Possibility of an open letter to THQ

Ok, so we have results from Rienzilla's letter to Chris Taylor. It's the same: the patch is still being worked out with THQ and THQ is in control; GPG can do little to ensure its release. Thus we have all been wasting our time trying to make CT or GPG do something about it. A better bet would be to send a letter of support and negotiation, not of demand, to THQ and politely request of them to release a patch.
This letter must be completely humble yet effective. It must not criticize THQ's actions, but rather prod them along to releasing a patch. It must not contain any sense of entitlement. It must show understanding of their position, not only of ours. It must give them a good incentive to release a patch.
I have written a draft of a possible letter.
X-Cubed's draft|||By all means go ahead. I'll sign it.
Like I've said before, I seriously don't think anything will come if it, because it has been tried many times before, but I'll definately support it.|||I'll sign it,
But the only way i belive to get the 3603 patch running if somehow gpg makes a new fa server just for the 3603 patch but the chances of that happening and the chances of thq releasing it are very slim.
Quote:|||X-Cubed|||Signed!|||Ok, I'll work on it for the next few day and give it some polishing. Then I'll send it over to THQ. I'll have to find the right way to do so. What department would handle these issues since I didn't know who to address the letter to?|||the support area and testing area i would think|||It sounds good and I would sign it. I would like to note that the last paragraph might need a tad bit of polish, but I cant put my finger on where...|||Alright, I'll try to rephrase that part. I was just trying to give THQ some financial incentive to release the patch in the form of more people trusting THQ products.|||My 2-cents...
X-Cubed|||Looks good, but the problem with the last paragraph is that you're treating them as if they're stupid. They *will* know all those things. Better to try and convince them that those things are the right thing to do, than to explain how they exist.
And yes, I did create an account just to make this post. |||Alright thanks for the advice! I'm pretty busy right now so I won't be able to work on it a lot, but I'll try to see how I can rephrase that last paragraph. I always knew, even when writing it, that it would be my weakest part, so any advice is really appreciated.
The problem now is that I really have nothing to use. We are a small community with minimal financial influence; our only real argument is that this patch may give some intangible benefit to THQ. But what?|||Just ask them to be nice?
Perhaps something to the effect of:
"We feel this would only require a small investment of time and would see a big improvement in the game, and would also show that THQ still care about their previous customers" and then tack something on the end of that about that being good. Not sure what, just scribbled that in about a minute.
As a backup is there a mod we could get everyone using (one that even somehow works with exclusive mods)?
Also, side question: just how big is the SupCom community? I'm very much a newcomer to it. (although I've played TA for a while if anyone cares )|||There is such a mod and no mod works with mods that have been marked as exclusive in the mod_info.lua, that's the whole point of marking it as exclusive. The point is that people don't want to have to use a mod if THQ could just approve the patch and make it official.|||@xingbing1
The community is small but still alive. It's fairly easy to find a game at regular hours, both ranked and custom.|||Ok, a second draft of the letter. I added some stuff to the second and fourth paragraphs and rewrote the fifth paragraph to hopefully include some of the feedback that I've received.
X-Cubed's second draft|||best of luck but id be staggered if this achieves anything.|||Looking better. Still a few improvements to be made though, methinks.
-Merge the fourth and fifth paragraphs, they both say similar things.
-'We do not need THQ to divert entire departments to the testing of this patch; it can be a small group doing the testing. We just want a simple patch.', end of paragraph four. This sentence has a couple of problems. By saying 'We do not need...' it sounds like we're calling the shots. We're not. 'We just want a simple patch' sounds a bit like whining. Perhaps instead: 'This would not need entire departments dedicated to it; it could easily be just a small group doing the developing and testing.' And then add the 'We just want a simple patch' line later on, perhaps at the very end.
-'As you aware', first paragraph. Of course they are aware, they published it! Don't tell them things they already know, and the phrasology makes it sound like you are talking about someone else, not themselves, which is a bit strange. Perhaps just begin the sentence with 'THQ Inc... ' (cutting out the start four words)
-'hope that the game sold in satisfactory numbers' is just sucking up to them, and sounds like it. That line needs to be changed.
-You've used 'RTS' in the first paragraph, and 'real-time strategy' in the second. Just use 'real-time strategy' throughout, try to avoid abbreviations.
-Explain why the mods that produce these fixes won't solve the problem for us. (Paragraph 3)
-'completely satisfied', paragraph 5, just sounds like 'and we'll stop whining at you'. Again, needs to be changed.
Still, it does look good, I'm kinda nitpicking here . Anyway, let's hope this does amount to something... |||The second draft was well done, but I like xingbing1's suggestions. Especially the comment about the fourth and fifth paragraph. Also, I dont know about you, but I have no clue what the financial difficulty is in testing and releasing a patch. If you dont know that either, I wouldn't include that. It may be nitpicking, but the better the letter, the better the chance.
I think we should explain why we want the patch implemented. Just a short paragraph explaining the convenience it would bring to the game (for not having it as just a mod) as well as better balance.
Also, I believe THQ would not need to put any manpower into the patch at all (they are the publisher). They just need to give GPG the OK. So the section about them diverting departments may not be needed.
Finally, include contact information in the letter (email, phone, IM, etc.) so they can easily contact you with questions.
Hope I have been helpful!|||-The-Baron-|||I included the part about the cost because the 3603 patch was held in THQ QA (Quality Assurance) for over a year. Thus I think that the publisher does do their own testing on the patches. But great suggestions; I'll integrate them into the letter as soon as possible.|||X-Cubed|||-The-Baron-|||I'll try in my free time to do some more edits. In any case, I should have more time to do this next week since there are some important things that are coming up for me. And don't worry about being impatient; I've waited 3 years for this patch. I want it just as much as you do.|||Anything new happening to this? Don't wanna let it drop off the radar.