A moderator on EA's Medal of Honor Warfighter forums wrote an open letter directed towards the publisher to express his frustration with the company. His thoughts and words are ones echoed by many in the gaming community, who have—over the past few months—expressed their disappointment with the company's direction, especially in regards to the Medal of Honor franchise, which has been seen as a watering down of the original game with lackluster support from its publisher.
Like many other websites, we wouldn't bother to cover just any of the innumerable complaints that gamers have towards any specific company, but the fact that this particular open letter was penned by a respected member of EA's Medal of Honor community should make readers—and the publisher—pause for thought.
For the most part, the open letter by DigitalHitmann focuses on how Electronic Arts has changed its focus from simply developing good games to forcing its developers to compete with the likes of Call of Duty and other first person shooters. This, argues DigitalHitmann, has yielded only disappointing results—as can be seen in the likes of the recently released Medal of Honor: Warfighter.
Here's a portion of the letter:
"You’re trying to upbeat the competetion by forcing us to play through “Hollywood” moments that we don’t want, nor do we need. Give us a moving and emotional storyline that we can remember. Characters and faces that we can relate to. That was the true vision of Electronic Arts years ago, not this petty competetion for the best share of the profits.
If you truly want to dethrone Call of Duty and Activision, you’re going to have to listen to your community leaders and let them help you create the best experience possible. Not just for Medal of Honor but for all of your marquee franchises. Forcing us to play a adaptation of the original that’s been riddled with problems, and injected with Hollywood moments (Zero Dark Thirty) like Medal of Honor: Warfighter is not how you garner trust. You’re going to have to prove to us that you will support your own franchises and their development teams regardless of profits. Cutting your losses will only hurt your reputation even further. There are hundreds upon thousands of us fans willing to give you advice if only you were willing to listen instead of trying to only make a profit. We’re not looking for money or fame, we’re merely looking for the quality that Electronic Arts was known for years ago.
I truly hope this message will open the eyes of fans, consumers, and the executives at Electronic Arts alike. Years ago, the catch phrase for Electronic Arts was “Challenge Everything”, today I am challenging you and your teams at Electronic Arts to come together as a team, a buisness, and industry leader to put forth better, more complete experiences for your fans and your consumers to enjoy. I will always remain a true fan of Electronic Arts and Medal of Honor, I only hope that this wont be “Preacher’s” last mission because his story and character is something that I can relate to."
Thanks Dave.
