I had emailed them with my thoughts on FIFA 2000, most of which had been reflected in this forum and this is the pathetic reply I got, maybe some of you have gotten the same...

"Hi

While the game attempts to simulate real life, it does sometimes depart from reality. The programmers did attempt to make the game as realistic as possible, but when simulating a game as complex as this one, sometimes things will happen in the computer game that would not normally happen in the real world. I hope it does not detract too much from your enjoyment of the game. We would like to thank you for the enthusiasm and interest you have expressed toward our products as well as for the time you have taken to let us know the kind of software we can make for you. This input is valuable in helping us make better products, not to mention that we simply enjoy hearing your views and suggestions. We appreciate having you as a customer and thank you for your thoughtfulness in sending us your comments. All of us at Electronic Arts share your interest in making the finest products that we can.

Thank you,

Michael N.
EA Online"

Oh yeah looks like they put a lot of thought into that. Notice how general it is, i bet everyone that sends their thoughts gets the same letter.

If they really cared don`t you think they`d be in here replying our posts?

Gooner they dont even reply to posts on their own website! You can go their and diss their game and they won't say a word.

By the way the writing is really bad in their e-mail, I guess they must be getting by with unpaid interns in their marketing department. I mean could they sound a little less sincere, might as well tell us to screw off...

FifaFreak, I think the first three sentences of the email they sent you were written by a member of their support staff, and then they 'cut and pasted' the rest of the letter.
Please, if you don't mind, post the letter you sent them. I'm very surprised they replied, as they didn't reply to two emails I have sent them regarding Fifa 2000.

I did submit this through the support portal so this probably was a support person responding because they HAD to. Here's the original letter I sent them, heck I think I went easy on them too!


Problem :
My problem is what have you done to the FIFA game? 99 was a great version, a nice improvement from World Cup 98. Now you put out a flawed version that makes very little improvement from 99. What is the deal with the intro and the music? It's terrible. Robbie Williams? Give us a break, do you think the people who play this game are teenage girls? You had it right in 99 with Fatboy Slim and NHL 2000 with Garbage. The commentary is horrible. Real football fans (even American ones like myself) want European announcers like John Motson, not Phil Schoen or Julie Foudy, this isn't football. You did it right in 99.

The gameplay is terrible. The results are highly unrealistic. This is football, not baseball or hockey or pinball! We shouldn't have to adjust the IGMs and player statistics to produce more conservative realistic soccer. That's your job! You should have done a much better job with the characteristics of the teams and the players to produce a more realistic feel. Hat-tricks are a rare thing in football! Realism, thats what football fans who buy this game want.

Adding the MLS is nice but what is the point if there is no season mode for it that is similiar to the real thing (i.e. 2 divisions & playoffs) Having several European leagues is wonderful but why Israel, Greece & Turkey? You got rid of Portugal (Which is better than these leagues) Porto is in the Champions League this year but not on this game why? The Rest of the World section contains teams like Port Vale, why are they on here? Special Guests? EA 1,2,3 & 4? Why are you wasting our time with these? The Rest of Europe section on 99 was well done. The classic teams are ok, maybe just this once but personally I'd rather have more national teams... it would be nice to have all of Europe and set up a Euro Championship or even do World Cup qualifying. Maybe you should have 3 games (One World, One Club Teams, One MLS).

Why can't you play with multiple players (at least 2 please) in Season or Cup Mode? Why can't you save the custom camera settings, do you realize how much of a bother it is to keep setting them up before each game? Did you guys even playtest this version or were you just in a big hurry to put it out early? This is crappy work EA and A LOT of people (not just myself) are unhappy with it. All you have to do is check out some of the reviews and most of the postings from people who buy and play the game (FIFA ONLINE GAMING FIFA 2000 FORUM).

You made a few nice improvements but you just scratched the surface. The improved graphics (players, kits, realistic movement etc.), passing system, shielding and continuous season play (with relegated & promoted teams). If you added these to 99 and fixed the gameplay THEN you would a very nice football game that people would like.

Thankfully you allow for a lot of customization (teams, players, uniforms/colors) to correct your errors. 99 was great step from World Cup 98 so a lot of people expected the same step of improvement with 2000. You let a lot people down and ripped us off. Next year I'm sure a lot of people will be hesitant to buy FIFA 2001.