There is one action that tends to be fairly flame retardant. Making good video games. They should try getting back to that.
Yes, I realize that is a lot easier said than done while being owned by EA.
What would you say their best games were?
EA had the capacity to publish great titles back during the early 2010's and earlier, but the current problem is that they're trying to extract too much out of their devs in a short amount of time. This is exacerbated by their games requiring online components across the board. At this point, I'd say they only game they've published at this point that was widely acclaimed was Apex Legends, and they essentially had no hand in that game. Prior to that, probably A Way Out... lol.
I got to side with Jason Schreier on this one. That was a weak response.
I fully suspect BioWare is in the process of humbling itself a bit, as I doubt Hudson has that much of an Ego as it seems the other prodcuers and ditectors did, but this was a chance to really take it in stride, and instead it was a toothless reply in everything but pointing out that they need to do better.
I'm dissapointed honestly
It's pretty much your typical corporate reply. Read one corporate reply and you've pretty much read them all, including that line which says "press scrutiny only has negative impacts". I mean, how many Government departments or corporations have you heard that from.
People keep bagging on people for saying it but Old-Bioware has been dead for years, and imo it's been replaced by a soulless corporation.
That to me tells me they can't say anything if thats the case.
Here is the thing, either it was forced reply given the circumstances, or a reply by the devs themselves in how they honestly see themselves.
Fact of the matter is, typical or not it is too dismissive given the severity of the situation.
There is one action that tends to be fairly flame retardant. Making good video games. They should try getting back to that.
Yes, I realize that is a lot easier said than done while being owned by EA.
What would you say their best games were?
The last BW game I played that really sucked me in and entertained me was DA:O. ME2 I thought was a dumpster fire. After that I never even bothered with DA2 and didn't play ME3 and DA3 till just before MEA came out. ME3 was "meh" and because of ME2 was only a shell of what it could have been. DAI I didn't think was bad just lost my interest a few hours in. MEA was the first time since DA:O that I picked up a BW game at release and it had as much bad as it did good. Don't plan ever ever playing Anthem.
EA had the capacity to publish great titles back during the early 2010's and earlier, but the current problem is that they're trying to extract too much out of their devs in a short amount of time. This is exacerbated by their games requiring online components across the board. At this point, I'd say they only game they've published at this point that was widely acclaimed was Apex Legends, and they essentially had no hand in that game. Prior to that, probably A Way Out... lol.
6 to 7 years is a short amount of time? I'll admit that EA making their studios using that crappy engine is partly to blame, as well as not supporting studios in need. But it isn't all EA fault. All of EA other titles have been doing relatively okay. None of their other titles have went through developing hell like Inquisition, Andromeda, and Anthem. EA gave BW time, it's BW fault that they mismanaged it.
So they basically didn't deny any of it. They just gave some schpeel about how their employees' health is important to them, how they're working to improve crunch time situations, how hard it is to make a game, and how this article is counterproductive because it aired their dirty laundry during a time when they're already catching it from all sides.
EA had the capacity to publish great titles back during the early 2010's and earlier, but the current problem is that they're trying to extract too much out of their devs in a short amount of time. This is exacerbated by their games requiring online components across the board. At this point, I'd say they only game they've published at this point that was widely acclaimed was Apex Legends, and they essentially had no hand in that game. Prior to that, probably A Way Out... lol.
6 to 7 years is a short amount of time? I'll admit that EA making their studios using that crappy engine is partly to blame, as well as not supporting studios in need. But it isn't all EA fault. All of EA other titles have been doing relatively okay. None of their other titles have went through developing hell like Inquisition, Andromeda, and Anthem. EA gave BW time, it's BW fault that they mismanaged it.
I'm speaking more towards their companies as a whole, rather than solely when it comes to BioWare. I do think EA makes for a easy scapegoat to a lot of gamers in many instances, but there are still problems with the way they conduct business. For example, DICE clearly didn't have enough development time to make Battlefield V release as a finished product. This is the team making games that the Frostbite engine was designed for, and yet the 1-2 dev time the game had wasn't enough to make a game that its fanbase could enjoy. It also released with a number of bugs, and a lack of content.
As for BioWare, while they absolutely need to take responsibility for the quality of their recently released titles (Anthem and Andromeda specifically), there's also the fact that they're being pushed to release a great number of games in too short a time span. Jason's article on Andromeda's development woes signaled this with the main studio having to siphon off teams from both Austin and Montreal, leaving an even smaller team at Montreal to work on Andromeda. BioWare had to maintain SW:TOR, conceptualize DA4, and develop Anthem and Andromeda at the same time. All this with a studio of 800 people, and on - arguably - one of the worst engines for RPG's ever.
I know 800 peoples sounds like a lot, but if they intended to make a looter-shooter, that already requires a significant personnel commitment. If you look at Bungie and Destiny, Bungie is a studio of nearly 800 people and they're wholly devoted to the Destiny franchise. Even still, they needed the help of both High Moon Studios and Vicarious Visions to get many features, content updates, and DLC off the ground to satiate players. Massive is a studio of 400 people, but they also had to recruit other Ubisoft studios to help them as well. This is a studio mind you, that has an engine specifically designed for The Division (Snowdrop).
This isn't to absolve BioWare for not planning out the game properly, but I believe it also shows that EA isn't willing to put their money (resources) where their mouth is when it comes to helping their studios implement online features and mandated components. They don't even want to bring in more individuals to help with the technical problems associated with Frostbite, and even siphoned off the more experienced Frostbite devs from the Anthem project so they could work on FIFA. Hell, they couldn't even be bothered to listen to feedback about Frostbite just being a poorly designed engine, and not devoting a team/time/money to breaking it down and rebuilding it for easier use.
BioWare have indeed mismanaged their recent products, but EA also hasn't helped with their lack of putting money/resources into additional manpower.
Did this really need a thread of its own when it's basically a response to the Kotaku article? Wouldn't it have been better to update the OP on the Kotaku thread?
Of all the things I've seen on the battlefields of the Frontier, the Pilot is the true dominant force.
So they basically didn't deny any of it. They just gave some schpeel about how their employees' health is important to them, how they're working to improve crunch time situations, how hard it is to make a game, and how this article is counterproductive because it aired their dirty laundry during a time when they're already catching it from all sides.
I think this is what gets me. Own up to it, or deny it, but don't play the "bully" card.
Did this really need a thread of its own when it's basically a response to the Kotaku article? Wouldn't it have been better to update the OP on the Kotaku thread?
And if I had combined them, someone would have asked why didn't I create a separate thread for it, as we always do for BioWare Blogs...
Did this really need a thread of its own when it's basically a response to the Kotaku article? Wouldn't it have been better to update the OP on the Kotaku thread?
And if I had combined them, someone would have asked why didn't I create a separate thread for it, as we always do for BioWare Blogs...
Oh, I didn't know this was standard practice. Carry on then.
Of all the things I've seen on the battlefields of the Frontier, the Pilot is the true dominant force.
The last BW game I played that really sucked me in and entertained me was DA:O. ME2 I thought was a dumpster fire. After that I never even bothered with DA2 and didn't play ME3 and DA3 till just before MEA came out. ME3 was "meh" and because of ME2 was only a shell of what it could have been. DAI I didn't think was bad just lost my interest a few hours in. MEA was the first time since DA:O that I picked up a BW game at release and it had as much bad as it did good. Don't plan ever ever playing Anthem.
ME2 a dumpster fire? If by dumpster fire you mean the best fire ever then yes!
The last BW game I played that really sucked me in and entertained me was DA:O. ME2 I thought was a dumpster fire. After that I never even bothered with DA2 and didn't play ME3 and DA3 till just before MEA came out. ME3 was "meh" and because of ME2 was only a shell of what it could have been. DAI I didn't think was bad just lost my interest a few hours in. MEA was the first time since DA:O that I picked up a BW game at release and it had as much bad as it did good. Don't plan ever ever playing Anthem.
ME2 a dumpster fire? If by dumpster fire you mean the best fire ever then yes!
ME2 a dumpster fire? If by dumpster fire you mean the best fire ever then yes!
It's Andromeda that is good.
MEA was better than ME2, I would certainly give it at least that much.
They had so much potential on their hands at the end of ME1 and they chucked it all out the window to do "Michael Bay in Space". I was so disappointed in that game.
MEA was better than ME2, I would certainly give it at least that much.
They had so much potential on their hands at the end of ME1 and they chucked it all out the window to do "Michael Bay in Space". I was so disappointed in that game.
MEA was better than ME2, I would certainly give it at least that much.
They had so much potential on their hands at the end of ME1 and they chucked it all out the window to do "Michael Bay in Space". I was so disappointed in that game.
Old gamer, generally fussy, likes numbers and science.
Yes, how dare he call out stuidos for working developers like slaves because their bosses can't make up their damned minds about their project until the last minute? How dare he call out awful, reprehensible business practices that lead many employees to take extended leave because they can't take the work enviroment.
How dare he...
Will you be satisfied when finally someone will kill their first dev? Will you be satisfied when someone will finally kill himself because years ago he made mistakes and wasn't able to find a job anymore and the internet keep haunting him?
And people like to say that the hater brigade on the forums tend to overreact...
Its never too late. LOL.
*Formerly known as Slotts' Blast Processor. And before that, General Slotts.*