The Corporation: a gloomy forcast for TSO
by Alphaville Herald on 07/05/04 at 8:24 am
Thanks to the Phantom for bringing this site to my attention. The post mortem on E&B was interesting, but what made MY eyes pop out was their entry on TSO:
Pro: Not too many silver linings. The basic concept is still strong, with an appeal that could conceivable bring in new players to online games.
Con: Like Ultima Online, EA does not have the skilled staff needed to do the kind of radical re-vamp needed to make the game fulfill it’s promise. TSO is a title that will probably never make money for EA. It’s clear that they will be canceling the game some time in the immediate future. No new expansion is officially planned, so it doesn’t look very promising for Sims players.
Prediction: This game won’t be on the 2005 wrap up.
Snowcrash
May 7th, 2004
How often do the developers of TSO keep in touch with the community? I’d like to know mainly because I just started playing TSO two days ago and I’d like to see what’s going on, and because communication between the devs and the community seemed to be the first thing to go in Earth and Beyond. We used to get weekly updates telling us what was going on in the development cycle, and give us an idea of what would be in the monthly patch. After a while, the weekly updates would be overviews of things that are currently in the game (and have been since launch) like how to use skills, or completely skip the patch information and go right to the Ask A Question segment, and even then questions were often dodged. It got to the point where the weekly updates were insulting. We felt that our voices weren’t being heard. We later learned that they were, but the dev’s hands were tied.
If you really want an indication about the life of the game, pay attention to billing cycles. Game Time Cards especially. They have to give you 90 day’s notice, so if 90 day GTCs start getting a little rare, then you know you have a problem.
Matt Armone
May 7th, 2004
Snow, they took the 90 day Game Cards off about 2 months ago – and even the stuff you named above (We used to get weekly updates telling us what was going on in the development cycle, and give us an idea of what would be in the monthly patch. After a while, the weekly updates would be overviews of things that are currently in the game (and have been since launch) like how to use skills, or completely skip the patch information and go right to the Ask A Question segment, and even then questions were often dodged. It got to the point where the weekly updates were insulting. We felt that our voices weren’t being heard. We later learned that they were, but the dev’s hands were tied.) Are non-existant.
Liz
May 7th, 2004
http://tsogamecodes.com/store/index.asp – you can still get game time cards at this site – where i live it was always hard to find them in stores, so i order them thru this site
Cocoanut
May 7th, 2004
There are no weekly updates. And the last “Message from Momi” was late last year, I believe.
Many, if not most, of our questions go unanswered and unacknowledged. Once, even, an answer was promised but never delivered. I think it was said we would get the answer after lunch, or something like that, and months went by – still no answer, not even, “We won’t be answering that” – in other words, they behaved as if we had never asked it in the first place, and repeated pleas for an answer on it have been completely ignored.
The situation has been insulting for months now, even though we were in November promised improved communication. Instead, we got less communication and from only one, rather than several, Maxis people. They do seem to be making a bit of an effort more than usual, though, in the past couple of weeks.
We have come to understand that we will not be given answers unless they feel like it, that usually they will not feel like it, that they will not even say that they will not answer something, that in general we will be ignored, and we can either like that or lump it.
They have given various reasons for withholding information, generally revolving around how they didn’t like our reaction to it. Once it was stated that if they don’t like the way one person acts in a thread, then they will ignore the original question, or perhaps just PM the answer only to the person who originally posed it, but the rest will never learn the answer.
They have also stated that as only one percent of the playing population, our input was basically meaningless in terms of the game decisions they make, and they certainly would never change anything because of what we said. (Which is totally untrue.)
As to whose fault most of this is – the devs, EA’s, or the person in charge of communicating with us – I assume it is mainly EA’s. If not, several people should have been fired long ago.
If this game folds, I will miss it. But I won’t miss this kind of arrogant treatment of the customers, and I will be able to regain the small bits of self-respect I’ve traded away each time I continue to play the game in the face of contempt from the very people I’m paying each month.
coco
trailblazer
May 8th, 2004
I left TSO because of basically no new content, lack of updates and finally them saying they scrapped all planned features that have been in the “Works” for over a year, instead anything new was just tweaks on existing features.
I believe TSO’s days are numbered, the reaction from EA on how TSO is basically a failure points to this, game time cards are impossible to find in stores,online purchase is the only way to get one,I think they are waiting for The Sims 2 to be released before pulling the plug, if that game is a runaway success I bet they feel they can cancel it with little fuss, because hey everyone is playing the new offline version.
Snowcrash
May 8th, 2004
Matt: Which site did you search? The site ran by EA or the unofficially official community site ebportal.com? The weekly updates are at the portal, posted by members of the development team.
toy
May 9th, 2004
this girl for one will not get Sims2 prolly will never purchase anything again that is EA related.
There’s that old saying that goes something like…. Fool me once and shame on you, fool me twice and shame on me…. toy thinks its very fitting where anything related to EA is concerned
falara kajira toy
Matt Armone
May 9th, 2004
all of them basically…but what I meant more was that they are non-existant in the Stores in real life, and almost non-existant online.
Maria LaVeaux
May 11th, 2004
For me, it is getting harder to play TSO, So many friends i will not see again, people i care about disappearing.
I suppose there IS such a thing as being too involved with On Line games, but for me, it has always been the people behind the avatars i wanted to meet, and to know.
I have said before, i will stay in TSO until the servers are shut down around me, and i Will. I love the environment, and i always have hope that i will see some of my old friends pop in just for a look, But my prediction of TSO not lasting past the summer seems to be rapidly coming true.
Maxis/EA, you have failed your subscribers, and you have failed your shareholders. This sort of failure WILL affect your future ventures. A Companies History is remembered by both game players, AND investors. You have shot yourself in the foot.
Second Life Awaits, with Developers who meet directly with players In Game, and a more creative game environment. I will be with my toy, and other friends are getting ready for the switch as well, so i will have some continuity.
I have recreated my home, and the homes of friends in the Off line game, so i won’t lose what i have created.
I will miss my friends, and lovers, i will miss the environment, but i Won’t miss Maxis/EA, and their poor Managment.
Where will YOU be, when the lights go out for the final time?
Maria.
djcobra
May 26th, 2004
anyone looking forgame time cards go to http://www.walmart.com thats where i get mine
Banshee
May 31st, 2004
“Where will YOU be, when the lights go out for the final time?”
I won’t be in TSO, I’ve left already.
It’s sad because the game could have been good if it had been delayed somewhat, released later when it was more feature rich, allowed custom content etc., etc., etc. EA was not committed to the game and did not support the game, prolly because EA is not really committed to online gaming. It’s like they tried to dip their toe in the pool of online gaming, and you can’t succeed at it that way, and so they’ve decided to pull out of that and reconsolidate around their core console market. It makes good business sense, but it leaves some players disgruntled with EA. I doubt EA cares much, because most of these disgruntled folks are simply going to go to other online games, and really arent in the market anyway for EA’s core console franchises. So I expect that Redwood City doesn’t really care very much, and my guess is that the shareholders and investment analysts think that EA should cut its losses in the online gaming world and focus on higher-revenue and profit activities like the core console franchises.
Kelci
Jul 11th, 2004
Hmmm…I haven’t played TSO for months now. I ‘pop’ in and out on occasion. The only reason I’m there at all, is my daughter. She still enjoys the game and calls on me to join her now and then.
With some of the stupidest things that they ARE incorporating (I don’t even have the heart to list them…LOL) I think they’re really trying to dissuade any ‘older’ players who find these things unacceptable. I guess the ‘younger’ players don’t seem to mind much of anything…and that’s who they depend on.
Coco…this is for you.
When I’m on Stratics and reading ‘posts’, I rarely read anyone else’s but yours! :”)
Kelci
Jul 11th, 2004
Hmmm…I haven’t played TSO for months now. I ‘pop’ in and out on occasion. The only reason I’m there at all, is my daughter. She still enjoys the game and calls on me to join her now and then.
With some of the stupidest things that they ARE incorporating (I don’t even have the heart to list them…LOL) I think they’re really trying to dissuade any ‘older’ players who find these things unacceptable. I guess the ‘younger’ players don’t seem to mind much of anything…and that’s who they depend on.
Coco…this is for you.
When I’m on Stratics and reading ‘posts’, I rarely read anyone else’s but yours! :”)
Kelci
Jul 11th, 2004
Hmmm…I haven’t played TSO for months now. I ‘pop’ in and out on occasion. The only reason I’m there at all, is my daughter. She still enjoys the game and calls on me to join her now and then.
With some of the stupidest things that they ARE incorporating (I don’t even have the heart to list them…LOL) I think they’re really trying to dissuade any ‘older’ players who find these things unacceptable. I guess the ‘younger’ players don’t seem to mind much of anything…and that’s who they depend on.
Coco…this is for you.
When I’m on Stratics and reading ‘posts’, I rarely read anyone else’s but yours! :”)
Kelci
Jul 11th, 2004
Hmmm…I haven’t played TSO for months now. I ‘pop’ in and out on occasion. The only reason I’m there at all, is my daughter. She still enjoys the game and calls on me to join her now and then.
With some of the stupidest things that they ARE incorporating (I don’t even have the heart to list them…LOL) I think they’re really trying to dissuade any ‘older’ players who find these things unacceptable. I guess the ‘younger’ players don’t seem to mind much of anything…and that’s who they depend on.
Coco…this is for you.
When I’m on Stratics and reading ‘posts’, I rarely read anyone else’s but yours! :”)
Kelci
Jul 11th, 2004
Hmmm…I haven’t played TSO for months now. I ‘pop’ in and out on occasion. The only reason I’m there at all, is my daughter. She still enjoys the game and calls on me to join her now and then.
With some of the stupidest things that they ARE incorporating (I don’t even have the heart to list them…LOL) I think they’re really trying to dissuade any ‘older’ players who find these things unacceptable. I guess the ‘younger’ players don’t seem to mind much of anything…and that’s who they depend on.
Coco…this is for you.
When I’m on Stratics and reading ‘posts’, I rarely read anyone else’s but yours! :”)