Re-evaluating position

First I want to say that this is not a Chicken Little post, nor does it belong in the multiplayer thread.  It's about whether or not the game is deserves our faith that it will be good. I still have faith. The problem is that faith is beginning to erode. That worries me because I had more faith when they weren't saying anything then I do now.

Let's make this clear, PAX won't test the network. Now let me make it perfectly clear. There are only two reasons to cancel a Tech Test (TT from here on out, also known as a Beta). Either the developer/publisher has an extreme lack of confidence in their network stability, or there are huge problems with the game that they can't spare the resources. Both are bad news.

Saying that they tested multiplayer extensively and everything is great is not a reason that a TT would be cancelled. I'm sure they tested the multiplayer a lot (

Perhaps they cancelled to "focus on polishing and stabilizing the game" (

There is one other option. EA doesn't fucking care. Every beta ever has been bumpy. Except Halo 5's 9 month early beta that ran incredibly well in stark contrast to the 3 month old MCC which didn't work at all, but that entire scenario is ridiculous. Every launch ever has been bumpy. A tech test can only help so much, it certainly didn't seem to help For Honor. Maybe EA just doesn't think TT's are worth it now. This of course would be the best possible explanation for the sate of the game, but a really shitty one for customer faith. Something EA has never been fat on. Even if that isn't the reason, the fact that the cancelation was announced tucked away in the PAX announcement was really a poor way to handle this. I spent time signing up and that got other people to spend time signing up. Now I have wasted my time and other peoples, I am sure a lot of you can relate to this. For them not to make an announcement on it's own is disheartening. Then they flooded Twitter with fan art and fan tribute videos and an MP picture trying to bury this. Never have I seen more fan made content come form a dev before the release of the game then I have last night. Trying to sweep this under the rug instead of taking full responsibility is not an admirable way to handle this.

I expect network problems, TT or no TT. It's just what happens with a new release. I just hope that my anxiety of multiplayer being an unplayable mess is wrong. I also hope that they do something to make this right. A lot of people were looking forward to this for a long time. I know the game is coming out soon but 6 months ago when I signed up I was looking forward to playing the MP early. Those beliefs were betrayed. The whole handling has been bad, with the announcement about the TT being continually teased and not announced, and then just casually cancelled in the middle of an unrelated text drop. I don't know what, but they need to do something. A promise was broken, we deserve placation. Maybe in the form of unlimited time in MP for early access, or finally discounting the fucking Mass Effect DLC, or just a free MP pack for everyone that was signed up. I don't know but it needs to be something. Maybe that something is just that we cancel our pre-orders and adopt a wait and see attitude with the game. I am certainly finding it more difficult to place my trust in them.