EA have been like this since the start of internet gaming, as far as I can tell. It is a real shame because in the 16-bit era that produced some great Amiga games. I agree with you that logically if a newer game in a franchise such as FIFA has been released then the online play should move to focusing on the newest game in the series. But they equally don't seem to care at all of their existing userbase, instead all they are interested in is attracting sales from their current games and disgarding the older ones.

I think if Westwood had been able to remain on their own we might have seen many different outcomes. E&B might even have a sequel by now, and the C&C series might be far removed from what we have now.

It is easy to see why EA have become so disliked by more seasoned gamers. The rest are just brainwashed by the dolls house series, The Sims. It still escapes me what is so facinating about that franchise. I played the original for probably 30 minutes before I got completely bored. I then used the cheat to by everything available in the game, built the biggest house I could with everything in it, and the game was still boring even with the Sims able to interact with everything possible. Never touched it since and have never been tempted. I suppose it is what teenage girls play, after all, it's the new substitute for the traditional dolls house.

I think I finally had enough of EA last year when they announced they would slowly be shutting the servers down for all their older games. But then looking at the list of games affected they included titles only released a year ago. A company that doesn't even support it's games a year from launch has something seriously wrong with it.