The weird thing of all of that is really that, for as much as EA, or well rather Peter Moore claims that we hate change, they havent actually changed all that much. I mean look at how the industry works nowadays, then look back at how it used to work, EA is pretty much doing the same thing, even those times when they finally adapt they kinda fuck it up.
Some examples, this is not a full list of all of them but a few anyways. Remember the first "F2P Browsergame" that EA shat out? The Tiberium Alliance thingy? Yeah, how come that, when compared to other games which essentially do the same stuff in a different coat of paint and without the C&C Name attached are either exactly the same, or better? I mean dont get me wrong, its not terrible, but their "F2P" turned quickly into P2W instead, like so many before, taking a good idea and running it backwards into the ground. Most of the ones already around pretty much do that already, to compete you have to cough up some cash eventually, rather than just buy stuff because its nice to have or only offers a minimal advantage i.e. less time-consuming.
Another example is SWTOR, now that its gone F2P. Why is it that, given the whole state of the industry to begin with, they even attempted to make a subscription MMO? I mean, look at all the recent games that have come out, vying for a big chunk of the MMO-pie that WoW essentially owned at the time, only a few were marginally successful at even getting a decent playerbase, most "failed", in the sense of not really making a dent in WoW's subs, and Players are a finite resource, there are only so many that are willing to shell out cash monthly and they usually dont go for multiple titles. So with that considered, how did they figure that SWTOR could compete? Especially in a genre which essentially is filled with games by now, most of which were F2P already, either for years or more recently. So instead of trying to come up with something really new to entice the playerbase to actually switch, besides the license attached, they copied WoW, or as they said, used it for inspiration. You dont succeed in "being the WoW-Killer" by doing what WoW does already, regardless of the paintjob you slap on it. Hell Tera boasted with its combat system, which mildly put was also copied off other games, Age of Conan did it first in concept, DCUO did it well in practice. SWTOR didnt have anything epic going for it except a storyline with fully voiced dialogue and choices which ultimately dont matter because MMOs are a consistent world, they dont change based on choices because not everyone makes the same choice. So, ultimately SWTOR failed to live up to its hype and marketing and didnt bring in the numbers, so it goes F2P. Which is funny because all other MMOs aside from WoW, EVE and Tera are F2P by now, well Rift too but lets see how long that lasts.
So to cut to the chase, why is it now that EA decided to use the worse F2P Model? Instead of doing it Turbines Way and essentially giving you a big chunk first and letting you earn it by playing the hell out of it, "Do feats for Points to spend for more content". Or Sony's Way, giving us the base game right from the bat and asking for 10 bucks every quarter year for another DLC with content? Instead of doing either, they restrict half the content, unless you pay up and add a cash shop on top of it. Its a "change" alright, i mean EA in the past would rather implode than give ANYTHING away for free, but its entirely in the wrong direction, in a direction which they should know its not going to be "the best option". They had years to look at the market, what works, what doesnt work, and then they throw it all out the window and do whatever makes the most cash fast, rather than trying to build a community and good-will from the retained players.
Its like Origin all over, they had a perfect example to work off of, to learn how to make the best thing ever and then they fuck it up. So no Mr. Moore, not all change is good change, especially from a company that is more interested in its bottom line than where the money comes from. Because if you push your customers away, the cashflow is eventually going to stop, and no more bottom-line for you. Basic Economics.
Im really just waiting for EA to make one decision thats based on logic and good business sense. So far, the best they came up with was "Meh".
