I wouldn't expect Epic to drop support for the game given that it's not even out on 360 yet.
My two cents: Even though Epic has no obligation to provide continuing support for UT3, if they don't, what exactly would that say about Epic? That just because they (& Midway) screwed up the launch of their game that they wouldn't be willing to put in the extra effort to correct their own mistakes and provide the product that everyone wanted at release.
It's an easy decision to continue support for a hit product; the decision that shows integrity, dedication and a willingness to support your community (and thus customers) is in supporting a game that's not all that popular. A lot of people have already been turned off by the state of UT3 at release. Naturally some people blew minor things out of proportion, but at the heart of those complaints are legitimate issues. Prematurely ending support would pretty much turn the rest of us off to Epic games, and pretty much prove all the trolls right.
Maybe UT3 is a sunk cost, not popular enough to warrant it, whatever you'd like to say. I can agree with that sort of assessments if all we're looking at is the here and now. But compare that to the long term costs of disappointing your customers, turning them into people who actively badmouth your company, and abandoning the mod community (which itself is an added value to licensees in many ways, whether it's showing off what your engine can do or providing a ready pool of talent from which they can draw). In the long term, I'd argue those are a lot more costly.
My two cents: Even though Epic has no obligation to provide continuing support for UT3, if they don't, what exactly would that say about Epic? That just because they (& Midway) screwed up the launch of their game that they wouldn't be willing to put in the extra effort to correct their own mistakes and provide the product that everyone wanted at release.
It's an easy decision to continue support for a hit product; the decision that shows integrity, dedication and a willingness to support your community (and thus customers) is in supporting a game that's not all that popular. A lot of people have already been turned off by the state of UT3 at release. Naturally some people blew minor things out of proportion, but at the heart of those complaints are legitimate issues. Prematurely ending support would pretty much turn the rest of us off to Epic games, and pretty much prove all the trolls right.
Maybe UT3 is a sunk cost, not popular enough to warrant it, whatever you'd like to say. I can agree with that sort of assessments if all we're looking at is the here and now. But compare that to the long term costs of disappointing your customers, turning them into people who actively badmouth your company, and abandoning the mod community (which itself is an added value to licensees in many ways, whether it's showing off what your engine can do or providing a ready pool of talent from which they can draw). In the long term, I'd argue those are a lot more costly.