[HolyCow98]

If my memory is correct...Markus visits and postings on these forums always decreased when he was knee deep in coding. You could almost see the cycle. He would visit and be involved in quite a few threads (the gathering of ideas ect)...than you would start to see a drop off...which I always believed meant he had begun coding. After that you would see him occasionally for an update...or to announce something...or even occasionally...a "how would you like this to be ...A or B?". As the game was given over to the beta team...you once again would see in increase of Markus on the boards....then the game comes out....in which he seemingly starts working on the first initial patch that night or shortly there after. You never saw him much though when he was coding....on vacation...sick (which you'll find posts on lol)...or back in the day...when he was finishing up his degree...

Once the initial bugs are squashed, or some last minute minor additions are implemented, he goes for a mini-vacation for about a week. Gets back...starts on the first update...and from that point on is fairly active on the boards.

So what is the difference??....It could be that it is the merger with SI...or it could be he is really busy coding a new game (since I've heard more than once that he had worked on it for months and hadn't use one line of OOTP 6 code).

I personally feel it is the latter and not the former...but what do I know...I could be wrong.

While I agree with the Mom and Pop store label....as the game grows...and company gets larger (or in this case..becomes a piece of a larger entity) it will become harder for it to "feel" that way. I don't get the impression that SI operates in a way where they aren't taking feedback and suggestions from the gamers. I also do not think Markus will disregard the wishes and wants of his core group of customers....namely this community.

As far as the disclosure of game info....I have posted before...that I don't think it is good idea to ever announce or advertise anything you are not yet sure will be in the game. IMO, in his passion and zeal for the game, is where Markus really PO'd a sizable % of his customers with the whole H2H issue. For me it was never more than a novelty ( a cool one however)...but when I heard it was only for exhibition games...it wasn't too big of a deal for me. You can debate principles or business till you blue in the face...but customers were unhappy...which eventually will effect bottom line if repeated too many times. Those customers trust in the company took a hit over that issue...its up to the company to do what it can to regain said trust (unless they don't care) to avoid losing potential customers...potential money...and of course bottom line.

What I do expect in terms of pre-release info are:
Screen Shots
The Core New Features (the things you know 100% are going to be coded in or already coded in or the release will be delayed until it is completed.)

I think before you sit down to code anything, you should have a pretty good size list of things you know you are capable of implementing and have the time to do. I do not mind not knowing the more minor additions or improvements until later...or knowing the mode based addtions (meaning things that only effect online, historical leagues). Everyone will have different views on this..some want to know everything...some want only to know if the key things "they" wanted to know are in there. Nothing wrong no matter what view you have.

Progress reports are nice...but I don't really expect them. Release dates are okay...but again...I always prefer for the game to live up to the designers expectations over trying to get the game out to reach a release date.

I love this community...but my core interest is the game....if the game is right...than that is all I care about. However, in the case of sports text sims...you will not have a good customer base or a good game without a strong community. We buy these games not for how they look....but how they "play". If we don't have a medium to discuss how we want the game played...or have designers who listen and take full advantage of that medium....than you will never be as successful as you could be in producing the best game possible.

I'm not sure I'm an old-timer or just a veteran...but I think most frequent posters...and I suspect many more who do not post, have become quite attatched to OOTP. With the merger with SI, the complete rewrite, and the changes that have been side effects from that, OOTP and this community is changing. Its normal to be concerned on some level when you enjoy something as much as most of do, and you know it is changing...you worry..become a little more negative perhaps. Personally...I'm in wait and see mode. I know I'll buy OOTP 7 (or whatever the name ends up being)...I hope for it to be an improvement over the previous versions....and apart of me is hoping that it still feels like that familiar friend I've been playing since OOTP3. Not all change is bad...and hopefully the merger to with SI, the complete rewrite ect..will be change for the good. As my dad use to say..."the proof is in the pudding"...so we'll all just have to see how this turns out.

I try to avoid these type of threads as they almost always turn into a mud slinging affair...but I was bored...couln't sleep...and just felt like saying a couple of things.