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Post by smilesja on Aug 25, 2023 4:51:51 GMT
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Post by smilesja on Aug 25, 2023 4:49:41 GMT
At least Brodie Lee will reunite with his friend.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 25, 2023 4:45:45 GMT
WHAT?! Man..... He was one of my favorite wrestlers in the modern era..... that's painful to hear. May he Rest in Peace.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 25, 2023 4:26:59 GMT
Now specifics and context will vary from case to case and the long term effects of this case are probably not going to see the consequences of this particular decision for a long time to come. But the basics of the logic is still rather sound. Teams can still be too large and unwieldy. Too bloated. Too many indians and not enough chiefs as well as the vice versa. So large where effective decision making is made a lot more complicated and thus things get harder to do, harder to communicate these decisions through an entire team and then get feedback. Hell now that I'm thinking about it I think Mark made a video which at least touched on this subject. So a larger team can be just as much of a problem for these companies as having a small team, and corporate speak or no, a smaller team can be more responsive, reactive, and creative, as a larger one. I've never really thought that this overly melodramatic argument is especially effective or helpful to any debate. BioWare still exists and they will continue to do so for the forseable future. Indeed since the 'corporate speak' has reaffirmed their commitment to both Dragon Age and Mass Effect moving forward then this still means they have years still. As for the team there have been several people which have been there for years and reprsent the 'old guard'. Fewer and fewer, sure, but BioWare still has people in key leadership positions which have been with the company as long as Mary Kirby. Leadership which will continue to ensure some continuity as they train the next generation, hopefully, of BioWare devs and continue to ensure the companies standars remain. Which while it does suck for the specific people involved we were going to lose Mary Kirby eventually. People retire and people move on from companies all the time or are laid off. Mary Kirby isn't BioWare, BioWare is BioWare and given how much I enjoyed Andromeda and even Anthem having some BioWare staples in it I'm not that concerned by the loss of any one dev. At least not yet. Though a lot will depend on how much these people will be able to pass onto the next generation. Somone might have a future as a corporate spokesperson. So are the mods are going to allow these insults?
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Post by smilesja on Aug 25, 2023 4:23:22 GMT
Jesus Christ you're insufferable. Thank you for reminding me, in the space of 3 pages, of why I left the forum.
Yeah, I’m quickly being reminded why I largely don’t participate here anymore and just assist with technical maintenance when I can. Because It's not like people here were ever friendly towards people who like DA: 2 and ME: A and the fact one person is being called a "corporate shill" for trying to interpret the situation the best he can.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 25, 2023 4:21:35 GMT
No, you are just being deeply bad faith at interpreting my comments. Jesus Christ you're insufferable. Thank you for reminding me, in the space of 3 pages, of why I left the forum.
Honestly there's bad faith on both sides with dash of bigotry especially towards my friend.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 23:15:17 GMT
Speaking of which, when that idiotic non-controversy about the Starfield opening screen came up, the first thing that came my to mind was that it looks a lot like ME:A's, except that the menu is on the left side instead of the right. Looks like I'm not the only one who thought that. I wonder if we're going to have a trend of ME:A things making it into Starfield, even if by accident On the controversy, you have to understand who made the criticism. It was a criticism by Mark Kern, an ex-Diablo creator who's known to be the BITTEREST MAN ON THE INTERNET xD He'll say anything to be relevant again see: Gamergate.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 15:53:24 GMT
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 7:15:37 GMT
Forgive me, I've misinterpreted your post and I apologize. I got overly defensive. No worries at all. In the end we all want to play good games and I sincerely hope BioWare will make something you'll enjoy. No Bioware needs to make games that WE ALL should enjoy not just me, but thanks man you're a good guy.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 7:03:45 GMT
You know, it's people like you that made me uncomfortable in being part of the Bioware fandom when I first joined. I like their current games and don't think it's dead is that so hard to comprehend? I'm sorry, I never mean to make anyone uncomfortable of course. I'll do my best to not reply with anything you might find unsettling in the future, but maybe it's just easier for you to put me on ignore. Forgive me, I've misinterpreted your post and I apologize. I got overly defensive.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 6:50:53 GMT
The "new" writing in Andromeda was good and games like DA2 bought me into Bioware games. Bioware not "gone" it's just that they're producing games you don't like. That's a very positive way of looking at it. So if your best friend turned into a zombie, would you say he's dead and gone or does he just treat you in a way you don't like now? You know, it's people like you that made me uncomfortable in being part of the Bioware fandom when I first joined. I like their current games and don't think it's dead is that so hard to comprehend?
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 6:45:03 GMT
But did they have to let go of Mary Kirby? Like Gaider said, is there no loyalty these days? I'm not sure how useful a writer is for a game that's taking 10 years to come out ? They must be twiddling their thumbs. Did they have to lay her off ? Nope. But 1/ at this point it's not going to change much about DAD. If they're still rewriting the game heavily at this point, it's a lost cause.2/ it sends a message to all the old staff that they have no job security so they should do what they're told. It's kinda disgusting but EA is a big corporations and that's how it works. If they're rewriting the game after laying off a long time Dragon Age writer like Kirby, then they're foolish. The writing had to be done way before EA did this layoff.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 6:42:32 GMT
Ehhh it's more of the old guard getting laid off rather than Bioware being "gone" but it's still sad to see. Nahh, this pulls them even further away from the team who made my favourite games. It's slowly losing what brought me here in the first place. The new writing on Andromeda and Anthem was crap. If that's who's left then I have little hope going forward The "new" writing in Andromeda was good and games like DA2 bought me into Bioware games. Bioware not "gone" it's just that they're producing games you don't like.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 6:30:22 GMT
Dreadwolf is going to suffer the same fate as Andromeda, isn't it?
And it will be the fault of EA bean-counters and suits, again.
You mean be a good game? Oh, the horror! Thinking back though, Ironically, I feel that EA should've interfered sooner with Bioware especially with Anthem. They've surprisingly treated Bioware with kids' gloves over the years (I know microtransactions and all that, but it was hardly the worst they've treated a studio) but when Bioware management couldn't decide on a direction, it really lead to crunching and burnout. Sometimes you really need to kick upper management and force them to produce a game that you've invested a lot of money in. But still EA is corporate to its core and I don't like how they've treated long time employees as expendable. Sadly, they're not the only ones who engage in this practice.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 6:19:13 GMT
I know so few people left at BioWare whom were cherished contacts for all the positive cupcake shenanigans. This is the worst bit for me. To lay off so many is horrible, but to cut Mary Kirby and others from the old guard is, quite frankly, disturbing in regards to the future of the company. BioWare is gone. Also the start of that press release is so corporate speak it makes me teeth hurt to read it 😬 Ehhh it's more of the old guard getting laid off rather than Bioware being "gone" but it's still sad to see.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 5:57:35 GMT
But did they have to let go of Mary Kirby? Like Gaider said, is there no loyalty these days? Yeah. That is the 'souless evil mega corp' part of this whole thing. Logically they have their reasons to do this. Emotionally it drives a spike right through my gut. Yup, you gotta have some Sociopathic tendencies to run a large corporation. But even then, you need to employees first especially long time ones.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 5:45:29 GMT
But did they have to let go of Mary Kirby? Like Gaider said, is there no loyalty these days?
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 5:32:10 GMT
Honestly, It's funny how people talk about Bioware crunching when critically acclaimed games like RDR2, TW3, and TLOU2 (Though this is one pretty divisive lol.) and GTA 5 have been crunched to death. I don't like crunch as much as the other gamers but sometimes I feel that gamers are pretty selective on the companies to criticize for crunch.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 4:26:21 GMT
Yeah, Indie games are pretty good since they rely on good will from the fans.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 4:19:05 GMT
I'm going to be that guy. AKSHULLY EA is a public traded corporation and the board of directors have a fiduciary duty to its shareholders. Which means the company has an obligation to act in the best nature of the shareholders. That MAY be to make quality games, it doesn't HAVE to mean to make quality games. Basically it means they really want, and by want I really mean it's really their responsibility, to make money for their owners. You can make a bunch of really quality, good games and sell them all but that's actually pretty risky. Not all of those games will be a hit. And companies are just a couple of busts away from just failing. Sven Vincke of Larian bet everything on Divinity Original Sin, even his house. Quite literallty. And to add insult to injury the margins are lower. Nonono, actually the best way to make money for shareholders is to get a really popular game and figure out how to monetize the bejeesus out of it. What's two of the biggest money making games of the past 5 years? Honor of Kings, which made 2 billion in 2022, and Genshin Impact. Both Live Service. What's EA's biggest money maker? Probably FiFA ultimate team which brings well over a billion a year. Ahhhhhh, now we're talking. Milking a single live service game for billions (or in FiFa's case releasing the same game every year or two to be milked for billions) is much better financially and less risky then outputting 5 different quality games. There's exceptions, GTA 5 is one. But how much money did GTA, the game that sold almost 200 million copies (you heard that right) make since it's release over a decade ago? Well about (7.7 billion.) How much did Genshin make in 2.5 years? About 4 billion. Okay, so for a game to make as much as the best live service they only have to sell a couple hundred million. That makes things much easier. So what am I saying? I'm saying that EA isn't in the business to necessarily make quality video games, they're in the business to make money. And sometimes making quality games doesn't make as much money as doing other things (like gambling. The owners of the studio who made Suikoden in Japan gave up making games to run pachinko gambling parlors lol. If only they were around when lootboxes took off, they might still be making games today ...) Why is Bioware making open world games? According to a former Bioware dev, it's because open world games are easier to monetize. What was Bioware trying to turn DA:D into originall? Live service. What was Anthem? Live service. I'm shocked by all these decisions btw That's not to say DA:D won't be good, but you shouldn't make the mistake of thinking companies are looking out for your interest. They're looking out for the interests of their shareholders almost all the time. And sometimes your interests and the shareholders are the same, but sometimes it is not. oh I certainly don't think they're out for my best interests and I am also well aware of the shadyness of publicly traded corporations. I think ea probably does have am agenda and don't always have a firm grasp of their chosen field because the shareholders are probably very ignorant of the ins and outs of game dev. However it's still two ways of saying the same thing. If I'm a shareholder of a video game company then it still follows that I'm investing in a company which needs to make quality game content to survive. The beautiful thing about 'capitalism' is that while it has its warts, especially in the ultra corporatism mentality which has infected various governments, ea does not have to have my best interests at heart to do well and make good products. And on some basic level I understand that. Rather ea will continue to do things to try and stay in business and make money...and so will I. And as long as they're interests and mine even minimally align I will continue to buy their products. Corporations care more about profit than enjoyment. It's best to look at all gaming companies even the ones that are "good" with a critical eye.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 24, 2023 0:01:02 GMT
No, I don't think you all do want it to die. I'm awake and I just see a bunch of people thrashing fans and thrashing current Bioware games for years. I see it clearly, for years of having to read rant after rant about how Bioware games "suck" and it's "woke" and can't wait for it to die. I'm grown tired of it to the point where I'm just angry that I have to endure all of this all over again. Go ahead you guys keep saying Bioware is going to die, maybe it'll happen and you guys will tag me saying I told you so.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 23, 2023 23:43:07 GMT
Oh please it's getting old, Bioware is still here after all these years and still developing DA:D and Mass Effect. Honestly, based on how people keep saying it, it makes me think that people on here want Bioware to die rather than predicting that EA will be the ones to kill it. Oh i am sorry should we go back and pretend nothing has happened?
But again of course Bioware will not close down before Dreadwolf is released. But after this lets hope that Dreadwolf is big of a sucesss for EA but if Dreadwolf flops EA will close or in your words kill Bioware. And no EA won´t give Bioware another chance with ME 5. This is it.
Who said that? No one is SAYING that, I'm saying that for years keep on saying the same thing over and over: Bioware is dead and yet is still here. But if you want to go and post memes about how this is DEFINITELY it for Bioware go right ahead. But like I said, you all here just want Bioware to die based on the repeitive posts. Maybe it'll happen this year or maybe next year or maybe if DA: D flops. At this point, I'll just ride the rapids and see what happens. No use speculating especially if that said speculation of Bioware's death that hasn't happened for over a decade.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 23, 2023 23:39:16 GMT
I think mass layoffs are going to affect future games rather than the games in development like DA:D and ME5. Slow, unimaginative, muddled. (I submit the flawed Andromeda and Anthem in evidence). Sorry, It had plenty of imagination but I'll admit, a lack of direction affected the game.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 23, 2023 23:13:48 GMT
People have been predicting Bioware's death for years going waaaay back to BSN prime. Can you really blame them? I knows not always black & white (no pun intended) in EAs history but hey we are still talking about fricking EA. Not the worst games publisher and not a company worthy to be worst us company of 2012 and 2013 but they a more bad than good reputation.
Oh please it's getting old, Bioware is still here after all these years and still developing DA:D and Mass Effect. Honestly, based on how people keep saying it, it makes me think that people on here want Bioware to die rather than predicting that EA will be the ones to kill it.
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Post by smilesja on Aug 23, 2023 22:52:19 GMT
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