[JCrowe]

Is the Big D reading our mail?

Yes & no.

As in, I don't think they are combing through the lines dropped here in this forum, so much as they are responding to direct mail.

I've had correspondence with Team Malf, and release 1.05 reflected a number of those concerns - and more. "Scottwar" and others have also taken the direct route, and Malf has seemed receptive to their overtures as well.

If one may presume, I'd guess that Malf released World Sup early in order to make the holiday shopping season. And now they're trying to finish the job that (arguably) ought to have been done before the title's official release.

Not the business decision I would have made, but c'est la vie.

As it is, they profess to be running hard to address balance issues and the AI's lack of I, and the available evidence suggests that this is the case. But what they're doing is not a quick little tweak and a twitch to finite bits of code here and there - that is, making small mods to fix tiny holes in the software. I think they're still building on the very fundamentals of the coding structure itself. Basically, v1.01 was shell without an engine, wheels, transmission, or windshield - but it had a snazzy paint job. So the upshot is that while Malf intends to put a six-speed V8 under the hood with ram scoops and laser-guided fuel induction coils, it will take a wee bit more time to fit that puppy in than it would if they were, say, just upgrading the speaker system.

Malf is listening, but it could be a month (or two) before those efforts bear the kind fruit you expect to harvest from this game.