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Post by Link"Guess"ski on May 18, 2017 0:34:36 GMT
Just 3-4 months ago I made a post here discussing the alarming self-reflections of some BioWare employees and the, at the time, semi-low rating of 3.7/5 of employee reviews of BioWare over at Glassdoor.com, specifically trying some of these stories to the suspicious development of Andromeda which we were already starting to be concerned with before the game came out. People over at NeoGAF had been on the lookout too, voicing the same concerns. www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1354014But now, it seems EA has been on cleanup duty. That's right. BioWare is actually an amazing company to work for! It's actually a 4.9, 100% recommends this workplace to friends! Even the anonymous "Art Director - Montreal" (AKA Joel MacMillan) has left a 5/5 review dubbed "culture of excellence" and meanwhile EA or BioWare has removed all traces of concern from disgruntled employees or high-profile people such as the VFX artist in question. EA is a fantastic company to work for! Nobody were turned over to EA Motive! We would NEVER meddle with our subsidiaries's studios and the managers at BioWare are the best in the world!
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 0:56:27 GMT
Oh that's just brilliant.
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Post by Lorn on May 18, 2017 3:43:20 GMT
Just 3-4 months ago I made a post here discussing the alarming self-reflections of some BioWare employees and the, at the time, semi-low rating of 3.7/5 of employee reviews of BioWare over at Glassdoor.com, specifically trying some of these stories to the suspicious development of Andromeda which we were already starting to be concerned with before the game came out. People over at NeoGAF had been on the lookout too, voicing the same concerns. www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1354014But now, it seems EA has been on cleanup duty. That's right. BioWare is actually an amazing company to work for! It's actually a 4.9, 100% recommends this workplace to friends! Even the anonymous "Art Director - Montreal" (AKA Joel MacMillan) has left a 5/5 review dubbed "culture of excellence" and meanwhile EA or BioWare has removed all traces of concern from disgruntled employees or high-profile people such as the VFX artist in question. EA is a fantastic company to work for! Nobody were turned over to EA Motive! We would NEVER meddle with our subsidiaries's studios and the managers at BioWare are the best in the world! Some of us in the old (last official BSN) Off Topic section brought this all up around Inquisition's release. I think there was a thread about it in the DAI general section before it was purged to the "hell" that was the Lobby.
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Post by Arijon van Goyen on May 18, 2017 4:17:09 GMT
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Staff Mini-Profile Theme: Heimdall
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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Post by Heimdall on May 18, 2017 16:00:40 GMT
What I've seen over the past few years makes me wonder if Montreal in particular suffered from this problem.
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Post by cheeseandonion on May 18, 2017 16:49:49 GMT
Only 30 minutes for a paid lunch?
The poor dear.
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Post by Giant Ambush Beetle on May 18, 2017 16:58:54 GMT
Only 30 minutes for a paid lunch? The poor dear. Back in military service we had to down our meals in less than 5 minutes, we had 30 minute breaks but the line was a 100 meters long and it took us approx 5 minutes to get to the cafeteria. I remember my food pipe was always stuffed from stomach to my throat and leaked half chewed food into my mouth when I was running back to the barracks of my group. Most of the time we had to eat so fast we didn't even know the contents of the meal. The amazing thing is, you can get used to that.
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Post by B. Hieronymus Da on May 18, 2017 17:32:09 GMT
Only 30 minutes for a paid lunch? The poor dear. Back in military service we had to down our meals in less than 5 minutes, we had 30 minute breaks but the line was a 100 meters long and it took us approx 5 minutes to get to the cafeteria. I remember my food pipe was always stuffed from stomach to my throat and leaked half chewed food into my mouth when I was running back to the barracks of my group. Most of the time we had to eat so fast we didn't even know the contents of the meal. The amazing thing is, you can get used to that. Aah, yes. - The good old days!
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Post by Serza on May 18, 2017 17:54:24 GMT
Only 30 minutes for a paid lunch? The poor dear. Back in military service we had to down our meals in less than 5 minutes, we had 30 minute breaks but the line was a 100 meters long and it took us approx 5 minutes to get to the cafeteria. I remember my food pipe was always stuffed from stomach to my throat and leaked half chewed food into my mouth when I was running back to the barracks of my group. Most of the time we had to eat so fast we didn't even know the contents of the meal. The amazing thing is, you can get used to that. One more reason I couldn't do that stuff for a career. I mean, I was DONE leaving class at 1330, dropping by the lockers, making it to the mess, throwing lunch in, going back to the lockers and finally being in front of the building at 1340 by the time I found out how nice long lunch chats can be during my high school days. Seriously, I had maybe three friends on that school, but all of them good.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 18:35:41 GMT
Hmm I'm Confused so EA made people like working there again?
The new games are so bad I thought EA made it worse...
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Post by Link"Guess"ski on May 18, 2017 18:39:03 GMT
What I've seen over the past few years makes me wonder if Montreal in particular suffered from this problem. They kinda did. One of the bad reviews, actually several, mentioned that there were problems with the Montreal team not being in line with the kind of culture or leadership they had at Edmonton and that some senior management was putting montreal's devs on some "performance program" which was a PR for basically firing whoever wouldn't compromise to do things the BW Edmonton way. That's probably how they lost Chris Wynn and others. One of those same reviews said over 13 Montreal leads were lost but also some in Edmonton so chances are that these are all EA problems. It's been known for decades that EA is a company that aquires studios, replaces its managers with lower-paid ones who mess everything up and that's probably what has been increasingly happening at BioWare since the aquisition in 2009. They're slowly replacing people at the studio to "save money" in their micromanagement of all other EA subsidiaries and it messes products and their marketing up. I probably just threw a couple of blanket statements out in the air there, but I think some of it is true at least.
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Post by Link"Guess"ski on May 18, 2017 18:40:20 GMT
Hmm I'm Confused so EA made people like working there again? The new games are so bad I thought EA made it worse... No, the reviews I found pictures of in the OP has been DELETED from the site, ergo, EA/BioWare makes their employers post positive reviews while purging the "toxic" ones, so they get a clean average, aka a gigantic lie about what it's like to work at EA/BioWare. It's damage-control.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 18:40:47 GMT
Hmm I'm Confused so EA made people like working there again? The new games are so bad I thought EA made it worse... Only in imagination land. Where you have to be high to believe it.
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Post by Link"Guess"ski on May 18, 2017 18:44:36 GMT
Only 30 minutes for a paid lunch? The poor dear. Back in military service we had to down our meals in less than 5 minutes, we had 30 minute breaks but the line was a 100 meters long and it took us approx 5 minutes to get to the cafeteria. I remember my food pipe was always stuffed from stomach to my throat and leaked half chewed food into my mouth when I was running back to the barracks of my group. Most of the time we had to eat so fast we didn't even know the contents of the meal. The amazing thing is, you can get used to that. As wicked as this sounds to me, sometimes I regret not signing up for military service. Sounds like hell to me, but I'd have come out of it feeling like a new man, or so I like to imagine.
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∯ Interjector in Chief
Staff Mini-Profile Theme: Heimdall
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Origin: HeimdallX
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Post by Heimdall on May 18, 2017 18:54:27 GMT
What I've seen over the past few years makes me wonder if Montreal in particular suffered from this problem. They kinda did. One of the bad reviews, actually several, mentioned that there were problems with the Montreal team not being in line with the kind of culture or leadership they had at Edmonton and that some senior management was putting montreal's devs on some "performance program" which was a PR for basically firing whoever wouldn't compromise to do things the BW Edmonton way. That's probably how they lost Chris Wynn and others. One of those same reviews said over 13 Montreal leads were lost but also some in Edmonton so chances are that these are all EA problems. It's been known for decades that EA is a company that aquires studios, replaces its managers with lower-paid ones who mess everything up and that's probably what has been increasingly happening at BioWare since the aquisition in 2009. They're slowly replacing people at the studio to "save money" in their micromanagement of all other EA subsidiaries and it messes products and their marketing up. I probably just threw a couple of blanket statements out in the air there, but I think some of it is true at least. Some of it probably. And I'm sure it is part of the explanation for how SuperMac is still employed despite being a hack. But is the problem EA? Edmonton management? Senior Montreal management? All of the above? I imagine a few of these people really are disgruntled employees upset they didn't get their way. The complaint about having 30 minutes for lunch just strikes me as petty. I'm really unclear on where the root of this issue is.
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Post by Link"Guess"ski on May 18, 2017 19:21:09 GMT
If they were truly just entitled or narcissistic employees that left or were fired would BioWare or EA really need to put down the review? Some of the detail in the reviews in question were so consistent among a multitude of reviews that I feel like it got shut down because EA or BioWare realized it was doing actual damage to their rep.
Other companies like CDPR and Nintendo have lower Glassdoor review averages than BioWare now. They have rough criticisms too but nothing as severe as "Montreal vs Edmonton symbiosis is broken." or "we lost 13 leads over political BS", nothing about "lots of drama", just concerns regarding the level of competence or work capacity at most which amounts to maybe slightly lower than 4/5 average.
BioWare is now 4.9/5. It's ridiculous. I know it's just Glassdoor but this is EA/Ware censoring the publically available hearsay, plain and simple. Why? Cuz they're pussycats.
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Little Pumpkin
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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XBL Gamertag: Beerfish77
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Post by Beerfish on May 18, 2017 19:56:13 GMT
someone is always boss, you do your best to do what they want whether you are 100% on board or not or you move on voluntarily or forceably. This situation is not unique to bioware/ea. It is in all levels of business all over the world.
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Post by Qui-Gon GlenN7 on May 19, 2017 1:10:44 GMT
Only 30 minutes for a paid lunch? The poor dear. Back in military service we had to down our meals in less than 5 minutes, we had 30 minute breaks but the line was a 100 meters long and it took us approx 5 minutes to get to the cafeteria. I remember my food pipe was always stuffed from stomach to my throat and leaked half chewed food into my mouth when I was running back to the barracks of my group. Most of the time we had to eat so fast we didn't even know the contents of the meal. The amazing thing is, you can get used to that. Simple. Don't join the military. It isn't exactly a creative place, meat.
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Post by Giant Ambush Beetle on May 19, 2017 1:26:45 GMT
Back in military service we had to down our meals in less than 5 minutes, we had 30 minute breaks but the line was a 100 meters long and it took us approx 5 minutes to get to the cafeteria. I remember my food pipe was always stuffed from stomach to my throat and leaked half chewed food into my mouth when I was running back to the barracks of my group. Most of the time we had to eat so fast we didn't even know the contents of the meal. The amazing thing is, you can get used to that. Simple. Don't join the military. It isn't exactly a creative place, meat. In my country we have a draft, when you are 18 you have to join - Or do community service where you can end up changing diapers in nursing homes or worse, you end up like a friend of mine helping in the cancer station of a hospital. Ignoring the draft or community service will land you in prison. And yeah, military isn't fun if you are a free thinker. Dumbest and dullest place I have ever been to.
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Post by CHRrOME on May 19, 2017 17:05:36 GMT
Simple. Don't join the military. It isn't exactly a creative place, meat. In my country we have a draft, when you are 18 you have to join - Or do community service where you can end up changing diapers in nursing homes or worse, you end up like a friend of mine helping in the cancer station of a hospital. Ignoring the draft or community service will land you in prison. And yeah, military isn't fun if you are a free thinker. Dumbest and dullest place I have ever been to. My country could so use that directive. Kids are just imbeciles nowadays here, military service will do some good in them. Wasn't particularly much better back in my time, but there's a clear path of downhill now. Of course, it'll never happen. Popular culture is so afraid of the military they'll never agree to military service due to our "rocky" past, they just can't let go... Then again, people don't get to choose, politicians can sanction whatever the fuck they want anyways whether people like it or not, but politicians don't give a fuck either about military service (or military in general for that matter) so we're back to square one.
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Post by CHRrOME on May 19, 2017 17:12:36 GMT
That's interesting, and it's no surprise. I remember the Glassdoor reviews back in Prime BSN. I suppose this happens in all companies, although some of the things they said in these reviews makes you think. It did hurt the company loosing so many people after ME3 and during production of MEA, at least in my opinion.
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Post by Link"Guess"ski on May 19, 2017 22:41:43 GMT
That's interesting, and it's no surprise. I remember the Glassdoor reviews back in Prime BSN. I suppose this happens in all companies, although some of the things they said in these reviews makes you think. It did hurt the company loosing so many people after ME3 and during production of MEA, at least in my opinion. BioWare has been leaking talent since the aquisition. First batch of notable devs left after ME2 was halfway done.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2017 23:10:00 GMT
That's interesting, and it's no surprise. I remember the Glassdoor reviews back in Prime BSN. I suppose this happens in all companies, although some of the things they said in these reviews makes you think. It did hurt the company loosing so many people after ME3 and during production of MEA, at least in my opinion. BioWare has been leaking talent since the aquisition. First batch of notable devs left after ME2 was halfway done. That is not the issue. A talented developer can be replaced. Just because Chris Avellone left Obsidian, doesn't mean Obsidian's writing suddenly sucks. Also this constant worship of writers, designers and so on, is getting a bit old. A great game is great because all of the 200 - 300 people involved did their job properly. One great individual does not a great game make, same goes for movies. The main issue is that EA doesn't understand what Bioware needs to make good games. Look at Inquisition, it is a very flawed game. The open world doesn't lend itself to the narrative, the combat is stuck somewhere between tactical and full on action, it has many issues. The writing, music, animations and all that jazz however, is great. There is a great game stuck in a poor framework. A framework that EA is constantly pushing onto its developers because of what they see as market standards. When Trespasser came out and you could finally combine good writing with a linear level design, what happened? It was brilliant. Good news coming out from Edmonton is that they are hiring a new lead animator and a few other things needed to make the next Dragon Age game stand out and be what Inquisition should've/could've been. As for EA cleaning house? Yeah that is just business as usual. I don't like it, but it is not exclusive to them or the gaming industry. Big corporations are a cancer on society, atleast in how they operate these days.
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Post by Galactic Runner on May 19, 2017 23:26:14 GMT
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The night is dark and full of terrors, but the fire burns them all away.
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Post by House Targaryen on May 20, 2017 23:07:48 GMT
Down with the Evil Empire
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