The movies are not something that has a negative effect on ingame events. In fact, they are mostly positive; the last 2 episodes happen to have been storyline-based, not ingame-based, giving a setting to Amensty and a much deeper understanding of the two names "Ross" and "Radiman". Without the movies, they would mean absolutely nothing to anyone (and even less to those who choose to ignore them).
Granted, ingame events need to be upped; but they can and need to be upped at the same time the movies continue. Like I said, they don't even need to be MOVIES. A number of forms of storytelling can be used, and they can occur with the game.
For these periods FC isn't releasing movies, their talented writers and artists can be working on things like smaller (probably voiced over) comic strips that tell smaller storyline events, like raids on areas, events in the lives of players, etc. That would do even more to get most people into the game than wandering over to the square and watching some nameless automaton ramble on about Portman being captured, and suffer through people yelling stupid things, or going to a trial and having to try to filter out the dumb****s who act OOC at an event that only so many people are allowed to attend.
None of this would have any effect whatsoever on ingame events. In fact, it would bolster them, AND aid in our role playing by providing more to feed off of.
Hell, part of the reason the vids were delayed could probably even be that the world designers weren't able to complete everything needed to introduce whatever happened in the video. You whine about nothing happening, and don't have the patience to LET it happen in a developed storyline.
Some of us are grateful that a game has a writer that is doing something more than just stating generally defined sides with vague goals of conquest and dropping an undeveloped world with no depth, background characters, etc to work on, other than kill the other side so they don't/you do conquer the world.
More of that, I say. Bugfixing needs to happen, but that is completely removed from this. Ingame events need to happen, but they are related to this. These movies, and the book (or chapters that have been released to the public) are a necessity for many of us who aren't the mayor of Tir. :-p
I think that this thread says it all; the people that support the movies (who happen to be the overwhelming majority) do so because it is the extra incentive to stay with the game and keep interest. The movies are a vital part of the storyline. The people against them are generally followign the concept that it doens't directly support them because they don't change their lives, so they should be cut entirely for something that does. A very greedy and foolish line that, if FunCom had taken before, would have resulted in the loss of a good number of role players from our already suffering community. I've even talked to a number of people who HADN'T EVEN SEEN the movies who were calling for them to be dumped because of the same reasons you say. That is the strength of your position; how much sense does it make?