[Cardinal Rule]

We may or may not be at the crossroads of which you fear, Mal. I too have seen many beloved games die a horrible death because they chose the wrong path (FPS Football is my most painful experience). And really, maybe not the wrong 'corporate' path, or the wrong 'financial' path, but the wrong path for the core customer.

I would have to assume a game like OOTP is made to appeal to a core group of gamers who don't count graphically pleasing images or simple interfaces as their primary goal (note I said simple interfaces, not to be confused with effective interfaces). A group of gamers who care about statistical realism and features that represent the reality of which the game simulates. Any move away from this would be a move away from what has to date driven this product to it's current state.

I can't examine or comment on the success or lack of success that the OOTP franchise has experienced, nor can I understand what affect, if any, ITP has had. Nor can I comment on what any other external factors may have had in the development and patching of v6. I would guess that OOTP is a relatively mature product in that the customer base will not experience a 'leaps and bounds' growth. And that would lead me to believe that OOTPD was looking for other means to grow since OOTP, having reached a relative point of market saturation, will not give means for growth. At this point we can see OOTPD having taken three different paths that were intended to move in the growth pattern - the .400 merger/consolidation, the introduction of ITP, and the SI merger. None of these moves, at their face value, represent a shift from the strategy of development and support for OOTP. However all of them have had, are having, or will have an effect on the future development or support of OOTP.

What Mal has done here, and what I echo, is that we want to see OOTP move in the right direction. We want a product that continues to meet our desires, specifically a game that simulates reality as well as possible. We want a product released with relatively few bugs. And we want any bugs to be corrected promptly and efficiently. The list of features should continually be enhanced to move the game closer to a true simulation of reality. We want many options that allow us to play the game we individually want to play without interfering with a myriad of other ways to enjoy the game.

OOTP should be considered 'the franchise'. It should receive top support, top billing, and be first to get enhanced. I think it's the only way to keep the current customer base happy, and there isn't a huge untapped market for this game. I would hope the merger with SI will allow Markus and team to have the backing they need to focus on this game almost exclusively without worrying about how to grow in new markets. Everything I've seen from the SI team has been positive and points in this direction. That said, I would like to see results, quickly, on addressing the bugs in OOTP6 and getting the promised enhancements incorporated.

Finally, I am a huge fan of this game, and I believe it is great. But a great computer game is not the same as a great painting. You can admire a great painting but you likely would never expect it to get better. A great computer game can, and should, get better. I believe this game can continue to get better and I want my voice counted among those who urge the development team to make it so.