Email campaign to Dice

[Section{8}]

Hi all

I have played BF2 since release,hell that disc has been in and out of my pc so many times that it just started to crack from the center out
(I think i got my money out of it :) )

Yes BF2/2142 have bugs so what,we have lived with it this long and most of us have learned to adapt.

I think we all should be happy with the good times BF2/2142 have given us so far and know(hope) That it only gets better from here.

Im not trying to rip on any one here,just wanted to share my thoughts.

TGN ftw! :salute:

[Fingulfin]

Hi all

I have played BF2 since release,hell that disc has been in and out of my pc so many times that it just started to crack from the center out
(I think i got my money out of it :) )

Yes BF2/2142 have bugs so what,we have lived with it this long and most of us have learned to adapt.

I think we all should be happy with the good times BF2/2142 have given us so far and know(hope) That it only gets better from here.

Im not trying to rip on any one here,just wanted to share my thoughts.

TGN ftw! :salute:

Agreed :salute:

Although my 2142 disk has only been out of the DVD Drive Twice since I got it November 2006...

[joe2]

bf3 is not vista-only. let's end that rumor right now. that was an assumption based on a leaked EA investor update which listed some EA investor-level (i.e. very far removed from game players/designers/developers) bullet points about their next release in one of their top franchises. it said it will run on vista - meaning, hey investors, don't sell your EA stock because our next big title will run on the latest OS! it DID NOT mean it would not run on XP.

anyway having said that, 2142 is one of my favorite games of all time (and i'm old). i would be happy playing 2142 for another 5+ years. however unless DICE releases some additional content there probably won't be any servers left a year from now. Maybe all of us complaining is useless because their corporate owners make the rules and don't care about the players. but maybe, and i think there is definitely a possibility of this, we CAN influence them. in which case, i'd definitely encourage anyone to try to get some attention paid to 2142 before it dies.

2142: great game? or GREATEST GAME???

[=98=]

2142 and BF2 will all have servers, even after BF:H and BF3 hit the shelves. The same was said about BF1942, and there are still a load of servers up there.

[MNToothpick]

Jim,

I agree with you that BF2142 is one of the best games of all time. No doubt about it. It's a classic. It actually benefits people to play as a team. Most other games seem to fall into the "should we take path A or path B" category. The classes are very balanced and the unlocks are really cool. The maps are huge. Playing CS:S, I feel almost claustrophobic.

In fact, the more time you explore other MMOFPS style games, the more you appreciate BF2142.

They deliberately designed class functions which enhance team play. As an assault medic, I have to make quick decisions when a teammate goes down. Where's the threat? Should I revive instantly or protect myself? The com system is pretty cool- for people who use it. The spotting system is easy. The minimap is helpful. A good commander has enough tools to help make a difference for squads that care to play as a team. The maps actually have a lot of hidden things to learn so playing the same level again and again means you will discover new things all of the time.

To be sure, there were problems with perverse incentives in the BREVET ranking system as well as negative incentives in some of the awards. Notwithstanding that, the multiplayer environment is fairly healthy and BF2142 is an amazing game.

Now, as for the VISTA only, you are technically correct. My understanding is that OSX and VISTA have been ruled "in". Apparently, WINDOWS XP HAS NOT BEEN RULED OUT. But "not being ruled out" is not the same as being "ruled in".

http://www.digitalbattle.com/2007/10/09/breaking-battlefield-3-leaked-info/

Check out the footnotes as well as the DICE response at the bottom. So, I guess I will just have to assume that while an XP version might come out, I cannot take that for granted.

In the meantime, BF2142 is a good game which is already here.

Now, my goal has been to be positive in my communications to DICE. To express my appreciation, ask for few more fixes and make a suggestion that they release a booster. I personally think BF2142 has loads which could be done. Next pack could be a RTR or could be an Armoured force. Whose to say? Of course, no booster pack is better than a bad booster pack, but I guess I trust them enough to take a chance.

In general, I am excited about BF:H, but I would be more excited to have another booster pack.

Notwithstanding all of these things, even if nothing happens as a direct result of these emails, it lets DICE know that people are happy enough to see the game expanded, supported, and even fixed. How can it be bad to send an email which basically says, we like your product so much, we want to see more of it?

Also, it sends a message to EA that they have to begin to plan support into the games to begin with- as part of their business model. The days of releasing a product and walking away- are coming to an end because gaming is a social experience and multiplayer gaming is a lot more fun than single player gaming, but it does require more support and more commitment from companies. EA is well aware of the need to protect its "reputation" in this new environment and is beginning to send signals that it is willing to change.

[Minmaster]

it's true, i agree with what you're saying MNtoothpick, but the way DICE has recently handled their participation in the community and their not being pro-active about bugs/glitches/stability issues that were ignored over a year's worth of patches sends the message to us that they really don't want to be bothered with the game anymore. no doubt, it's a great game, but it's really a shame that the game wasn't maximized to be what it really could have been.

i believe what you are doing is nice, but the influence is minimal or non-existent. basically, our purchasing of the game was enough support for them to do their best to make things right. i don't believe we have to start sending them appreciative and polite emails letting them know we want this and that fixed, and we want expansions and such. they know what needs to be done with the game better than us (hell they made the game), and they have already made their business decisions regarding investing future resources into it, so i don't think they're going to stray from that. you asking them for few more fixes isn't going to be a new revelation for them. if you ask me, they know exactly what things they need to fix, but knowing and executing them are not the same.

[FPS[SONIC]]

Just give it time. Patience will pay off in dividends here...

[MNToothpick]

Here's the latest update. Dice is not sending out the same emails anymore. They have a new one. In it, the email campaign learns more interesting things. In response to the question have you ended development of BF2142, Frankinstin wrote he received the following email from DICE:

We at DICE have a Live team that is dedicated to work on the games we have released. Although we cannot disclose any information about upcoming Updates and expansions at this point. We can tell you that we have four games under development at DICE: Battlefield Bad Company, Mirror's Edge, Battlefield Heroes and one more project that is secret for the moment.

Thank you for your interest!

Kind Regards

DICE

* * *

Dice is still not publicly commenting on upcoming updates and expansions, however, they have indicated they are working on a "secret project".

[=98=]

Yea, BF3...

[GrossKopf]

Thank God mods and custom maps will bring fresh content to BF2 and BF2142.

Unfortunately, the ranking system in both games has effectively flushed mod and custom map potential down the toilet. Only a select "few" will be playing with the new content.

[bigbacon]

Geeze even here you post this??
Eric's idea is trash. He keeps posting the canned emails he gets from DICE like the actually matter. Some intern there just goes through the box, runs a macro on the email to send a specific message back. Does anyone really think that it going to get anything done??

Give it up.....play the game for what it is because nothing is going to change.

Think about how long the BF2 crowd has been screaming up a storm..... 2142 is about 1.5 years old now, in the ever changing world of gaming thats a long time and there are more projects to be done. Unless your game is world of cash, then your best business decision is to make a new game, get the cash, support it for a year and move on.

I still play the game because there isn't any games like it out there and I'm not bored yet.

#36 above, great answer!

[MNToothpick]

Yes Bacon, I posted here because it is another forum and I actually liked what Eric was doing since it was an attempt to make things better rather than just complain. As Eric noted over 1,000 people have viewed the post on the main forums and over 700 people have viewed the post here in a very short time. Some people have sent emails and the responses we get are slightly varied.

There is nothing wrong with demanding a better product. I like BF2142 very much. I keep trying to find a substitute, but for all its flaws 2142 is a strong title. That does not mean I am willing to accept it as it is. The wall-glitch APC hack in Fall of Berlin is a real problem. It should be addressed. Even if it is not ever fixed in BF2142, maybe BF3 will be better because of the complaints that were generated. Finally, we are building a community to fight for change, whether or not we succeed.

At the very least, and I would only say this, those of us who have written letters have earned the right to complain. Those who haven't written letters have no basis for complaint.

[Fingulfin]

While I don't agree with most of the changes on a website linked to in this topic, I do agree that we need another patch... Playing on FoB is impossible due to all the glitchers/pod surfers. Writing letters is always a good idea, its better to let your voice be heard than to simply sit and hope...

While they may or may not actually mean anything to the company, at least the people writing the letters know that they tried. When I get a canned response from a company, I write back until I get areal person writing. EA Customer Support REALLY hates me :p

[Minmaster]

do we really need to write "letters" though? DICE knows that coming to a forum like here, they will be able to find all the information on what's buggy, glitchy, and needs to be fixed. we even had bug reports sub-forum which DICE used to frequent and participate in. like i said, their participation in the community is now non-existent and its on THEM to do what needs to be done, not us.

[jake_]

I think this thread is about a year to late in coming.