Okay, so, the question is what we want the Sims 411 to cover, right? I like the concept of it - getting a peak at what's in progress/coming, a little behind the scenes info... but so far it hasn't really been that. I understand being cautious - you seem not to want to mention anything you aren't very sure you can have ready for the very next update - but because of that caution it ends up not being useful or very interesting. I understand you want to manage expectations, but you can do that by just saying straight out that something won't be in the next update, or probably won't be, or maybe won't be... whatever level it is. Tell us what you're working on that's not coming yet - what's hard, what's on hold, what's being debated. Too little information can be just as harmful to expectations.
For example, when bunk beds launched, you just said "here's bunk beds, here's what they support so far" and that was it. There was (it seemed to me) an overly harsh backlash about what they didn't do, later only partially lightened by people analyzing the code and announcing that it looked like there was prep for more. I posted several comments defending the programmer's rule of launch as soon as it is functional and better than what currently exists, then continue making improvements. As a web builder, I know this is true. But you never actually said that yourselves, never said specifically what the challenge was you were working on, and worse... there was no mention in the next update. Is it still in progress? Tell us it's still in progress. Give us a time estimate, or say launch date unknown... tell us what the challenge is. Or is it on hold? Tell us why; what are you working on instead, and when will you get back to bunk beds to make the loft options more useful? Or hold a competition - see which modder can solve whatever challenge you've come across. It gets the community involved, acknowledges skill, and still allows you to spend time on something else.
EA Staff (Retired)