Hey guys as the go to guy for all things live broadcast and normal EA MMA online play I wanted to take a few moments to do address a few things about the forums and the community. First off the message started by NaturalSlacker that can be found here:
http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/5435443.page
was amazing. Here is a newer guy to community but realizes the effort the team is putting into this and takes the time to write an amazing piece. I said thank you to the devs there but here I'll say thank you NaturalSlacker for his effort. When I joined this community a few weeks after release I saw a place where there was alot of hostility and anger (a typical online gaming forum) with no real inter-action. But as more and more players started picking up the game and coming to the forums I noticed a change. Sure we still have your a$$hats (which I'll talk about later) and problem members but overall as this game evolved so did the community.
The Live Broadcasts started to get more new players showing up and becoming involved in the process of what this game is TRULY about. Sure it was branded as the StrikeForce game to THQ's Undisputed but it had a deeper level that we didn't know how it would end up working out. If you're reading this and you haven't been involved with the Live Broadcasts then you're really missing out on what the real purpose of this game is for. Its for us the players making ourselves or someone we create and putting them into the world of MMA. We're still working and developing the process for this but for 99% of us this is the closest thing to being a professional mixed martial artist we can get. You really see it in the fights. Think back to your last 5 fights since the string of updates we've had. We still have those players who will just do anything for a win but I've noticed a change in our community that fights are more technical than they were previously. Some of our players are becoming true gaming mixed martial artists. This is an exciting thing. This is the only game where you can truly become the type of fighter you're playing in the game. Mixed Martial Arts is about honor respect and skill. Using your mind as a weapon not only hands and feet. We now have that with EA MMA and better yet we have a form of communication that can broadcast us to the world. Just go back and look at some of the previous events and you'll see that an average of about 700 views per event. Thats 700 people going to watch those fights. That's considerably more than most independent MMA promoters get for a show.
With the increase in viewers and players we've also seen our community becoming closer as fighters who are on the events gain celebrity status. I know I personally have over 150 PSN friends. 6 of which are RL friends I had on my list before I started playing EA MMA. Thats 144 people that saw me fight and took the time to send me a friend request and a message that said I put on a good show. Thats a true honor for me to have these players seek me out. I have decided to take that a step further and do what I can to help these players now. I do my best to find time to take anyone who asks me for help to invite them for a fight card and give my personal tips and secrets to the game to try and make them a better player. This was all before EA appreciated my work enough to give me moderator status here on the forums.
Now lets think about the future... I know its murky right now. With Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce EA MMA is in limbo from what we as players know. I'm sure anyone high enough up to know what the future might hold has signed NDA to prohibit them from telling us. But as this point nothing is decided. So its up to us to show EA what this game really means. They have noticed the community enough to allow the series of hot fixes that the team has made. They do see we are a passionate loyal group of players who have the chance to once again work together to get something done. Now THQ has the advantage with the general public buys of games. They have the only name left in MMA and thats UFC. But what THQ's and Jakks doesn't have is loyal passionate fans and a game that is being evolved into what the players want. They also don't have the Live Broadcast option. If sold right I feel that alone would sell games because if you've been on one you know what I'm talking about. The rush and excitement from the fight alone then getting to go back and watch as commentators talk about you and your play style is well worth the price of the game. If we can show EA by giving them more numbers and bigger turn outs for these events they will have a game they will at least give one more shot at becoming a hit.
But we have small roadblocks in front of us and the biggest of them is ourselves. Most of time we all try to do the MMA thing and send Good Fight Messages as signs of respect. We try to learn from those players and fights we lose but we all have also had the unfortunate pleasure of sending and receiving the hate message. Short of the Undisputed series (which I don't think anyone plays) this is only game that when played online its 1 vs 1. Players from all around the world are battling it out against one another with nothing more than pride on the line. And after suffering a decisive loss it not only hurts your record it hurts your ego. Now some players take this too far and those are the players who really hurt the community. What we have to remember is doing our best to not fall to their level. Recently I'm sure most of you have seen a series of threads in the Live Broadcast forum that I was involved in where I finally broke and fell to this level.
Before I talk about the incident I want to apologize to the not only the Developers of this team that put their faith in my skill and character by working so hard to get me into the Game Changer Program but more so to the community which I represent. One of the fore fronts of being the bigger man in this situations I stooped to this manner of acting and it not only hurts myself but the community as a whole. So I'm truly sorry for my actions. With that being said though I'll explain a bit about what wasn't seen my the community. Since release Loyatly has been one of the members who hurts this community. While he feels he is trying to hype the fights he has always used the "Nick Diaz" style of hyping the fight which is attack attack attack. Never be respectful just be an a$$hat. Once again in trying to get this fight with me he proceeded to PM me several attacks not only geared at me but now my family. He had finally hit the nerve and as Big John would say "Lets Get It On". Instead of keeping this a private matter I had a lapse in judgment and make it all public. Needless to say I also came to my senses and have let it slide now. With that being said even with the horrible things you've said I am sorry for my manner during those threads Loyatly.
The bigger picture is worth much more than a little squabble and its time we all realize that. Yes some things have changed around here and I'm sure more could possibly change in the future. But the one thing that EA has ALWAYS proven is that if the community feels that strongly about the problems at hand EA will step up do something about it if something can be done. They did this in Fight Night when they added the classic control scheme and most recently with the 2 hot fixes the EA MMA team was allowed to work on it better tweak the game to the players needs and wants. So I'm asking that here as a community we continue to do what we have been doing recently. There is no need to attack each other because of a play style or preference. Some players choose to use Fedor, big deal. Other choose to use CAF's, again whats wrong with that. Some like to stand and bang while others like to grind out a gnp victory on the ground. Thats the beauty of this game. Each time you fight it can be something different. With over 2400 fights I could think I've seen it all then out of no where a white belt comes in and pulls off a perfect set up that I fell for an he ko'd me with a beautiful flying knee. Those are the things that make our game different from any other EA game I think they will realize the potential this game has because of such a strong community backing it.
Thank you for taking the time to read this wall of text. I'm sure many of you will read and ignore it, but if one person reads and understands and attempts to do their part it well worth the effort it took writing it.
-stik-|||If EA had a contract to do 2 games with strikeforce then EA MMA 2 will happen. If they don't currently have a contract with strikeforce then its anyone's guess.
All we can do is hit Dana White up on the tweets and tell him he needs to let a real sports video game company do his games instead of the guys who make WWE games. @danawhite
If Dana is smart he'd let both games come out and whichever is better according to reviews, not sales, get the combined contract when UFC and Strikeforce inevitably merge on a few years.
|||Couldnt of said it better stik........awesome post! I am also going to throw an apology to Loyalty, We haven't had word wars like you and him.......and he has never sent my PM attacking me, but I have said a few choice words to him because of being heated at posts and threads he has made. And therefore im sorry for that Loyalty.
But what you have said about the community is very very true........ There is much more constructive criticism, more helpful community members, and also a huge onslaught of dev and mod feedback since the new updates! Which is one of the reasons to the huge community uprising and almost complete facelift, which is awesome! I have had my choice words and needless post to community members that were unnecessary, but I have tried helping as much as possible, and to my ability! And it is members like NaturalSlacker that is making this community more like a family, and not an angry mob of people facing off against each other.
So a huge thanks to all the community members that help with questions, suggest CONSTRUCTIVE feedback, and willing to go the extra mile to give respect and props where the are rightfully deserved. I am going to continue to support this community with you stik, and to all the other members.
Lets show all those other game companies what a real community, and a true fan base to the SPORT we truly are!|||Today was my first day on the message boards as I just got the game the other night, because I saw a live broadcast of it. I just wanted to add that I am proud to be a member of a community that has people like stick backing it and trying to be the bigger man in a complicated situation. I have already seen several quality posts by him and he has the correct principles to be a moderator. Anyone who would like to show me the ropes sometimes please send me a friend request on PSN. My Id is SnoochieKins. I was really good at UFC undisputed but I prefer the game play of EA MMA. Someone show me some love and show me the ropes please. Peace, love dub! :)
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