Latest posts for the topic "So...when do we hear from Maxis?"

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

I'm asking directly and point-blank so it can't be evaded (and a silence on this question will be deafening): [i]When will we hear from Maxis about our opinion of Spore?[/i]

Seriously; they claim they listen to us, but when will they [i]speak?[/i]
We've been posting opinions and criticism--even helpful suggestions--amidst the bile and invective, and it sure would be nice to know if Maxis--who claim they're listening to us--is taking what we have to say to heart.

Obviously, my personal biggest issue is that Spore has become little more than a glorified art editor and sharing tool, the game itself being essentially an afterthought, and that I'd desperately like to see Science Spore have its day; I'd like word on if that will ever be a possibility, direct from Maxis.
But there are other issues people have talked about as well, from the DRM to the patch, to possible expansions, etc, etc.

[i]When will Maxis release a statement directly addressing these issues?[/i]
...ever?

I'm sorry, Maxis folk, but I'm awfully tired of diplomatic restraint (not that I've ever shown much of that, but my last perfunctory gestures in that direction have finally melted away) and it's time to be aggressive: I want an official word, one way or the other, and if you don't respond to me, here, directly, then [i]at least[/i] issue some sort of general announcement, please.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cysgodi — GMT

So this topic was not good enough: http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/6734.page you had to make another one?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

Yes.

To try and get actual attention, instead of hoping against hope that some Maxis staffer notices one exchange buried in one thread, that requires making an actual thread [i]ABOUT[/i] the lack of communication.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Chareene — GMT

I agree with Rocket girl so......BUMP

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Neruu — GMT

complaining only gets nothing done..

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Neruu]complaining only gets nothing done.. [/quote]

Making legitimate criticism, however, [i]can.[/i]

But only if both sides are communicating.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Arkraven123 — GMT

[quote=Neruu]complaining only gets nothing done.. [/quote]
Says the guy complaining about us complaining...

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

morneau502 — GMT

I agree with the OP, so? what'll be maxis? huh? nothing?...... thats what I thought.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

NASAROG — GMT

Okay, the question is.... do the EA people that matter even care?

Maxis cares, but Spore being what it is... does EA care.. they mangled the game.

Disclaimer: what ever Spore is.. I am enjoying just the same. Just sayin'.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Soldats — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl]I'm asking directly and point-blank so it can't be evaded (and a silence on this question will be deafening): When will we hear from Maxis about our opinion of Spore?

Seriously; they claim they listen to us, but when will they speak?
We've been posting opinions and criticism--even helpful suggestions--amidst the bile and invective, and it sure would be nice to know if Maxis--who claim they're listening to us--is taking what we have to say to heart.

Obviously, my personal biggest issue is that Spore has become little more than a glorified art editor and sharing tool, the game itself being essentially an afterthought, and that I'd desperately like to see Science Spore have its day; I'd like word on if that will ever be a possibility, direct from Maxis.
But there are other issues people have talked about as well, from the DRM to the patch, to possible expansions, etc, etc.

When will Maxis release a statement directly addressing these issues?
...ever?

I'm sorry, Maxis folk, but I'm awfully tired of diplomatic restraint (not that I've ever shown much of that, but my last perfunctory gestures in that direction have finally melted away) and it's time to be aggressive: I want an official word, one way or the other, and if you don't respond to me, here, directly, then at least issue some sort of general announcement, please.[/quote]

I understand your point but let us not forget where opening their mouths too much has gotten them (spore 2005 anyone?). I sympathize with just about everything you have said but you seem to think that the great wall of silence is Maxis' fault but it is my understanding (and limited experience) that it is EA, the publisher, who has all control on the information flow.

From my experience with the BF2 patching fiasco EA much prefers to keep the details on what they plan to do with upcoming patches to themselves, the nice people would say this is to keep from promising to fix something in an upcoming patch only to find out that it requires alot more work than they thought it would, but the not so nice people would say that this is to hide the fact that there are problems in game that they know they will never truly be able to fix.

[quote=Neruu]complaining only gets nothing done.. [/quote]
And not complaining has the same exact effect except at least when you complain there is a small chance someone will listen

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Soldats]
I understand your point but let us not forget where opening their mouths too much has gotten them (spore 2005 anyone?).
[/quote]

That's not [i]really[/i] a particularly good example. Had Maxis not switched gears in the middle and committed themselves to making Cute Spore instead of Science Spore, the 2005 demos would never have bitten them in the booty.

[quote]
I sympathize with just about everything you have said but you seem to think that the great wall of silence is Maxis' fault but it is my understanding (and limited experience) that it is EA, the publisher, who has all control on the information flow. [/quote]

I kinna doubt that; can you site a source that confirms your assumption?

[quote]
[quote=Neruu]complaining only gets nothing done.. [/quote]
And not complaining has the same exact effect except at least when you complain there is a small chance someone will listen[/quote]

Exactly. And while I do complain I lot, I try to temper that with suggestions and constructive criticism. [i]JUST[/i] complaining is one thing, but that's not what I've been doing.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

GrandPeep — GMT

Well Right now, I'm betting on total world economic failure before hearing anything concrete from Maxis on patches, issues,etc.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=GrandPeep]Well Right now, I'm betting on total world economic failure before hearing anything concrete from Maxis. [/quote]

So...we'll be hearing from Maxis next Thursday?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Soldats — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl][quote=Soldats]
I understand your point but let us not forget where opening their mouths too much has gotten them (spore 2005 anyone?).
[/quote]

That's not [i]really[/i] a particularly good example. Had Maxis not switched gears in the middle and committed themselves to making Cute Spore instead of Science Spore, the 2005 demos would never have bitten them in the booty.[/quote]

Exactly so had they kept their mouths shut then they might not be in the situation they are now or at at least not as bad as one.

[quote=RocketGirl][quote]
I sympathize with just about everything you have said but you seem to think that the great wall of silence is Maxis' fault but it is my understanding (and limited experience) that it is EA, the publisher, who has all control on the information flow. [/quote]

I kinna doubt that; can you site a source that confirms your assumption?[/quote]

No I'll admit that this is mostly speculation on my part from my previous experience with EA and Maxis(which is limited in recent memory), though I feel you are sort of leaving out a big player in your arguments (EA) seeing as EA owns Maxis studios and is also the publisher of Spore so I can really imagine them having a big say in what is seen and heard by the public.

[quote=RocketGirl][quote=GrandPeep]Well Right now, I'm betting on total world economic failure before hearing anything concrete from Maxis. [/quote]

So...we'll be hearing from Maxis next Thursday? [/quote]

[sarcasm]Oh stop being a pessimist we have at least until Christmas, I mean really how fast can you burn through 700 billion dollars? [/sarcasm]

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Soldats]
Exactly so had they kept their mouths shut then they might not be in the situation they are now or at at least not as bad as one.[/quote]

No...had they had [i]integrity[/i] the wouldn't be in the situation they are now. Integrity to either stick to the original design, and the courage and decency to [i]announce[/i] their planned changes. Either would do; it was their [i]silence[/i] that has caused this situation.

[quote]
[sarcasm]Oh stop being a pessimist we have at least until Christmas, I mean really how fast can you burn through 700 billion dollars? [/sarcasm][/quote]

That depends entirely on how hungry I am and the cost of gummi bears.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Poetry — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl]
No...had they had [i]integrity[/i] the wouldn't be in the situation they are now. Integrity to either stick to the original design, and the courage and decency to [i]announce[/i] their planned changes. Either would do; it was their [i]silence[/i] that has caused this situation.
[/quote]

Not for nothing but a ton of videos and information was released in the past 6 months regarding the finished product. So you cannot say the changes weer not demonstrated. In the old forums pre-release you had many comments on how the product with the announced changes was not the one you had hoped it would be.

As for integrity and standing up to the design changes, I agree. It makes me go Meh. A lot of what has been done or not done seems shifty, out of character, and downright despicable. I do hope that Maxis can pull out though and help the product become something more than it is now.

Regarding the original request;
It will take time to reply. It's not a instant thing, or even a medium wait thing. With a lawsuit regarding this product it will be a bit of pushing through EA legal to say much. That is the case with any lawsuit. Everything here is public record. Many questions will go unanswered simply because of that.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=Poetry][quote=RocketGirl]
No...had they had [i]integrity[/i] the wouldn't be in the situation they are now. Integrity to either stick to the original design, and the courage and decency to [i]announce[/i] their planned changes. Either would do; it was their [i]silence[/i] that has caused this situation.
[/quote]

Not for nothing but a ton of videos and information was released in the past 6 months regarding the finished product. So you cannot say the changes weer not demonstrated. In the old forums pre-release you had many comments on how the product with the announced changes was not the one you had hoped it would be.

As for integrity and standing up to the design changes, I agree. It makes me go Meh. A lot of what has been done or not done seems shifty, out of character, and downright despicable. I do hope that Maxis can pull out though and help the product become something more than it is now.

Regarding the original request;
It will take time to reply. It's not a instant thing, or even a medium wait thing. With a lawsuit regarding this product it will be a bit of pushing through EA legal to say much. That is the case with any lawsuit. Everything here is public record. Many questions will go unanswered simply because of that.
[/quote]

Not that I don't believe you. But can you link me to the videos that said SPORE was turning into a kiddie game with science stripped from it?

Because even the last video I saw with Will and his employees talking about SPORE they made it sound like the next breakthrough in educational gaming.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

PrinceofIce — GMT

Ah Gummy bears. "Im so happy cause Im a gummy bear....GUMMY BEAR.....AHHHHH" good times good times.

Anyways....EA does have somewhat a large amount of what Maxis says and does. Maxis can't go OMG IM GONNA CREATE A GAME without EA jumping in and changing something. Guess what Maxis can't stop them cause EA owns maxis. Sucks don't it. Poor poor Maxis.

Also I agree complaining does more than not complaining

[Complain\sarcasm] OMG MAXIS YOU GUYS SCREWED IT UP EA YOU SERCUROM FREAKS[/complain\sarcasm]

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

AnotherPoster — GMT

[quote=Poetry]
Not for nothing but a ton of videos and information was released in the past 6 months regarding the finished product. So you cannot say the changes weer not demonstrated. In the old forums pre-release you had many comments on how the product with the announced changes was not the one you had hoped it would be.
[/quote]

They didn't say what they had taken out after showing the original concepts. Why would anyone expect that anything they didn't demonstrate had been removed?

The sin of omission.

They didn't demo the new Spore and say, no procedural verbs, linear gameplay etc.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Soldats — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl][quote=Soldats]
Exactly so had they kept their mouths shut then they might not be in the situation they are now or at at least not as bad as one.[/quote]

No...had they had [i]integrity[/i] the wouldn't be in the situation they are now. Integrity to either stick to the original design, and the courage and decency to [i]announce[/i] their planned changes. Either would do; it was their [i]silence[/i] that has caused this situation.
[/quote]

I agree but from the business perspective it does not make much sense to give your self negative PR so I can also see how they would neglect to mention such things in favor of just pushing the game out the door.

It seems to me that we have come full circle in our discussion and we are back to the original point what [i]will[/i] Maxis/Ea do? Unless of course some one else has some objections they would like to discuss *hint* *hint*

P.S. My posts do not reflect accurately my own personal opinion I have just been playing the devil's advocate here(and probably should have said so earlier) to promote meaningful discussion of a heated and in my mind important topic.

P.P.S. To the people continually one staring RocketGirls post please I ask you to judge a post on weather or not it is a reasoned out argument (and then how well at that)and not just a wanton hate speech. Really nothing annoys me more on this forum than people one staring post they just don't agree with because that does not reflect the quality of the post.

P.P.P.S. For anyone wanting a meaningful discussion I suggest you adhere to some rules laid out by my personal hero Carl Sagan
[url=http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/W/Jonathan.D.Wren-1/The%20Fine%20Art%20of%20Baloney%20Detection.htm]CLICK HERE[/url]
You know what I'm gonna put that in my sig...

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Visko — GMT

You go girl! Show em bastards you mean business!

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

ZJBDragon — GMT

It'd be nice if this thread could stay on topic for once. I'd really like to hear what Maxis has to say on various issues that have cropped up, the future of this game, and our questions from weeks ago. I don't know why you all are bringing up an unrelated issue of past videos. Let's try to keep the focus of this thread tight on getting some sort of feedback from Maxis here on their game's own forums. It's really irritating when companies run off and hide in the media instead of being personal and showing some participation here. Yeah, being active on a forum and working for a company like EA is like walking through a minefield, but perhaps a weekly update of what made it through to Maxis' attention would be nice. "We're looking into ______, problem ______ is related to ATi, ______ is something we're fixing, _____ feature should add a little depth" or things like that would be sufficient.

Weekly updates are better than arbitrary random ones and silence. Is it so much to ask for an update post every Wednesday or Friday or at least some sort of development blog/log?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Hydragoon21 — GMT

What will Maxis and EA do? They will probably spend a few years releasing parts packs and occasional expansions that slowly fill in a few of the gaps in gameplay that we expected. I would expect nothing more. And set aside a few hundred bucks for the privilege.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cesar8002 — GMT

My main problem with the game is that it is too repetitive and the things we create have only cosmetic differences. Playing as a bard or warrior in the space stage is almost the same thing.

I wished SPORE to have almost infinite replayability like Master of Orion or Civilization. Even their so cherished, cute loving casuals are getting bored with the game. This franchise isn't posed to last long this way and that's terrible.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Kewpur — GMT

I agree.

Come on Maxis.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Poetry]
Not for nothing but a ton of videos and information was released in the past 6 months regarding the finished product. So you cannot say the changes weer not demonstrated.
[/quote]

Yes, I can. None of what had attracted many of us to the game in the first place, the things quite publicly shown in the 2005 demo were [i]EXPLICITLY[/i] repudiated. Nobody came right out and [i]SAID,[/i] "There won't be any evolution, stats will matter but morphology won't, the diplomacy system will be about as complicated as Dance Dance Revolution, etc..." Video showed almost none of the diplomacy system in Space, in fact the Space stage was hardly shown [i]at all,[/i] beyond going from your home star to another and tractor-beaming something up...

The most charitable I can be is that Spore's press releases amounted to a sloppy mislead; that's the [i]MOST[/i] forgiving I can be.

[quote]
As for integrity and standing up to the design changes, I agree. It makes me go Meh. A lot of what has been done or not done seems shifty, out of character, and downright despicable. I do hope that Maxis can pull out though and help the product become something more than it is now.
[/quote]

Well, there we go.

[quote]
Regarding the original request;
It will take time to reply. It's not a instant thing, or even a medium wait thing.
[/quote]

Oh, bullSpoor; they could issue even a vague statement of intention--fix Spore or leave it as-is forever--and we'd be satisfied, or at least I would. I've worked at game companies; it doesn't take more than a week or two to make that kind of decision.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Jackuul — GMT

Unless they're tied by bloodsucking lawyers. That's why I carry a bottle of Ajax.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Soldats]
I agree but from the business perspective it does not make much sense to give your self negative PR so I can also see how they would neglect to mention such things in favor of just pushing the game out the door. [/quote]

So spin-doctor it to sound positive; there are people who make whole careers out of nothing else!

And the fact that it can only be characterized as negative PR, rather than positive PR for very specific people, is a sign that maybe the decisions shouldn't have been made in the first place, neh?

[quote]
It seems to me that we have come full circle in our discussion and we are back to the original point what [i]will[/i] Maxis/Ea do?
[/quote]

Well, this is why I'm agitating for some positive word on the subject instead of silence, so we can stop guessing, stop accusing, and--if the news is bad--stop hoping.

What's the line from that John Cleese movie? "It's not the despair; I can take the despair. It's the [i]hope[/i] that's killing me!"
...something like that.

[quote]
You go girl! Show em bastards you mean business! [/quote]

Wait...you can say 'SPORE' on this board, but the four-letter d-word that means 'condemn', kinna resembles 'dang', and which you can probably say on a kiddie cartoon is verboten? *boggle*

[quote]What will Maxis and EA do? They will probably spend a few years releasing parts packs and occasional expansions that slowly fill in a few of the gaps in gameplay that we expected. [/quote]

You really can't fill in the gaps in gameplay that way; the lapses and omissions would have such a fundamental effect on the game that they'd never quite get it right. They'd have to do a reboot/remake, essentially.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

RocketGirl, what boggles me is you claim that yourself and others on these forums are the "majority". That people are generally dissatisfied with Spore. Well, I beg to differ. It may readily appear that way on these forums, but how many people, over the million sold post on these forums? Have you thought about that? Even the xFire statistics illustrating a drop in players offers nothing in the ways of solid information. There are too many variables involved. What fraction of players stopped using xFire? What fraction of players simply haven't logged in on it in some time? And the list goes on. That "evidence" is anecdotal. It may outline a vague trend, but the numbers are hardly bulletproof.

So what do you hope to accomplish? Spore isn't an MMO. The developers aren't going to post updates and replies to player queries every week. It isn't an ongoing development in the sense that other games are. They make announcements when they choose, not chit chat with players because that person is so vastly important. The little group here on the forums is a puck mark compared to the sales the game reached, and what do they care about more? The game just launched. Obviously they care about sales. They're not going to be in a hurry to make little tweaks or fulfill promises right away just to ease the woes of a few butt hurt people.

I'm not disagreeing with you just to disagree, I'm just looking at things from a realistic point of view. Your charade here is tired and monotonous, and your crusade is hollow. Ranting on the forums or toying with EA Tech support will get you no where. You're going to have to do what everyone else is doing, and wait. They're not going to drop little morsels here and there because a few people are disgruntled. Their game is selling, and right now that's all that matters. Wouldn't you hope the same for a long term investment you spent years working on? Hope it succeeds, and tweak later. Sounds reasonable to me. You would do well to learn some patience.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

SnuggleFairie — GMT

Actually complaining does do stuff. Lack of complaining also does things.

Example: When Sims 2: Bon Voyage came out, I was one of the first people to post about it containing securom and how it messed up my pc- to the point of having to reformat it.
Long story short..... any time a person complained about securom, drm, limit installs.... a majority of the people told them to shut up. That they didn't want to hear about it. That they were fine with securom and didn't have problems.

Fast forward about 4 months... people started updating pcs, installed new software and hardware into the pcs, updated programs or drivers.... and then started getting securom issues. Now a lot of those very people who were screaming to shut up starting posting complaints and rants against EA.

MaxoidSam and other maxoids then finally posted that they were not getting rid of securom and that it was going to be on all EA games from then on. He said not enough people complained about it when BV launched. That too many people were ok with it or said they didn't want to hear about it.

People then said that they did have problems with it but that complaining doesn't solve anything. The maxoids said it could have if enough people spoke up.

Now fast forward to spore's release. We still have securom. We still have DRM and Install limits. And the maxoids are saying it will be the same way for the sims 3. Why? Not enough people spoke up when it would have made a difference.

This isn't coming from me. It came right off of maxoid sam's and other maxoid's posts. Complaining can make a difference if enough people do it.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Ashloc — GMT

I asked a very similar question and the answer is not to expect anything from them.

NOTHING . They will fix al these issues on their time and CHARGE paying customers every step of the way.

5 Installs or 3 installs I dont care either way is wrong. I will be formating my harddrive soon to remove this DRM crap and then I will download the Less buggy Non DRM Hacked copy then when the part pack it and expand it I will download those in hacked copies . I dont need other player unfinished buildings to enjoy the game frankly. ( but I dont enjoy it now ) So if they do give deeper gameplay options I will get them for free and EA can GO pound GROX

They will not get a SPORE dime more of my money .

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Iorchova — GMT

RocketGirl, you try too hard. Let it go, and either leave, or stay and mind your business. If Maxis chooses to answer, they will answer. Will Wright has always had creative control over his projects, even when under jurisdiction under EA. This has not changed. Spore became how it is because it better fufilled Will Wright's dream for the game. It may have failed in your eyes, but what's not to say it's not A's across the board when compared to Wright's vision? Wright has said expansions will open up to all sorts of people, both to those who are more casually oriented, and those who are more gaming oriented. The spore you see now is more of a "base", like how Sims was in the beginning. The Sims began as a buggy, trashy game with an amazing idea, however since the internet wasn't nearly as vast as it is now, "Hype" wasn't really spread. What's to say the Sims wasn't going to be more realistic, a-la Spore? The same is true for Spore. It will begin buggy, be patched, and expansions will turn it into a masterpiece. If this bugs you so much, and would rather have maxis spend all their time working to perfect their game with the initial release, then wait for Spore 2. I'll get back to you in 2023.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Michlo — GMT

I would add that MY experience of people being unhappy with this game comes from the few friends I have who bought it (or in the one case, pirated it). None of them are still playing it.

This forum isn't the be all and end of all for judging, that is right but it also shouldn't be discounted.

Cheers.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=111uminate]RocketGirl, what boggles me is you claim that yourself and others on these forums are the "majority". That people are generally dissatisfied with Spore. Well, I beg to differ. It may readily appear that way on these forums, but how many people, over the million sold post on these forums?
[/quote]

Enough to get a reasonable cross-section of the Spore-buying population.

And goodness knows that there have been enough polls and Spore-usage graphs posted recently that indicate that if I'm wrong, it's only a matter of degree, not of premise.

You're trying to dispute this on fuzziness of numbers; that's an extremely weak case [i]at best.[/i] The margin for error is pretty low, frankly, and the numbers in question rather extreme; the chances of the conclusions being wrong are pretty slim.

[quote]
So what do you hope to accomplish? Spore isn't an MMO. The developers aren't going to post updates and replies to player queries every week.
[/quote]

They don't have to. The question is about future plans in general: the players have spoken, Spoor failed in these specific areas, will anything be done about it or should we just give up on Spoor entirely?
A statement clearing [i]THAT[/i] up would be a one-shot, not a weekly update.

You seem to be paying only marginal attention to what you're trying to debate; this is all information you should already have by now. What gives?

[quote]
They make announcements when they choose, not chit chat with players because that person is so vastly important.
[/quote]

...wait, what? Did you just describe [i]ME[/i] as vastly important? *boggle* I mean, I'm flattered, but I'm not important.
At [i]most[/i] I might be prominent because I'm vocal and have a fair amount of community support for what I say, but it's not as if I have any power...or even really influence, when it comes down to it. People agree with me a lot, but I'm hardly persuading anybody who feels otherwise, which doesn't translate to power or influence.
So how can you possibly describe me as important?

[quote]
The little group here on the forums is a puck mark compared to the sales the game reached, and what do they care about more? The game just launched. Obviously they care about sales. They're not going to be in a hurry to make little tweaks or fulfill promises right away just to ease the woes of a few butt hurt people.
[/quote]

Except that the online figures for how many people are still playing the game are down. If they care about sales, they're going to care about selling peripherals, add-ons. And if people find the game dull or uninteresting, they're not going to sell those. They really should care what we all think and why if sales are what's important to them.

[quote]
I'm not disagreeing with you just to disagree, I'm just looking at things from a realistic point of view.
[/quote]

No, you're looking at things from [i]what you think[/i] is a realistic point of view...and it relies on the assumptions that the forum is not a cross-section of Sporedom. I don't buy that basic premise, and your entire argument falls apart without it.

[quote]
Your charade here is tired and monotonous, and your crusade is hollow.
[/quote]

To you; I have plenty of people responding with passionate agreement.

[quote]
Ranting on the forums or toying with EA Tech support will get you no where.
[/quote]

"...toying with EA tech support"? *boggle* Who's doing [i]that?[/i]

[quote]
You're going to have to do what everyone else is doing, and wait. They're not going to drop little morsels here and there because a few people are disgruntled.
[/quote]

Says you.

[quote]
Their game is selling, and right now that's all that matters. Wouldn't you hope the same for a long term investment you spent years working on? Hope it succeeds, and tweak later. Sounds reasonable to me.
[/quote]

Not to me; it makes sense to start planning your next move [i]NOW.[/i]

[quote]
You would do well to learn some patience.[/quote]

Patience, noun: A minor form of despair disguised as a virtue.

I don't [i]WANT[/i] to be patient, I want [i]ANSWERS;[/i] sitting around and waiting like a passive little lapdog does [i]NOT[/i] appeal.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

firedemon562 — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl]I'm asking directly and point-blank so it can't be evaded (and a silence on this question will be deafening): [i]When will we hear from Maxis about our opinion of Spore?[/i]

Seriously; they claim they listen to us, but when will they [i]speak?[/i]
We've been posting opinions and criticism--even helpful suggestions--amidst the bile and invective, and it sure would be nice to know if Maxis--who claim they're listening to us--is taking what we have to say to heart.

Obviously, my personal biggest issue is that Spore has become little more than a glorified art editor and sharing tool, the game itself being essentially an afterthought, and that I'd desperately like to see Science Spore have its day; I'd like word on if that will ever be a possibility, direct from Maxis.
But there are other issues people have talked about as well, from the DRM to the patch, to possible expansions, etc, etc.

[i]When will Maxis release a statement directly addressing these issues?[/i]
...ever?

I'm sorry, Maxis folk, but I'm awfully tired of diplomatic restraint (not that I've ever shown much of that, but my last perfunctory gestures in that direction have finally melted away) and it's time to be aggressive: I want an official word, one way or the other, and if you don't respond to me, here, directly, then [i]at least[/i] issue some sort of general announcement, please.[/quote]

there is a VERY good chance they don't say anything because of a contract they signed with EA.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Soldats — GMT

[quote=Iorchova]Will Wright has always had creative control over his projects, even when under jurisdiction under EA. This has not changed. Spore became how it is because it better fufilled Will Wright's dream for the game. It may have failed in your eyes, but what's not to say it's not A's across the board when compared to Wright's vision? [/quote]

And you care to tell me exactly how you know all that? I find your argument very hard to believe or credit and in truth always will be unless we hear something.

[quote=Iorchova]Will Wright has always had creative control over his projects, even when under jurisdiction under EA.[/quote]

You know what ironically enough this is almost exact statement I used to convince myself to to preorder spore over 8 months ago

@Iorchova and 111uminate
non sequitur -- Latin for "It doesn't follow" (e.g., Our nation will prevail because God is great. But nearly every nation pretends this to be true; the German formulation was "Gott mit uns"). Often those falling into the non sequitur fallacy have simply failed to recognize alternative possibilities;

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl]Enough to get a reasonable cross-section of the Spore-buying population.

And goodness knows that there have been enough polls and Spore-usage graphs posted recently that indicate that if I'm wrong, it's only a matter of degree, not of premise.

You're trying to dispute this on fuzziness of numbers; that's an extremely weak case [i]at best.[/i] The margin for error is pretty low, frankly, and the numbers in question rather extreme; the chances of the conclusions being wrong are pretty slim.[/quote]

You should actually read what I said. I stated, "it may outline a vague trend". I never said the numbers were wrong. It's statistically impossible that they're wrong. You mention extreme, and that's exactly the reason I decided to mention the xFire case. The way you people glom onto those numbers is as if they're rock solid evidence of what you claim, which they're not. There are too many variables involved.

[quote]They don't have to. The question is about future plans in general: the players have spoken, Spoor failed in these specific areas, will anything be done about it or should we just give up on Spoor entirely?
A statement clearing [i]THAT[/i] up would be a one-shot, not a weekly update.

You seem to be paying only marginal attention to what you're trying to debate; this is all information you should already have by now. What gives?[/quote]

Haha. I do have it. You seem to be missing it. What major game developer releasing a single-player game has ever walked people through every step of the way of what it plans to do in the future? That isn't how these games work. That's how MMO's work. That's how Valve's/Steam's games work. Not major releases like this. You're being unrealistic.

[quote]...wait, what? Did you just describe [i]ME[/i] as vastly important? *boggle* I mean, I'm flattered, but I'm not important.
At [i]most[/i] I might be prominent because I'm vocal and have a fair amount of community support for what I say, but it's not as if I have any power...or even really influence, when it comes down to it. People agree with me a lot, but I'm hardly persuading anybody who feels otherwise, which doesn't translate to power or influence.
So how can you possibly describe me as important?[/quote]

Ha Ha Haaa. Hook, line, and sinker. I didn't describe you as important. That statement was open ended, and vague. "Players", is plural, since you didn't notice. Get over yourself hon.

[quote]Except that the online figures for how many people are still playing the game are down. If they care about sales, they're going to care about selling peripherals, add-ons. And if people find the game dull or uninteresting, they're not going to sell those. They really should care what we all think and why if sales are what's important to them.[/quote]

Completely reasonable, and I agree. But what do you expect in the first two months time frame of the game's release? What you describe is what maybe happening now. A portion of the player base is dissatisfied, obviously. But you're asking for the solution right now, which in my opinion is unreasonable. Changes will come months down the road. If you have any idea how a "think tank" type setting works, or a team of creative people developing something transpires you might think otherwise. If they did release information about potential changes they'll be making, as they go along you'll be getting a pack of lies. Content is subject to change for too many reasons to conceive. This is why I say we're going to have to wait.

[quote]No, you're looking at things from [i]what you think[/i] is a realistic point of view...and it relies on the assumptions that the forum is not a cross-section of Sporedom. I don't buy that basic premise, and your entire argument falls apart without it.[/quote]

Haha. Hardly, doll. You're telling me I think the forums don't represent a portion of the player base? That's entirely wrong. I acknowledged that countless people here are upset with the game in my first post. How does that make my argument fall apart? Do you know what my argument even is? Let me tell you. The rag-tag bunch here is a fraction of the amount of players who don't post on the forums. Simple.

[quote]To you; I have plenty of people responding with passionate agreement.[/quote]

And that's all that matters isn't it? Ahhh, things become more clear. It's not so much your little crusade here as it is your reputation is it? I'm not sure which the bigger question is. Do you love listening to yourself, or others agree with you more? Hehe.

[quote]Not to me; it makes sense to start planning your next move [i]NOW.[/i][/quote]

And who says they aren't? They don't have to tell you, or anyone else about it. The fact that they haven't doesn't mean they aren't planning. You're assuming, dear.

[quote]Patience, noun: A minor form of despair disguised as a virtue.

I don't [i]WANT[/i] to be patient, I want [i]ANSWERS;[/i] sitting around and waiting like a passive little lapdog does [i]NOT[/i] appeal.[/quote]

A feisty one aren't you? Look, I know like others you've invested a great deal of imagination in this game during it's development prior to release. But you have to ask yourself one question. How much of that was exaggerated on your behalf?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

xxfluxx — GMT

okay im tired of reading on these forums about "if you dont like it dont play it" what are you stupid? that flawed and moronic argument leaves no room for improvement or fixes or compassion or understanding or anything. im sick and tired of you sheeple saying "just wait". FxxxUxxxCxxxKxxx YxOxUx. the whole reason why america is going to collapse along with the rest of the european countries is because of waiting. the only thing that *might* change the horrible nightmare spore turned out to be is let them know how it is. you dont just roll with the punches and wait, you throw some fists back. i hope some of you sheeple get where i am coming from

THIS IS ALL ABOUT MONEY, my personal opinion does not matter, but the consumer mass as a whole does, and the fact of the matter is we were mis advertised an editor for a video game. this is just about us wanting the product that we were promised. thats what buisness 101 is about sheeple. constructive criticism, have you heard of it? i spent 50 dollars for a big editor when i was told i was being sold a game, that is false advertising.

this game blows, everyone knows it, fanboys hate it but they really dont want to admit it.

flu

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Iorchova — GMT

[quote=Soldats][quote=Iorchova]Will Wright has always had creative control over his projects, even when under jurisdiction under EA. This has not changed. Spore became how it is because it better fufilled Will Wright's dream for the game. It may have failed in your eyes, but what's not to say it's not A's across the board when compared to Wright's vision? [/quote]

And you care to tell me exactly how you know all that? I find your argument very hard to believe or credit and in truth always will be unless we hear something.

[quote=Iorchova]Will Wright has always had creative control over his projects, even when under jurisdiction under EA.[/quote]

You know what ironically enough this is almost exact statement I used to convince myself to to preorder spore over 8 months ago

@Iorchova and 111uminate
non sequitur -- Latin for "It doesn't follow" (e.g., Our nation will prevail because God is great. But nearly every nation pretends this to be true; the German formulation was "Gott mit uns"). Often those falling into the non sequitur fallacy have simply failed to recognize alternative possibilities;[/quote]

Oh, you're a smart one. Yes, the argument is strawman, I designed it as such. It's just amusing watching people respond to whatever pisses them off. Also, you shouldn't need to explain non sequitur. Anyone who hasn't fallen victim to the horrible schooling system used these days should know what that means. You're just exaggerating the simple to make yourself sound smart. Now, upon reading this, you're going to quote this post I'm making right now, saying I'm doing the exact same thing, and that I'm acting like a hypocrite. I'll save you the time to type and simply say that I was using my words as a form of criticism, and not taking the needless time to explain something, and arbitrarily add in words just to increase peoples overall opinion of yourself. Then, after I would post that, you would say that I am doing the exact same thing, and I would rightfully agree with you. However, that doesn't change the fact that our score is still tipped 2-1. After the argument is closed, neither one of us will have a chance to strike back at the other, left in a frozen state, unable to get back at one another, unless of course you're able to pick your way through this post, finding a flaw I overlooked. Of course, to top the scales in your favor you would have to do this twice.

Of course, since you seem so delightfully confident that I fail to plan ahead, I'll also write down alternative possibilities. You could ignore this post altogether, ignore the lengthy explanation of your possible posting sequence, and simply reply to the original message, or even deliberately try to dismantle my predictions, going directly against them in an attempt to spite me. You could also try and make up for your wrongs by pointing out spelling errors. Don't worry, there are none. As for grammatical errors, you might also try and tear at those, but the further we discuss this, the further we're brought to how I began this post -- strawman arguments. Actually, since I've opened and closed with the same Idea, that would be a good place to stop, now, wouldn't it.

There, see how much easier it is when we sort through the arguments beforehand?

Now, please, don't let me stop you. Go bicker about your game.

Edit: You're going to respond to the fact that I edited this post.

Another Edit: I omitted positive possibilities. In the event that you're actually minutely impressed with my work, you might praise me for my work. However I believe this is unlikely, given the conflict between us.

Yet Another Edit: You could also put me down for my use of redundant language. Now that I'd actually let you have.

Edit #4: You could also diverge the conversation by picking up my comment on the schooling system. Of course, ironically, that would be non-sequitur, which was your a big point of your message in this post.

Edit #5: You could even blame me for my inconsistancy in my edit naming and labeling system, or the fact that I have 7 edits, yet 5 notes.

Edit #6: It also occured to me that you could criticize me for not timing these edit dates. People don't know when Edit #5 was made, so they can't corroborate its truth without having someone giving solid evidence that it was true through use of a non-edited, .bmp screencap. Of course, as soon as I hit submit, that will become impossible. So you could also mock me for not having warned people about this ahead of time.

Edit #7: Oh, this one's obvious. Criticizing me by saying I'm amusing myself. That's a classic. It also holds truth.

Edit #8: Noting that I could've taken the time to foretell these mistakes in advance, then using that as an example to show how my entire post can be likened to Spore, which began buggy, then had to be fixed with patches and expansions, and only after much work finally becoming complete. You could also respond to this edit in and of itself that I'm contradicting my stance on the game, when in reality I'm simply seeing things from your point of view.

Edit #9: Criticizing my arrogance. Also a possibility of becoming perturbed by the fact that I have a 9 edits, which is an odd number and annoy some people. To fix this, I'll make a blank Edit #10 just for you.

Edit #10: Blank.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=111uminate]
You should actually read what I said. I stated, "it may outline a vague trend". I never said the numbers were wrong.
[/quote]

You were still very dismissive.

[quote]
The way you people glom onto those numbers is as if they're rock solid evidence of what you claim, which they're not. There are too many variables involved.
[/quote]

So your entire argument is predicated on [i]your[/i] interpretation of what [i]we[/i] mean, on how we make you [i]feel.[/i]

...pardon me if I don't give a flying SPORE.

[quote]
Haha. I do have it. You seem to be missing it. What major game developer releasing a single-player game has ever walked people through every step of the way of what it plans to do in the future?
[/quote]

You're an idiot; I just got done saying--and have already said multiple times--that a brief yes/no statement is all that's required, not a "walkthrough".

[quote]
[quote]...wait, what? Did you just describe [i]ME[/i] as vastly important? *boggle* I mean, I'm flattered, but I'm not important.
At [i]most[/i] I might be prominent because I'm vocal and have a fair amount of community support for what I say, but it's not as if I have any power...or even really influence, when it comes down to it. People agree with me a lot, but I'm hardly persuading anybody who feels otherwise, which doesn't translate to power or influence.
So how can you possibly describe me as important?[/quote]

Ha Ha Haaa. Hook, line, and sinker. I didn't describe you as important. That statement was open ended, and vague. "Players", is plural, since you didn't notice. Get over yourself hon. [/quote]

First of all, I was reacting not to the word 'players' but to 'that person'. Admittedly, your statement was [i]VERY[/i] vaguely worded, but even so...
And you can hardly play 'gotcha!' games when my entire reaction boiled down to disbelief and denial of the 'very important' charge. I was incredulous, not self-important.

[quote]
Completely reasonable, and I agree. But what do you expect in the first two months time frame of the game's release?
[/quote]

Throwing us a friggin' bone. A brief, "Maxis hears you, sympathizes, empathizes, and is working on correcting Spore's deficiencies based on your criticisms," or even, "Sorry; Spore is what Spore is and that's not going to change" ...worded however thy like, of course.

That's all it would take, [i]and I've said so multiple times.[/i]

[quote]
What you describe is what maybe happening now. A portion of the player base is dissatisfied, obviously. But you're asking for the solution right now, which in my opinion is unreasonable.
[/quote]

It [i]IS[/i] unreasonable...but that's not what I'm asking for. I'm asking for [i]FEEDBACK AND AN UPDATE,[/i] nothing more.

[quote]
Haha. Hardly, doll. You're telling me I think the forums don't represent a portion of the player base? That's entirely wrong.
[/quote]

It's consistent with your arguments, responses, and attitude.

[quote]
And who says they aren't?
[/quote]

Who says they [i]ARE?[/i]
We have absolutely no information [i]WHATSOEVER.[/i] That's the [i]POINT:[/i] getting Maxis to friggin' [i]SAY SOMETHING.[/i]
Haven't you been paying attention? The entire point of this thread, from beginning to end, has been to get Maxis to break their silence and tell us what's on their minds with regards to our criticism of Spore. That's it. Nothing more.

[quote]
They don't have to tell you, or anyone else about it. The fact that they haven't doesn't mean they aren't planning. You're assuming, dear.[/quote]

No, I'm not. I'm agitating for them to say something, whether they have to or not. Just to end the suspense, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief. It's that simple.

[i]YOU[/i] are the one who is assuming, assuming what my thinking is and what my intentions are when you don't know them at all.
And you have no excuse; I've been completely and utterly transparent about my motives and expectations, and none of them have anything to do with what I think Maxis is doing or not. I've flat out stated repeatedly that there are things I'd like to see and criticisms that I have, most of which have been echoed by a significant number of other Spore-players, and that I think it's high time Maxis weighed in on all of that.

So I've made no statement regarding whether I think Maxis is doing something or nothing at all, only that I want they to [i]tell us,[/i] one way or the other. That's all. From beginning to end, that's been the entire point of this thread.

[quote]
A feisty one aren't you?
[/quote]

Absolutely.

[quote]
Look, I know like others you've invested a great deal of imagination in this game during it's development prior to release. But you have to ask yourself one question. How much of that was exaggerated on your behalf?[/quote]

Insignificant and irrelevant. The real question is, how much was flat-out [i]STATED[/i] my Maxis--usually by Will Wright himself--that wasn't even [i]WAVED[/i] at Spore, much less made it into the final game?

Now, I'm getting awfully sick of responding to you. You've been wrong multiple times, made baseless assumptions, tried to play gotcha-games with me that have blown up in your face, your reasoning goes beyond tortured, and you clearly haven't understood the whole point of the OP from the very beginning. All in all, that makes talking to you extremely annoying because I basically spend all my time having to correct what you got wrong from last time rather than actually debating anything. So either start being [i]worth[/i] talking to--like by taking my points as I mean them instead of twisting them into pretzels--or prepare to be ignored.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

xxfluxx — GMT

wow you guys are really cool, stop flaming each other your not going to change eachothers opininons, why not focus on fixing the problem instead of creating one between one another btw rocketgirl im with you 100% but you wont change his mind. in my line of work we call his kind "sheeple"

:]

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Soldats — GMT

[quote=Iorchova]
Oh, you're a smart one. Yes, the argument is strawman, I designed it as such. It's just amusing watching people respond to whatever pisses them off. Also, you shouldn't need to explain non sequitur. Anyone who hasn't fallen victim to the horrible schooling system used thesedays should know what that means. You're just exaggerating the simple to make yourself sound smart. Now, upon reading this, you're going to quote this post I'm making right now, saying I'm doing the exact same thing, and that I'm acting like a hypocrite. I'll save you the time to type and simply say that I was using my words as a form of criticism, and not taking the needless time to explain something, and arbitrarily add in words just to increase peoples overall opinion of yourself. Then, after I would post that, you would say that I am doing the exact same thing, and I would rightfully agree with you. However, that doesn't change the fact that our score is still tipped 2-1. After the argument is closed, neither one of us will have a chance to strike back at the other, left in a frozen state, unable to get back at one another, unless of course you're able to pick your way through this post, finding a flaw I overlooked. Of course, to top the scales in your favor you would have to do this twice.

Of course, since you seem so delightfully confident that I fail to plan ahead, I'll also write down alternative possibilities. You could ignore this post altogether, ignore the lengthy explanation of your possible posting sequence, and simply reply to the original message, or even deliberately try to dismantle my predictions, going directly against them in an attempt to spite me. You could also try and make up for your wrongs by pointing out spelling errors. Don't worry, there are none. As for grammatical errors, you might also try and tear at those, but the further we discuss this, the further we're brought to how I began this post -- strawman arguments. Actually, since I've opened and closed with the same Idea, that would be a good place to stop, now, wouldn't it.

There, see how much easier it is when we sort through the arguments beforehand?

Now, please, don't let me stop you. Go bicker about your game.[/quote]

What is with the personal attacks man? I have not said one thing in detriment to you. This is not a game to me where I have to keep score of how many I got over on the other guy I just wanna see the game changed or at least have some power to change the game myself. As to why you are strawmaning your [i]own[/i] argument I have no clue.

Edit: Can we make it a rule for no further personal attacks? I really don't want to see this thread locked

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=xxfluxx]why not focus on fixing the problem instead of creating one between one another[/quote]

Well, largely because the problem can only be fixed by EA or Maxis. The problem, of course, being a lack of information on the future of Spore.

Well, that, and the fact that many people think Spore kinna sucks. But they've been willing to explain [i]why,[/i] and what to do about it, and all of that just feeds right into wanting to know the future of Spore...because only Maxis/EA can fix those deficits, which can only happen in the future. So...

...well, what do you expect any of us to do to fix it when Maxis/EA holds all the cards, here? Yanno?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

xxfluxx — GMT

well the more you complain the more you get noticed, and btw thats a good thing, but complain about how these greedy corporations stole your money, not about how this guy doesnt want to believe he was robbed

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl]Now, I'm getting awfully sick of responding to you. You've been wrong multiple times, made baseless assumptions, tried to play gotcha-games with me that have blown up in your face, your reasoning goes beyond tortured, and you clearly haven't understood the whole point of the OP from the very beginning. All in all, that makes talking to you extremely annoying because I basically spend all my time having to correct what you got wrong from last time rather than actually debating anything. So either start being [i]worth[/i] talking to--like by taking my points as I mean them instead of twisting them into pretzels--or prepare to be ignored. [/quote]

Well, by golly, I do say I believe I struck a nerve. How did I manage that I wonder? No need to bring out the claws pookie. There's nothing wrong with two human beings disagreeing. You seem to like telling me I'm wrong though. Why do you insist upon attempting to seem so "right?" In case you haven't noticed, much of what I've said to you in this thread, and others has been opinions. I've never called you out on little tidbits of information or other such things, and the only depth of me labeling you "wrong" is the way you interpret what I'm saying. You can have whatever opinion you like, go about it however you want, I'm merely sharing what I think of it. If you don't want to hear that, then by all means, ignore me. It just lends further credence to what I was saying.

And as for taking points and twisting them into pretzels, you've done a real bang up job of snipping my posts and replying to them within their snipped context. You're censoring and editing what I say to you and replying to that, not what I'm actually saying. Rofl. But do whatever you like. Obviously parading about on these forums like a Queen gives you something very important, and I won't get in the way of that.

[quote=xxfluxx]wow you guys are really cool, stop flaming each other your not going to change eachothers opininons, why not focus on fixing the problem instead of creating one between one another btw rocketgirl im with you 100% but you wont change his mind. in my line of work we call his kind "sheeple"

:][/quote]

Hahaha. Alright charlatan. Here's some perspective for you. You, RocketGirl, and more than 75% of this forum all share the same opinion: Spore sucks and you want it changed, and want answers. I'm offering a counterpoint to some of your standpoints. Who's the "sheeple" now?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

SporeMasterNumerator — GMT

We aren't straying from the topic are we?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

xxfluxx — GMT

so youd rather bicker about nonsense when all im asking for are answers or a better game

thats not unreasonable at all, dont worry i wont satisfy your need to be made fun of.

i hope youll realize that name calling wont make you a bigger man

counter points = no thanks

help = yes please

ideas = yes please

i think you get where im getting at

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

[quote=xxfluxx]i hope youll realize that name calling wont make you a bigger man
[/quote]

I agree, "sheeple" is a little condescending.

Edit: Oh, and "idiot" too.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

xxfluxx — GMT

okay back on topic

i wouldnt wait for maxis to say anything, they are to busy counting all of their useless american currency

so in closing, keep complaining and you *might* get the change you want

if your happy then good for you

but as for me, a definate revamp is in order

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Soldats — GMT

[quote=SporeMasterNumerator]We aren't straying from the topic are we?
[/quote]

Yes we are and I'm sorry I got this topic derailed in the first place.

[b]BACK ON TOPIC[/b]

A response!!!!!!!!

[url]http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/7722.page[/url]

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=111uminate]
Well, by golly, I do say I believe I struck a nerve. How did I manage that I wonder?
[/quote]

Mostly by misrepresenting my entire point and forcing me to clarifying my position with each and every post you make, as if you're congenitally incapable of ever actually playing catch-up and debating the topic rather than your misbegotten notion of the topic.

[quote]
You seem to like telling me I'm wrong though. Why do you insist upon attempting to seem so "right?"
[/quote]

Because what you're wrong about is my position, what I'm getting at. If I were wrong on facts, that's one thing, but you keep trying to refute--or at least reply to--things I'm not saying at all, and I find that quite deeply annoying.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

I think they call it a .. facepalm? Yeah, give me one of those. I'm just gonna' .. disagree. Hahaha. I'm too tired, and good night.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

I agree with the Original Poster... 120%, but not with the freaking wars. lots of posts about the subject and always one to screw it up. (probably paid by EA to come in and raise SPORE)

I have seen countless videos saying exactly that "SPORE SUCKS". I also have read a great many posts, not only on this forum, that say this game needs work. Most use words I cannot post here!!!

I have played Sims games for years, and now have just about lost hope on this one in a few weeks.. yet I still play simtower sometimes.. and the sims 2 ALL the time! put thousands of hours into the sims over the years.

When the sims 1 came out I was playing that for months and months and months and months, with NO expansion packs vanilla!!!. Spore --- played 2 weeks.. and it left me bored, dissapointed, and mislead.. as it unveiled its true nature

The voices need to start... screaming from the hills, and high mountains. Beating on the walls of Maxis and EA till the king comes out and says yea or nay!!!

Problem with EA, is that there is NO-ZERO-NADA customer support, you buy the game and you don't like it.. you keep it. !!SPORE!! even walmart takes just about anything back even without a reciept and NO, and I mean Absolutely, NO questions asked.

Now all the dissapointed fans come here raise even more of a Holy SPORE, cause they have NO recourse... is that a way to run a business, SPORE NO!!.. If Walmart did that... no one would shop there.

I believe that half of this fire could have been quenched, by them just letting us have the right to sell the game, or return it if unsatisfied.. both rights they have slowly stripped away over the years.

On top of all that, they now tell us .... sssshhhhh ... nothing.............

WOW that is customer appreciation and support for you. If you like being tossed around.. fine.!!! I personally do not.

Thank you to the OP, well spoken, quite a voice amid the sea of posts.!!!

***Edited for grammer and content***

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Mad_Scientist666 — GMT

Have you tried PMing someone from Maxis? That'd be a good start.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=Mad_Scientist666]Have you tried PMing someone from Maxis? That'd be a good start.[/quote]

Probably would get a form response.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

SnuggleFairie — GMT

I too agree with the original poster 100%.

I also want to say that several magazine and gaming websites had polls for spore. There is so much controversy over the game as well as lawsuits due to securom and drm. One poll had just about 27k people take part. 87% of the people said that they were dissatified with the game and the gameplay. Out of all 6 polls, the general average was about 83% didn't like the game or thought the game was boring/lacking or were just dissatified completely with the game.

So yeah, while I agree that not everyone who has the game posts here.... there is a whole community for spore outside of these forums. And the general consensus is the gameplay is repetitive, lame, lacking, and too easy. The DRM, securom, and install limits suck. And that gamers are angry for being tossed aside for more causal players... even though EA could not have made this game or anything else without the support of the long time die hard fans.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

I don't think the issue is that Spore is useless. I find it simple and enjoyable. It has actually taken up a lot more of my time than some other games despite it's simplicity. To me there were 2 major mistakes made with Spore..

1) DRM. Angered a lot of people and these are probably at least half of those who rate Spore down in polls making them pretty pointless as hard facts about the game itself. Half thepeople complaining probably are jumping on a bandwagon rather than knowing the true issues.

2) Mismanaged expectations prior to release. People expected hard science, complex stages etc. In truth people expected games almost as complex as normal single games for each of the stages rather than what we received even if they don't want to admit it to themselves. With the release of the creature creator it became obvious that people wanted Masters of Orion for the Space phase, Civilization for the Civ stage and lets say Settlers for the tribe game.

I don't see the "cute" being wrong argument as this was obvious with the release of the creature creator and the video trailer so people should have known what they were in for.

I would say I would have prefered more complexity not just in the gameplay but for the interaction between players in terms of buddies and sporecasts. Being able to rate/comment on crreations in game easily would have been a great help. More interaction between people occured with just the creature creator than what is happening now.

All told spore isn't bad as entertainment. It's fun and can soak up time. The main problem is that it isn't what people expected.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

darklord12345 — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]I don't think the issue is that Spore is useless. I find it simple and enjoyable. It has actually taken up a lot more of my time than some other games despite it's simplicity. To me there were 2 major mistakes made with Spore..

1) DRM. Angered a lot of people and these are probably at least half of those who rate Spore down in polls making them pretty pointless as hard facts about the game itself. Half thepeople complaining probably are jumping on a bandwagon rather than knowing the true issues.

2) Mismanaged expectations prior to release. People expected hard science, complex stages etc. In truth people expected games almost as complex as normal single games for each of the stages rather than what we received even if they don't want to admit it to themselves. With the release of the creature creator it became obvious that people wanted Masters of Orion for the Space phase, Civilization for the Civ stage and lets say Settlers for the tribe game.

I don't see the "cute" being wrong argument as this was obvious with the release of the creature creator and the video trailer so people should have known what they were in for.

I would say I would have prefered more complexity not just in the gameplay but for the interaction between players in terms of buddies and sporecasts. Being able to rate/comment on crreations in game easily would have been a great help. More interaction between people occured with just the creature creator than what is happening now.

All told spore isn't bad as entertainment. It's fun and can soak up time. The main problem is that it isn't what people expected.[/quote]

Are we playing the same "toy"? My 7 yr old has now seen Steve, found Earth and dropped the game in a period of 2 weeks!! How long do you think it held his fathers attention for? Around 3 days.

I expected it to be somewhat more complex after watching a clip on youtube of Will showing his masterpiece off to NASA guys.........I would be too embarassed to walk into NASA with this SPORE in my hand.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

[quote=darklord12345]Are we playing the same "toy"? My 7 yr old has now seen Steve, found Earth and dropped the game in a period of 2 weeks!! How long do you think it held his fathers attention for? Around 3 days.[/quote]

My 5 year old daughter enjoys watching me play and giving me "instructions". Also she enjoys creating things, not just creatures. As mentioned, more complexity would have been good but the game can still be enjoyable if you are in the right mindset.

[quote=darklord12345]I expected it to be somewhat more complex after watching a clip on youtube of Will showing his masterpiece off to NASA guys.........I would be too embarassed to walk into NASA with this SPORE in my hand.[/quote]

And here you prove my point.. Mismanaged expectations.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]
And here you prove my point.. Mismanaged expectations.

[/quote]

You can call it whatever you want.
Fact is, they told us what game they were making and never indicated that they had diverted from the plan.

The hype around Spore had nothing to do with the complaints you see around the game.

So to cap it, Maxis/EA have managed our expectations, from 2005 to right up to the launch they have never made a statement or a video telling us that they decided to skip the basic concept of Spore. Sure the create anything you like component is still there...I geuss you can look at the game and say its still there.

I believe it was 2006 when the first cute cellphase was showed to us. This has no relation to the rest of the game.
It only indicated that they had changed the overall look of the game. The gameplay you have in cellphase is the only phase where the original gameplay is present, size and shape mather. So you can't say they have told us at that point Spore had changed. In fact if I didn't know better, they were still promoting the original concept.

Also the very fact that they released the windows and mac version at the same time should have brought up big red flags telling us they were afraid of a flop. Why is that?

Basicly they have decided that the people that were waiting for the game, were not a good target audience.
Sure there are many reasons why they diverted from the original concept.
But they never corrected our expectations, no let me put it differently.
The blame is on them. They stimulated the idea that it was a simulation game/program/toy.

If you look at the facts you can not denie this, it should not be excused either.

But I'm not attacking you, I'm only trying to explain whats wrong in that statement.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

The whole point I was making Parvati is that EA/Maxis misrepresented Spore and as a result a lot of people are annoyed and frustrated. You see it on this board and elsewhere. People resent not being told the game wasn't as shown. So just to restate as you appear not to realise what I initially said...

Maxis/EA made two main mistakes with Spore...

1) DRM
2) Mismanaged people's expectations.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Hindsight89 — GMT

I agree with the fact that, in this case (contrary to the usual cliché "No news is good news), some sort of drop of news, be it good or bad, from Maxis and/or EA, would be nice. I think I played Spore for about three weeks and then stopped. I switched out for Dungeon Siege 2: Broken World...playing the single player. Spore had become, to me, a game of constant repetition. Colonize, Save Planets, Prevent War, Start War, etc., etc...
In fact, my hard drive has limited space, and to make room for other things, I uninstalled Spore.

Please, remember this is coming from a guy who has played several games both on console and PC, many of the games reaching 200+ hours. In fact, at this very moment, I'm starting up two games (yes, two console games...switch back and forth when I want a break from one).
Tales of Symphonia: 198 hours
Grandia Xtreme: 213 hours

All in all, I'm saying that Spore has potential, but the fact that an avid gamer dropped it in less than a month says something...I hope.

I eagerly await some sort of news, be it good or bad. I just want to know if anything is going to be fixed, or if I wasted 60+ bucks.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]The whole point I was making Parvati is that EA/Maxis misrepresented Spore and as a result a lot of people are annoyed and frustrated. You see it on this board and elsewhere. People resent not being told the game wasn't as shown. So just to restate as you appear not to realise what I initially said...

Maxis/EA made two main mistakes with Spore...

1) DRM
2) Mismanaged people's expectations.
[/quote]

Ah my bad, I must have misunderstood your intentions
I seem to have misunderstood what you were trying to say, excuse me.
Hope we are cool, cause it wasn't my intention to start an arguement over it.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

No problem, just wanted to clarify. Whilst I enjoy Spore I would have loved what everyone thinks they were promised more.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]No problem, just wanted to clarify. Whilst I enjoy Spore I would have loved what everyone thinks they were promised more.[/quote]

Well yea, me too.
As you would have noticed.

But its not so much what we think we were promised.
Will did promise a Sim everything.
Spore is many but not a Sim everything. But its not worth to keep bringing it up.
I'm only interested in finding common ground with the new and the old.
I would be lieing if i said I don't care about Spore.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

ausdreamer — GMT

I guess we all formed opinions from looking at different sources of information.

Personally for me, Spore is what I expected. A cute creature maker with mini games to use the creatures. That is how I read the information given on the Spore website and other sources the last 6 months.

I nearly did not buy Spore because I thought it was for kids and would not appeal to me. I did not bother with the creature creator but when Spore was released curiosity got the better of me - and honestly it was more fun for a while then I was expecting - though I am bored with it now and can only see some added game play elements in the form of an expansion to keep my interest up. Certainly not a parts pack- hehe

I personally cannot complain though - I got what I expected including knowledge of the 3 activations in the DRM. Though securom itself does not bother me, I will state - unless there is some kind of deauthorisation tool released I would not buy a game with limited activations again so I am interested in feedback on their intentions with the activations. If they apply to expansions and base game it sounds like a nightmare keeping track of them and I really cannot be bothered with that hassle.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

[quote=ausdreamer]I guess we all formed opinions from looking at different sources of information.

Personally for me, Spore is what I expected. A cute creature maker with mini games to use the creatures. That is how I read the information given on the Spore website and other sources the last 6 months.

[/quote]

Yeap, thats the only defence I can think for their side.
The last 6 months before the release they started showing up to date info.
But no mather.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cysgodi — GMT

111uminate I want to have your babies.

Great posts, keep it up.

A new day and most likely brand new posts from Rocket saying the same thing, over and over again.

My aren't we all excited?

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

I am, but i'm not going to participate anymore.

It appears I am giving the impresion I don't like the game or that I enjoy to bash people, wich i don't.

So the best of luck with whatever is going on here.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=ausdreamer]I guess we all formed opinions from looking at different sources of information.[/quote]

Well, I was looking primarily at the videos and demos made by Will Wright...and even as recently as 2007, he was still spouting the line that he had created Spore as a kind of Montessori toy, to give people room to experiment with lots of failure space.

...but by then, the look of the game had already solidified into what we see today, and looking back on it, so had the gameplay. But in the demos, there was no indication that [i]anything[/i] had changed this substantially; Spoor was still [i]demo'ed[/i] as if it were this amazing SimEverything game.

And that's to say nothing of the hype in the month before Spore's release; to hear the Maxis folks tell it in this vids, Spore is the best game evar.

I don't know which information you were watching, but nothing I saw showed that Spore had been so dramatically changed.

[quote]
Personally for me, Spore is what I expected. A cute creature maker with mini games to use the creatures. That is how I read the information given on the Spore website and other sources the last 6 months.[/quote]

Well, that's the difference.

Go back and do a little research, watch the vids from 2005 to now. Try to put yourself in the place of someone who [i]STARTED[/i] on the 2005 demo and then went from there.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Ccurving — GMT

While we're talking about 2005...who here signed up for the Spore mailing list as soon as it was made available, like I did? Does anyone else think it would have been nice of them to send us an e-mail with the title "Come see how we've butchered Spore!" when they started with the whole cutesy, form != function thing? I feel like taking the game in a 180 from the direction that hooked most of us so early on is definitely the kind of thing you want to let people know about.

Well, maybe it's [i]not[/i] the kind of thing you want to let people know about...

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl]

Go back and do a little research, watch the vids from 2005 to now. Try to put yourself in the place of someone who [i]STARTED[/i] on the 2005 demo and then went from there.[/quote]

I know i was going to bud out, but I had to quote this.
This explains perfectly why I reacted the way I did.

Now, i'm really out of this convo, am going to read it though

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cysgodi — GMT

What about all this don't you get? This is NOT 2005. Again we get that you feel that EA/Maxis/Wright misled you. God only knows WE GET IT. But guess what, it's done. It's past. Give it a rest already.

You all keep pointing out the same things over and over and over again. You just keep coming up with different ways of saying it.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

igbee — GMT

Sadly Maxis has forgot what customer service means since joining up with EA.

I doubt anyone is going to get anymore then a canned answer to anything and this includes the questions submited to Maxis.

At some point in time EA/MAXIS is banking on the boards calming down and most everyone that is unhappy will simply go away. This is the way EA has done things for years now and sadly Maxis is taking a page from the play book. The bottom line any anwer they give is going to make some happy and others more unhappy Maxis is in a position that they can't win no matter what they do. I would be shocked if we get answers with real substence on the boards and also to the quetsions submited, some PR person will be coming up with feel food responses.

Spore is what it is and I don't see it getting any better no matter how many expansion packs they put out the base game wont change enough to make the "science" crowd happy. Sadly the only reason I purchased Spore was because Maxis, I wont buy a product from EA and have not done so in a long time. Looks like Maxis is now on that list.

Will sold out, its as simple as that. The game is not even close to what it was marketed as. However, dont think for a second this wont be a sucsessful game for them plus they will make a ton on all the little packs and expansions that will come out for Spore over the years.

Igbe

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Cysgodi]What about all this don't you get? This is NOT 2005. [/quote]

No, it isn't.

The part you don't seem to get is that [i]THAT'S THE STINKING [b]PROBLEM.[/b][/i]

The Spore shown in 2005, the Spore talked about in 2005, was a much, much better, more interesting game than what we got in 2008.
And as recently as 2007, there was nothing--[b][u][i]NOTHING[/b][/u][/i]--to indicate that the direction of Spore had changed so radically. And the fact is that people [i]still want[/i] to play the game that was talked up in 2005.

We've made it known, and the response is a resounding silence from EA and Maxis.

Well, I for one am going to keep at them [i]UNTIL[/i] there's a response, one way or the other.

You don't like that; I get it. [i]SO STOP COMING IN THIS THREAD TO HARASS US ABOUT IT![/i]
Seriously, how hard is that? Just stop clicking on this thread! Ignore it! You don't have to have anything to do with it! Whatinhell is [i]WRONG[/i] with you? *boggle*

[quote]
You all keep pointing out the same things over and over and over again. You just keep coming up with different ways of saying it. [/quote]

So do you. Only...what you have to say isn't constructive, it amounts to little more than "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
Guess what...Not Gonna Happen™. I want and answer and I'm gonna [i]GET[/i] an answer one way or the other; if you don't like it, well, tough, because stronger people than you have tried to shut me up and they've all failed. You aren't going to succeed where they failed.
Now, there's a whole forum out there for you to peruse, you don't have to be in this thread; I can only assume that you [i]ARE[/i] because you get your sick jollies out of harassing other people whose opinions you happen to not like. What are you, twelve?
If you don't have anything constructive to say on the topic, [i]GET OUT.[/i] You're not helping, you're just trolling.

This is my last word on the subject unless you change your tune.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

SporeMasterNumerator — GMT

Cysgodi, perhaps it would be better for you to stay clear of this thread. You have made your point.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cysgodi — GMT

HAHAH, you need to look in the mirror darlin cause you have troll written all over you. Just because I do not agree with your stand and you can't beat me into submission, you tell me to get out of a thread? I only point at the faulty arguments used whenever someone formulates a conspiracy theory (see yourself). You don't create a hypothesis by filling in gaps of information with ideas and then ask to be proven wrong. You like hiding behind a monitor spit-balling theories and presenting them as facts while arguing that everyone who disagrees with you knows your right and just won't admit it.

You just constantly regurgitate the same information over and over again, sometimes not even changing your approach in hopes that everyone will just start agreeing with you.

Ain't gonna happy sweetheart, sorry.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cysgodi — GMT

[quote=SporeMasterNumerator]Cysgodi, perhaps it would be better for you to stay clear of this thread. You have made your point.

[/quote]

You're telling me to stay clear of a thread? I am not allowed to express my support of this game anymore? And you are going to let people like Rocket keep spreading her poison all over?

You're kidding right?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Cysgodi]HAHAH, you need to look in the mirror darlin cause you have troll written all over you.
[/quote]

In some ways, yes, I am a troll, but only in the sense that I'm trying to goad Maxis into giving us some information, nothing more.
Traditionally, a troll is someone who gets their jollies by trying to get a rise out of someone; I'm actually a [i]constructive[/i] troll, if such a thing might exist. I'm not trying to stir the SPOOR for kicks, I'm actually after specific information. S'all.

[quote]
Just because I do not agree with your stand and you can't beat me into submission, you tell me to get out of a thread?
[/quote]

No, I tell you to get out of the thread because you're engaging in what essentially amounts to personal attacks at this point. You have nothing constructive to say; your entire premise amounts to, "This thread shouldn't exist and you shouldn't ever speak!"
You aren't helping, you aren't providing a counterpoint, you aren't even making a [i]valid[/i] point. You claim that all you're doing is disagreeing, but that's not it at all...you're essentially advocating censorship, a cessation of discussion, and solely because you don't [i]LIKE[/i] it. You're trying to paint yourself as the loyal opposition, but you're really just a heckler throwing tomatoes, and [i]THAT'S[/i] why I--and now a moderator--am telling you to bug off.

[quote]
I only point at the faulty arguments used whenever someone formulates a conspiracy theory (see yourself). You don't create a hypothesis by filling in gaps of information with ideas and then ask to be proven wrong. You like hiding behind a monitor spit-balling theories and presenting them as facts while arguing that everyone who disagrees with you knows your right and just won't admit it. [/quote]

And you don't even know what you're arguing against.

I'm merely saying that Spore kinna stinks, here's why, here's what to do about it, here's a bunch of people with similar feelings on the matter, and I think we'd all like some feedback from Maxis on the subject, could we have some please?

That's my entire premise. No conspiracy theories, no hypotheses, no presenting guesses as facts, nothing. You genuinely have [i]NO IDEA[/i] what you're getting at.

[quote]
You just constantly regurgitate the same information over and over again, sometimes not even changing your approach in hopes that everyone will just start agreeing with you.[/quote]

Take a look, honey; [i]LOTS[/i] of people are agreeing with me. And I didn't ask them to; they happened to agree already. I may be their vocal champion, but by no means am I their [i]leader.[/i]

Now, do please go away and let the grown ups have our nice chat about the issues; it's way past your bedtime and you've had too much sugar for today.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

JPFrostfox — GMT

[quote=Cysgodi][quote=SporeMasterNumerator]Cysgodi, perhaps it would be better for you to stay clear of this thread. You have made your point.

[/quote]

You're telling me to stay clear of a thread? I am not allowed to express my support of this game anymore? And you are going to let people like Rocket keep spreading her poison all over?

You're kidding right?[/quote]

I think he's trying to save you from yourself, as you are instigating rather than discussing. Your motivation seems to be getting people to rise to your bait rather than legitimate debate, you let anger take the wheel and it's taking you down the wrong bend.

I've strongly disagreed with Rocketgirl on some things and I wasn't shy about letting her know - but you do it in an adult manner regardless of the response (and to be fair I've also agreed with her on some things) . People should be allowed their feedback as long as it is civil and does not break rules - whether it be positive or negative in nature.

Make your position known, and let it go. There's no sense in trying to prove wrong an opinion, it's an exercise in futility and causes more trouble. That's the way I see it anyway, there's no call for ugliness on either side - and I've seen rather plenty lately (the parts pack thread got very nasty for a while).

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cysgodi — GMT

I'm sorry Rocket but in your own way you are being just as disrespectful. I know exactly what I am saying and I know what I support. I have never been against your opinion about what you think is wrong with the game. On some of the points I do agree with you. What I am totally against is the fact that you keep harping on it, over and over again. I have lots of constructive things to say but you will just twist them up and turn them all around to suit yourself. Yes a lot of people currently on the forums agree with you, I don't argue that fact. What you don't seem to realize is if someone is happy with a game, they rarely if at all come onto a forum and say it. They have no reason to. The average player who is enjoying Spore probably doesn't even know these forums exist.

So yes you are correct in saying a lot of people on these forums agree with you. It's because unhappy people are the most vocal. There is no sense of me firing back at you point for point because you won't listen solely because you believe that if you don't like that game, no one else can either.

I like the game. I like the the fun factor, I like seeing my creature evolve. I like trying different ways of getting through the creature phase, I like terraforming planets. Do I have opinions on how to make it a better game? You bet but everyone else that have suggested things have covered everything I would suggest, so there really isn't a reason for me to put it all out there again.

And about the subject of this topic. Maxis has been talking, in different threads about different things. So they have been communicating, just not in the way you want.

Edit: yes JP I saw that...hence the above response.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

JPFrostfox — GMT

Anyway, to add my thoughts. I could deal with more communication with the fans (and even some of the people who are very vocal with their negatives are indeed fans). However, I've learned when EA gets its big claws on a developer it's like all the communication satellites get sucked into the void and everything goes dead quiet - leaving you with the feeling that you've been left in an escape pod to drift hopelessly through the inky depths of space.

This is why I like smaller indy developers and medium sized publishing houses, the sort that Maxis used to be before being eaten alive. Once it gets assimilated by the mega-corp it's too late, the pod clones have replaced the people you knew.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

[quote=JPFrostfox]

This is why I like smaller indy developers and medium sized publishing houses, the sort that Maxis used to be before being eaten alive. Once it gets assimilated by the mega-corp it's too late, the pod clones have replaced the people you knew.[/quote]

Thats very true, the problem is that indy developers and the other smaller houses often lack the funds to set up such big concepts. There is a very good reason why Maxis and EA teamed up.
For better or worse.

But I am very sure you know all this.
Perhaps someone else might not but it seems highly unlikely.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Cysgodi]What I am totally against is the fact that you keep harping on it, over and over again.
[/quote]

Tough. I'm going to keep saying it until Maxis caves and throws us a bone. And you aren't going to change that. End of story.

Now...let. It. Go.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cysgodi — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl][quote=Cysgodi]What I am totally against is the fact that you keep harping on it, over and over again.
[/quote]

Tough. I'm going to keep saying it until Maxis caves and throws us a bone. And you aren't going to change that. End of story.

Now...let. It. Go.
[/quote]

And you won't change my opinion either.

Now...let it go.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

ZJBDragon — GMT

[quote=Cysgodi]I'm sorry Rocket but in your own way you are being just as disrespectful. I know exactly what I am saying and I know what I support. I have never been against your opinion about what you think is wrong with the game. On some of the points I do agree with you. What I am totally against is the fact that you keep harping on it, over and over again.[/quote]
I don't think you've noticed, but the people who agree with Rocket are all taking turns. Currently she's the one harping on this particular subject. In the past myself and other people have said very similar things and at varying levels of aggressiveness. If she stops, someone else will step in and the cycle will continue until the root message is addressed. Someone has to put out the source of this fire, and only Maxis is capable of doing that. Otherwise, things will smolder and reignite until something is done or peoples' interest in this franchise burns up. There is no magic phrase or argument anyone can come up with to make things change -- only action or the result of excessive inaction on the part of Maxis can do that.

There used to be this thing called customer service and a phrase that said "the customer is always right".

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

SporeMasterNumerator — GMT

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cysgodi — GMT

[quote=SporeMasterNumerator][quote=Cysgodi][quote=SporeMasterNumerator]Cysgodi, perhaps it would be better for you to stay clear of this thread. You have made your point.

[/quote]

You're telling me to stay clear of a thread? I am not allowed to express my support of this game anymore? And you are going to let people like Rocket keep spreading her poison all over?

You're kidding right?[/quote]

Of course you can stay and voice your opinion, but if your only intent is to incite and argue, then don't post.

• No personal attacks: don't flame, troll, insult, harass, threaten, rant
• Work out differences politely
[/quote]

I will say now, I never intended to incite anything. I guess I see it differently because I see several people here attacking my opinion where as I'm not allowed to defend it. Because I don't agree with what they are saying, I'm called a troll - how is that not flaming me? How is what rocket and the rest of these people not trolling by constantly bringing up the same topic over and over again? Rocket's veiled "insult" telling me to stay out of the thread and let the adults talk?

I'll leave it at that.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

dparrot — GMT

I agree 100% with RocketGirl.

Heck, even the changes made from the Creature Creator to Spore were for the worst. (I mean in CC the stuff you added stacked their bonuses until you maxed out at 5....why wasn't that kept?)

But I was looking forward to a game where I could make any classic D&D monster (for example) and make it feel like the monster, not like a generic thing in the monsters skin. Every part should have its own strengths AND weaknesses, and players should have to weigh the pros with the cons of adding them.

Oh yeah....you should be able to LOSE the game too. Right now the game feels like a soccer match for 6 year olds where no one keeps score, and no one can lose. Yeah, you die, but you get right back up again, or go back in time a bit and try a again. If you die, and are the last of your creature's race (or the first), then that should be IT....game over man, try again w/ something else.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Cysgodi]
And you won't change my opinion either.
[/quote]

I'm not [i]TRYING[/i] to get you to change your opinion, I'm trying to get you to play nice with the other kids.

Your [i]opinion[/i] is all about me, what I talk about, and how much. You're not arguing about your opinion, you're arguing about how much you don't like me, what I do, and how I do it. Your "opinion" is a scarcely-veiled personal attack.

End of story.

[quote]
Now...let it go.[/quote]

No.

[quote]I guess I see it differently because I see several people here attacking my opinion where as I'm not allowed to defend it.[/quote]

But you [i]opinion[/i] is "RocketGirl needs to shut up!" and "I'm sick of hearing the same thing over and over!" You have nothing [i]constructive[/i] to say; you just want to kvetch about [i]ME.[/i]

[i]THAT'S[/i] why you're not welcome in this thread. Disagree with what I have to say all you like...but defend to the death my right to say it.
What are you even opposing, anyway? That I think Spore sucks? What I think should be done about it? Or that I think Maxis should break the silence and answer our concerns? Because so far, the only message I've gotten from is, "RocketGirl, RocketGirl, shut the hell up!" Do you have [i]ANYTHING[/i] to say other than that? Because if not, you're a troll and have no place in this thread or on these forums. Period.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cysgodi — GMT

My opinion is that Maxis will respond when they feel they have something solid and important to tell us. It would be hard for me to refute what you are going on about because they have not responded. That is true. But, I see their non response as them working hard to fix problems, where as you see it as they don’t care what you think or don’t want to hear your opinions. As you have said in another thread:

[quote=RocketGirl]
What reason do we have to think that they [i]ARE?[/i]

For all we know, they've decided that they will never, ever, [i]EVER[/i] release anything--expansion pack, patch, whole new game, [i]NOTHING[/i]--that will make Spore into the game Will Wright originally envisioned.
Until they [i]explicitly SAY SOMETHING,[/i] we have no reason to assume anything at all.

But taking the position [i]YOU[/i] are espousing, which essentially amounts to, "They're working on it, I just [i]KNOW[/i] it!" is as illogical as any other possible position until we have hard information from EA/Maxis.
But you...you're just making SPOOR up, with your lists of what Maxis is doing, why they haven't told us anything yet, yadda, yadda, yadda. You don't know any more than I do--less, probably--but you're waxing eloquent like Will Wright whispered Maxis's business plan in your ear during a post-coital cigarette!

Maybe, like me, you should be agitating for Maxis to actually give us a solid word rather than all this playing "Pretend" and then spouting it as if it were sage wisdom, like you're doing. Y'think?[/quote]

We don’t know either way. So does that make both our opinions wrong? The fact I think they are working hard to fix issues and you don’t think so? Again you can fall back on the fact they haven’t responded so that supports my position. I can fire back and say they aren’t responding because they are working on fixing things.

[quote=RocketGirl]
I'm sick of hearing the same thing over and over! [/quote]

Now I must laugh, you are sick of hearing the same thing over and over? What about the rest of us. Do you want me to go through all your posts and see how many times you have said the same thing over and over? I say they are working hard to fix issues and I think I can safely bet they are reading the forums and taking down all that is being said and what you have said especially with how many times you’ve said it.

I will respectfully ask that you stop disparaging me with your “past your bedtime” comments and “playing well with the other kids” comments. You have done just as much with the thinly veiled personal attacks as you feel I have.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Jackuul — GMT

Domo arigato Mr. Roboto?

Replies replies replies... if everyone in this thread worked at Maxis they'd have lawsuits up the SPOR-E-ORE. We reply here more than the executives take bonuses.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Cysgodi — GMT

[quote=Jackuul]Domo arigato Mr. Roboto?

Replies replies replies... if everyone in this thread worked at Maxis they'd have lawsuits up the SPOR-E-ORE. We reply here more than the executives take bonuses. [/quote]

HAHHAHA, nice Jack....

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

[quote=Cysgodi]What about all this don't you get? This is NOT 2005. Again we get that you feel that EA/Maxis/Wright misled you. God only knows WE GET IT. But guess what, it's done. It's past. Give it a rest already.

You all keep pointing out the same things over and over and over again. You just keep coming up with different ways of saying it. [/quote]

Couldn't agree more. The game has went through three years of development since 05', and videos were posted as recently as 07'. How much will something remain the same over the course of three years? Something I don't get about the 05' zealots is what makes them so sure that back then the game was this ludicrously open ended sandbox with limitless possibilities of a game? You had a video and someone's word. I'm sorry if you bought into that. The fact of the matter is you didn't play the game back then, you don't know for certain what it's possibilities were, so proclaiming a horrific switch occurred is unfounded in my opinion. You're making it seem like you were duped on the streets by someone showing you a bunch of cards and switching them. [b]THREE[/b] years went by. Videos were posted in 07'. If you can't accept the fact things are subject to change, then I'm sorry. We know the marine phase is absent which bridged the gap between cell and landfall, but what is that? An extra phase. If we did have it you people would be complaining about how pointless it is.

[quote=SporeMasterNumerator]Of course you can stay and voice your opinion, but if your only intent is to incite and argue, then don't post.

• No personal attacks: don't flame, troll, insult, harass, threaten, rant
• Work out differences politely
[/quote]

[quote=RocketGirl]You're an idiot;[/quote]

Oh you mean like that?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=111uminate]
[quote=SporeMasterNumerator]Of course you can stay and voice your opinion, but if your only intent is to incite and argue, then don't post.

• No personal attacks: don't flame, troll, insult, harass, threaten, rant
• Work out differences politely
[/quote]

[quote=RocketGirl]You're an idiot;[/quote]

Oh you mean like that?

[/quote]

I didn't look but is that the [b]only[/b] thing she said in that post? If it isn't stop being a politician, skewing what people say for your own ends is a really prickish thing to do.

On a sidenote, people [i]really[/i] need to stop speaking for others. Be it the guy saying "We are sick of hearing this" or the other guy saying "We get it!". There is no we, there is you. I don't mind when people say something is bothering them but it drives me nuts when they speak for a group of people that live entirely in their head.

Also if people aren't supposed to voice their disapproval then what are we supposed to voice? If you left the forum to positivity you would find yourself likely only seeing activity in the creature creator section. I say this only because for the most part that is the only place where it is present (short of my general discussion buddy list <3).

Not everything changes, in fact many things stay the same in the sense that they are in a continual decline from their original state. The national debt is a good example, so is the human form, and even stars. If people aren't allowed to address these issues then they will continue to stay as they are. There is nothing stopping us, but complacency.

We always find it alright to assume that nothing can be done to fix a wrong, but we likewise conclude that it is perfectly logical that great wrongs are perfectly normal. Be it a nuclear bomb or a lie, these things should never be taken with stride because the moment they do we all lose.

PS. Could someone post these videos? I keep hearing about the mythical videos that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the NEW SPORE was obvious and forthright in its existence...but nobody provides links. I know I personally assume that the longer something takes the higher quality it becomes. But I've been told time and time again on these forums that one should assume the worst when something takes a while to make. Sort of like the quote above. (The one about [b]THREE[/b] years). I've kept up with plenty games that took a year or more to make and none of them had the complete turnaround that this one did. I got what I expected and was informed of what was removed. I don't recall WAR (Recent MMO) hiding the fact that they had to remove towns and some classes/races to get things out on time. They were very open about it, MAXIS was not.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

StevenMC — GMT

it's the one thing I wish Maxis would do a better job of. OK, there are many, but they have a news section, why not post stuff in there like "we sat around this week and picked our noses", or "we tried to fix the planet size bug, but Jim broke the graphics engine instead, so we're back to square one with that.". Doesn't have to be major ground breaking stuff, just a little note now and then to let fans know there is actually a team over there... or a person, that is doing something. Assign an intern or something, or someone that knows a little of that's going on to keep sort of a developers log. Might not be something we want to hear, like they are working on the expansion pack, instead of the bug list, but even telling us that goes a long way with the relationship between the devs and the community. I think it's called public relations... which it seems, is terribly lacking over there. It might even give people on this forum something to discuss instead of frustrating everyone with rumors and conjecture.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

[quote=theultimateend]
I didn't look but is that the [b]only[/b] thing she said in that post? If it isn't stop being a politician, skewing what people say for your own ends is a really prickish thing to do.[/quote]

Glad someone agrees with me.

[quote=111uminate]And as for taking points and twisting them into pretzels, you've done a real bang up job of snipping my posts and replying to them within their snipped context. You're censoring and editing what I say to you and replying to that, not what I'm actually saying. Rofl.
[/quote]

I said that four pages ago.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=111uminate][quote=theultimateend]
I didn't look but is that the [b]only[/b] thing she said in that post? If it isn't stop being a politician, skewing what people say for your own ends is a really prickish thing to do.[/quote]

Glad someone agrees with me.

[quote=111uminate]And as for taking points and twisting them into pretzels, you've done a real bang up job of snipping my posts and replying to them within their snipped context. You're censoring and editing what I say to you and replying to that, not what I'm actually saying. Rofl.
[/quote]

I said that four pages ago.[/quote]

I'm not a fan of people skewing comments. I try my best not to (not to say I'm not guilty, its usually a mistake).

On a completely off topic note and the reason I'm actually responding.

I love Pretzels...almost as much as crispy Bacon. If they were healthy I think they'd be two of my daily foodstuffs.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

StevenMC — GMT

[quote=theultimateend]
... Also if people aren't supposed to voice their disapproval then what are we supposed to voice? If you left the forum to positivity you would find yourself likely only seeing activity in the creature creator section...[/quote]

Nothing wrong with disapproval, as long as it's supported in some way with something constructive. Criticism can be positive, complaining (not saying you are!!) only breeds negativity. I think Thumper said it best "if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all." That doesn't mean to keep your disapproval or opinions to yourself, it just means people need to contribute in a way that is not offensive. An internet forum has a different dynamic than say a conversation with a group of people, so it needs to be approached differently. A bunch of opinionated posts will result in opinionated responses, which result in more opinions... and while opinions are ok to voice, they aren't helpful because they are basically selfish terminated statements. Opinions are like... Sporeifaces, everyone's got one, and everyone knows it. So state your opinion if you must, but follow it up with why you feel that way. Give someone something to respond to and to discuss, instead of bating them into an opinionated statement of their own. And yes, maybe I'm not the best one to preach from the pulpit, but if we all make an effort to better conversation rather than force an opinion, I think (opinion alert!) the forum will be a much friendlier place.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=StevenMC][quote=theultimateend]
... Also if people aren't supposed to voice their disapproval then what are we supposed to voice? If you left the forum to positivity you would find yourself likely only seeing activity in the creature creator section...[/quote]

Nothing wrong with disapproval, as long as it's supported in some way with something constructive. Criticism can be positive, complaining (not saying you are!!) only breeds negativity. I think Thumper said it best "if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all." That doesn't mean to keep your disapproval or opinions to yourself, it just means people need to contribute in a way that is not offensive. An internet forum has a different dynamic than say a conversation with a group of people, so it needs to be approached differently. A bunch of opinionated posts will result in opinionated responses, which result in more opinions... and while opinions are ok to voice, they aren't helpful because they are basically selfish terminated statements. Opinions are like... Sporeifaces, everyone's got one, and everyone knows it. So state your opinion if you must, but follow it up with why you feel that way. Give someone something to respond to and to discuss, instead of bating them into an opinionated statement of their own. And yes, maybe I'm not the best one to preach from the pulpit, but if we all make an effort to better conversation rather than force an opinion, I think (opinion alert!) the forum will be a much friendlier place.[/quote]

I can't disagree with that (well I could but I'd be lying).

Personally I feel the reason much of the suggestions have gone out the door and been replaced with straight ranting is we are missing one part of this discussion.

The response.

EA has declared (according to one maxis rep that posted on these forums) that they are not allowed to speak with us. This leaves us to only assume the worst because the last time EA did this that I know of (Command and Conquer Renegade) the game went from 50 dollars to 9.99 and then vanished in the course of 60 days. It only recently re-popped up in packs with other west wood games.

It leaves people incredibly upset when their words fall upon deaf ears, you wait long enough and the construction that is going on is a bon fire to burn the infidels.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

IronMaiden_Fan — GMT

When are they gonna have a fix for this patch is my question, cuz I still can't save my game!

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

StevenMC — GMT

[quote=theultimateend]

I can't disagree with that (well I could but I'd be lying).[/quote]

LOL, at least you're honest!

[quote=theultimateend]
Personally I feel the reason much of the suggestions have gone out the door and been replaced with straight ranting is we are missing one part of this discussion.

The response.

EA has declared (according to one maxis rep that posted on these forums) that they are not allowed to speak with us. This leaves us to only assume the worst because the last time EA did this that I know of (Command and Conquer Renegade) the game went from 50 dollars to 9.99 and then vanished in the course of 60 days. It only recently re-popped up in packs with other west wood games.

It leaves people incredibly upset when their words fall upon deaf ears, you wait long enough and the construction that is going on is a bon fire to burn the infidels.[/quote]

AMEN there brother. Which brings us back to the thread title. If EA can't speak to us, then it would be nice if in the very least, they simply gave us a clue as to what they were up to. They don't need to respond directly, but a comment from them confirming they reviewed a certain thread and that they were going to address it, or had more important things to deal with first. SOMETHING. Even a "[i]Yeah, we read the rant, will address later, but first need to fix complexity inconsistencies.[/i]" It doesn't even have to be a two sided conversation. It could be a locked thread addressed to no one in particular.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Hindsight89 — GMT

[quote=StevenMC][quote=theultimateend]
Personally I feel the reason much of the suggestions have gone out the door and been replaced with straight ranting is we are missing one part of this discussion.

The response.

EA has declared (according to one maxis rep that posted on these forums) that they are not allowed to speak with us. This leaves us to only assume the worst because the last time EA did this that I know of (Command and Conquer Renegade) the game went from 50 dollars to 9.99 and then vanished in the course of 60 days. It only recently re-popped up in packs with other west wood games.

It leaves people incredibly upset when their words fall upon deaf ears, you wait long enough and the construction that is going on is a bon fire to burn the infidels.[/quote]

AMEN there brother. Which brings us back to the thread title. If EA can't speak to us, then it would be nice if in the very least, they simply gave us a clue as to what they were up to. They don't need to respond directly, but a comment from them confirming they reviewed a certain thread and that they were going to address it, or had more important things to deal with first. SOMETHING. Even a "[i]Yeah, we read the rant, will address later, but first need to fix complexity inconsistencies.[/i]" It doesn't even have to be a two sided conversation. It could be a locked thread addressed to no one in particular.[/quote]

Exactly. I think we're all getting on the same page. It's not like we're Congress asking the President of the US for a detailed timeline of how the troops will be brought home. We just want [i]something[/i]! Be it a trickle of information that says good or bad, or even a waterfall of information (including detailed maps of the EA headquarters as well as pass codes and fake ID badges, the location of the original 2005 spore, [i]maybe[/i] a plan written by Will himself for infiltration and recovery of said 2005 spore).

In any case, I wait. I no longer play, however, I will when the information is released as well as some bugs are fixed, and the DRM/SecuROM is removed.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Wedantil — GMT

[quote=Hindsight89]Exactly. I think we're all getting on the same page. It's not like we're Congress asking the President of the US for a detailed timeline of how the troops will be brought home. We just want something! Be it a trickle of information that says good or bad, or even a waterfall of information (including detailed maps of the EA headquarters as well as pass codes and fake ID badges, the location of the original 2005 spore, maybe a plan written by Will himself for infiltration and recovery of said 2005 spore).[/quote]

I'm in.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Cysgodi]My opinion is that Maxis will respond when they feel they have something solid and important to tell us.
[/quote]

Fine, that's your opinion. Obviously, I don't share it; that's also fine.

And because I don't share your opinion, I'm going to keep agitating for a response of some kind, rather than this resounding silence.
If that annoys you, I suggest you avoid me, because you won't badger me into shutting up. That's...really the extent to which our point/counter-point can go unless you have something else to say.

[quote]
It would be hard for me to refute what you are going on about because they have not responded. That is true. But, I see their non response as them working hard to fix problems, where as you see it as they don’t care what you think or don’t want to hear your opinions.
[/quote]

First of all, don't try to tell me what I think; I'll tell [i]YOU[/i] what I think. It's this trying to assign me a position rather than actually hearing my [i]explicitly stated[/i] position that has brought us to the internet equivalent of blows.
Second, how friggin' hard is it to post a message on the Spore site? Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? Tops? I genuinely don't see how a non-response indicates "working hard" when giving a response would barely be a blip in someone work schedule. "Working hard" is no excuse for non-communication. Period.

[quote]
We don’t know either way. So does that make both our opinions wrong?
[/quote]

No, it makes both our opinions uniformed, based in complete ignorance.

It's that ignorance which I am [i]trying to CORRECT.[/i] By goading Maxis into a response of some kind. Personal, impersonal, posted here or on the Spore site, I don't give a flying fornication...just so long as they [i]do it.[/i]

[quote]
I will respectfully ask that you stop disparaging me with your “past your bedtime” comments and “playing well with the other kids” comments. You have done just as much with the thinly veiled personal attacks as you feel I have.
[/quote]

Only because you're being obnoxious and need to be taken down a peg or two for your own good and, frankly, for [i]mine,[/i] and everybody else's. If you hadn't [i]begun[/i] by making this personal--and you did, and you know it--this conversation could have gone in a [i]VERY[/i] different direction. But rather than trying to refute what I said, you decided to discuss [i]ME;[/i] that was your mistake, and from then on you've pretty much brought everything upon yourself.
If you have an issue you'd like to raise or discuss about [i]what's being said,[/i] please do discuss it, but if all you want to talk about is who's saying it and [i]HOW,[/i] no point you make will be taken as valid. None. Because you've made it personal. And I'm pretty sure a mod has already told you--directly and personally--just how against the rules that is; I advise you listen. Again, for all our sakes.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

FuzzballsJr — GMT

Now skeeter...
Since i can't be bothered following 7 pages of this i will say...

all games get boring eventually. [size=6]Some games are only fun when playing online/with friends.[/size]

I see a 1 star...

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

AnotherPoster — GMT

[quote=FuzzballsJr]Now skeeter...
Since i can't be bothered following 7 pages of this i will say...

all games get boring eventually. [size=6]Some games are only fun when playing online/with friends.[/size]

I see a 1 star... [/quote]

Games with poor depth to the gameplay get boring really fast.

Games that are open ended, let you evolve, explore and change the environment in interesting and different ways will take a lot longer to get boring and lend themselves to expansions.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

[quote=theultimateend]

PS. Could someone post these videos? I keep hearing about the mythical videos that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the NEW SPORE was obvious and forthright in its existence...but nobody provides links. I know I personally assume that the longer something takes the higher quality it becomes. But I've been told time and time again on these forums that one should assume the worst when something takes a while to make. Sort of like the quote above. (The one about [b]THREE[/b] years). I've kept up with plenty games that took a year or more to make and none of them had the complete turnaround that this one did. I got what I expected and was informed of what was removed. I don't recall WAR (Recent MMO) hiding the fact that they had to remove towns and some classes/races to get things out on time. They were very open about it, MAXIS was not.[/quote]

Those videos he refers to do not exist.
Ive seen every piece of footage somewhat related to Spore.
Apart from 6 months before the launch we were still being fed the original concept.
And even then there was no real indication that says that they completly changed the idea of Spore.

Sure its still about creation, but the difference between the CC and the full game on itself is enough to ....confuse customers.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

[quote=Parvati]And even then there was no real indication that says that they completly changed the idea of Spore.

Sure its still about creation, but the difference between the CC and the full game on itself is enough to ....confuse customers.[/quote]

Reviews prior to the game actually stated simplistic gameplay. With marketing it is often a case a reading between the lines not just the "gloss". I've seen too many smoke and mirror computer demonstrations I guess. I do agree changes between the CC and the game, notably stackable parts are frustrating. All my creations in game now have wings for example just to move around and creatures tend to look the same if you want to have good stats.

Back to the topic title though I am eagerly awaiting the response from the Maxis question and answers. Rather than just flame people I suggest people sit back and wait patiently for a response. Ok if we still haven't heard anything for a couple more weeks then start this up again.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]......[/quote]

'Course man, not going to debate the logic in what you said.
It is true that some sources indeed said the gameplay was simplistic at best but that was after the release.
The others were very shallow previeuws , I had pre ordered 2 G.E. so I sure as hell wasn't going to drop the game.
I still like it if only to comment on peoples creations.

And I am sorry, i was not aware of the fact that i flamed someone.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

Only first para was refering to your topic.. I was just looking at the topic responses in general

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

OOoooh

Cause most of the time i do manage to keep myself cool.
Most of the time

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

Okay, so, like...I'm drunk. I mean, really, [i]really[/i] drunk. Like, surprised I'm typing as well as I am, who knew I could spell with this much Captain Morgan in me, kinna drunk. Spending the last four of five hours at the local goth club'll do that to ya.

But that's not the point. The point....despite my not having been here for, what, two days? Yeah...sumfin' like dat...I still wanna hear from Maxis. I think they owe us that.

You know how an ordinary citizen will go up to a politician and say sumfin' like, "You owe me; I pay your salary!"? Well, it's the same with Maxis. Seriously...without us, they're [i]nothing.[/i] Without us, they don't earn any money. None. By buying their games, we give their lives [i]meaning.[/i] They [i]OWE[/i] us; we stop buying their products because they become craptacular, they stop being important people, they stop having spendable cash!

So they oew us everything, really, and it's high time they gave us an update, dammit. Spore...will it [i]EVER[/i] be Science Spore? [i]EVER?[/i] Like we want? Or will it always be this dumbe-down cartoon-show of a game? [i]SAY[/i] something, dammit; you owe us.

End transmission.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Parvati]
Those videos he refers to do not exist.
Ive seen every piece of footage somewhat related to Spore.
Apart from 6 months before the launch we were still being fed the original concept.
And even then there was no real indication that says that they completly changed the idea of Spore.
[/quote]

In fact, looking at the footage surrounding the release of Spore, it's kind of interesting to hear what they quite specifically [i]DON'T[/i] say. If this were politics, we'd be talking about spin, about carefully-selected talking points...it's like they were doing their best to gloss over how much Spore had changed, how much had been taken out. They wanted sales and, frankly, knew they wouldn't get them if they were honest.

[quote]
Sure its still about creation, but the difference between the CC and the full game on itself is enough to ....confuse customers.[/quote]

Totally. When the CC came out, I remember playing with it and thinking, "Hmmm...how much of this is unfinished and how much is in the full game? When my creature strikes, how much does that long (or short) reach matter? There was no way to tell, no way to experiment and find out. We were all in wait-and-see mode.

And even then, we were bugging Maxis to talk to us, and it took a thread about religion that turned rabid and went for about 40 pages before someone stepped in and talked to us.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl]Okay, so, like...I'm drunk. I mean, really, [i]really[/i] drunk. Like, surprised I'm typing as well as I am, who knew I could spell with this much Captain Morgan in me, kinna drunk. Spending the last four of five hours at the local goth club'll do that to ya.[/quote]

[IMG]http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p292/111uminate/AlcoholandSpore.jpg[/IMG]

Various paraphernalia consisting of my last two weeks or so. Captain Morgan is a good friend of mine too.

[quote=RocketGirl]
And even then, we were bugging Maxis to talk to us, and it took a thread about religion that turned rabid and went for about 40 pages before someone stepped in and talked to us.[/quote]

To keep on topic. Wow. So they actually responded about something eventually, right on the forums? Maybe my pic will get their attention, but it's good to know they've responded before in the past.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=FuzzballsJr]Now skeeter...
Since i can't be bothered following 7 pages of this i will say...

all games get boring eventually. [size=6]Some games are only fun when playing online/with friends.[/size]

I see a 1 star... [/quote]

Let me name games I play from time to time.

Super Mario Bros 3
Grand Theft Auto IV
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
World of Warcraft
Disgaea 1 and 2 (AND Disgaea DS)
Super Mario World
Sim City 4
Pokemon Pearl
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy IX
Halo 2 (I know wierd right?)
Perfect Dark (Yes...N64)
Neverwinter Nights
Master of Orion 2 (OMG Noice)
UFO: Enemy Unknown AKA X-Com (Seriously yo...older than some of you )
Diablo II
Metal Gear Solid

These are just games I can think of that I've played in the last 60-90 days. There are others like Lego Batman but that's VERY recent.

So my point is...good games never get old. If someone slapped a copy of Final Fantasy Tactics in front of me RIGHT now, and gave me no other responsibilities I would play that sucker till I fainted from exhaustion (done nearly that before ;D).

Hell I've been playing Sim City 4 almost continuously since it came out! That's what...3-4 years old?

Sorry...the thought that good games get old is bogus.

Hell I played Breath of Fire III when I was little for almost 5 years. Because for whatever reason that game never stopped revealing stuff to me ;p.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=theultimateend][quote=FuzzballsJr]Now skeeter...
Since i can't be bothered following 7 pages of this i will say...

all games get boring eventually. [size=6]Some games are only fun when playing online/with friends.[/size]

I see a 1 star... [/quote]

Let me name games I play from time to time.

Super Mario Bros 3
Grand Theft Auto IV
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
World of Warcraft
Disgaea 1 and 2 (AND Disgaea DS)
Super Mario World
Sim City 4
Pokemon Pearl
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy IX
Halo 2 (I know wierd right?)
Perfect Dark (Yes...N64)
Neverwinter Nights
Master of Orion 2 (OMG Noice)
UFO: Enemy Unknown AKA X-Com (Seriously yo...older than some of you )
Diablo II
Metal Gear Solid

These are just games I can think of that I've played in the last 60-90 days. There are others like Lego Batman but that's VERY recent.

So my point is...good games never get old. If someone slapped a copy of Final Fantasy Tactics in front of me RIGHT now, and gave me no other responsibilities I would play that sucker till I fainted from exhaustion (done nearly that before ;D).

Hell I've been playing Sim City 4 almost continuously since it came out! That's what...3-4 years old?

Sorry...the thought that good games get old is bogus.

Hell I played Breath of Fire III when I was little for almost 5 years. Because for whatever reason that game never stopped revealing stuff to me ;p.[/quote]

This is the same reason I still play NES games as well. SMB series never gets old, and secret of mana keeps me engaged to this day. (played that one for a MONTH straight, when I was laid up from a car accident).. and the same reason I still have over 130 games still sitting on my desk. I play them all again from time to time. Some, as you say, never get old. Sim City being one them, sims 2 being another. (another reason I wrote my letter to EA) What they did to simcity was uncalled for!!!1. Societies my butt. More like SUCKieties.

The only reason that I've had to stop playing some games... is that I'm FORCED to stop, from some incompatibility with new hardware or windows!!.. but that's another topic. THANK God for EMULATORS!

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

TormakSaber — GMT

Surprise surprise, another topic from RocketGirl.

Surprise surprise, it's more complaining.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=TormakSaber]Surprise surprise, another topic from RocketGirl.

Surprise surprise, it's more complaining.[/quote]

You are complaining about rocketgirl. whats the difference may I ask?

EDIT: Listen.. sorry about that! Looks more like you were doing it in fun.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

TormakSaber — GMT

The difference is one is a person whose sole purpose on this board seems to be to inundate the forums with issues that have been brought up time and time again and that we are all well aware of, and the other is someone who is slightly tired of the rehashed topics, over, and over, and over, and would rather it be done constructively, or, at least, in the feedback section where it probably belongs.

EDIT: Mind that I do not mind the addressing of problems, but giving the situation a "I don't care what you say, shut up, I'm going tokeep whining and bawwwwwwww'ing until I get my way *throws a temper tantrum* is not the way to get the attention you desire from anyone, let alone corporate bigwigs with more demands than appeasing a vocal minority of disgruntled gamers.

Polite, "assertive but not angry and not stupidly aggressive", organized outcry is generally the way to go about it. Daisuke (I believe that's his nam,e, the poor dude who spent a week and a half in waiting with EA Tech Support) vs. RocketGirl, is the comparison I'm trying to make. One is creating a cohesive comprehensive reason why this is wrong and what sohuld be done; the other is just yelling and by thei own admission will yell louder and ingore everyone until she gets her way.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Didzo — GMT

I too yearn for a Science Spore rather than a Cute Spore. However, the cuteness element can be minimized with some effort. Just don't make cute creations and buddy people who also avoid making cute creations.

[img]http://ll-968.ea.com/spore/static/image/500/139/968/500139968173_lrg.png[/img]
[url]http://www.spore.com/sporepedia#qry=sast-500139968173[/url]

[img]http://ll-166.ea.com/spore/static/image/500/130/166/500130166725_lrg.png[/img]
[url]http://www.spore.com/sporepedia#qry=usr-Didzo%7C2263200282%3Asast-500130166725[/url]

[img]http://ll-636.ea.com/spore/static/image/500/114/636/500114636095_lrg.png[/img]
[url]http://www.spore.com/sporepedia#qry=usr-Didzo%7C2263200282%3Asast-500114636095%3Apg-20[/url]

You can't say those things are cutesy, now can you?

I would appreciate more in-depth gameplay though: Everything from the creature stage to space stage is dumbed down. Hard mode isn't really harder: it just lowers your health and makes other creatures more irritable. I'd love the possibility to micromanage my empire and to have more options with what I want to do in the Civ. and Space stages.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

8Pack — GMT

[quote=Didzo]I too yearn for a Science Spore rather than a Cute Spore. However, the cuteness element can be minimized with some effort. Just don't make cute creations and buddy people who also avoid making cute creations.

You can't say those things are cutesy, now can you?

I would appreciate more in-depth gameplay though: Everything from the creature stage to space stage is dumbed down. Hard mode isn't really harder: it just lowers your health and makes other creatures more irritable. I'd love the possibility to micromanage my empire and to have more options with what I want to do in the Civ. and Space stages. [/quote]

I would totally give that first and third one a hug

(i'm a guy, and i'm not gay)

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Didzo — GMT

[quote]I would totally give that first and third one a hug

(i'm a guy, and i'm not gay) [/quote]

Umm.... Thanks I guess. But hugs are not necessary. Please.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

No one commented on my alcohol and Spore picture. Punks.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

8Pack — GMT

[quote=Didzo][quote]I would totally give that first and third one a hug

(i'm a guy, and i'm not gay) [/quote]

Umm.... Thanks I guess. But hugs are not necessary. Please. [/quote]

you read the parenthesis right? i was trying to be funny, everything always turns on me

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=111uminate]No one commented on my alcohol and Spore picture. Punks. [/quote]

Punks eh? Wow... I'm hurt, actually I thought thats how many bottles you had to drink to actually start playing spore again.

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=Parvati]Just a misconception that goes around on these boards.

The word hype used to mean how often and how much a game was mentioned.

Hype has no relation to gameplay.

So do not say that Spore's gameplay was hyped and use it to say that non of the features where ever in the game.

Thats not what the word hype means.[/quote]

The word .. "HYPE" translates to "Lies" in the big dictionary of EA

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat][quote=theultimateend]
So wait. Since you can't provide evidence you are demanding I do it instead? Holy cow...fail.

I asked you to find me a video in the last year that said "We have simplified SPORE down" or something that outwardly makes it obvious.

You cannot do so. So why not just admit you couldn't? [/quote]

I'll admit it [b]I can't[/b] (see even in bold) but I don't need to. The argument I hear is that you were [b]promised[/b] something which [b]wasn't delivered[/b].. Prove it. Answer my last point. Can Ea/Maxis be done for false advertising ? The answer is they cannot.

"We have simplified SPORE down"... who are you kidding. When was the last time you actually read something negative officially from the creators ? Live in the real world, not make believe.

You claim to know about computers and programming. Can you name one application that doesn't change during development over 3 years. I have 20 years experience and I can't think of any.. how many do you have ? With games it's very hard to know what systems people will be running in 3 years time and what hardware to use as a baseline.

You were promised something that we would like to make, not what would be delivered. Perceptions were molded true but in truth only the trailer video says what would be delivered and that as with all trailers can be taken with a pinch of salt.[/quote]

The last time I heard negativitiy officially from the creators?

[quote=Game Informer Intervew]GI: How do you deal with the almost impossibly high expectations that people have for Spore? Do you feel that pressure?

Wright: I think it’s too much hype. About a year ago, we were realizing how much hype we were getting and we decided we should start to say that it’s going to suck just to de-hype it.[/quote]

and plenty of times I've read interviews with developers who talk about how they wish they had done their games differently.

The thing about false advertising is that they need to advertise.

SPORE could be held up to snuff if you were one of the people who went to one of those grand speeches. However for the rest of us 'who should have never seen the videos' no.

The omitted important information, in the court of law, intentional omission is the same as lying. You 'can' and usually do get jail time if it is found you intentionally held back information for personal gain.

The reason you can't find anything is because they intentionally omitted the information. Just because they didn't officially break the law doesn't mean it is ok. I could spit on your shirt tonight and not be breaking a law (in almost every state) but would that be the right thing to do?

Hell 30 years ago I could of beaten an african american to death and not been charged with anything. Just because its not against the law at the time doesn't mean it is ok.

I know of plenty of applications that change, I know of few that get stripped. I sure as hell didn't see the team at Neopets strip out half of their items 3 years into working on it, they just kept adding more. What happened? They went from a free-to-play website taking in minor revenue to a massive money making juggernaut that devours everything in its path (for worse or worse...no typo there).

You know who else was like that? EA, they started out adding more and more and once they started making money they became a juggernaut that devoured everything in their path (for worse or worse).

I don't see where the problem lied in just saying "Ok it was way hard to do what we said we were going to do. So we didn't."

I would of given them the benefit of the doubt, bought the game, been mildly disappointed with what they DID do and moved on.

Instead they kept silent so suckers like me would get sold, they ran with the money and have done little since (as far as anyone knows).

PS. Not saying I didn't. But did I say I was promised anything anywhere?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

@theUltimateEnd: Right on.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=RedLightning777][quote=Eekwotsthat][quote=theultimateend]
So wait. Since you can't provide evidence you are demanding I do it instead? Holy cow...fail.

I asked you to find me a video in the last year that said "We have simplified SPORE down" or something that outwardly makes it obvious.

You cannot do so. So why not just admit you couldn't? [/quote]

I'll admit it [b]I can't[/b] (see even in bold) but I don't need to. The argument I hear is that you were [b]promised[/b] something which [b]wasn't delivered[/b].. Prove it. Answer my last point. Can Ea/Maxis be done for false advertising ? The answer is they cannot.

"We have simplified SPORE down"... who are you kidding. When was the last time you actually read something negative officially from the creators ? Live in the real world, not make believe.

You claim to know about computers and programming. Can you name one application that doesn't change during development over 3 years. I have 20 years experience and I can't think of any.. how many do you have ? With games it's very hard to know what systems people will be running in 3 years time and what hardware to use as a baseline.

You were promised something that we would like to make, not what would be delivered. Perceptions were molded true but in truth only the trailer video says what would be delivered and that as with all trailers can be taken with a pinch of salt.[/quote]

Computers should do ANYTHING 3 years later that they did at that time .. for sure.[/quote]

Yeah I forgot to add that.

I didn't see how more power == less options in a game.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=Parvati]@theUltimateEnd: Right on.[/quote]

I second that.

This discussion is going so well... I've been lurking, enjoying every second of it! Fantastic.

I think that if EA, and companies like them, were to just make a "great" game and stick with their goals and promises, and stop sticking it to the consumer... money would come in greater amounts, amounts so great, I'm sure that they wouldn't know what to do with it. Instead they adopt the "greedy, faceless liars" approach, and they think its making them boatloads of money.. when in fact.... its only 1/1000 of what they could be making as an honest, straightforward.. company who actually delivers what they say they are going to deliver.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=theultimateend][quote=RedLightning777][quote=Eekwotsthat][quote=theultimateend]
So wait. Since you can't provide evidence you are demanding I do it instead? Holy cow...fail.

I asked you to find me a video in the last year that said "We have simplified SPORE down" or something that outwardly makes it obvious.

You cannot do so. So why not just admit you couldn't? [/quote]

I'll admit it [b]I can't[/b] (see even in bold) but I don't need to. The argument I hear is that you were [b]promised[/b] something which [b]wasn't delivered[/b].. Prove it. Answer my last point. Can Ea/Maxis be done for false advertising ? The answer is they cannot.

"We have simplified SPORE down"... who are you kidding. When was the last time you actually read something negative officially from the creators ? Live in the real world, not make believe.

You claim to know about computers and programming. Can you name one application that doesn't change during development over 3 years. I have 20 years experience and I can't think of any.. how many do you have ? With games it's very hard to know what systems people will be running in 3 years time and what hardware to use as a baseline.

You were promised something that we would like to make, not what would be delivered. Perceptions were molded true but in truth only the trailer video says what would be delivered and that as with all trailers can be taken with a pinch of salt.[/quote]

Computers should do ANYTHING 3 years later that they did at that time .. for sure.[/quote]

Yeah I forgot to add that.

I didn't see how more power == less options in a game.[/quote]

Besides, I have a Core2 Duo 2.6 which I may add is only being utilized 30 percent on a planet with ALL options HIGH. hmm.. and lets not forget about the 4 cores hmmm.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

EdCase512 — GMT

[quote=theultimateend
Everything I have read says it is no different than the first game.

The only exception is instead of it being two story arcs playing over three races, it is three longer story arcs playing over three races.

oh god. I'm hurting over something they did in the 90's that made complete sense. Mainly because I don't expect to get all 3 lord of the rings books in a single copy.

The fact is if you are a great storyteller you can get away with this stuff.

Sandbox games can't and don't do this. There is a reason than Take-Two doesn't go around splicing GTA into fragments and selling each piece a few months apart. They release an awesome product and 'if you feel like it' you can buy extra content.

You just can't do that with SPORE, it NEEDS new stuff.

[quote]cowondinosaur
4:53 PM on Fri Oct 10 2008
The ONLY way I could see this being not a completely terrible thing that we expect from the likes of EA or Nintendo stuff (Petz, Imagine, Pokemon versions a, b, c, etc.) is that they mean it'll be episodic content, cheaper and delivered faster than one giant product.
[/quote]

It's funny when people see this kind of news they freak...why? Because of [b]EA[/b].

[quote]
Starcraft 2 Trilogy Announced
Terran, Zerg, and Protoss each getting their own game to complete Starcraft's "epic" story.
By Tina Sanchez, 10/10/2008

During the StarCraft 2 gameplay panel at BlizzCon, Blizzard posed a question to the audience: Should they sacrifice an epic story or truly create something spectacular? They're choosing the latter. Today they announced that they will be creating a single-player trilogy for StarCraft 2 where each race will have a stand-alone game. The first will be Terran: Wings of Liberty, where players take on the role of Jim Raynor in a non-linear game. The second is Zerg: Heart of the Swarm, and the last will be Protoss: Legacy of the Void.
Blizzard is promising that each game will have [b]26-30 missions[/b], and each campaign will feel like its own epic story. They are also promising that they won't leave StarCraft lovers with cliffhangers. Each game will be a full product with a satisfying ending. We'll be hitting up Blizzard for more info as BlizzCon continues, so stay tuned. [/quote]

Starcraft I had "The single-player campaign consists of thirty missions, split into ten for each race." - Wikipedia.

So it is no different than what they did last time. Instead of 10 missions a race they are doing 30. Oh big deal.
PS. It's nice to see you jumping to conclusions about something not even release off of foggy evidence at best (from what I've found). It's completely the same as having realistic hopes (getting what I see in videos) and then getting shot down when the actual product is a quarter of the worth of its cost.[/quote]

Did you see the part where I commended them ?
It IS great marketing. It DOES milk the franchise for all it's worth.
The games in all likelihood will be fun.
It was used to illustrate the fact that game designers no longer control their product. The "suits" do.

Will Wright with Spore probably had about as much control over what hit the final box as an average director does over the "runtime" of a movie.
He had his vision. EA had theirs. They are the ones with control. They win. Contest over...they move along to next lacking product.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

Over estimation of power could have been an option, especially with the overhead Vista as an OS puts on a system but also when a target audience changes (come on non-average gamers don't have high spec machines). It's a possibility, not a likelyhood I admit. To be honest I think changes were made to reach to a specific audience into which the majority of complainers aren't included. Normally I wouldn't be either but as mentioned I find spore fun and a refreshing change from the standard Horror/Gore laden FPS which I normally find to require less intelligence and are less replayable than spore.

The argument that people admit they made mistakes, sure, you'll probably hear that from Will in about a year or five when SPORE II comes out saying that X and Y were mistakes in SPORE but you won't hear it while they are potentially still looking at sales.

Doing something doesn't make it right.. Yes absolutely agree with that 100%. Unfortunately this is in a world where money seems to be everything. Please please argue that one

You won't find me agreeing that you were promised something that wasn't delivered. Mislead into believing something, probably.. For someone else vocal on these forums it has been obvious that they weren't going to be happy from the creature creator days. Even if the so called 2005 spore existed I am sure they would find something wrong about it.

Hopefully we can agree on the following...

1) SPORE can be fun
2) SPORE can and should be improved
3) There is another thread containing questions to Maxis and hopefully, shortly "non had to go through lawyer first" answers back.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]
Hopefully we can agree on the following...

1) SPORE can be fun
2) SPORE can and should be improved
3) There is another thread containing questions to Maxis and hopefully, shortly "non had to go through lawyer first" answers back.

[/quote]

http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/0/8290.page#89658

Something like 75% of the people playing SPORE have quite playing if you take EA's standard for success (Creations).

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

But I normally quit playing games like Crysis before I have them a month due to just as limited replayability. I occasionally go back to them but not very often. I'm not disagreeing that people have stopped playing but do you disagree any of the above points ?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]

Hopefully we can agree on the following...

1) SPORE can be fun
2) SPORE can and should be improved
3) There is another thread containing questions to Maxis and hopefully, shortly "non had to go through lawyer first" answers back.

[/quote]

1) Can -- being the operative word here.

2) they made *SURE* there was room for improvement (if in fact they didnt Rip it apart to sell us later)

3) I'm not holding my breath on some "truthful" answers. The truth will be said quickly. A LIE takes time to manufacture. Hence the silence, on perfectly legitimate questions.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]But I normally quit playing games like Crysis before I have them a month due to just as limited replayability. I occasionally go back to them but not very often. I'm not disagreeing that people have stopped playing but do you disagree any of the above points ?[/quote]

Anything 'can' be fun. So I agree. I know people who find it fun to stick needles through their torso.
Anything 'can' be improved. Since there is no such thing as perfection because likewise there is no staple set point of complete failure.
There is in fact another thread containing questions to maxis on this forum that may or may not ever be answered.

So no. I must concede, you have made 3 infinitely valid points .

And Crysis is 1k times more boring than a FTP game called Combat Arms.

I suggest next time you look at all the free options out in the world that are better than your pay ones ^-^. Because as it stands, you can find more entertainment on whirled games than you can in SPORE. Well the average person can.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]But I normally quit playing games like Crysis before I have them a month due to just as limited replayability. I occasionally go back to them but not very often. I'm not disagreeing that people have stopped playing but do you disagree any of the above points ?[/quote]

Crisis.. is not even in this genre. Spore was supposed to be "the bang out all of sims" 8 years in the making. Crysis was a story driven FPS of which I'm sure was NOT in the making for all those years.. and I quite expected the game to have "no replay value". I did expect Spore to have at least the CREATIVE replay value, of which there is none.

The 9.99 Creature creator had 1000000000x more replay value, at least for me untill the game came out! Then my creations were for nothing.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=RedLightning777][quote=Eekwotsthat]But I normally quit playing games like Crysis before I have them a month due to just as limited replayability. I occasionally go back to them but not very often. I'm not disagreeing that people have stopped playing but do you disagree any of the above points ?[/quote]

Crisis.. is not even in this genre. Spore was supposed to be "the bang out all of sims" 8 years in the making. Crysis was a story driven FPS of which I'm sure was NOT in the making for all those years.. and I quite expected the game to have "no replay value".. though I don't know your basis. Its comparing apples to asparagus.[/quote]

In his defense both companies did blame piracy for their shortcomings.

EA blamed piracy for DRM.
Crysis makers blamed piracy for terrible sales.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

Been playing computer games since the the first atari game console came out. To me a computer game is a computer game. The only real differences to me are if something is singleplayer/multiplayer or an MMRPG. This is as far as how long something lasts.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]Been playing computer games since the the first atari game console came out. To me a computer game is a computer game. The only real differences to me are if something is singleplayer/multiplayer or an MMRPG. This is as far as how long something lasts.
[/quote]

Yeah.

My main argument is that single player games can easily last as long as multiplayer ones.

The popularity of titles like Final Fantasy Tactics have lasted just as long as World of Warcraft or Starcraft for instance .

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

Multiplayer ones I get bored with normally quicker than the singleplayer ones due to the idiots you normally end up interacting with. MMRPG's last longer than singleplayer. This is initially the first time round of playing. You know a game is good when you pick it up again later and play it again, possibly having got bored with your "latest".

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]Been playing computer games since the the first atari game out. To me a computer game is a computer game. The only real differences to me are if something is singleplayer/multiplayer or an MMRPG as far as how long something lasts while playing.[/quote]

I've played the SIMS since DAY 1 and found that game to be infinity repayable. (best selling game of all time for that reason!) and coincidentally its a singleplayer game. Yet some multipayer games I've quit in a matter of weeks.

Now ATARI had some GREAT games!!!! because there was a GAME in each cartridge.... not some watered down shell of one masked by graphics, and online play.

Also ATARI's games were 1 -2 player console.... not some online game system. Yet some games were replayable and some weren't.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

theultimateend — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]Multiplayer ones I get bored with normally quicker than the singleplayer ones due to the idiots you normally end up interacting with. MMRPG's last longer than singleplayer. This is initially the first time round of playing. You know a game is good when you pick it up again later and play it again, possibly having got bored with your "latest".[/quote]

Well so far on Combat Arms its been a REALLY pleasant experience .

Usually you don't get many counterstrike kiddies on free games.

Sometime if you get Xfire and are one when I am I'll gladly shoot you in the face ^-^.

...that sounded a little violent...I meant that in a good way .

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=EdCase512]
Neither EA or Maxis are obliged to answer you. [/quote]

Actually, they really [i]ARE.[/i]

You know when an average citizen tells a government official that they are owed an answer because they pay that politician's salary? Well, it's even more literally true [i]HERE;[/i] if they alienate their base, Maxis and EA [i]don't get paychecks.[/i]
I'd say that there are enough disaffected users who are declaring that they feel betrayed and will not buy another EA/Maxis product ever again to suggest that Maxis jolly-well [i]OUGHT[/i] to answer, indeed, that their very livelihood [i]DEPENDS[/i] on answering.

[quote]
I wish you well in your quest though. Maybe you really can change the world. [/quote]

Well, thank you. Maybe we can, maybe we can't. But there are people telling us that we shouldn't even try, that we're [i]WRONG[/i] to try. I probably don't have to tell you about too many historical figures who--had they not tried--would have left the world much worse off than it is.
Thankfully, I only want to change on video game, not the whole world.

[quote]For many I would argue these points were going around before the release of the game and, sorry to dissapoint but to anybody actually looking and especially to those actually active on the forum since the creature creator came out, it was obvious spore wasn't going to be as complex as [b] we were told it was going to be.[/b] [/quote]

Fixed that for you.

[quote]You're saying quote your sources and I return the favour. Show any video showing complex gameplay from say the past year. [/quote]

Show any video that quite specifically states that anything was changed, that gameplay was different from what had been seen before, or anything that is direct and to the point about the shift in focus with Spore.
We have video from as recently as 2007 (the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0_U9Tx17RA]TED Talks video[/url]) where Will Wright is still talking about having failure space in which users can experiment with environments and to learn principles of the universe and philosophical questions through play...and this is quite a bit [i]AFTER[/i] Spore had been taken over by the Cute team. That is a [i]MAJOR[/i] mislead, no matter how you look at it.

[quote]
"We have simplified SPORE down"... who are you kidding. When was the last time you actually read something negative officially from the creators ?[/quote]

How about, "Because we think users will connect with it better, we have shifted the focus of Spore to be more about..."? It doesn't have to be negative, just [i]HONEST.[/i]

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

So rocketgirl you restart a discussion we had actually gone round and round in circles with before. I admit there is no video that states spore is not XYZ. In the example you gave they discuss things that they WANT for their "toy". I see very little in the described video which wasn't in the game (walking around for one not as a hologram, possibly causing atmosphere to change temperature of planet, I haven't tested that). Even listening to it I heard very little which hasn't been delivered.

Useful quotes:

"I want the player to go out and explore with a large amount of failure space"
"Give them a toy"

Please point me to the bit I am missing. Unlike some I don't mind admitting when I am wrong.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]So rocketgirl you restart a discussion we had actually gone round and round in circles with before. I admit there is no video that states spore is not XYZ. In the example you gave they discuss things that they WANT for their "toy". I see very little in the described video which wasn't in the game (walking around for one not as a hologram, possibly causing atmosphere to change temperature of planet, I haven't tested that). Even listening to it I heard very little which hasn't been delivered.

Useful quotes:

"I want the player to go out and explore with a large amount of failure space"
"Give them a toy"

Please point me to the bit I am missing. Unlike some I don't mind admitting when I am wrong.[/quote]

The louder the voice.... and the more persistent it is.. the greater chance it will change things. Someone sitting in a corner fuming about a wrong.. doesn't GET ANYTHING changed. I respect RocketGirls ambition and persistence!!! Even if very few do.

Either way .. opinions are opinions.. and shouldn't be argued to the death. I happen to agree with 99.9 Percent of what she says. But even if I didn't agree with a SINGLE remark she has made thus far, I would still respect her for continuing to make her opinions known, and not giving up on what she believes in.

I've found myself repeating the same things over and over as time goes by... but that doesnt change the fact that they DONT need to be said over and over. EA seems to require that things get beat into their heads, cause apparently they dont listen the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth time.... to what we the actual reason they have a paycheck, have to say.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

Personally I find the louder the voice the more it is often filtered out. My 5 year old realises that shouting she wants something means she is less likely to get it.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

Oh man, that was such a sweet game.

If you don't see the differences yourself.
I'm going to skip subtle differences.

What about 13:43 Will Wrights beams down to the planet -not a hologram- to be worshipped by the uplifted species.

Thats a big thing.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

[quote=Parvati]Oh man, that was such a sweet game.

If you don't see the differences yourself.
I'm going to skip subtle differences.

What about 13:43 Will Wrights beams down to the planet -not a hologram- to be worshipped by the uplifted species.

Thats a big thing.[/quote]

Already mentioned as a difference in my post... Not a big thing for me to be honest.

Where is "science spore" really mentioned or better yet shown ?

Edit (1st was mismatched quote end tag):

Other thing I mentioned was raising the atmosphere level can change the planets temperature. Not sure if that works now butyou could argue that's "scientific".

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

OK, its not a big thing.
*shrug*

We are just a bunch of sad sobs imagining things.

Don't mind us

Edit: Oh I can't contain myself, the native tribes were agresive after the uplifting, Will had to get out because they would attack him. Does it start to dawn now? This might seem trivial, but gameplay wise this is far from trivial.

Look, I really don't feel like having some big discusion with you over this.
Neither of us can be convinced.
I may agree with you on many other things, but on this I'll never see it your way I am sorry.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

Now you get a hologram (never been bothered to in game I admit). It becomes the like/dislike scale adjusted for uplifted creatures in the current game (they love you for some reason). Even if I gave that to you though where is this "science spore" I keep hearing about ?

I agree we will not change each other's mind. I freely admit perceptions were not properly set but people saying "we were promised" when they weren't annoy me. I get it from my daughter far too often.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

Look, its in many different things.
And if you don't understand why dieing is so important.
It means that you can fail. And that is a big thing. Because now we can't fail.
Whatever you do, there are no game overs. Thats so fundamental. It really is a totaly different set up oposed to a game where you can not die.

There are still obvious left overs in the game.

If you didn't follow the info from '05 till present day it may seem hard to understand it.

Science Spore is also a bad way to call that version.
I have said it a many times.
Just growing tired of repeating it over and over.
Look on the forum, there are many posts explaining in detail.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]So rocketgirl you restart a discussion we had actually gone round and round in circles with before.
[/quote]

"Restart"? The conversation hasn't even [i]STARTED[/i] until someone at Maxis weighs in! Finally.

[quote]
I admit there is no video that states spore is not XYZ. In the example you gave they discuss things that they WANT for their "toy". I see very little in the described video which wasn't in the game (walking around for one not as a hologram, possibly causing atmosphere to change temperature of planet, I haven't tested that). Even listening to it I heard very little which hasn't been delivered. [/quote]

Listen to the [i]MONOLOGUE;[/i] there is precious little contained in the monologue which is delivered in the final product.

In fact, here, let me illuminate some of it for you; anything underlined is something NOT DELIVERED:
[quote="Will Wright"]"...I want to talk about toys, and the power I see inherent in them.
"When I was a kid, I actually attended Montessori School up to sixth grade in Atlanta, GA. And at the time, I didn't think much about it, but then lately I kind of realized that that was kind of a high point of my education. From that point on, everything else was pretty much downhill. And it wasn't until later as I started making games that I really actually think of them more as toys; people call me a game designer but I really think of these things more as toys.
"But I started getting really interesting in Maria Montessori and her methods, and the way she kinda, the way she went about things, and the way she thought it very valuable for kids to kind of discover these things on their own instead of being taught these things just kind of overtly. And she would design these toys where kids, in playing with these toys, would come to understand these deep principles of life and nature through play. And since they would discover those things, it really stuck with them so much more. And also they would experience their own failures, there was a failure-based aspect to learning there; it was very important.
"And so the games I do I think of really as modern Montessori toys. [u]And I really kind of want them to be presented in a way to where kids can kind of explore and discover their own principles.[/u]
"So a few years ago I actually started getting very interested in the SETI program. And that's kinna the way I work, is I get kind of interested in certain subjects, I dive in, I research them, and then I try to figure out how to craft a toy around that so that other people can experience the same sense of discovery that I did as I was studying that subject.
"And it kind of led me to [u]astrobiology,[/u] which is the study of possible life in the universe, and then to [u]Drake's Equation,[/u] you know, which is thinking of the probability of life arising on other planets, how long it might last, how many planets are out there, stuff like that. And I started looking at how interesting Drake's equation was, because it spanned all these different subjects; you know, [u]physics, chemistry, sociology,[/u] economics, [u]astronomy[/u]...and another thing that really impressed me a long time ago was [u]Powers of Ten[/u], you know, Charles Reames film. And I started kind of putting those two together and wondering, could I put together [u]a toy where kinds would kind of trip across all these interesting principles of life,[/u] you know, as it exists and as it might go in the future, things where [u]you might kind of trip across things like the Copernican Principle, the Fermi Paradox, the Anthropic Principle,[/u] the origin of life.
"And so I'm going to show you today a toy that I've been working on..."
[/quote]

[quote]
Useful quotes:

"I want the player to go out and explore with a large amount of failure space"
"Give them a toy"

Please point me to the bit I am missing. Unlike some I don't mind admitting when I am wrong.[/quote]

There's plenty of failure space...[i]but nothing to experiment on.[/i]
How does terraforming work? Move the temperature and atmosphere into the right ring, then drop down three of [i]ANY KIND OF PLANT,[/i] just so long as they're different sizes, then drop down two of [i]ANY[/i] herbivore, and lastly drop down a carnivore/omnivore. Now repeat for the last two environment rings.

Where is the experimentation in that? You're filling in a checklist! There's nothing about one animal being different from another and therefore producing a different kind of ecology, and ditto for the plants. There's nothing about animals requiring specific diets and therefore specific plants or prey, there's nothing about population pressure, and there's certainly no natural selection or evolution! Choosing which animals and plants to seed a planet with makes absolutely no difference to the ecology...
So what [i]EXACTLY[/i] are we experimenting with and therefore learning?

And that's [i]JUST[/i] terraforming!
Astronomy? Does the color or size of a star make much of a difference to anything? Maybe how hot the local planets are, which doesn't change anything at all since you can just adjust that with your environmental controls. What about gravity? Do planets have different levels or gravity which would then affect the performance of various animals?
Okay, okay, sociology, then? Well, different cultures will say different things to you based on the culture, but so what? Can there be political, social, economic, or religious upheaval? Can you even interact with alien races on that basis beyond doing missions for them and telling them what they want to hear when they want to hear it? Not that I've found.
All right, then, how about Drake's Equation? Well, we encounter that a bit but you would be default if you're exploring the galaxy; whether or not there are alien species will be exploring Drake's Equation simply as a matter of course, you can't avoid it. But does the game [i]DEAL[/i] with it, or even really bring it up? No...not really. There's one mission at the beginning, and it sends you to the alien race closest to you. Whoopita. Big deal. It's hardly a philosophical question anybody ever takes the time to consider in this game.
The Anthropic Principle? Well, to deal with that, we'd need to also deal with Drake's Equation. And we'd also have to deal with the terraforming issues, since environment is a huge part of the anthropic principle, which by necessity means we'd have to deal with astronomy and astrobiology...we can't deal with the Anthropic Principle without everything above, which just happens to be missing.

Now, Will Wright is talking about these things as a lead up to a demo of Spore [i]when he know GOOD AND GOD SPORE WELL that they aren't to be found in Spore [u]ANYWHERE![/u][/i] And you sit there and ask me just why I'm dissatisfied and what exactly I saw in that video that isn't present in the game?

Pull the other one.

[quote]I happen to agree with 99.9 Percent of what she says. But even if I didn't agree with a SINGLE remark she has made thus far, I would still respect her for continuing to make her opinions known, and not giving up on what she believes in. [/quote]

Thank you. And the only reason--the single, solitary, this-is-it reason--that I have continued as long as I have...[i]is because I have to.[/i] The resounding silence from EA/Maxis is exactly what is perpetuating this and prolonging it; you people who want me to [i]STOP[/i] should be chanting for EA/Maxis to [i]ANSWER ME,[/i] since it's the quickest way to shut me the heck up. I've flat out stated that if Maxis says that Spore is what it is and that will never change, I'll just quietly drop off the board, and I stand by that...and that if they tell us that, yes, we've been heard, and Science Spore is back on the drawing board, I'll become their biggest cheerleader. I stand by that too.
Silence maybe diplomatic, but it's not exactly [i]productive;[/i] EA/Maxis really do owe us an answer on this one, one way or another, and that's the bottom line.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

And that is exactly why I rather have her do the shouting.

hahaha, well done.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

Agree failure should be important but you "die" in game, you just respawn (Dying and respawning in a demo is not normally a good thing to do). Not a unique concept, many MMRPG's do it. Where Maxis went wrong though is no penalty. Hard to know what penalty to impose though.

To be honest I think we are talking cross purposes and have definately moved away from the thread title but just so we can put this quickly behind us.. Yes I agree spore could have been more and should be made more . but shouting Maxis promised us XYZ isn't accurate either.

There is an "official" thread we are awaiting answers from Maxis with. Wouldn't it be worth while simply awaiting to the end of this week to see if there is an answer. If not using that thread ?

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

With all due respect, Nope

As you can see by my post record, I'm a big suporter of Spore. But I and many others have seen everything, lived the whole thing, year after year.

Look, if you didn't saw any video before the TED '07 you wouldn't know there is a civilization phase, right?

What If you knew there was a civilization phase and when you buy the game they have cut it out.

Would that be honest advertisement?
Not really. Well, we just forgat to inform you.
Sorry about your time and money.
Now, move along /sarcasm

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

"And I really kind of want them to be presented in a way to where kids can kind of explore and discover their own principles"

Green/Blue/Red. Simplistic I know but it's in there even if it's not exactly as complex as I would have wanted.

You've highlighted other things. All well and good. He mentions them as inspirations and the idea of someone tripping over them but there is no demonstration of them and at the end of the day, that is what counts in real life. I know you'll keep coming up with underlined bits but I doubt if anything you show me or vice versa will change opinions.

At the end of the day rocketgirl, as I stated before game release in the forum before it changed Spore was never going to be your game (robots in creature phase threads, I want MOO2 for space phase thread etc). I am amazed you actually brought it. Others I admit may not have had the detailed discussions I have had with you in the past and I feel they are more justified in complaining about the fact that spore did not turn out as they expected.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]
To be honest I think we are talking cross purposes and have definately moved away from the thread title[/quote]

Well, more than a few people have tried to dispute that we should be hearing from Maxis at all, or even that Maxis has anything to answer for; surely those claims have to be refuted and it's on-subject to do so.

[quote]
Yes I agree spore could have been more and should be made more . but shouting Maxis promised us XYZ isn't accurate either. [/quote]

It's really more a matter of Spore's concept, it's premise, having been betrayed. I've said before and I say again, Will Wright should be having fits of conscience about having let [i]HIMSELF[/i] down, not to mention the rest of us. Because, if his monologue on the TED demo is to be believed, he and I share a lot of passions and interests, and I really wanted to play the game that he seemed to be making (or at least talking about)...and yet, the game we got has essentially [i]nothing[/i] to do with that monologue. So either he was lying, being political, or...well, I doubt that he's stupid, so it'd be hard for him to be [i]mistaken;[/i] what other options does that leave? If I were Will Wright, I'd lie awake at night, unable to sleep because of how Spore turned out, how different it was from the original vision, and yet how possible the original vision was.

So it's not really a point-by-point laundry-list of false promises so much as the essential premise of the game having been reimagined into something more like those console games where you collect wardrobe bits for your characters to dress in by playing minigames.

[quote]
There is an "official" thread we are awaiting answers from Maxis with. Wouldn't it be worth while simply awaiting to the end of this week to see if there is an answer. If not using that thread ?[/quote]

No, not really. This question has been around essentially since day one after Spore's release: "Whatinhell [i]HAPPENED?[/i] Where'z the science???" And now we know what happened thanks to various articles and the former Maxis employee who dropped by: the Cute Team had a coup and won over the Science Team, and they essentially gutted Spore.
Now, the question, "Will Science Spore ever be made? There's an obvious demand for it, and an obvious decline in continued Cute Spore play, an obvious dissatisfaction to varying degrees by the fan base; will this demand ever be answered in the affirmative?" has been asked in various ways in that list of questions, but who knows if they'll even bother answering it unambiguously or specifically? Who knows if, in submitting the questions to Maxis, it wasn't rewritten in some way which those asking the question do not approve of? I don't remember specifically, but I'm fairly certainly that I was kinna snarky when asking, so I'm sure a re-write is more than possible, if not actual omission of the question.

So I feel it needs to be asked more obviously and directly. Specifically.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

When there is an official thread about questions for maxis and we are awaiting answers.. ?

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

Look its very easy.
if we dont keep this qeustion alive, they will forget to answer the qeustion.

You may not understand or agree with this method.
Unfortenatly, we are not ghandi.
We act.

Or rather, RG has a nice moment and we agree or chip in.
If RG would stop doing this, I'm sure someone else will come along and revive this thread.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]
You've highlighted other things. All well and good. He mentions them as inspirations and the idea of someone tripping over them but there is no demonstration of them
[/quote]

But that's the thing, the argument: They [i]WERE[/i] demonstrated in the 2005 demo, even if only in rudimentary form. In the 2005 demo, creature construction [i]MATTERED,[/i] it affected creature-performance. In the 2005 demo, the look was more toward realism than uber-cutesy. In the 2005 demo, one had to master one's own solar system before getting an interstellar drive, and space exploration was up to the player instead of being handheld and spoonfed like we're all idiots who can't figure it out on our own...

...and there was nothing in the 2007 TED demo to repudiate this. Nothing. Even leading up to the final release, there was an almost maddening dearth of information that wasn't essentially repetition of what had been said before, and certainly nothing that would clue anybody into the fact that Spore had been [i]GUTTED.[/i] And re-focused. And dumbed-down. Nothing.

[quote]
At the end of the day rocketgirl, as I stated before game release in the forum before it changed Spore was never going to be your game (robots in creature phase threads, I want MOO2 for space phase thread etc). I am amazed you actually brought it.
[/quote]

Hope springs eternal.

[quote]
Others I admit may not have had the detailed discussions I have had with you in the past and I feel they are more justified in complaining about the fact that spore did not turn out as they expected.
[/quote]

So you had an inkling about how much Spore had been slashed and burned; bully for you. That doesn't change much of anything; Spore still showed so much promise and so little of what had changed about it was prominently displayed that anybody who'd been hooked on the 2005 demo could still hold out hope...

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]When there is an official thread about questions for maxis and we are awaiting answers.. ?[/quote]

Yes.

[i]THIS[/i] question is the most important, and it could go ignored in a huge list of questions for which, by the way, it should [i]NOT[/i] take this long to have answers. It needs to be addressed individually, specifically, and in detail; I'm not willing to be passive on this.

[quote]Look its very easy.
if we dont keep this qeustion alive, they will forget to answer the qeustion. [/quote]

QFT.

[quote]If RG would stop doing this, I'm sure someone else will come along and revive this thread. [/quote]

Half the reason I keep doing this is that I'm not sure someone else will. The other half is that I really want the answer. Like you said, we're not Gandhi, and I'm not one to be passive.

Of course, it wouldn't terribly surprise me if Maxis has a betting pool going on how long they can string me along--forgetting, of course, that they're actually stringing [i]US[/i] along; I'm not alone here, even if I do seem to have grabbed the role of champion of this issue--and if so...I'd like to drop some dough on January 1st, please. (I'll, uh, be in Hawaii for a week and it'll look like I've gone silent, y'see...)

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Parvati — GMT

Sure no problem.

But next month we should know wether or not we gotta keep fighting the good fight.

The qeustions should get answered by next month if not

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

I realise you are not alone. I personally expected more from Spore when I first heard about it. As the release date got closer the perception changed as I saw more up to date videos and I adapted. As a result I have not been upset. That's the key for most games I buy.

Cutesy vs science. I still say that they are not mutually exclusive and I would have prefered that both were included. Indeed I would actually prefer this, as I think would any parent, as it leads to my child asking questions which I am sure is what Will had in mind originally.

The difficulty is buying the game when you don't agree with Cute is hard to imagine if you even saw the trailer and especially so if you brought the original creature creator. I for one almost didn't buy the game based on the trailer purely because it only emphasised the "combat" route.

Having a champion who seems to simply enjoy arguing, even if they have some valid points, is often not the best idea if you actually want to be heard.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl]

Thank you. And the only reason--the single, solitary, this-is-it reason--that I have continued as long as I have...[i]is because I have to.[/i] The resounding silence from EA/Maxis is exactly what is perpetuating this and prolonging it; you people who want me to [i]STOP[/i] should be chanting for EA/Maxis to [i]ANSWER ME,[/i] since it's the quickest way to shut me the heck up. I've flat out stated that if Maxis says that Spore is what it is and that will never change, I'll just quietly drop off the board, and I stand by that...and that if they tell us that, yes, we've been heard, and Science Spore is back on the drawing board, I'll become their biggest cheerleader. I stand by that too.
Silence maybe diplomatic, but it's not exactly [i]productive;[/i] EA/Maxis really do owe us an answer on this one, one way or another, and that's the bottom line.
[/quote]

No problem at all.... and as was stated after this quote.. I'm glad someones doing it... and believe me... you are NOT alone. Giving up is what they want us to do ... I, for one, am NOT giving up on fighting, because I feel that I've been wronged... not so much just in this instance, but MANY times over from this company. If they do it to me.. and I realize it .. there are thousands of people out there that don't have a voice and end up just shelving the game. Standing up for what you believe in is not wrong, nor should be frowned against.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]I realise you are not alone. I personally expected more from Spore when I first heard about it. As the release date got closer the perception changed as I saw more up to date videos and I adapted. As a result I have not been upset. That's the key for most games I buy. [/quote]

Well, that's clearly a difference between us; I would not have adapted. I might have said, "To hell with this!", but I would not have changed my expectations. And, frankly, if I'd gotten Spore without having seen anything at all prior to playing it, I'd still be disappointed; the only difference would be one of degree.

[quote]
The difficulty is buying the game when you don't agree with Cute is hard to imagine if you even saw the trailer and especially so if you brought the original creature creator.
[/quote]

But that's the thing...the CC still didn't tell us anything. Lots of things weren't complete yet, like wing animations. Certainly there was no gameplay in the CC. Many of us saw it as a tech demo at most, and a tool to populate the Sporeverse prior to the release of the first game.

And I actually quite enjoyed the CC. Yes, I was disappointed that it was so cutesy and not realistic, but I was able to be okay with it because the promise of Spore's gameplay was such a draw. I just didn't know that the gameplay, too, had also been gutted and changed so dramatically.

[quote]
I for one almost didn't buy the game based on the trailer purely because it only emphasised the "combat" route.[/quote]

And that's exactly the sort of thing that also plagued Spore's demos; rarely, if ever, was gameplay shown to us indepth. Almost always, they'd cut the demo short [i]RIGHT[/i] at the part I most wanted to see. Now I know why.

[quote]
Having a champion who seems to simply enjoy arguing, even if they have some valid points, is often not the best idea if you actually want to be heard.[/quote]

I'm only arguing because other people are arguing back; it takes two to tango. And don't mistake tenacity for [i]LIKING[/i] to argue; I'm not afraid of debate, but I don't [i]LIKE[/i] it.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

EdCase512 — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl]

Of course, it wouldn't terribly surprise me if Maxis has a betting pool going on how long they can string me along--forgetting, of course, that they're actually stringing [i]US[/i] along; I'm not alone here, even if I do seem to have grabbed the role of champion of this issue--and if so...I'd like to drop some dough on January 1st, please. (I'll, uh, be in Hawaii for a week and it'll look like I've gone silent, y'see...)[/quote]

The smart money would actually be on : They have broken down the team, assigned them other projects and left the interns to construct parts packs. The forums in that case would receive no more than a cursory glance.
Your a customer who has PAID Rocketgirl so your opinion does not count any longer....until they wish to sell you something else.

But, oh how I would love to be wrong. I'd be happy to be made to look foolish. my "gut" tells me ( well that and EA's abysmal track record for support) it won't happen though.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=EdCase512]
Your a customer who has PAID Rocketgirl so your opinion does not count any longer....until they wish to sell you something else.[/quote]

But that's been part of my message all along: I'm a [i]dissatisfied[/i] customer from whom they will never again get another red cent...and I'm not alone.

If the stats on this board are to be believed, then there are a few points we need to consider:
- Spore is the most pirated game in history
- Spore's player stats are dropping; people are getting fed up and not playing anymore
- We, the players, pay the salaries of Maxis employees

What does all this add up to? Maxis had jolly-well [i]BETTER[/i] listen to us, because even if Spore turns out to be a commercial success in terms of sales, the fallout of their reimagining of the game [i]AND[/i] their insistence on ignoring disgruntled customers could very easily make their [i]NEXT[/i] venture a dismal failure. The fallout from this debacle may not be immediate, but if Maxis is [i]SMART,[/i] they'll start damage control [i]NOW.[/i]

And the best way to do that? Admit fault, apologize, and promise to give the customers what they wanted. And [i]MEAN[/i] it. Seriously.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Eekwotsthat — GMT

Buying or avoiding the parts pack/expansions will determine the result I'm afraid. EA/Maxis know very well that what people say now and what they'll do if another game comes out are two different things.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

RocketGirl, I feel bad for your boyfriend if you have one. (That's meant to be taken as a joke)

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=111uminate]RocketGirl, I feel bad for your boyfriend if you have one. (That's meant to be taken as a joke)[/quote]

The joke's on you, anyway; I'm a lesbian.
And my girlfriend loves me very much.

[quote]Buying or avoiding the parts pack/expansions will determine the result I'm afraid. EA/Maxis know very well that what people say now and what they'll do if another game comes out are two different things. [/quote]

I'm not so sure that's true this time around. I guess we'll just have to see.
But given how the election seems to be shaping up, I think people are as mad as hell and they're not going to take this anymore:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMBZDwf9dok[/youtube]

...and that's gonna spill over into video games, too, I'm thinkin'.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

111uminate — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl]
The joke's on you, anyway; I'm a lesbian.
And my girlfriend loves me very much.
[/quote]

Somehow that .. makes so much sense. But anyway, glad you took it in stride. I'm glad you're happy together and wish you two all the best.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]Buying or avoiding the parts pack/expansions will determine the result I'm afraid. EA/Maxis know very well that what people say now and what they'll do if another game comes out are two different things.[/quote]

I admit it, I've done the very thing you state, in the past!!.. But NOT NO MORE..

I've never felt the need to frequent a board for any of the hundreds of games I've bought in the past... Spore was the last straw. My Open Letter to EA has been a direct result of just that. I am NOT and I repeat NOT going to buy anything more from EA if their current tactics with this game remain the same.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Jackuul — GMT

Spore was my first game in years that I actually bought. I literally waited until now to purchase a game.

I may never buy another game again - with the exception of Mafia 2. But, since I have learned my lesson - I will wait to see if people get screwed with that. However, Illusion has never treated me wrong.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=RedLightning777]
I admit it, I've done the very thing you state, in the past!!.. But NOT NO MORE..

I've never felt the need to frequent a board for any of the hundreds of games I've bought in the past... Spore was the last straw. My Open Letter to EA has been a direct result of just that. I am NOT and I repeat NOT going to buy anything more from EA if their current tactics with this game remain the same.
[/quote]

Yes! Yes! Exactly! This is just what we need: cranky people [i]DOING something about it![/i] Rock on! [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/rocketgrrl/Webstuff/ylsuper.gif[/IMG]

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl][quote=RedLightning777]
I admit it, I've done the very thing you state, in the past!!.. But NOT NO MORE..

I've never felt the need to frequent a board for any of the hundreds of games I've bought in the past... Spore was the last straw. My Open Letter to EA has been a direct result of just that. I am NOT and I repeat NOT going to buy anything more from EA if their current tactics with this game remain the same.
[/quote]

Yes! Yes! Exactly! This is just what we need: cranky people [i]DOING something about it![/i] Rock on! [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/rocketgrrl/Webstuff/ylsuper.gif[/IMG][/quote]

I'm not really that cranky, persay, just fed up with EA's tactics. Oh, if I DO seem cranky.. EA's the one that turned the metaphorical crank past tight already! It had to snap sometime...

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=Jackuul]Spore was my first game in years that I actually bought. I literally waited until now to purchase a game.

I may never buy another game again - with the exception of Mafia 2. But, since I have learned my lesson - I will wait to see if people get screwed with that. However, Illusion has never treated me wrong. [/quote]

Now Mafia that is a good game .. still play that on occasion. (a bit dated graphically)... but that game NEVER crashed on me, had plenty to do... and for the time was extremely well executed. Then again .. spore already seems dated graphically.. judging from the muddy texture thread!.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=RedLightning777]
I'm not really that cranky, persay, just fed up with EA's tactics. [/quote]

Close enough.

I think we may have different definitions for 'cranky', you and I; being fed up is a decent synonym for what I was getting at in this context.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=Eekwotsthat]Personally I find the louder the voice the more it is often filtered out. My 5 year old realises that shouting she wants something means she is less likely to get it.[/quote]

It seems in this instance, that EA, is the 5 year old.. lord knows they make games to that level recently. They dont listen to what we have to say... and do their own thing anyways. Well I'm done with their Ethics, and personally am NOT going to take anymore.

Besides I'm not an immature 5 year old screaming for a cookie. I'm an Adult - who has been wronged, trying to make things right.... no matter how loud my voice gets! (though I've really kept my screaming to a minimum in these forums.)

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=RedLightning777]
Besides I'm not an immature 5 year old screaming for a cookie. I'm an Adult - who has been wronged, trying to make things right.... no matter how loud my voice gets!
[/quote]

Q.

F.

T.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Clstirens — GMT

What do the developers think? Not EA, but MAXIS?

I mean, What do the people, who set out in their lives to create pieces of entertainment so people may enjoy them (no doubt for a profit so they CAN have lives) Think about all of this? Can you truly say, I have made a great product that people can enjoy, when so many people are upset, when so many people feel like their already stretched dollar was WASTED on their work?

If I handed out a short story meant for comedy and it encited a race riot, I'd feel like SPORE.

EDIT: That is not to say that I do not have fun with spore (when it works... If it works) But I truly feel like i'm being cheated as a consumer when a company BREAKS my game (unintentionally, yes, but still) and then, without but a slight nod of acknowledgement, wags in my face MORE stuff to buy FOR MY BROKEN GAME.

That like a used car saleman trying to sell you a sweet new gear-shifter cap...When the transmission is broken.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote=RocketGirl][quote=RedLightning777]
Besides I'm not an immature 5 year old screaming for a cookie. I'm an Adult - who has been wronged, trying to make things right.... no matter how loud my voice gets!
[/quote]

Q.

F.

T.

[/quote]

Pardon my ignorance .. but what does QFT mean?

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

shinu1729 — GMT

[quote=RedLightning777][quote=RocketGirl][quote=RedLightning777]
Besides I'm not an immature 5 year old screaming for a cookie. I'm an Adult - who has been wronged, trying to make things right.... no matter how loud my voice gets!
[/quote]

Q.

F.

T.

[/quote]

Pardon my ignorance .. but what does QFT mean?
[/quote]

It means Quoted for Truth as in your in agreement with the quote.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=RedLightning777]
Pardon my ignorance .. but what does QFT mean?
[/quote]

Quoted For Truth

It's a compliment.

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RedLightning777 — GMT

[quote]It means Quoted for Truth as in your in agreement with the quote. [/quote]

Thanks for the heads up This is the first forum I've ever spent any length of time in.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Jackuul — GMT

And there I was thinking you all were insulting each other.

For the longest time I thought it mean 'Quit F-ing Talking'. I blame a forum I used to visit ages ago that used it that way.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

RocketGirl — GMT

[quote=Jackuul]And there I was thinking you all were insulting each other.

For the longest time I thought it mean 'Quit F-ing Talking'. I blame a forum I used to visit ages ago that used it that way. [/quote]

Man...don't you just [i]HATE[/i] conflicting TLAs?

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

rupertlittlebear — GMT

[quote=Jackuul]And there I was thinking you all were insulting each other.

For the longest time I thought it mean 'Quit F-ing Talking'. I blame a forum I used to visit ages ago that used it that way. [/quote]ZOMG that explains things

every once in a while somebody takes offence at a QFT reply.
(have seen this offence on other forums)

Re:So...when do we hear from Maxis?

Clstirens — GMT

Edit:whoops, my browser didn't update the page, edited for removal

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

[quote=piePIEpie]they have BLOCKED THE Q AND A PAGE[/quote]

PIEPIEPIE, PLEASE READ MY OTHER RESPONSE. I AM TALKING IN CAPS SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND. THE QUESTION PERIOD ENDED QUITE SOME TIME AGO.

So...when do we hear from Maxis?

piePIEpie — GMT

[quote=OneBlackbird][quote=piePIEpie]they have BLOCKED THE Q AND A PAGE[/quote]

PIEPIEPIE, PLEASE READ MY OTHER RESPONSE. I AM TALKING IN CAPS SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND. THE QUESTION PERIOD ENDED QUITE SOME TIME AGO.[/quote]
sorry i forgot where i posted that''''