If EA NHL would communicate like EA SWGOH
March 18, 2018 3:02AM
edited March 2018
So the Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes community recently took some flak about not communicating well with the fan base.
Here is what they did:
https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/163163/forum-communication-q-a-8-30pm-pdt-3-17-18
Perhaps one day EA NHL can borrow this format. I think something like this could really help with community communication. While I know one of the devs has been active in responding to things, this sort of dedicated timeblock - using the same forums we have here - to answer as many questions as possible would do wonders for us.
Edit: And here it is in action:
https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/163161/live-swgoh-q-a-w-producers#latest
Can anyone else imagine how awesome this would be here?
Here is what they did:
https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/163163/forum-communication-q-a-8-30pm-pdt-3-17-18
Perhaps one day EA NHL can borrow this format. I think something like this could really help with community communication. While I know one of the devs has been active in responding to things, this sort of dedicated timeblock - using the same forums we have here - to answer as many questions as possible would do wonders for us.
Edit: And here it is in action:
https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/163161/live-swgoh-q-a-w-producers#latest
Can anyone else imagine how awesome this would be here?
Post edited by GOW_LIKE_A_BOSS on
2
Replies
We can't have nice things if we aren't gonna be understanding when things are answered with reason.
Just to put things in perspective SWGOH is a massive game, 6 months after the game launched 6.6 Million players played it for an average of 2.5 hours per day and it has continued to grow since. None of our console titles compare to that from what I know.
Source: https://www.ea.com/news/the-playbook-fy-2017-q1--infographic-
NHL is actually one of the rare Sports/console titles that has an active dev on the forum who has near 630 replies here. NHLDev has more posts on the forum that most of us here and his replies are also among the most throughout I've seen as well. Even if he isn't replying to everything he is reading everything. Whenever I look over to see who is online there is one logo I see always see there:
I talk to NHLDev whenever I get the chance, mainly if there is a topic or thread I want to highlight and every time I do he has already read it. He has been on this forum for years and on the game as well, I've said it before, to say he is passionate about the game is an understatement. He cares deeply about the game & about the players who play it.
He talks to the players here as much as he can and shares as much information as he can, there are also many discussions he would like to have but can't. There is also a lot of red tape when it comes to discussing upcoming titles and/or new features or even the direction we want to take.
I'm not saying that the format we have on this forum is perfect, I know it's not and I absolutely love how it's handled on SWGOH. While I don't think it's feasible to replicate an identical format here I want to improve and it's something I'm working on.
Roger.
I am sure there are hurdles in the way when it comes to talking about the future and I understand that. But just to get a sense of what the future holds for NHL would be a step in the right direction. As a lifelong fan of this series (which for me dates back to NHL 92), it would be cool to be given an idea of what the leadership of the dev team has up its sleeves because it would at least send a message to where this game is headed. Because right now I don't think anyone truly knows what is coming and I don't know if the developers (bless their souls they have a hard job) have as much of a grasp on what the gamers want as it seems and I think part of that shows with NHL 3's, sure it is a cool mini mode, but if you ask the players of this series for a long time it was not the time to release that mode when other modes such as Be a Pro could have used that attention instead. Again not to be overly critical but I think getting together with the longtime fans of this series and listening to ideas that come up would be a great thing, I know myself I have a ton of ideas where it relates to franchise mode and I am sure other longtime fans could chip in with other modes such as Be a Pro and EASHL.
Unfortunately, though, we've had devs here in the past that got chewed out, so I don't blame the dev team for not wanting to be here. However, I remember when I was a moderator back in 2010 there were ill feelings then too, so nothing has really changed between then and now even though it has been over 8 years. A little more transparency would go a long way moving forward though because all I see on here are posts with profanity and complaining aimed towards the development team and that is a shame because for the most part this is a really good product. Hopefully with NHLDev on here it can ease tensions between user base and dev team, but transparency moving forward would do a lot more good then a forum visit once in awhile.
High five
As much as I enjoy the interactions with NHL Dev and respect him, I have honestly lost faith and hope in the direction of this title. I feel like the direction is to blame for a lot. We have all worked in a place where one or 2 guys are fantastic but there are several bad apples. When I look at the work NHLDEV does on the boards and his knowledge and work ethics, and then I look at computer AI in game, I see 2 completely different levels of competence. NHLDEV isnt controlling where the money goes, who gets hired, who stays and who goes and how much budget goes into the title. So as far as what he does, it is very much appreciated, as an overall view of the NHL title, It leaves to be desired.
I still firmly believe that the best help we can give a guy like NHLDev is to not buy the game and let the sales tank. Once that happens, the execitives will have to infuse budget and interest in reviving the title. This is the only time busy execs will take large chunks of time and really want to know what can be done to improve a project. For now, they are riding the low investment profits. Feel free to correct me if Im wrong.
Not buying the game seems like the only way to get the EA exec involved in the project. Seems like they are simply riding a low investment profit for now and until these profit sink, there is no reasons for them to invest time and effort, as well as resources, to this title. Please feel free to correct me if my assumptions are wrong.
Is there any chance of even having a brief, similar Q&A section like that here?
So like a question of "Is GM Connected ever coming back"
Might get a response of "maybe someday," "we're not really considering it, "yes, we've already begun work" and so on. Many of the devs responses on the SWGOH board were very detailed, and I know NHLDev responds in a very detailed and thorough manner, and this is very nice. It does mean he can only respond to a small number of concerns though. Is there any hope of a Q&A type session here to just give even brief answers on a wide range of issues, concerns, wants, etc.?
In other words, NHLDev does a great job on the depth issues, but can we also get a Q&A to respond to the breadth issues?
If you get this a lot, do ping me or anyone from the team and we will take a look.
That doesn't mean they can't talk about anything. They've been talking a lot about the mechanics of the game recently. Most companies won't talk about anything that eludes to what might be coming in the future. A lot of that is legal, but also helps keep the expectations of the community more in check. Once you say something potentially is coming, people depend on it. Things happen in development that can mean planned changes/features don't happen. When you already put it out there that something might be coming and then doesn't, it often leads to assumptions, speculation and overall negativity. So, in situations like that it can be better to just keep quiet until they're sure about what is coming.
If that were true then no company would ever advertise. While you don't want to over-promise, it's not a hard line to walk to say what you're working on vs guaranteeing that what you're working on will make it to the next release.
There's a difference between advertising something that is basically guaranteed to be included and something that is a possibility. EA isn't the only company that potentially does this. It's absolutely not uncommon. Especially in the software industry. You also have to consider many companies have specific marketing plans to adhere to.
Your response is pretty much irrelevant. Look at the other mentioned forum for the other game. That amount of depth has never been seen here and the reason we are given is that EA is a publicly traded company......
Why isn't the other website using that same excuse? Same publicly traded company, no?
A lot of what is written in Sinbin's responses is actually pretty accurate.
As far as the depth that we can get into for specific responses, it depends on the question and as mentioned on these forums in the past, there are issues with revenue recognition when it comes to talking about the future of the product. It is much easier for us to talk about something that is already released, or aleady locked on disc and coming out for a specific release date rather than talk about something we are currently prototyping. It is unfortunate as sometimes that is the stuff that is the most fun for someone like myself to talk about but that is just the nature of the business.
It has also been made clear plenty times over that these forums, although many say they just want to know they are being heard, hate responses such as 'it is on our radar'.
If you can list some of the questions you don't feel have been answered in your next reply, I can give some insight into what can/can't be answered and we can use it as a test case to know if the Q and A would turn out as fruitful for you as you expect.
I'm just basing my answer on my experience in the industry. It's really no different from many other people here making their own speculations and assumptions. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Just like the many posts from others saying there's ice tilt, the servers are terrible, EA only cares about HUT, etc. The difference with mine is that I don't claim it as fact. I'm sorry if you feel it's irrelevant. I know you have a problem with a lot of what I say, but these forums are for the community to engage with each other about the game. I'm just using my background in the software industry to give some details that are very frequently overlooked or not considered here.