Fight Night Champion Blog #1 - Community Day

[koolbubbaice]

It's hard to totally believe anyone that goes to these things.. I heard the same praise about FN4.. In a way, I think EA is looking for yes men, & don't want the game heavily criticized in certain area's.. I think more out spoken & direct to the fact people should attend these community sessions.. Lets be honest.. EA sees this as good publicity, as I bet no one will slam the game who went.. Wouldn't surpise me, if they can't & made to sign a contract about criticism or negativity.

There are more deserving members here IMO that should have gone, but EA might have seen then as a liability

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by koolbubbaice

It's hard to totally believe anyone that goes to these things.. I heard the same praise about FN4.. In a way, I think EA is looking for yes men, & don't want the game heavily criticized in certain area's.. I think more out spoken & direct to the fact people should attend these community sessions.. Lets be honest.. EA sees this as good publicity, as I bet no one will slam the game who went.. Wouldn't surpise me, if they can't & made to sign a contract about criticism or negativity. There are more deserving members here IMO that should have gone, but EA might have seen then as a liability

I'll take this one.

When I went out two years ago I gave the game a lot of praise after spending time with it.
But there's 2 things you should be aware of:

1. We had a very limited time with the game. I'm going to estimate 3-4 hours.
2. The game played differently at the Event than the retail version. As an example, I recall the right-cross having more weight to it.

Now how many times have you seen members here get their hands on a game and praise it for 24-48 hours. Then, after 3 or 4 days in, they come back and start flaming on all the flaws.
Why is that? Because they had more than 3 hours of playtime with it before they discovered all the bugs.

Also, everyone that makes a complaint like you about community members being soft, or 'yes men' has never been in their shoes. You want us to blast these developers for every little error or mistake, or for something we don't like.
When you meet these people you see the genuine love they have for their product. It takes a cold hearted S.O.B. to get in their face and say "This sucks! That sucks! What have you been working on!".

Saying that, when I was out there, we had multiple people give constructive criticism to many aspects of the game. Off the top of my head, I remember more than one person saying they made Ali too powerful. Getting off the canvas was too hard (it should be attribute based at the very least). They made a big mistake taking a button scheme out of the game entirely.
If can remember right, one person made a complaint about the responsiveness about the controls and Brizzo walked over and tinkled with the code right then and there and corrected it.

When I went, we spent most of our time doing fun gags like working out at a gym, getting a tour of their facilities and then getting a long video presentation of the product, followed up with a Q&A presentation with Mosely and Mora.
By the time we got our hands on the game, we didn't have a whole lot of time.

Now with Phobia, if I understand correctly, he basically played the game for 16 hours a day, two-days in a row. They were there to really beta test and hammer out bugs.
Our experience seemed to be more of 'do you like what we have' more than 'drill this baby for glitches'.

Saying that, I felt we all had a handle on what we could expect from the final product. And even though FNRd4 has flaws, it's still the best North American boxing game that's been released in a long, long time.

I trust Phobia. I've read his takes on UFC and MMA and he seems to be a sim MMA/boxing guy. If he liked it, most will too.
In the end, what do you care? The game will come out, you can rent it and if you don't like, don't buy it.
No need to slam people for something you've never experienced yourself.

[SHAKYR]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

I'll take this one. When I went out two years ago I gave the game a lot of praise after spending time with it. But there's 2 things you should be aware of: 1. We had a very limited time with the game. I'm going to estimate 3-4 hours. 2. The game played differently at the Event than the retail version. As an example, I recall the right-cross having more weight to it. Now how many times have you seen members here get their hands on a game and praise it for 24-48 hours. Then, after 3 or 4 days in, they come back and start flaming on all the flaws. Why is that? Because they had more than 3 hours of playtime with it before they discovered all the bugs. Also, everyone that makes a complaint like you about community members being soft, or 'yes men' has never been in their shoes. You want us to blast these developers for every little error or mistake, or for something we don't like. When you meet these people you see the genuine love they have for their product. It takes a cold hearted S.O.B. to get in their face and say "This sucks! That sucks! What have you been working on!". Saying that, when I was out there, we had multiple people give constructive criticism to many aspects of the game. Off the top of my head, I remember more than one person saying they made Ali too powerful. Getting off the canvas was too hard (it should be attribute based at the very least). They made a big mistake taking a button scheme out of the game entirely. If can remember right, one person made a complaint about the responsiveness about the controls and Brizzo walked over and tinkled with the code right then and there and corrected it. When I went, we spent most of our time doing fun gags like working out at a gym, getting a tour of their facilities and then getting a long video presentation of the product, followed up with a Q&A presentation with Mosely and Mora. By the time we got our hands on the game, we didn't have a whole lot of time. Now with Phobia, if I understand correctly, he basically played the game for 16 hours a day, two-days in a row. They were there to really beta test and hammer out bugs. Our experience seemed to be more of 'do you like what we have' more than 'drill this baby for glitches'. Saying that, I felt we all had a handle on what we could expect from the final product. And even though FNRd4 has flaws, it's still the best North American boxing game that's been released in a long, long time. I trust Phobia. I've read his takes on UFC and MMA and he seems to be a sim MMA/boxing guy. If he liked it, most will too. In the end, what do you care? The game will come out, you can rent it and if you don't like, don't buy it. No need to slam people for something you've never experienced yourself.

This is all true. You forgot to say we had a pre-beta/alpha version of the game. We had a bare boned compared to the version of what this group had in their hands this year; two boxers and a generic looking ring.

The group that went to this Community event had a fully functional game that was I think 75% done with full gameplay intact.

@koolbubbaice, I was very vocal and remained vocal even when I came back as a Moderator on the EA Fight Night Forums. I was even asked to step down as a Moderator because I was so vocal because it wasn't in the company best interest for one of it's Senior Moderators being so opinionated about their product.

I'm a boxing fan and sim fan first. I have always reached out to EA Fight Night producers/Developers because of something I didn't like or brought a fans complaint or concern to them.

I know for a fact 2 of the guys who went up to EA had the fans interest in mind. They are avid boxing fans and they want boxing represented realistically.

[Phobia]

To further comment on Money and Shakyr

@Kool, I don't like the jumping to conclusions of your posts. Not to "toot" my own horn, but I like to think I was a excellent choice for the job. I represent the community fully for "sim" games in all forms of sports. I also have plenty of people on OS that respect my view point on games. Plus I like to think I know sports gaming to the T, and have been apart of this "job" for sometime now. Since 01, I have been apart of the online community with sliders, rosters, and leagues. While I might not be the most "hardcore" boxing fan. I know the fight game and know how to translate that into a "sim" boxing game. So I think I did a excellent job representing OS.
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Ok, I have always been a 2k fan and their great presentation and franchises. I have always had issues with EA and the lack of presentation. I went into the event with that same mindset and the other community members that went can back me up on this.

The very first day we walked in the room, I made my point by saying we want "NBA2k11" presentation. I also stated how all "sim" games such as NBA2k11 & NFL2k5 have received massive praise from gamers. They are also looked at as the example other sports games should be live up to.

I made SEVERAL comments about making FNC the NBA2k of boxing. Saying that gameplay is of course #1, with presentation following in a close second. Now I can't go into how these turned out in the game we played. But be well aware I am no "yes" man and I also brought the communities wants greatly to the event.

Through out testing the product I brought Mike over on many occasions with his pen and paper. We went over several areas I wanted to see adjusted. Anything and everything that I felt was "wrong" or "needed looking into". Be aware I made sure Mike, Brizzo, Jazz, or Freddy was known.

To get one thing straight. We the community were all 100% on pace with one another. We wanted sim boxing to be represented. We all expressed our changes we wanted to be seen and areas we wanted to see worked on.
So while I can't comment on any of this until given permission. Follow my blogs and you will see my true "impression" of our time there as time goes on. This community blog was just that, to share our community day experience with the "community". It sheds very little into the game other than the fact we all left impressed.

Like Money mentioned we spent a LARGE amount of time with the game for such a short time there. From 7am till 11PM or 12 we spent playing the game. Even getting to try out the adjustments on the second day after they made our recommended adjustments from the following day of testing.

Just come away knowing full well, I have the communities best interest in mind without a doubt.

[SHAKYR]

reading your posts reassures what reignmaka and Anthony have been saying and posting since they have been back. I can't wait until you guys are able to talk more about what you have experience and saw.

[Phobia]

Quote: Originally Posted by SHAKYR

reading your posts reassures what reignmaka and Anthony have been saying and posting since they have been back. I can't wait until you guys are able to talk more about what you have experience and saw.

Reignmaka and Ant were the heart and soul of boxing "tech". Where I stood looking at the game from a simulation "gameplay" stand point. I am a fight fan across the board and know my share of boxing, but I lean heavier on the MMA side of things. Even with that said, I reiterated many times over what EA MMA has done "correct" in their game and how it should also be brought over to the Fight Night series.

While Terminald and Cash "broke" the game. They went in trying to remove anything and everything related to being used "cheesy". They found a number of exploits that were being corrected. I think they were a crucial part of the team outside of the "sim" guys. Because playing how I play does not mean that is how everyone online will play. So their role in showing how the tournament players will approach the game was amazing to see. Term is a excellent fight night player and showed me a few things I did not know about.

I think the team they brought in this year was geared very heavy in all forms of the genre, from tournament players, to real boxing, to sim gameplay. It really help all of us stick to what we know and are good at. So we were able to focus on our strong areas and translate that to the developers.

As soon as we get to start talking about the game itself I will be happy. There are many areas I want to speak about. Hopefully that comes sooner than later

[II Reignmaka II]

This needs to be posted on the EA forums as well. Granted there are people there with substandard comprehension skills. Man is that frustrating...

[Phobia]

Quote: Originally Posted by II Reignmaka II

This needs to be posted on the EA forums as well. Granted there are people there with substandard comprehension skills. Man is that frustrating...

If you can't tell I gave up over there. To many "immature kids". Nothing against everyone over there but couple bad people make it un-enjoyable over there.