@EmeraldLaura Honestly, I'd just be happy with "We see and acknowledge you are unhappy about this. We will work on it." BAM! Slam that down and actually start working on fixes and the community would have some hope. Yes, it'd be nice to also have a time frame, but I understand that any dates they give they are bound by so they probably won't even estimate or take a guess at a date. If they did everyone would expect them to deliver on that date and what if they aren't done? Then the community is even MORE furious with them that they broke their promise. So setting my bars much lower, I would just appreciate some confirmation that we've been heard, they realize this is a big problem for all of us, we feel cheated out of our money, that our game has been broken, and that they do indeed plan on trying to fix our problems. That short and sweet message I suggested would do everyone here a world of wonder even without hard dates being offered. We'd have some idea if they aren't just going to leave us in what pretty much everyone has considered a broken game, or plan to work with us towards making it playable again.
I know I'm not the only one. There have been many comments about feeling cheated out of money because they were sold a broken game and a UK citizen outright exercised his rights in his country to get a refund which I admit I'm a bit envious of. I wish the US had laws where if you feel the game you bought was unplayable you could legally get a refund too! The only place I've found that freedom is Steam. If you've played under 2 hours within the span limit of 30 days they will let you get a refund. Even that seems reasonable to me compared to "Sorry, no refunds."
Which brings me to finally understanding why many players opt out of buying a new expansion from EA until at least a few months have passed to make sure it isn't full of bugs. The major ones are usually fixed by then and it is reasonably playable. I'm starting to think we should let our UK counterparts do the initial testing because if it's too terrible they'll legally get their refund and make more of a statement than the ones of us who can't take it that far and just "quit playing the game" or "uninstall the game pack". Losing sales, even for a big business, sends a powerful message. I'm just thankful I listened to a friend who warned me to always make a special new save file to scope things out for bugs before letting a new expansion anywhere near a well loved and cherished game. I have a few I would have been brokenhearted if I had used them to test out Eco Lifestyles.
