pw75

I think this is a big issue and SI need to address it or start to lose some members of the community. The bug reporting is something I gave up on a fair while ago, it might be they work on them but a lack of communication and their 'update system' being so unhelpful puts me off contributing. In recent years there does seem to be a bit of a culture at SI that isn't quite what it was. I think we have heard a lot from Miles relatively recently about acknowledging mistakes and what they plan to do to rectify them but their actions are what I base my opinions on and I think they obviously have issues whether that is from the top or a disconnect with people below senior management I don't know. Like in most cases it is wise to also look at what they do and do well but I now view FM features a little bit like one of my other posts, dog s*** on dog s*** and the SI office walking around blindly saying 'what's that smell'! I appreciate they have their own bosses (Sega) to please but if you continue to ram poorly designed and implementable features on a game it starts to erode the really good parts of it. It is like having a finely polished and honed engine then chucking loads of oil on it saying 'well engines need oil right'! They do but the right quality and the right amount!!!!!

I think they are open about bugs because the community does a fair part of their work! When you look at the bugs reporting forum all you seem to get is 'under review' for months and months. It may be that is the case but some people go to a fair amount of effort to make the game better and provide a range of data/evidence so a bit of a better system or focus on the feedback might be appreciated by some. I think this games USP is the community, people are passionate about the game (some too much) and that does bring some unrealistic expectations but the series has been stagnant for a while and adding more 'new features' that don't work well, or 'press conferences' that are as unrealistic as you can possibly get (and better to make up in your head) for me is not the way forward.

Only comment I would make on this is that SI need to engage with the fanbase much better as well. A lot of people post constructive information, report bugs, etc. then feel let down when SI either do nothing with them or at least that is the impression. Communication has to be two ways otherwise it isn't communication. I think if MJ has to apologise any more times it might be time for a change at the top.

I think the issue for me is that SI seem to feel these introductions make the game more 'real life and immersive' yet they do the opposite. They are more aligned to 'make it sound like we have 100 new features and everyone will buy the game again' when in reality over the years all they have really done is pile dog**** on dog*** and then wonder what the smell is! I guess it must be difficult for a game developer to balance their priorities but for too many years now it has been introducing 'new features' either that are not ready or not needed in my opinion.