This summer and fall I've been waiting for two expansion packs for two great games: Forces of Corruption for Empire at War, and Dark Crusade for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. During this time I've been a regular at the forums and homepages for both games, and in that respect I've made some observations.

First of all I want to make clear that this isn't a rant or an attack on Petroglyph in any way. I'm merely observing how the two companies (Petroglyph and Relic) are relating to their fanbases between announcing and releasing the expansions. Note that both expansions are scheduled to be released around the same time, late October.

Both expansions were represented at E3, and there were videos of the gameplay from both. So far so good. But it was post-E3 that the differences began manifesting.

Relic, the developers of Dark Crusade, released 10 video clips (high-definition) after E3. Most of it was taken from the E3 promo video, but some was not. They released one video each week for 10 weeks. These were of the expansion's two new races, the Tau and the Necrons. Then, once those videos had all been released, they released 5 new videos, one for each of the new units to be added to the already existing races. They hired a dedicated community manager who have also been releasing exclusive screenshots on the forums. Basically, each week or so there's been some official tidbit released.

Petroglyph, on the other hand, has been rather quiet (in my opinion, anyway) since a month or two after E3. There hasn't been much in the way of updates, video or screenshots, and the developers have been mostly absent from the forums lately. In the past few weeks it's been very quiet in here in general.

Now, I realise that Relic is bigger than Petroglyph, with several successful games under their belt already while Petroglyph is just starting out. But my point is that it would have been really great to have some sort of official updates every so often. Maybe a short video of some new unit in action every couple of weeks or so? An exclusive screenshot showing some new unit doing its thing in the background during an in-house playtest? It doesn't have to be much, and it doesn't have to be flashy, but a little something to keep feed the fires of fan interest now and then would be great. Both companies have done Q&As, both expansions have been given previews at Gamespot, IGN etc. But that little extra touch does a lot to keep people interested and hungry for more.

What do you guys think?

Hmmm, seems like I have seen a ton of screenshots and discussion on PFF: http://pff.swrebellion.com/index.php?board=34.0)

Hope that helps :)

Also Check Gamespot. They have been releasing images, Designer diaries and videos on there.

Empireatwar.net has been updated regulary with screenshots and diaries. It's the only place to get your live chats and the recently released Q&A goes some way to feeding our hunger for more.

However, Relic is owned by THQ (who publish DoW) whilst all updates for Empire at War/Forces of Corruption must go through Lucasarts and Lucas Legal. I do agree that Lucasarts need to provide the community with a little more. Updates for Lego Star Wars 2 have been regular.

Gallery
http://www.empireatwar.net/media/gallery/index.htm)

Videos
http://www.empireatwar.net/media/trailers/index.htm)

Diaries
http://www.empireatwar.net/community/diary/index.htm)

Sure, I didn't mean that there hasn't been any updates at all. My argument was primarily that Petroglyph/Lucasarts could have done a better job of portioning it out over time, thereby keeping things "fresh" for those of us who are waiting for the game to hit stores.

There are still a few new features that have not been revealed yet. There has only been one mention a this so-called Mon Cal Frigate and Garm Bel Iblis's role in the game has not been explained at all.

Since the game is coming out so soon now we might as well wait for our questions to be answered by the actual game.

Petroglyph/Lucasarts could have done a better job of portioning it out over time, thereby keeping things "fresh" for those of us who are waiting for the game to hit stores.

I think this is exactly what they've been doing. Every week or two since the announcement of FoC I've learned something new about the game. Heck, I just learned something new 10 minutes ago from the X-Fire announcement about Friday's live developer chat. The list of new features at the bottom of the announcement had two details I hadn't seen before. (13 new planets and three new terrain types for ground battles)

I think Petro/LA have done a splendid job of spooning out little bits here and there, like a mystery writer who makes you want to keep turning to the next page to see what happens next.

well its god kind of to not let out much info but the again we want to be hyped dont we? release 2-3official trailers so people get hyped! now its the time!