[jdbolick]

glanville4mvp:
Hopefully this is the last time I'll have to explain this particular distinction. In fact, I'll just quote myself:

"I said: "I'm not surprised that there are some reasonable people largely unconcerned by the game's lateness due to their prior satisfaction and faith in a company with a good track record; nor am I'm not surprised by the legions of sheep who faithfully defend their idols." Notice that I indentified two separate groups of people supporting the game. If you are one of those who isn't attacking people like me who are upset about the lateness, then don't count yourself among the sheep, consider yourself one of the former (reasonable people). If you're an unthinking suck-up who blasts all critics because they define themselves by their devotion to some corporate product, then you would be."

As for the "review," I'm not going to comment about the game's merits if I haven't played it. I'll only mention how I enjoyed previous incarnations of OOTP, how this one failed to meet basic standards regarding its release, the very poor customer relations, and the excuses for why it's late. As for your EA argument, why then were all previous incarnations of OOTP released before the start of the MLB season? Even text sims at least attempt to be out by the start of their season, whether they feature fictional or real players. Everyone acknowledges that deadline when they actually meet it, they only deny its existence when they can't.

Regarding notification, it wasn't that clear to me. People who read the forums probably knew that the game wouldn't be released soon, but as mentioned in my second post, I tend to avoid message boards and don't think I should be responsible for reading them in order to find out basic information about a product. In the newsletter Email I received on March 9th, it did say "Out of the Park 6 is rapidly approaching beta testing and should be ready for release around Opening Day!," but I was obviously mistaken in assuming that "around Opening Day" was equivalent to "sometime shortly before Opening Day." I admit that I hadn't considered the possibility that the statement might mean the game wouldn't be released until several weeks into the season. Whether or not that's my fault, it isn't a point that was made clear in the newsletter or anywhere on the non-message board portions of the website. In fact, I found it rather odd that the main OOTP page was still advertising OOTP5. This total lack of disclosure or contrition from the staff is as troubling or moreso than the release date of the game itself. I can't recall another game where the developers seemed so cavalier about the frustration of their customers. The game should be out already, we know that it isn't because the developers put off working on OOTP longer than they usually do to work on another project instead, and those developers seem to resent the fact that customers are troubled by the product's late and as yet uncertain release date. There's no question that previous OOTP games have been good, but that attitude is particularly worrisome. At least when developers are apologetic, you can be more understanding and have some reasonable assurance that it won't happen again barring exceptional circumstances.


Aadik:
If you have a small fan base, those people tend to be more understanding, but you also have a smaller margin for error. If they, by their mistakes, and those of you who insult critics, by your asinine behavior, drive off a fair number of customers, they don't have a lot of room to stay profitable. Regarding your assessment of my opinion, you're certainly free to disagree, but doing so doesn't matter. I'm not making this up. I'm not the one making the rule that sports games are expected to be out by the start of the seasons they represent. I'm telling you what the expectations are. Those aren't my expectations, they're what most customers expect from developers. As I said to glanville, why do you think all previous OOTP games were released before the start of the season? Why is the staff still trying to get the game out by the start of the season? Why are almost all other games out by now? You can insult me all you want and it changes nothing. Some people, like you apparently, won't leave OOTP no matter how late the games are. Other people will, and there is no doubt that late releases negatively affect the attraction of new customers. From my own experience as a writer, I know that the later you put out a sports magazine, the fewer sales you eventually get. People expect those magazines to be out by a certain date, and if you don't have it by then, they'll move on to something else. That even goes for some people who know your magazine is high quality, but especially for those who might have been new customers. You're obviously taking this the wrong way. I'm not offended that OOTP has not catered to my needs, and I'm not demanding that they satisfy me. I'm expressing my regret and disappointment that they failed to get the product out on time, my frustration with their attitude, and my concern that a continuation of this behavior might mean an eventual end to OOTP games altogether. Companies generally don't keep producing games forever unless they become substantially profitable, and this kind of thing won't help.

And please, can you people refrain from such childish admonitions as "Grow up!" Most of you haven't even demonstrated the capacity to understand my argument. The least you could do is behave with some maturity, or barring that, say something amusing. "Grow up!" is useless and tired, especially from someone who couldn't understand that I'm not demanding that OOTP stop making sports games if they don't shape up, I'm concerned that they might not be making them for much longer unless they correct some fundamental mistakes.


Jack Bauer:
Sarcasm is better than 8th grade insults, but it still didn't quite hit the spot. Try again if you must, but do better. And by the way, one of those "common principles" you refer to is actually getting the game out before the start of the season in question. There's a reason OOTP always did it before this season when their dalliance with ITP pushed back their schedule.


gmo:
If you have the resources, a company can survive late or buggy or any other problem in their games for an indefinite period. I doubt that OOTP has that kind of bankroll, so as long as they intend to make some money off of their product, they need to meet the industry standards. Those standards are set less by the companies involved that the customers who support the industry. Sports games should be out a fair amount of time before the start of the season not because that's in the Ten Commandments, but because that's what customers want. Those of you who don't care aren't affected by that, but a company which wants to attain a significant market share must address those issues. OOTP has made some strides through its timely releases and the quality of its products, but a late release and especially the apparently indifferent attitude of its developers will set the series back. If they can continue to succeed anyway, that's great for them, but it goes against the probabilities. I keep pointing out that previous OOTPs were on time, and I doubt anyone would dispute that they'd prefer to have the game out before the start of April, so if that's the case, why is it not a bad thing for that desire to go unmet?

You're provably false about your explanation by the simple fact that Henry has related OOTP's excuses for why the game's release date has been pushed back. OOTP did something that caused the release date to be pushed back. OOTP developments does not want OOTP6 to be released several weeks or even a month after the optimal date, but that's the result of them delaying the start of work on OOTP6 due to their occupation with ITP. OOTP did something that pushed back the release date, and they'd rather have the game out by now. That means they screwed up, they'd just prefer to pretend that they didn't than to express contrition to potential customers who are dissatisfied with the delay.


Schmidty:
Ah, so you did hope you were being clever. Ouch, sorry about that.