Summer Storms: The NCAA Release Story

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

Damn... I've always tried to fight to about the objectivity of OS... but goodness man, that article shouldn't have been published. It almost makes it seem like the article was written ahead of time and planned to be released before the issues were even discovered. I look back and the NCAA series has always been heralded here at OS. NCAA 2004... 2005... I look at those games and don't recall them having all these issues... sure, they weren't perfect, but did almost all of the major new additions have problems, as well as the gameplay? An article like this just makes me feel like whomever is writing them are either out of the loop or have a particular slant. You can say you're enjoying the game; You can say there are many who are upset about issues with the game (that are facts)... but to make it seem like those who mention problems with the game are just complaining to complain... as if they can never be pleased? Wow.

It was written a few days ago, then held to be re-written a bit to talk more about the forums than the game -- because that was the original idea of the story. I think maybe it's also important to point out that Patrick probably brought in the MaddenMania impressions and feelings into his thoughts in this article as well.

I think if your thoughts are more the consensus moving forward then we'll make sure to have someone edit the article that is a little closer to the forums than I could be during the last few weeks when I was busy. That way the person who edits the article can check for tone and make sure that it fits the general community.

[AuburnAlumni]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

OK, fair enough. I still don't think the final message is stop complaining and have fun. One of his points is that people tend to talk about negatives more than positives though, which I mean I think is fair, it tends to be easier to articulate negatives than positives as well.

Honestly Chase, the negatives outweigh the positives RIGHT NOW .

I say "right now" because the ball is in EA's court to change that.

Every major feature is broken right now. That's undeniable.

There are issues on defense as well. That's undeniable.

Dynasty Schedules are broken. They go in reverse. That's undeniable.

Dynasty Stats are severely messed up. That's undeniable.

On a positive note...I love the running game. I love the smooth control online. I love the Stadium Sounds (even though they are causing issues for people pre patch) because it allows me to create the ultimate stadium atmosphere.

But the scoreboard in the game of Postive vs Negative is Negative in a blowout right now. Again I stress....RIGHT NOW.

We'll see if that changes by September.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by AuburnAlumni

What's up is that article is basically a propaganda piece. What "Sun" do you see? Not a single patch has even been released yet, which is why my Online League is still in a holding pattern due to freezing rosters, hijacked dynasties, and glitchy Stadium Sounds. That's not even concerning the mental midgets on defense and the 95+ speed players who have jet packs on their backs. There isn't a "small faction" that's unhappy right now. If I made a post saying "If you are unhappy with NCAA pre patch, post here"...I guarantee you it would be at 10 pages within 2 days. And as I've stated repeatedly, I respect the opinions of guys like Abner and Rhombic, etc. Heck, some of my posts have been NICE compared to what Rhombic and Bill Harris have posted...and what they posted was true. In other words...the article is wrong.

"Over the next few days, and those leading up to the actual release day, if you visited the forums you may have heard the sky was falling, down was up, and Atlantis had risen. This tends to happen every year, but seemed particularly outrageous this release."

I don't think he ever says the "sun" is showing now or anything, it's left as a question as well.

I still don't follow the propaganda angle though just because it doesn't say the game is good or bad because that's not really the point.

But do you think the article is wrong because it doesn't say enough about the outrage? I think a good amount of the article is about outrage (he mentions rosters as one of the main ones.) He doesn't talk about all the issues in-depth because once again it's about the forums not the issues.

[KingVMSU]

Quote: Originally Posted by MMChrisS

It has now been well over a week since NCAA Football 09 was released and we have seen just about every reaction possible about EA Sports newest game. Our very own Patrick Williams was in the middle of the release frenzy and checks in today with an article discussing his thoughts on how the releases reaction was received among the community in his latest article, Summer Storms: The NCAA Release Story.

"Paid for by the friends of Pasta Padre and EA Sports"

You gotta be kidding me with this "article" right?

[vegaas]

I didnt think it would happen, but with the partnership with Madden Mania OS has become an EA marketing machine. This years NCAA game is screwed up in every area and yet these OS articles gloss over them every chance they get. The 8.5 review score was joke and is ruining OS's credibility. OS used to be the place where you could trust the reviews and you knew the site was impartial. It looks like those days are gone. For a great break down of all the problems with NCAA read Bill Harris's blog. His blog is called Dubiousquality and it is at blogspot. He has two fantastic articles that break down the problems with NCAA. The most relevant point is the speed breakdown by position.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by AuburnAlumni

Honestly Chase, the negatives outweigh the positives RIGHT NOW . I say "right now" because the ball is in EA's court to change that. Every major feature is broken right now. That's undeniable. There are issues on defense as well. That's undeniable. Dynasty Schedules are broken. They go in reverse. That's undeniable. Dynasty Stats are severely messed up. That's undeniable. On a positive note...I love the running game. I love the smooth control online. I love the Stadium Sounds (even though they are causing issues for people pre patch) because it allows me to create the ultimate stadium atmosphere. But the scoreboard in the game of Postive vs Negative is Negative in a blowout right now. Again I stress....RIGHT NOW. We'll see if that changes by September.

OK, and does Patrick directly say any of this isn't an issue? I think the only real positive he says is that some people are now starting to enjoy the game basically. Now if that's not true, then fair enough and like I said I'll make sure someone who is closer to the issue than I could be the last few weeks, edits the article moving forward so we don't have these outrages, and thus people think we are in bed with EA etc.

I mean those type of things are going to be said anyway, but you know we want to try and alleviate those as much as possible to make sure people realize this is an independent and unbiased site.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by vegaas

I didnt think it would happen, but with the partnership with Madden Mania OS has become an EA marketing machine. This years NCAA game is screwed up in every area and yet these OS articles gloss over them every chance they get. The 8.5 review score was joke and is ruining OS's credibility. OS used to be the place where you could trust the reviews and you knew the site was impartial. It looks like those days are gone. For a great break down of all the problems with NCAA read Bill Harris's blog. His blog is called Dubiousquality and it is at blogspot. He has two fantastic articles that break down the problems with NCAA. The most relevant point is the speed breakdown by position.

Oh cool, you read Bill Harris too. I posted his first article in the glitches thread because I was curious if others were experiencing those issues as well. He's good when it comes to sports coverage. The OS review is interesting, just because it's not like the review was written by a former MM guy or anything, and it's just one person's opinion. I've always said a review doesn't mean it symbolizes everyone's opinion, just one writer who tries to articulate why a game is good or bad. It is OS' official score, but it's still just one person.

[KingVMSU]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

Oh cool, you read Bill Harris too. I posted his first article in the glitches thread because I was curious if others were experiencing those issues as well. He's good when it comes to sports coverage. The OS review is interesting, just because it's not like the review was written by a former MM guy or anything, and it's just one person's opinion. I've always said a review doesn't mean it symbolizes everyone's opinion, just one writer who tries to articulate why a game is good or bad. It is OS' official score, but it's still just one person.

Then dont have the person present a score.

Plain and simple that person represents this website and frankly denying that or lessening the importance of that persons opinion is weak sauce.

If it;s truly one mans opinion post it in here, otherwise having a front page article means more and as we all know perception is reality.