The layoffs have me confused more then anything else. Help?

I can see why you didn't quote me as you apparently intended to misrepresent me. It'd be tough to do so when my words are right there next to your statements.

First off, I said make two GENERAL FORUMS. One would be for all those currently signed up for a recurring subscription (this would, obviously, exclude free trials & cancelled subscriptions). The other would be for everyone who had game access (both paid subscriptions AND free trials/cancelled subscriptions). I'd probably add a third that would be usable by anyone who had an account whether they were paying or not, or add this to the latter, so as to get the complaints & feedback from former subscribers or potential new subscribers about the concerns/complaints they have.

The purpose of this was ONLY to make sure that the general forum still functioned as intended rather than serve as a sounding board for trolling. This obviously wouldn't cut down on all of it, but it would at least reduce it to a manageable level. Instead of deleting or censoring other users, it would instead be moved to the more open forum. If that became a sounding board for trolls, so be it, but at least there's a functioning alternative general forum.

Also, as a disclaimer, that was just my suggestion. The problem is that the general forum doesn't function right now. If Bioware can find another way to fix this, more power to them, but I worry that such solutions would fall in the realm of outright deleting comments/banning users. This would, at least, provide a decent middle ground.

I said it would "probably" be a logistical nightmare as you would instead have to go through the process of calculating remaining subscriber time and tailoring a change to each account individually compared to a "one-size-fits-all" action that they can apply universally. In a big corporation like EA, the process of doing the individual response may run into several logistical problems (GAAP and other financial regulations come to mind) that would make such a universal option an attractive alternative. I'm not saying that this is absolutely the reason they do it (and I never did), but it's a possible explanation rather than the somewhat "tinfoil hat" line of "EA is doing this JUST to pad subscriber numbers!"

Might they be using this to pad subscriptions numbers instead? Sure, but it seems unlikely considering that the percentage of users with paying subscriptions rather than those with just game time was addressed in the shareholders' report, and that wouldn't be buffed by this practice. They honestly wouldn't gain much from it by comparison. (And by the way, every response I made had to do with this and already addressed this, so let's just chalk this up to another reason why you decided to avoid quoting me.)

I'm posting based on the training I've received, the information I've obtained, and what it means for the state of Electronic Arts and SWtOR. Yeah, I know that you can quote-mine someone into sounding really stupid, but that has nothing to do with what I've actually been saying. If you've got some evidence to back up your claims ("EA doesn't refund for remaining game time in order to pad subscription numbers") other than your own gut feeling, I think my academic training and citations trump your tinfoil hat.

The market is no place for self-proclaimed know-it-alls still in their studies that think that posting links from websites is some valid way of showing their expertise in the field. You still have much to learn. You will disagree with me, of course, but in time you will understand. There is no need for me to continue on with this discussion as my "same broken arguments" seems to somehow not fit your agenda here. I understand where you're coming from, but I have said my peace in regards to the conversation and your unwillingness to even understand a fraction of it proves my point here.

So continue to post your links and question other people as if you have some kind of window of knowing about their lives and their involvement in the market or anything else for that matter. My portfolio is the basis to my argument here and although I'm not always right, I know when it's time to walk away. You don't know it all my friend, you just think you do. I wish you the best in your endeavors and please, chalk this one up as a victory. You win. I concede ...

Would you mind linking to the conference call, by any chance? I like to double-check sources. (No offense intended.)

That's part of my problem with that. First off, this is apparently secondhand, so the terms are being used a bit out of context. Without that context, I have a hard time determining just what the words are being used for. They could be using the words "casual" & "hardcore" in a sense of general gaming habits or their habits with this game, i.e. a "casual gamer" versus a "casual SWtOR player", a "hardcore gamer" vs a "hardcore SWtOR player". Even then, it's not AS informative as I'd like. I prefer being able to look at real numbers.

However, assuming they meant SWtOR playing habits with the words "casual" & "hardcore", then it may make more sense. The drop in the subscriber rate was apparently due to people cycling out of their free trials. One might assume that they didn't resubscribe because they didn't enjoy the game. Thus, they would be playing less and fall into the "casual" category. Though that all depends on just what they were talking about in the conference call...

Could you pretty please post the link? This is driving me nuts. :-P

My comments were simply based on the fact that you apparently, as an investor, were unaware of the market conditions affecting your own investment. NO serious investor does that.

Sir, I've quoted every word you've said to me on this topic, I haven't deleted a single punctuation, I read it all the way through and tried to address you as best I could. If you posted something I misunderstood, please enlighten me rather than elude to it before running away.

By the way, the links are what we call "citing your sources". It's a good practice for a debate above the level of trolling.

I never implied that I knew everything at any point. All I did was challenge the weaknesses in your arguments. You ignored my points, maintained your errors in spite of counter-evidence, and provided me with no new information in the process of debating me. No, I lost this exchange in every way.

I'm sorry if this conversation has offended your sensibilities, and I wish you luck in the future.

http://investor.ea.com/events.cfm?list=Past

Look at the latest EA transcription for the fiscal year

The fact that you say you're majoring in the field tells me you have a lot to learn about politically correct business terminologies as well as as the real work place. Citing stock price isn't helping your argument. You're slowly turning into another "JeramieCrowe"(sp?). When you start working for major corporations in the industry and have to sit through the all hands meetings, you will need to decipher the business terminologies to translate the meaning. Only the guinea pig would take those words for face value.

Leave it to EA to ruin MMOs... Nothings changed I should of listened / learned from Earth and Beyond, UO, MotorCity, etc.... EA=Destroyer of MMOs!

You can't post on these forum if you don't have an active subscription.

Back to the topic. No, this is not good news. Layoffs are never a good sign of a healthy company that had good long term plans that were viable and implemented in a healthy way. This is not an indication of SW:TOR's health however, as the layoffs are part of a compny wide plan for EA. EA is not healthy, so they are trying to bring the company back to a state where they can continue with their current projects while meeting long term goals.

Basically, EA is doing what they have to do and cutting their losses. They already stated that SW:TOR is not part of their 'core projects' and is not expected to have any significant impact on their business. Sounds like spin, but it also sounds like this is not very important to them, and it shows.

People are leaving this game like rats off a sinking ship. It's not going to get better. Plan accordingly.

its gloating "im not playing cause im better than this game"

quite frankly all these people that want the game redesgined i call to them SWG and how well that went.

[QUOTE=Grevlin;4449816


GREAT BIG SNIPPITY SNIP


tinfoil hat.[/QUOTE]

You are making yourself look ridiculous now. I am actually speechless. When I have composed myself I will make a complete response to you. first of all I have to clean the coffee from my monitor and keyboard. BTW, how old are you? I dont want to indicted for abusing a minor when I do respond.

SWG was the greatest game on earth and SOE did a splendid job on the game while it lasted. Anyone who states otherwise is delusional.