Command & Conquer MMO a Possibility?

TheProphet92 sends along a speculative piece about the future of EA's popular RTS franchise, writing: "EA's real-time strategy games don't have the luxury of extensive funding the way some other franchises do. EA has been milking their game engines for all they're worth and then some. They have been using various versions of the 'Sage' engine for the past half-dozen or so RTS games, and they need money to make a new one. Perhaps an MMO is the way to go for EA, using none other than their famous Command & Conquer franchise."

The problem is EA

[Aceticon]

If EA came up with an MMO, could you really trust them not to make it Pay-to-Play and:

• At a latter date add some for of micro-transactions selling the kind on in-game kit that massively unbalances the end-of-game in favor of those that actually buy that kit?
• Add in-game advertising after release?
• Prioritize frequent development of new expansions over fixing known bugs?

If my previous experience with Online PvP gaming using EA products (Battlefield series on the PC) is any indication of their behavior, I expect them to release the game buggy (yet strangely with great reviews from certain well-known gaming websites), have a 6 month period with a couple of bug-fixes while they "hook as many players as they can into the game" and then proceed to do all the "returns enhancing" ideas listed above.

Re:Why not as an iPhone app

[alen]

there is an iphone version of C&C in development