@EA_Blueberry In regards to server shut downs, not to sound condescending, but the article was about as much business-ese and nonsense as I expected. While not you personally, EA as a major corporation surely has the funds and means to keep older servers up and running until it is proven that a game is virtually completely dead and anything short of that is well, *. EA as a major corporation itself, regardless of it being a subsidiary to whatever umbrella it may fall under, makes plenty of earnings that it can afford to take a profit hit to better satisfy its customers with longer accessibility to games and better quality games themselves.
This message is being written at 12:15 AM on April 30th, the 2021 NFL draft ended just minutes ago, and with regard to server shut down, yes, there are many EA titles still running strong over 6 years I'm sure. However, in particular, Madden 17 is a topic I've had numerous discussions about over the last year. As of Sept 2020, it took me 2 months to be able to access Draft Champions to get those trophies. The only trophies I need for Madden 17 Platinum are MUT trophies and haven't been able to access MUT mode since long before Sept 2020. Personally, I was too busy with work and life that I barely got to play any video games in 2017, 2018, 2019. So I had been out of the game for a while. Then the pandemic shuts everything down, and I finally got to get back to playing my beloved video games. I played & platted Madden 20, then 18 & 19. But in 2020 I couldn't fully play and experience a game that had come out less than 4 years prior. In short, that is ridiculous. Now, understandably, I hadnt played an NHL game since 2011 and barely played it, if at all. I didnt expect to be able to do much with that game as it was 10 years old. But Madden 17, unable to be completed because of server shut down less than 4 years? That's unacceptable. Need For Speed: The Run, myself, along with Lord knows how many, cannot platinum that game because of 1 trophy. While the online portion of The Run is horribly broken, the game otherwise is still very much playable and enjoyable - why did the Autolog issue never get fixed so that people, such as myself, could obtain Platinum rather than being blocked by one trophy, and such an easily obtainable trophy at that?
EA has to understand our position as gamers, regardless of how hardcore some are, to how part time some are, all the while thinking about the gamers who are yet to come. We question most decisions meticulously and comparatively to other decisions. Myself and so many don’t and/or cant keep up and play all the sports titles every single year, or even the other games we want to play, period. But given the opportunity, such as myself, who played the current game, then decided to go through the back catalog, we are unable to because of server shut down. We didnt have the time, privilege, money, ability to play a game right when it came out - why should we be robbed of that, simply because of server shut down? Considering the extensive profits EA makes on ridiculously priced video games ($99.99 for a yearly title that doesn't even provide any additional game play - are you joking?!) server maintenance/upkeep costs are a drop in the bucket and as always, customer satisfaction should be priority number one over excessive profits. So when a business as large and profitable as EA wants to claim "no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping the online services" - I'll say it again - we're going to call *, especially when the addition claim of “We are also committed to constantly updating and improving the features and modes to keep in our games to ensure they remain exciting to play for as long as possible” is thrown in, yet there is no visible improvement to the yearly released titles. I believe I even said it in a prior post, it seems that, despite the constantly evolving and improving technology available, the quality of the games themselves is seemingly remaining mediocre, if not getting worse, perhaps trying to do much.
With that I'll transition to the notification of server shut down issue. We all know if you want to play an EA title, we have to sign up for an EA account. We all receive emails with EA trying to sell us something, or about release of new games, so we know EA has our emails which could also be used to send us notifications on game updates, server shut downs. An email, even a dedicated website regarding the matter has minimal cost, cost that a company such as EA surely can afford to keep its customers notified. So, EA makes a determination that a game has reached the point where it is "no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping the online services" ... okay then, once that determination has been made, give a specific date and time of server shut down no less than 1 year from that date, which should fall no less than, say, 5 years from the release date of the game (for yearly titles) and perhaps 10 years for others (just an idea). Send an email to everyone on the EA database informing of the decision and date of shut down and advise on how server shut down will affect game features and playability, as well as trophies (and achievements for the Xbox people.) Send an auto-reminder at 6 months out, then 90 days out, 30 days out, and 7 days out prior to shut down so that people have plenty of time and notification of the shut down and can plan accordingly. Also have that website going for those who are new to EA, for those so they can go find game and server statuses on their own volition.
To wrap this up, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” EA employees, such as yourself, are in these message boards, so I’m sure you’re aware of the opinions of your customers. EA can continue to push their business-ese excuses and practices that serve themselves and the lining of their pockets, or they can take a step back and realize they can indeed to better for their customers, all the while being profitable. And here’s another PR spin, by keeping game servers up and open longer, they’re creating & maintaining jobs.
Funny thing, I didnt look at your "we provided a heads up ... post" link until finishing the above message, and I was never aware of that message. The funny thing about it is that it only discusses Madden 25 (14), 15 & 16 and I cant even begin to guess how many times I bought up Madden 17 in this message alone, not including other posts. So, what's the deal with Madden 17?
Also, what's going to happen in 3 years, in 2024, and it's time to release what should be called Madden 25?
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