facts. Bioware DOES provide details on upcoming features. But what the "roadmap" crew is asking for is posting of what's on the horizon for the next entire year. Point being, its never enough and they want to see it because they want to weigh in on it like they are product developers.

 

No one here actually wants to see it and say "oh thats nice". They want to create 100s of posts about it and complain how their needs aren't being met and how the game is failing.

 

Bioware could put out a post detailing all the high points for the next year and the armchair analysts and developers would tear it apart.

 

"WHAT!?? Only two more OPERATIONS!!?? EA is killing this game"

"NO new WZs?? NO more class balances??? EA is killing this game."

"Only two new areas? BIOFAIL!! FIre your developers"

"More CM armor? OMG CARTEL WARS this game is garbage, I want my money back"

"What about the community, WE didn't ask for this stuff! Biofail"

 

And that's about the extent of it...

Edited January 4, 2014 by Arkerus

[Mowermanx]

They conveniently ignore the facts. Bioware DOES provide details on upcoming features. But what the "roadmap" crew is asking for is posting of what's on the horizon for the next entire year. Point being, its never enough and they want to see it because they want to weigh in on it like they are product developers.

 

No one here actually wants to see it and say "oh thats nice". They want to create 100s of posts about it and complain how their needs aren't being met and how the game is failing.

 

Bioware could put out a post detailing all the high points for the next year and the armchair analysts and developers would tear it apart.

 

"WHAT!?? Only two more OPERATIONS!!?? EA is killing this game"

"NO new WZs?? NO more class balances??? EA is killing this game."

"Only two new areas? BIOFAIL!! FIre your developers"

"More CM armor? OMG CARTEL WARS this game is garbage, I want my money back"

"What about the community, WE didn't ask for this stuff! Biofail"

 

And that's about the extent of it...

 

LOL, quite a slippery slope you've constructed there.

[branmakmuffin]

LOL, quite a slippery slope you've constructed there.

Clearly you have never read these forums, or the forums of any MMO.

[jorill]

Clearly you have never read these forums, or the forums of any MMO.

 

that probably could go for any internet forum not just games

[Mowermanx]

Clearly you have never read these forums, or the forums of any MMO.

 

So you want to hide under a rock from these evil forum goers? Kowtowing to idiots?

Edited January 4, 2014 by Mowermanx

[Arkerus]

So you want to hide under a rock from these evil forum goers? Kowtowing to idiots?

 

What? That's not what he's getting at, at all.

[AlexDougherty]

So you want to hide under a rock from these evil forum goers? Kowtowing to idiots?

 

I think you'll find that Bran meant that anything on these forums is a slippery slope, and thus shouldn't be avoided (unless it's plainly stupid), Bran doesn't avoid a subject as a rule.

[Arkerus]

I think you'll find that Bran meant that anything on these forums is a slippery slope, and thus shouldn't be avoided (unless it's plainly stupid), Bran doesn't avoid a subject as a rule.

 

Folks..

 

That's not what he meant either ( bran correct me if I am wrong).

 

I made a post explaining that if bioware puts up a road map, all people will do is complain about it.

 

The next poster called it a slippery slope refuting my argument.

 

Bran then posted in defense of my post, pointing fun of the fact that all you have to do is watch these forums to see the proof.

[tanktest]

I agree with this, though less angry and confrontational. Setting out roadmaps does nothing but give the community false hopes of content that may never come (which makes them go all crazy) or gives the community complaints that X feature is not on the roadmap at all (which will makes them go even MORE crazy). Besides, MMO developers should not try to "jump in" with the community. This is the same MMO community that calls for firings of developers, create petitions to shut down the game and even issue death threats over Twitter. I understand Bioware's resolve to keep us at arm's length all the time. People are crazy.

 

SO the summer OF starwars updates gave us false hopes ? . i don't see how or were. I have to say were did one thing they told us was gonna happen the summer of starwarrs update was not done . no false hopes there, unless I'm missing something .

 

what gave us false hopes if you remember how they promised us that one big patch to end all patches at no charge and more like that which i knew would never happen . that was false hopes.

Edited January 4, 2014 by tanktest

[Reno_Tarshil]

The second they release any little trickle of information, it will be pounced upon and dissected until it goes from a really awesome thing into the worst thing that could happen to the game.

 

I've been on these forums long enough to see this happen many, many, many times.

 

Would I like to see future plans beyond the next patch, Shure. Would it be smart to do, maybe, maybe not.

 

If the forums were filled with more users with patience and respect instead hatred spewing machines, I'd say bring it on but shrug.

[Andryah]

Indeed, they can be very vague about it and still placate the masses, like hey guys, we have 2 all new events planned for 2014, and 2 new operations in the later part of the year, as well as a new planet to explore, etc etc.

 

Not really. Nothing placates the masses.

 

Whatever is shared...

 

> It will not be enough and people will rail on them and demand more

 

> It will not be what some people want, so it will spawn multiple tedious threads demanding things be added to the roadmap.. like chat bubbles (always a rant worthy favorite thread topic for some).

 

> It is basically low hanging fruit for the complaint oriented players to swing at.

 

At the end of the day, you either enjoy the game or you do not. If you do.. you probably continue to play. If you don't then you probably go play something else. A roadmap is not going to change your game play experience because it only represents "possible" "future content" "coming sometime, but no commitment as to when or how".

 

The hollow statement that a "roadmap would keep me subscribing" is.. hollow. You cannot play a roadmap, nor do roadmaps = commitment to feature or timeframe.

[Andryah]

the second they release any little trickle of information, it will be pounced upon and dissected until it goes from a really awesome thing into the worst thing that could happen to the game.

 

I've been on these forums long enough to see this happen many, many, many times.

 

Would i like to see future plans beyond the next patch, shure. Would it be smart to do, maybe, maybe not.

 

If the forums were filled with more users with patience and respect instead hatred spewing machines, i'd say bring it on but shrug.

 

qft.

[Andryah]

SO the summer OF starwars updates gave us false hopes ?

 

Yeah.. there was plenty of false hope in the forums about everything they presented. Not by everyone, but certainly by the vocal disaffected_of_mind toward the game.

 

Further, it spawned entitled demands for more information. It also spawned entitled demands for anything and everything that some players wanted but was not included in their announced plans.

 

The Summer of Star Wars exemplifies why presenting roadmap style information is a waste of time in the forum. Demanded by some?... oh sure. But that does not make it value added information for the forum as a whole.

 

Again... this is an MMO Gaming forum. Any information shared by Bioware is catnip for the pouncers. They are entitled to pounce (within the forum rules) but no need to provide catalyst for it IMO. Which is not to say information shared is not appreciated by some forum members.... but Exhibit A: look at how the recent 2.6 tidbits shared by Eric have been treated by the complaint inclined.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Andryah

[jankiel]

Other brands do it. Why Bioware should not?

[jgelling]

Other brands do it. Why Bioware should not?

 

I think they're shocked the free to play move worked as well as it did. I'm sure at some point the roadmap looked like a drive straight over a cliff.

[Arkerus]

Not really. Nothing placates the masses.

 

Whatever is shared...

 

> It will not be enough and people will rail on them and demand more

 

> It will not be what some people want, so it will spawn multiple tedious threads demanding things be added to the roadmap.. like chat bubbles (always a rant worthy favorite thread topic for some).

 

> It is basically low hanging fruit for the complaint oriented players to swing at.

 

At the end of the day, you either enjoy the game or you do not. If you do.. you probably continue to play. If you don't then you probably go play something else. A roadmap is not going to change your game play experience because it only represents "possible" "future content" "coming sometime, but no commitment as to when or how".

 

The hollow statement that a "roadmap would keep me subscribing" is.. hollow. You cannot play a roadmap, nor do roadmaps = commitment to feature or timeframe.

 

This 1000 times over. Love the "cannot play a roadmap" comment. So freakin true.

[KnightBeyond]

I'm confused as to why some people are so passionately arguing in this thread AGAINST wanting to hear about future content and updates for the game. If I was a developer I would certainly want people to get excited for my game and to talk about future content. I would be more concerned if people WEREN'T wanting to know what the future content and plans for the game are.

 

Personally I don't care if they do an entire annual roadmap, quarterly or something else, but I would like to know more than just the next current update for what is on the horizon even if it gets changed. I would argue that not releasing any information about new content is much worse than releasing the information and having some people complain about it. In the later you don't have people speculating and spreading rumors that Bioware isn't working on any new content at all.

 

Gamers love having the new shiny cool stuff and are always looking forward to what else is coming out (I would say this is also why the Cartel Packs are so popular) and giving people this information gets people excited about the game that they are invested in. I'll say a great example of this was for Makeb, they did a nice job marketing it and it brought a lot of players new and old to the game. Personally I remember we had a ton of new players joining my guild and people that I hadn't seen since the ftp conversion logging in again.

 

The logic of not releasing any information for fear of some people complaining is deeply flawed in my mind and I hope that Bioware doesn't adopt that way of thinking that some on here are saying. You should not punish the majority for the actions of a few. Bioware has made it clear and stated in the past that forum posts are only a small part of feedback that they look at, so even if it seems like everyone is complaining it most likely wouldn't matter or change their plans.

 

TL;DR-Whether you want to agree with or support what the OP suggested is irrelevant because it is ultimately up to Bioware if they do a type of road map or not, but stating that it is bad idea and that Bioware should stay tight lipped about all future content plans for fear of reprisal is a horrible precedent to set.

[Kheldryn]

Well.. They did sorta try this early on when they announced that the "Cathar" were comming soon.. which ended up being close to a full year. Not exactly soon. Yes, we did get them.. and I had read why "soon" had been delayed (Meshing issues if I remember right) but I think thats why they're not setting things in stone.. they don't want to get peoples hopes up and then run into problems and not being able to deliver when they expected to. Now, Giving us a long term projection I'm all for, especially when there's no date attached to it, just to know that more "Is" being worked on and what the something is, is usually enough for me.

[Blackholeskipper]

I'm confused as to why some people are so passionately arguing in this thread AGAINST wanting to hear about future content and updates for the game. If I was a developer I would certainly want people to get excited for my game and to talk about future content. I would be more concerned if people WEREN'T wanting to know what the future content and plans for the game are.

 

Personally I don't care if they do an entire annual roadmap, quarterly or something else, but I would like to know more than just the next current update for what is on the horizon even if it gets changed. I would argue that not releasing any information about new content is much worse than releasing the information and having some people complain about it. In the later you don't have people speculating and spreading rumors that Bioware isn't working on any new content at all.

 

Gamers love having the new shiny cool stuff and are always looking forward to what else is coming out (I would say this is also why the Cartel Packs are so popular) and giving people this information gets people excited about the game that they are invested in. I'll say a great example of this was for Makeb, they did a nice job marketing it and it brought a lot of players new and old to the game. Personally I remember we had a ton of new players joining my guild and people that I hadn't seen since the ftp conversion logging in again.

 

The logic of not releasing any information for fear of some people complaining is deeply flawed in my mind and I hope that Bioware doesn't adopt that way of thinking that some on here are saying. You should not punish the majority for the actions of a few. Bioware has made it clear and stated in the past that forum posts are only a small part of feedback that they look at, so even if it seems like everyone is complaining it most likely wouldn't matter or change their plans.

 

TL;DR-Whether you want to agree with or support what the OP suggested is irrelevant because it is ultimately up to Bioware if they do a type of road map or not, but stating that it is bad idea and that Bioware should stay tight lipped about all future content plans for fear of reprisal is a horrible precedent to set.

 

This! Best post in the entire thread.

I work in one of the biggest companies in the US and the world. I don't need to be told what a business is.

 

You don't mean EA, do you?

 

Seriously though, why do you guys feel the need to defend Bioware so incessantly? It's like if someone posts anything even *hinting* that Bioware should take action of some kind or another, it's basically guaranteed that the same few posters will pop up and derail the thread, making sure that nothing productive becomes of it. Don't you have hobbies other than to patrol the forums 24/7, even during the holidays? It's like a full-time job for you..

Edited January 5, 2014 by Blackholeskipper

[Rafaman]

To those who are cautious and argue against this. I get it. I really do. It is a no win situation for the devs. But really, it is always a no win situation. Lol. No matter what is said or not said there will be copious amounts of QQ.

 

So, why not turn it around so to speak. Get the core player base excited to some degree. Yes, there will be those that will try and twist the information for their own purposes, but generally speaking most of us will get a sense of excitement just knowing that the game is continuing to grow and expand. As was stated we don't need a calendar. Forget calling it a roadmap. Let's call it: The Wall of Things We Might See This Year.

 

Chum the waters a little and lets see what happens. Might get some renewed interest by some and might drive away others which, btw, is not always a bad thing.

[Tailsfortales]

Just do what Turbine does and say your player council had the idea, that way it was the PCs fault and not the publisher/Devs fault.

But then BW would have to have a PC.

On topic though, people will whine (Like I did with the above sentences) one way or another, C'est la vie. I wouldn't disagree with a roadmap, but I can see and understand how it's dangerous. Mind you I wasn't here for the release of SWTOR and all the QQ'ing back then when Swtor was a "Single player game".

[Aieranda]

Well the other side of the coin is not just fan reaction, but maintaining some level of confidentiality about your plans until they are ready in order to maintain whatever slim edge you have on your competitors for small windows of time. Let's face it, with the company basically acknowledging that full-fledged class stories (the thing that originally made this game special) are not going to get anything but token efforts and only during expansions at that has mostly driven off a lot of the original interest in the game. The common thing they do now is hint vaguely of a new event far in advance and then they keep a lid on it until 2-4 weeks prior to said new events usually, to try to sustain interest and jump on a time slot where competing MMOs are not up to anything new. New events is what brings people back IMHO, especially in my guild and on my server. No doubt they don't want to tell competitors six months to a year out what their somewhat precise plans are. The best we are ever going to get is the vague things like Summer of SWTOR, etc..., which is more of a rah-rah-rah statement of hopeful positivity than a road map usually. The only other players that stick around are the grinders and the new players that are giving the game a chance after hearing bad things about it after launch and not wanting to pay sub fees, but now that it's free they are giving it a whirl. SWTOR has set up a couple of significant treadmills to force grinding (minimum of 16 weeks for Dread Forged Implants for instance, and even then only if it drops instead of Belt), so the grinders aren't going anywhere.

 

And GSF is a huge release, but IMHO, it does not seem to have generated the interest they wanted and grab returning players like I think they were hoping it would on my server, and definitely not in my guild. I'm sure others have experienced otherwise, but I know that if it were an unmitigated success we'd be hearing a lot more trumpeting from the company and the player base at large about it. Instead, it strongly appeals to a subset of players and that's it, even after they hyped it or many weeks, and are still hyping it as they get ready for the full release of it to F2P levels. Therefore, if PR efforts to build hype ultimately fall flat anyway because the content itself does not inspire a majority of players and especially prospective players, what incentive is there for them to spend even more time on PR efforts like a road map? They know it will generate nerd rage. They know they will be playing their hand a bit earlier for their competitors (with more resources than them) to react. They are tracking how many returning players they have for things like Oricon and Operations as well as GSF and they are probably seeing very well that the numbers there are not as strong as what they flip through F2P and the CM. So what possible money making advantage does a detailed road map give them? None whatsoever.