Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread

As someone who is almost "straight outta school" this is disheartening to read from someone who left BW Edmonton in December

24th december, 2016
"I would choose differently"
Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Edmonton, AB (Canada)

Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
Disapproves of CEO

"I worked at BioWare full-time (More than 3 years)"

Pros
"1.If you are right out of school you can learn some basics in first 6 month.
2.Looks good on the resume
3.regular employees are mostly great people."

Cons
"1.Promotions and rewards based purely on friendship with management, not hard work or contribution.
2.you might work hard every day, while your leader plays video games on his computer, and gets all the credits.And if you complain who is going to believe you?
3.Management are mostly can be very insecure, unskilled, lost their passion, given up on learning new skills and keeping up with industry standards.
4. Because of lack of standards in middle and upper management ,most do the least to keep their jobs and collect the paycheck for their family. So it will be near impossible to try to improve anything as you get beaten down by sarcasm ,drama, and unnecessary jealousy .
5.Lots of drama, and lack of professionalism.

Advice to Management:
"Get your passion back, or quite."

I know Montreal is working on this game primarily, but I hope BioWare can pick up themselves and stop being... like the way this guy describes them. I hope to god Montreal has a better management than this or else that's probably why some of Andromeda's sneak peeks have been so strangely underwhelming. I'm almost certain this is not the way BioWare has always been and somehow I don't think this fellow youngster employee is expecting too much of a reknowned AAA company to be saying these things, let alone giving them bottom-ranking score.

For pros:
1: So that's how Mac Walters is now Creative Director. I always wondered how that came about after... you know what.
3: The regular employees are great people? Good to know...

For cons:
1: I now understand the previous emphasis. Anyone who isn't regular is "part of the BW family" that drink beers together and share pictures of lolcats while their subordinates work because they're friends outside of the company. Great company structure, good for morale, would love not to work there.
2: Oh, and Mark Darrah plays games and gets money for it too. Nice to know.
3: Oh you don't say? Because, I didn't get that impression at all from interviews with Aaryn Flynn.
4: Mac Walters's real agenda for being so high up whilist not doing a solid job since he became lead writer.
5: Manveer Heir, oh how have you not been told to leave yet?

I was supposed to be talking about the team making ME:A though wasn't I? Oh yeah... about that... :crying:

- Posted July 27, 2016 -

"VFX Artist"
Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Montreal, QC (Canada)

Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
No opinion of CEO

I worked at BioWare full-time (More than 5 years)

Pros
- Used to be a great environment filled with great amount of world class creative talents.
- Work on a great AAA IP.
- Great location downtown Montreal.
Cons
- Bioware Edmonton and Montreal symbiosis is broken. Lots of conflicts and bro culture.

- Lost over 13 leads (game design, art, audio, prog, senior core leads, etc) in 5 years at Bioware Montreal on Mass Effect. Edmonton lost only 3. It is clear that Edmonton has the bigger part of the stick when it comes to purge Leads and Producers who are not aligned with their leadership style.

- Putting people on performance improvement program (PIP Program) is the new tactics to get rid of people. Once again more than 10 people in Montreal got slammed with this bureaucratic uppercut to let go people that are not bending to Edmonton leadership styles in the last revision cycle. This approach is used by the Montreal Leadership to purge the mess from the lack of vision cause by upper management in the last 4 years (throwing people under the bus to protect bad core management).

- Renaming crunch to Finaling mode. Which means company pays for your lunch but you have only 30 minutes to eat and then getting back on the keyboard. Was lasting for over 2 months and was a real catastrophy.

- Retaliation and harassment is sadly a reality. If you talk and ask questions you will be tag as a trouble maker and end up in a bad position.

- HR won't help you out. They will deny the current harassment from Monreal management by ignoring and not documenting the facts. In other words if you leave don't talk. Just let it go...

- Many benifits got cut due to too much time extension to get the game done.

Advice to Management
Not going to waste my breath on this one... Sadly they won't listen anyway.

Well that was depressing to read. Explains a lot though.

I'm beginning to think the ME3 ending controversy was the catalyst (no pun intended) for a lot of falling out over there. Ever since 2012, more and more key figures have left. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some animosity over there. We know Patrick Weekes actually broke silence about the ME3 ending before deleting his post, so I'm sure he was biting his own teeth over Casey and Mac at the time. Poor management is also probably what explains Mac Walters being promoted.

Last Edit: Feb 17, 2017 3:40:14 GMT by Madflavor

Link"Guess"ski
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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 3:44:29 GMT

Quote

Post by Link"Guess"ski on Feb 17, 2017 3:44:29 GMT

But on the flipside there's also good reviews of the studios. I just picked the bad ones for doom and gloom. It also paints a picture of serious problems that totally do exist.

I would however add that while I say I think X and Y and Z about Mac he has decided to write for Darkhorse outside of his BioWare job plenty of times (for money and his comics are... not good).

I'm most concerned with the mentions that harrassment and persecution at Montreal has led to Edmonton taking over while Montreal managers stick heads in the sand and Manveer probably bullied half those people out by calling them "white trash" every day at work or something.

"A geth wanting emotions would be no less disrespectful a character than a black man who wanted to be white." - L'Etoile

Madflavor
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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 3:52:41 GMT colfoley likes this

Quote

Post by Madflavor on Feb 17, 2017 3:52:41 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 3:44:29 GMT Link"Guess"ski said:

But on the flipside there's also good reviews of the studios. I just picked the bad ones for doom and gloom. It also paints a picture of serious problems that totally do exist.

I would however add that while I say I think X and Y and Z about Mac he has decided to write for Darkhorse outside of his BioWare job plenty of times (for money and his comics are... not good).

I'm most concerned with the mentions that harrassment and persecution at Montreal has led to Edmonton taking over while Montreal managers stick heads in the sand and Manveer probably bullied half those people out by calling them "white trash" every day at work or something.

Lol oh you son of a bitch. Welp in any event it was interesting to read anyway, it does explain some things no?

I'm still very excited for the game. If you ask me, I feel like now that journalists are finally getting their hands on the previews, they're going to pick up the slack on the marketing for the game, and start showing us the meat and potatoes. Not to mention the weekly gameplay videos Bioware is gonna release starting tomorrow. I'm thinking that the underwhelming marketing and the doom and gloom will start to fade once marketing for the game finally kicks into full gear.

Last Edit: Feb 17, 2017 3:53:34 GMT by Madflavor

dutchsghost7
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Posts: 850 Likes: 623

Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 6:01:49 GMT via mobile cloud9 likes this

Quote

Post by dutchsghost7 on Feb 17, 2017 6:01:49 GMT

As someone who is almost "straight outta school" this is disheartening to read from someone who left BW Edmonton in December

24th december, 2016
"I would choose differently"
Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Edmonton, AB (Canada)

Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
Disapproves of CEO

"I worked at BioWare full-time (More than 3 years)"

Pros
"1.If you are right out of school you can learn some basics in first 6 month.
2.Looks good on the resume
3.regular employees are mostly great people."

Cons
"1.Promotions and rewards based purely on friendship with management, not hard work or contribution.
2.you might work hard every day, while your leader plays video games on his computer, and gets all the credits.And if you complain who is going to believe you?
3.Management are mostly can be very insecure, unskilled, lost their passion, given up on learning new skills and keeping up with industry standards.
4. Because of lack of standards in middle and upper management ,most do the least to keep their jobs and collect the paycheck for their family. So it will be near impossible to try to improve anything as you get beaten down by sarcasm ,drama, and unnecessary jealousy .
5.Lots of drama, and lack of professionalism.

Advice to Management:
"Get your passion back, or quite."

I know Montreal is working on this game primarily, but I hope BioWare can pick up themselves and stop being... like the way this guy describes them. I hope to god Montreal has a better management than this or else that's probably why some of Andromeda's sneak peeks have been so strangely underwhelming. I'm almost certain this is not the way BioWare has always been and somehow I don't think this fellow youngster employee is expecting too much of a reknowned AAA company to be saying these things, let alone giving them bottom-ranking score.

For pros:
1: So that's how Mac Walters is now Creative Director. I always wondered how that came about after... you know what.
3: The regular employees are great people? Good to know...

For cons:
1: I now understand the previous emphasis. Anyone who isn't regular is "part of the BW family" that drink beers together and share pictures of lolcats while their subordinates work because they're friends outside of the company. Great company structure, good for morale, would love not to work there.
2: Oh, and Mark Darrah plays games and gets money for it too. Nice to know.
3: Oh you don't say? Because, I didn't get that impression at all from interviews with Aaryn Flynn.
4: Mac Walters's real agenda for being so high up whilist not doing a solid job since he became lead writer.
5: Manveer Heir, oh how have you not been told to leave yet?

I was supposed to be talking about the team making ME:A though wasn't I? Oh yeah... about that... :crying:

- Posted July 27, 2016 -

"VFX Artist"
Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Montreal, QC (Canada)

Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
No opinion of CEO

I worked at BioWare full-time (More than 5 years)

Pros
- Used to be a great environment filled with great amount of world class creative talents.
- Work on a great AAA IP.
- Great location downtown Montreal.
Cons
- Bioware Edmonton and Montreal symbiosis is broken. Lots of conflicts and bro culture.

- Lost over 13 leads (game design, art, audio, prog, senior core leads, etc) in 5 years at Bioware Montreal on Mass Effect. Edmonton lost only 3. It is clear that Edmonton has the bigger part of the stick when it comes to purge Leads and Producers who are not aligned with their leadership style.

- Putting people on performance improvement program (PIP Program) is the new tactics to get rid of people. Once again more than 10 people in Montreal got slammed with this bureaucratic uppercut to let go people that are not bending to Edmonton leadership styles in the last revision cycle. This approach is used by the Montreal Leadership to purge the mess from the lack of vision cause by upper management in the last 4 years (throwing people under the bus to protect bad core management).

- Renaming crunch to Finaling mode. Which means company pays for your lunch but you have only 30 minutes to eat and then getting back on the keyboard. Was lasting for over 2 months and was a real catastrophy.

- Retaliation and harassment is sadly a reality. If you talk and ask questions you will be tag as a trouble maker and end up in a bad position.

- HR won't help you out. They will deny the current harassment from Monreal management by ignoring and not documenting the facts. In other words if you leave don't talk. Just let it go...

- Many benifits got cut due to too much time extension to get the game done.

Advice to Management
Not going to waste my breath on this one... Sadly they won't listen anyway.

Bioware isn't a great studio to work at these days and it's primarily because of the doctors "leaving". Bioware regularly hires out of college students and then culls them later on so basically most of their staff are inexperienced hence why their games never really look AAA.

dutchsghost7
N3

Posts: 850 Likes: 623

Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 6:06:25 GMT via mobile

Quote

Post by dutchsghost7 on Feb 17, 2017 6:06:25 GMT

also Bioware hired the gta 5 virtual rape girl so they literally take in any type of trash off the streets. I really feel sorry for people actually trying to a make career for themselves within that decaying studio. If MEA fails commercially than i foresee Bioware closing shop.

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Posts: 0

Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 7:29:47 GMT Link"Guess"ski likes this

Quote

Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2017 7:29:47 GMT

Prey looks awesome, but I gotta say, hearing all that about Bioware actually puts a lot of things into perspective. Hopefully there are still people on the team that are actually working hard and care about what they're making. I would also wager it's from the ME3 ending debacle.

Man, ME3 really fucked over a lot of my favorite things. If Andromeda turns out to be another DAII, so what? At least we can talk about how mediocre it is. If it ends up being another ME3, however, Bioware could very well just end up dead in the water. And honestly, if things are really that bad, maybe it's time. They haven't really made a critically acclaimed or beloved by the fanbase game since ME2. Which was... Idk, fucking forever ago.

The Elder King
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 8:39:37 GMT

Quote

Post by The Elder King on Feb 17, 2017 8:39:37 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 7:29:47 GMT @snowwhite said:

Prey looks awesome, but I gotta say, hearing all that about Bioware actually puts a lot of things into perspective. Hopefully there are still people on the team that are actually working hard and care about what they're making. I would also wager it's from the ME3 ending debacle.

Man, ME3 really fucked over a lot of my favorite things. If Andromeda turns out to be another DAII, so what? At least we can talk about how mediocre it is. If it ends up being another ME3, however, Bioware could very well just end up dead in the water. And honestly, if things are really that bad, maybe it's time. They haven't really made a critically acclaimed or beloved by the fanbase game since ME2. Which was... Idk, fucking forever ago.

I do think there are problems in the studios. Although as @linkeski said, there were several good reviews too, so it's not like every former employee criticized the studios.

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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 8:43:51 GMT

Quote

Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2017 8:43:51 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 8:39:37 GMT The Elder King said:

Feb 17, 2017 7:29:47 GMT @snowwhite said:

Prey looks awesome, but I gotta say, hearing all that about Bioware actually puts a lot of things into perspective. Hopefully there are still people on the team that are actually working hard and care about what they're making. I would also wager it's from the ME3 ending debacle.

Man, ME3 really fucked over a lot of my favorite things. If Andromeda turns out to be another DAII, so what? At least we can talk about how mediocre it is. If it ends up being another ME3, however, Bioware could very well just end up dead in the water. And honestly, if things are really that bad, maybe it's time. They haven't really made a critically acclaimed or beloved by the fanbase game since ME2. Which was... Idk, fucking forever ago.

I do think there are problems in the studios. Although as @linkeski said, there were several good reviews too, so it's not like every former employee criticized the studios.

That's fair. I suppose being in a skepticism thread makes me feel inherently negative though, lol.

That being said, it's very possible that not everyone that has something to complain about actually does.

cloud9
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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 8:44:32 GMT Element Zero likes this

Quote

Post by cloud9 on Feb 17, 2017 8:44:32 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 0:55:00 GMT Element Zero said:

Feb 16, 2017 21:21:45 GMT cloud9 said:

All of the above.

I'm a huge fan of Uncharted and Naughty Dog, but this is comparing apples and oranges. These games couldn't be more different. A short game on rails, like the Uncharted games, cannot be held up as a standard for lengthy, expansive games like MEA.

I'm pretty certain that this conversation has been had before, though.

I beg to differ. Naughty Dog makes their games better than their last improving story, gameplay, characters, etc and top it off they show real love for their games and that's why they are one of the top developers. BioWare on the other hand they have wasted so much potential and remain stagnant by using repetitive methods instead of improving their games.

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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 8:49:22 GMT blah23 likes this

Quote

Post by The Elder King on Feb 17, 2017 8:49:22 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 8:43:51 GMT @snowwhite said:

Feb 17, 2017 8:39:37 GMT The Elder King said:

I do think there are problems in the studios. Although as @linkeski said, there were several good reviews too, so it's not like every former employee criticized the studios.

That's fair. I suppose being in a skepticism thread makes me feel inherently negative though, lol.

That being said, it's very possible that not everyone that has something to complain about actually does.

Same goes for the opposite though. To be clear, those reviews are made by the people that left the studios. We don't know the overall sentiment of those still inside.
But as I said, I don't think the situation is perfect.

Feb 17, 2017 0:55:00 GMT Element Zero said:

I'm a huge fan of Uncharted and Naughty Dog, but this is comparing apples and oranges. These games couldn't be more different. A short game on rails, like the Uncharted games, cannot be held up as a standard for lengthy, expansive games like MEA.

I'm pretty certain that this conversation has been had before, though.

I beg to differ. Naughty Dog makes their games better than their last improving story, gameplay, characters, etc and top it off they show real love for their games and that's why they are one of the top developers. BioWare on the other hand they have wasted so much potential and remain stagnant by using repetitive methods instead of improving their games.

He's referring to the fact that by being different types of games the areas you focus on are different. Comparing two of the companies you like, ND and CDPR, their games aren't equal in every areas. There are things were one is better then the other.
Even if Bioware would improve from their recent games win Andromeda, it doesn't mean it'd reach ND games in certain features. Definitely not in terms of animations, which, regardless of Bioware's shortcomings, it's something rpgs are very unlikely to every top the type of games ND makes.

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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 8:51:20 GMT The Elder King likes this

Quote

Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2017 8:51:20 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 0:55:00 GMT Element Zero said:

I'm a huge fan of Uncharted and Naughty Dog, but this is comparing apples and oranges. These games couldn't be more different. A short game on rails, like the Uncharted games, cannot be held up as a standard for lengthy, expansive games like MEA.

I'm pretty certain that this conversation has been had before, though.

I beg to differ. Naughty Dog makes their games better than their last improving story, gameplay, characters, etc and top it off they show real love for their games and that's why they are one of the top developers. BioWare on the other hand they have wasted so much potential and remain stagnant by using repetitive methods instead of improving their games.

Mechanically speaking, the Uncharted games are actually quite shallow. There's not a lot of complexity to the shooting or the stealth or the climbing, which other games do far better. The positive of Uncharted is that it's very short and has a lot of spectacle. You can beat it in a day and you feel like you marathoned an action movie series.

You do not play an Uncharted game to master it, really. You play it just for the fun of a summer blockbuster. Every major mechanic in an Uncharted game is done far better in other games, and Naughty Dog knows this. That's why their titles are so focused on being funny and action-packed in a relatively short time.

Every company should not strive to be Naughty Dog. Naughty Dog does what Naught Dog does, and it's nothing like what Bioware does. Not even superficially.

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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 8:55:25 GMT

Quote

Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2017 8:55:25 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 8:49:22 GMT The Elder King said:

Feb 17, 2017 8:43:51 GMT @snowwhite said:

That's fair. I suppose being in a skepticism thread makes me feel inherently negative though, lol.

That being said, it's very possible that not everyone that has something to complain about actually does.

Same goes for the opposite though. To be clear, those reviews are made by the people that left the studios. We don't know the overall sentiment of those still inside.
But as I said, I don't think the situation is perfect.

Just from interviews and the like, it's clear there's a lot of complacence in Bioware these days. Obviously those bad reviews are just confirmation to what a lot of us already thought, which isn't necessarily fair, but it's not like most of us want to hate Andromeda or Bioware. Most of us are just concerned with how they've been handling things lately.

Doesn't mean they can't make something good, and I would like nothing more than for Andromeda to be good, but like you said, it's not perfect.

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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 9:56:34 GMT

Quote

Post by cloud9 on Feb 17, 2017 9:56:34 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 8:49:22 GMT The Elder King said:

Feb 17, 2017 8:43:51 GMT @snowwhite said:

That's fair. I suppose being in a skepticism thread makes me feel inherently negative though, lol.

That being said, it's very possible that not everyone that has something to complain about actually does.

Same goes for the opposite though. To be clear, those reviews are made by the people that left the studios. We don't know the overall sentiment of those still inside.
But as I said, I don't think the situation is perfect.

I beg to differ. Naughty Dog makes their games better than their last improving story, gameplay, characters, etc and top it off they show real love for their games and that's why they are one of the top developers. BioWare on the other hand they have wasted so much potential and remain stagnant by using repetitive methods instead of improving their games.

He's referring to the fact that by being different types of games the areas you focus on are different. Comparing two of the companies you like, ND and CDPR, their games aren't equal in every areas. There are things were one is better then the other.
Even if Bioware would improve from their recent games win Andromeda, it doesn't mean it'd reach ND games in certain features. Definitely not in terms of animations, which, regardless of Bioware's shortcomings, it's something rpgs are very unlikely to every top the type of games ND makes.

That's still no excuse. They could've followed the company's example to have make their games better and by listening to people who is trying to give them ideas to make their games more enjoyable and unforgettable.(but they shut the forum down and they can't take criticism anyways) No wonder gamers remain skeptical and unsure to buy the game.

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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 10:01:10 GMT blah23 likes this

Quote

Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2017 10:01:10 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 9:56:34 GMT cloud9 said:

Feb 17, 2017 8:49:22 GMT The Elder King said:

Same goes for the opposite though. To be clear, those reviews are made by the people that left the studios. We don't know the overall sentiment of those still inside.
But as I said, I don't think the situation is perfect.

He's referring to the fact that by being different types of games the areas you focus on are different. Comparing two of the companies you like, ND and CDPR, their games aren't equal in every areas. There are things were one is better then the other.
Even if Bioware would improve from their recent games win Andromeda, it doesn't mean it'd reach ND games in certain features. Definitely not in terms of animations, which, regardless of Bioware's shortcomings, it's something rpgs are very unlikely to every top the type of games ND makes.

That's still no excuse. They could've followed the company's example to have make their games better and by listening to people who is trying to give them ideas to make their games more enjoyable and unforgettable.(but they shut the forum down and they can't take criticism anyways) No wonder gamers remain skeptical and unsure to buy the game.

It's not that I entirely disagree with you, but that's a completely useless statement to make.

"They could follow their example and make better games."

What does that even mean? Bioware can't do what Naughty Dog does, so "following their example" means something completely different. That's like asking me to follow Jesus' example because he was apparently nice to people.

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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 10:06:15 GMT cloud9 likes this

Quote

Post by SofNascimento on Feb 17, 2017 10:06:15 GMT

As someone who is almost "straight outta school" this is disheartening to read from someone who left BW Edmonton in December

24th december, 2016
"I would choose differently"
Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Edmonton, AB (Canada)

Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
Disapproves of CEO

"I worked at BioWare full-time (More than 3 years)"

Pros
"1.If you are right out of school you can learn some basics in first 6 month.
2.Looks good on the resume
3.regular employees are mostly great people."

Cons
"1.Promotions and rewards based purely on friendship with management, not hard work or contribution.
2.you might work hard every day, while your leader plays video games on his computer, and gets all the credits.And if you complain who is going to believe you?
3.Management are mostly can be very insecure, unskilled, lost their passion, given up on learning new skills and keeping up with industry standards.
4. Because of lack of standards in middle and upper management ,most do the least to keep their jobs and collect the paycheck for their family. So it will be near impossible to try to improve anything as you get beaten down by sarcasm ,drama, and unnecessary jealousy .
5.Lots of drama, and lack of professionalism.

Advice to Management:
"Get your passion back, or quite."

I know Montreal is working on this game primarily, but I hope BioWare can pick up themselves and stop being... like the way this guy describes them. I hope to god Montreal has a better management than this or else that's probably why some of Andromeda's sneak peeks have been so strangely underwhelming. I'm almost certain this is not the way BioWare has always been and somehow I don't think this fellow youngster employee is expecting too much of a reknowned AAA company to be saying these things, let alone giving them bottom-ranking score.

For pros:
1: So that's how Mac Walters is now Creative Director. I always wondered how that came about after... you know what.
3: The regular employees are great people? Good to know...

For cons:
1: I now understand the previous emphasis. Anyone who isn't regular is "part of the BW family" that drink beers together and share pictures of lolcats while their subordinates work because they're friends outside of the company. Great company structure, good for morale, would love not to work there.
2: Oh, and Mark Darrah plays games and gets money for it too. Nice to know.
3: Oh you don't say? Because, I didn't get that impression at all from interviews with Aaryn Flynn.
4: Mac Walters's real agenda for being so high up whilist not doing a solid job since he became lead writer.
5: Manveer Heir, oh how have you not been told to leave yet?

I was supposed to be talking about the team making ME:A though wasn't I? Oh yeah... about that... :crying:

- Posted July 27, 2016 -

"VFX Artist"
Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Montreal, QC (Canada)

Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
No opinion of CEO

I worked at BioWare full-time (More than 5 years)

Pros
- Used to be a great environment filled with great amount of world class creative talents.
- Work on a great AAA IP.
- Great location downtown Montreal.
Cons
- Bioware Edmonton and Montreal symbiosis is broken. Lots of conflicts and bro culture.

- Lost over 13 leads (game design, art, audio, prog, senior core leads, etc) in 5 years at Bioware Montreal on Mass Effect. Edmonton lost only 3. It is clear that Edmonton has the bigger part of the stick when it comes to purge Leads and Producers who are not aligned with their leadership style.

- Putting people on performance improvement program (PIP Program) is the new tactics to get rid of people. Once again more than 10 people in Montreal got slammed with this bureaucratic uppercut to let go people that are not bending to Edmonton leadership styles in the last revision cycle. This approach is used by the Montreal Leadership to purge the mess from the lack of vision cause by upper management in the last 4 years (throwing people under the bus to protect bad core management).

- Renaming crunch to Finaling mode. Which means company pays for your lunch but you have only 30 minutes to eat and then getting back on the keyboard. Was lasting for over 2 months and was a real catastrophy.

- Retaliation and harassment is sadly a reality. If you talk and ask questions you will be tag as a trouble maker and end up in a bad position.

- HR won't help you out. They will deny the current harassment from Monreal management by ignoring and not documenting the facts. In other words if you leave don't talk. Just let it go...

- Many benifits got cut due to too much time extension to get the game done.

Advice to Management
Not going to waste my breath on this one... Sadly they won't listen anyway.

This perfectly matches the problems with DAI. The biggest problem were a direct result of the people that envisioned the game having no idea of what they were doing.

"Come find me when you wake up."

cloud9
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2
PSN: sicklyhour015
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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 10:12:45 GMT

Quote

Post by cloud9 on Feb 17, 2017 10:12:45 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 10:01:10 GMT @snowwhite said:

Feb 17, 2017 9:56:34 GMT cloud9 said:

That's still no excuse. They could've followed the company's example to have make their games better and by listening to people who is trying to give them ideas to make their games more enjoyable and unforgettable.(but they shut the forum down and they can't take criticism anyways) No wonder gamers remain skeptical and unsure to buy the game.

It's not that I entirely disagree with you, but that's a completely useless statement to make.

"They could follow their example and make better games."

What does that even mean? Bioware can't do what Naughty Dog does, so "following their example" means something completely different. That's like asking me to follow Jesus' example because he was apparently nice to people.

I explained it before about Naughty Dog make Uncharted game better than the last game (that's the example they should learn from), and what I've seen on ME:A gameplay demo it looks like the same design from DA:I, same clunky animations from ME series, and the graphics to me looks downgraded. I expected ME:A to be better than ME3 ever was but it seems that it won't happen...

Last Edit: Feb 17, 2017 10:17:47 GMT by cloud9

cloud9
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2
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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 10:15:39 GMT

Quote

Post by cloud9 on Feb 17, 2017 10:15:39 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 10:06:15 GMT SofNascimento said:

As someone who is almost "straight outta school" this is disheartening to read from someone who left BW Edmonton in December
I know Montreal is working on this game primarily, but I hope BioWare can pick up themselves and stop being... like the way this guy describes them. I hope to god Montreal has a better management than this or else that's probably why some of Andromeda's sneak peeks have been so strangely underwhelming. I'm almost certain this is not the way BioWare has always been and somehow I don't think this fellow youngster employee is expecting too much of a reknowned AAA company to be saying these things, let alone giving them bottom-ranking score.

For pros:
1: So that's how Mac Walters is now Creative Director. I always wondered how that came about after... you know what.
3: The regular employees are great people? Good to know...

For cons:
1: I now understand the previous emphasis. Anyone who isn't regular is "part of the BW family" that drink beers together and share pictures of lolcats while their subordinates work because they're friends outside of the company. Great company structure, good for morale, would love not to work there.
2: Oh, and Mark Darrah plays games and gets money for it too. Nice to know.
3: Oh you don't say? Because, I didn't get that impression at all from interviews with Aaryn Flynn.
4: Mac Walters's real agenda for being so high up whilist not doing a solid job since he became lead writer.
5: Manveer Heir, oh how have you not been told to leave yet?

I was supposed to be talking about the team making ME:A though wasn't I? Oh yeah... about that... :crying:

- Posted July 27, 2016 -

"VFX Artist"
Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Montreal, QC (Canada)

Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
No opinion of CEO

I worked at BioWare full-time (More than 5 years)

Pros
- Used to be a great environment filled with great amount of world class creative talents.
- Work on a great AAA IP.
- Great location downtown Montreal.
Cons
- Bioware Edmonton and Montreal symbiosis is broken. Lots of conflicts and bro culture.

- Lost over 13 leads (game design, art, audio, prog, senior core leads, etc) in 5 years at Bioware Montreal on Mass Effect. Edmonton lost only 3. It is clear that Edmonton has the bigger part of the stick when it comes to purge Leads and Producers who are not aligned with their leadership style.

- Putting people on performance improvement program (PIP Program) is the new tactics to get rid of people. Once again more than 10 people in Montreal got slammed with this bureaucratic uppercut to let go people that are not bending to Edmonton leadership styles in the last revision cycle. This approach is used by the Montreal Leadership to purge the mess from the lack of vision cause by upper management in the last 4 years (throwing people under the bus to protect bad core management).

- Renaming crunch to Finaling mode. Which means company pays for your lunch but you have only 30 minutes to eat and then getting back on the keyboard. Was lasting for over 2 months and was a real catastrophy.

- Retaliation and harassment is sadly a reality. If you talk and ask questions you will be tag as a trouble maker and end up in a bad position.

- HR won't help you out. They will deny the current harassment from Monreal management by ignoring and not documenting the facts. In other words if you leave don't talk. Just let it go...

- Many benifits got cut due to too much time extension to get the game done.

Advice to Management
Not going to waste my breath on this one... Sadly they won't listen anyway.

This perfectly matches the problems with DAI. The biggest problem were a direct result of the people that envisioned the game having no idea of what they were doing.

They needed a Chef Ramsey from Hell's kitchen or David Jaffe to straighten them up.

Last Edit: Feb 17, 2017 10:16:31 GMT by cloud9

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Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 10:24:59 GMT pdusen and blah23 like this

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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2017 10:24:59 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 10:12:45 GMT cloud9 said:

Feb 17, 2017 10:01:10 GMT @snowwhite said:

It's not that I entirely disagree with you, but that's a completely useless statement to make.

"They could follow their example and make better games."

What does that even mean? Bioware can't do what Naughty Dog does, so "following their example" means something completely different. That's like asking me to follow Jesus' example because he was apparently nice to people.

I explained it before about Naughty Dog make Uncharted game better than the last game (that's the example they should learn from), and what I've seen on ME:A gameplay demo it looks like the same design from DA:I, same clunky animations from ME series, and the graphics to me looks downgraded. I expected ME:A to be better than ME3 ever was but it seems that it won't happen...

??? Every company wants to make a game better than their last one. What are you even talking about?

Andromeda absolutely does not look worse graphically than ME3. That's just objectively wrong. Animations are debatable, but ME1, 2, and 3 are extremely awkward looking games too. I don't think Andromeda looks worse. Not even close.

And is that actually your only examples? Graphics and animations?

That has nothing to do with "design". I have no idea what you're even trying to say here. I'm not saying Andromeda will be better, but I think you've got an extremely skewed view on what makes these games worth playing.

cloud9
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2
PSN: sicklyhour015
Posts: 3,876 Likes: 1,681

Mass Effect Andromeda Skepticism thread Feb 17, 2017 10:26:52 GMT

Quote

Post by cloud9 on Feb 17, 2017 10:26:52 GMT

Feb 17, 2017 8:51:20 GMT @snowwhite said: