The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
This is how I feel about CG and what their recent actions are telling us and I know a lot us refuse to accept it. I was one of those that originally believed their intentions behind relic delta were for the community and the longevity of the game. Although, I didn't agree with their solution, I really believe it was founded in good intentions but no longer. If you want more reasoning to how I came to this conclusion or how I feel about a specific thing just ask.
The Good: I am happy that CG realized they needed to split the game into two economies. I wish they took this a bit further and used this mindset to revitilitize raids and other game modes similar to what I explained in a previous post of mine but the recognition could lead to further updates. I am also happy they recognized we needed new game modes, even though we have olds one that feel like they are in an alpha/beta phase.
The Bad: The implementation of solutions for this recognized problem is terrible. There is no way around that. How in the world do you miss the mark this much? Was the solution for the problem was putting more fuel into the fire? No? It's clear the solution wasn't intended for what you told us it was for. This bad smoke and mirror attempt leads me directly into the ugly.
The Ugly: I have learned to stop assuming the people making these decisions are "stupid" just because the results of their actions don't reflect the results of their promise. You see this a lot in corporate America. They are smart. They are fully aware that they are squeezing their whales for short term profit increases. They are fully aware their whales will eventually leave (most likely after the acquisition is completed) and this update isn't going to bring in "new" money. Heck, They are probably already made a lot from this update in a short amount of time. They know all of these things...They purposely mislead all of us, by taking a heartache of the community and promoting this update as fix the game needs to bring life back to game. They have no real interest in the longevity of the game. Hell why would they? Most of them will be "let go" shortly after the acquisition is completed. Wondering why they changed RD last minute and pretended to listen to feedback? Smoke and Mirrors tactics used to minimize customer fallout by hiding their real agenda. They needed to squeeze the whales harder to drive up revenue. They need to squeeze the whole community. Why? These behaviors are 100% driven by things outside of the game itself. It has shady written all over it and I am sure its tied to the acquisition deal somehow. Worried the acquisition may fall through? Keeping the stock price in check? Earnings? We already know that EA profits may not be able to cover the interest payments on debt until 2027. Liquidating old assets to meet those numbers? Aggressive montization to increase profits? Who really knows but I have my theories.
No one is missing the mark this bad and keeping their job without an alternative motive that is the real priority. This direction was an order from the top with no room for negotiation. It has nothing to with the community or the game itself. It is even most likely out of CG's control to be honest and they are just the face of it. I have sympathy for most of the CG staff because they are taking all of the heat without receiving the same golden parachute they are securing for others. However, CG as a studio of EA only focus is doing its assigned part in making sure the EA acquisition deal is successful. During an acquisition process, Do you really think EA Executives care if the game survives long term? Care about customer service? Cares about fixing lag? Care about the EA brand after the acquisition? Care about anything other than the bottom line and securing their golden parachute? The only question EA is asking is when do their projections tell them to start this process so they can close the deal before the massive decline happens. Remember, EA only need to maintain certain things to an adequate level for one year while increasing profits, which I think is very possible with a hardcore community like SWGOH. This isn't an insult, it's just the reality, I have even failed to maintain my no spending boycott with the latest update.
Everything is focused on the short term and will be focused on the short term until 2027 and then who knows the new owners can just pull the plug. We are just getting started and this is the real reason why they pivoted away from coordinated character releases to popular demand which are just low hanging fruit for driving revenue. I even see a $600+ Red Five heading our way closer the closing date of the deal to secure it.
Source: My career has put me at the table during a lot of acquisitions. Admittedly, much much much smaller ones but seeing the tactics used on the low end scale only reinforces my belief that these ethically questionable tactics are scaled proportionally with the value of the acquisition. I have seen companies tell people to sell more (the fake goal) while telling other people to create less (the real goal) only to give false hope to the sales team that they wanted them to succeed when in reality it was rigged against them not to sell but they couldn't have the whole team quit before the deal went through and most of these sales teams will stick around because they convinced themselves their issue was due to "incompetent managers" or engineers when their orders never got filled and lost a client. They refused to believe it was going according to the plan designed at a higher level until they were let go after the acquisition closed.
So if you made it this far and are asking yourself why for multiple different actions, and are coming up with vastly different reasons to why, or blaming a single source that isn't being removed from their job...Try asking yourself....Is it going according to the real unspoken plan? And if that fits... Occam's razor would suggest It's probably the correct answer and if you are looking for CG to tell you the real plan, good luck but you will be waiting forever.
