Originally posted by NoBaddy
snip
In the end, AW was really a victim of it's own success (and some really crappy management). What I am trying to say is that Newscorp should not be left out. Only blaming EA is a little like blaming the new intern that got control of the patient that was misdiagnosed on the day before he died. Don't forget the doctor that misdiagnosed the problem in the first place. 
NB, with all due respect, BS.
Don't get me wrong. I don't dispute anything you've said here regarding what Newscorp did. I don't dispute your opinion that the result of those actions meant AW lagged far behind of where it could have been in terms of software. I reckon all that is true, and concede that this cost AW in many ways.
However, there are some counterpoints to be made.
AW's community grew during Newscorp's administration, by leaps and bounds. Much like the original 10,000 Dweebs episode, many old-timers decried the influx of people as less than positive.
Finances are an inevitable concern in the business world (I know you know that, I say it for rhetoric value). Huge increases in numbers equals a better and more stable financial base. I'd venture that even though you're right that AW didn't get the best deal it could have from Newscorp in terms of distribution of development money, it probably did get more resources than it would have had without seeing the growth that occurred on Newscorp's watch.
But that's not my argument. My argument is this: the community flourished during Newscorp's administration. Newscorp left people in charge of the community that were from the AW community and cared about it passionately. Some were "old guard", some were new, but all of them truly gave a damn about the community they came from. It was more than a job for these folks, and because of that the community remained strong.
We suffered greatly when we lost Jonathan. But even though there were suits and outsiders in charge, there was a core group of dedicated Air Warrior enthusiasts immediately below that level of the chain of command, who all worked their tulips off to influence management decisions for the best. You may personally feel the game was mismanaged, and I won't argue that it couldn't have had better management. But it was a HELL of lot better than it could have been, due to the people involved at the "grunt" level.
Sometimes you can't have it all one way. Sometimes working within the system is the only way to achieve some of what you want, rather than seeing none of it happen.
The bottom line is that while, true, when EA bought AW it bought a package that included a really outdated software, it also bought a package that included a hell of a good team and a hell of a large, strong community. The team cared, and the community cared. Everyone involved was willing to work their butts off to improve the game on a daily basis in whatever way they could. The lag in software development cost AW some players, but those players left behind a community that would have continued to thrive had it been allowed to. The potential to reverse the trend and begin to grow the game's development was certainly there.
EA and EA alone was the entity that gave AW its deathblow. EA was the entity that systematically began to de-value the community from the very start of its administration, something Newscorp never did. No matter that Newscorp put its people in charge, as I said it left Air Warriors working for them. And, while management didn't give those folks 100% of what they asked for, they did at least listen, consoider their input, and often said "OK you're right go ahead".
EA OTOH was completely arrogant in their approach. Decisions were often made arbitrarily without even consulting the AW's on the staff. Worse, deliberate decisions were made to eliminate those folks with any prior experience in Air Warrior. You accuse Newscorp of trying to make AW a cash cow, when in fact they at least tried to do so while allowing the community to take some part in its administration. They recognized the worth in that. EA did not, not even a little bit.
Bottom line, Flossy is absolutely right. AW could have survived, and done so with great success had EA left it intact and worked with its community to further its development. That community would have been what held itself together while the software caught up. Instead, EA ignored the value of that community, and in what was either blind ignorance or a dispassionate refusal to participate in a "niche" market it made a cold decision to disband the game and its community.
EA did indeed kill Air Warrior, and it was a deliberate act done in cold blood. Nothing Newscorp did can be equated with that.
~S~
culero
