Inca un angajat furios
Electronic Arts este o companie infama pentru doua lucruri: inchiderea de studiouri si angajati concediati ce dau in vileag afacerile mai putin placute din cadrul corporatiei. Recent s-a petrecut un incident din ce-a de-a doua categorie. Un angajat anonim, ce este pe cale sa nu mai aiba un loc de munca la divizia Bioware Mythic a Electronic Arts, a decis ca a venit timpul pentru putin scandal.
Momentan nu se poate confirma daca acesta este intr-adevar cine spune ca este, dar ceea ce spune in parte a fost confirmat de alti fosti angajati ai companiei. Ca viitor fost membru al Bioware Mythic, acesta a mentionat cum conducerea companiei a neglijat Warhammer Online si pe cei care ar fi fost in stare sa aduca o contributie pozitiv la proiect. EA ar mai fi amenintat ca ii va concedia pe sefii studioului daca nu se vor incadra in limita de timp impusa pentru WAR, dupa care acestia au inceput sa se certe intre ei, si apoi EA a inceput sa canibalizeze Mythic pentru proiectul The Old Republic. Angajatul anonim nu a avut cuvinte bune nici despre creatia celor de la Bioware.
A mentionat ca pana acum jocul a costat mai bine de 300 de milioane de dolari, iar clientul cantareste aproape 20GB din care o mare parte este ocupata de voci, The Old Republic fiind singurul MMO la care atat NPC-urile cat si personajele au un glas. Cat despre calitatea jocului, conform spuselor acestuia, nici EA si nici George Lucas nu sunt impresionati. Cuvantul exact folosit a fost “panicati”. Trebuie tinut totusi cont de faptul ca acestea sunt in cel mai bun caz cuvintele unui individ pe cale sa fie concediat, asa ca ar putea fi ceva exagerare. Electronic Arts a emis un anunt oficial, compania nu comenteaza asupra zvonurilor si posturilor anonime de pe blog-uri, in special dupa ce blog-ul anonim EA Spouse a dus la un proces de pe urma caruia compania a pierdut milioane de dolari.
Sursa: CVG
Vazut: 3436 ori de catre 576 vizitatori
Cred ca am sa iau rolul lui Jerry Springer si am sa postez link-ul pe forumul de la swtor. Daca nu au mai fost si alti Jerry Springer inaintea mea. Poate EA nu are nimic de comentat, dar poate devii au ceva de zis.
Publicat pe 14 Octombrie 2010 at 11:12
nvm, thread-ul are deja 94 de pagini la momentul scrierii acestui mesaj. Plus alte topicuri deschise si inchise, cu mesaj ce redirectioneaza catre aici: http://swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=214165
Publicat pe 14 Octombrie 2010 at 11:18
Ok, am prins care e linia generala pe care se merge acolo… Forumul e plin de fanboyz care dupa ce au citit stirea au intrat in faza de negare. Am citit 11 / 94 pagini de acolo, si cred ca daca mai citesc cateva o sa ajung la posturi de genul “care stire? Nu exista nicio stire, nu a zis nimeni nimic rau de swtor, nu exista!”. Nu zic ca ce zice tipu’ ar fi sau ar nu fi adevarat, dar trebuie sa iei in calcul cateva chestii… si sunt doua posturi in special care mi-au atras atentia acolo, le pastez aici:
Primul post a fost de fapt un raspuns la un alt post, al unui “believer” care refuza sa creada ca swtor ar putea merge prost dupa toate hands-on`urile si review-urile pozitive care le-a primit jocul. Si zice cam asa:
We shouldn’t automatically trust anybody, but everyone should get the benefit of the doubt at the least. BioWare is directing the gameplay experiences of hands-on testers by making DarthHater hands-on players turn around when they want to explore the idea that the world really do go on forever or if they want to test dying & fall damage, at GamesCom & PAX no Jedi classes were playable & all the other classes that were were level locked to level 2. The reviews of that level of gameplay are positive taken on their own, but reviews this summer of hands-on gameplay were littered with sadness that the testers couldn’t experience higher level gameplay so they could get a better feel for the overall game.
I want to believe that this game is going to be super awesome too, but my 3rd eye is seeing this insidious stuff going on, BioWare is acting too strange & different compared to how other game companies present their MMO products to the rest of the world. Most importantly my 3rd eye feels that BioWare has very little confidence in SWTOR & because of that they’re willing to show so little of it & reveal so little info about it. I acted the same way in high school when I had to present a project I was working on for shop class that I knew was subpar, trying to amaze my teacher with wonder & excitement of what the idea of my project was but feeling an inner shame because I knew I was too self absorbed to put any real effort into it.
I’m giving this guy the same benefit of the doubt that I give BioWare reps/Devs, whether news is good or bad it’s still news & I want to be informed.
Al doilea post are o abordare cu tenta mai generala decat cel de mai sus, dar te pune oricum pe ganduri:
this blogger makes a lot of sense. it explains why several MMO’s recently have all failed.
horrible mid-lvl managers who blame the low lvl guy and then get promoted. these same idiots end up working on the next big mmo.
Ive seen that happen so often in the corporate world. the talented smart people dont move to the top where they can make the decisions. its the ass-kissing suckups with their connections that always get ahead
the project fails, the lower lvl employees all get fired. the upper lvl folks insulate and protect each other from the axe. they all end up with the next developer working on the latest overhyped mega project.
look at who Bioware hired immediately once the project started…2 big names from Sony Online Entertainment. they came directly from a dismal failure star wars galaxies.
Look who still runs Sony Online Entertainment… Ralph Smedly. the man has personally overseen one disaster after another yet he remains in charge.
why do these morons keep finding work in this genre ? simple, like any other industry these days its all about who you know rather than what you know.
we should be worried. these same people are working on TOR.
E nevoie de un post ca asta ca sa-ti dea o palma si sa-ti aduca aminte ca nu mai esti la inceputul anilor 90, cand jocurile erau facute de un grup restrans de entuziasti ce puneau suflet in munca lor, ci ca e vorba de corporatii, unde lucrurile merg la fel ca in orice alte corporatii din alt domeniu. Prost si in directia banilor.
Singurul comfort mi-l ofera gandul ca un MMO, spre deosebire de un joc single-player, necesita mai mult decat hype pre-lansare pt a fi un succes financiar. Poti vinde milioane de exemplare dintr-un joc prost, investind doar in marketing si promovare. De exemplu Dragon Age, apropo de BioWare. Dar daca un MMO e prost din start, sansele sunt comunitatea sa-si intoarca spatele si sa revina la orice alt MMO jucau inainte. Nu e ca si cum nu ai avea de unde alege. Si veniturile obtinute din vanzarea jocului (fara a fi sprijinite de veniturile din taxa lunara) nu vor fi suficiente sa acopere cheltuielile masive efectuate in toata perioada de productie + campania de marketing. Long story short, un developer prost de MMO-uri nu ramane in competitie si e inlaturat rapid, mai ales ca piata e supra saturata de astfel de produse. Deci daca BioWare o va da in bara, satisfactia mea e ca si-o va lua in barba destul de urat, fara sa fie necesar sa planuiesc vreo asasinare a unor capete incoronate de acolo. Pacat ca pana la urma vina va cadea tot pe tipul de jos.
Publicat pe 14 Octombrie 2010 at 12:27
This is how it usually works. A company has a priority with a multi-tiered product like an MMO. In Bioware’s case there are these tiers.
1. Gameplay.
2. Art.
3. Sound.
4. Story.
5. Tools (Servers, scripting languages, modifying/creating an engine to fit needs, etc).
With MMO development the devs pick a priority at any given part of the development process. Now the different teams managing/producing the different tiers of the game grow larger and smaller depending on the priority of the tier.
I suspect that Sound and Story took the front seat with Bioware.
Usually development studios focus on Gameplay and Tools first, but I don’t think Bioware prioritized Gameplay until late in the development cycle (I’ve followed the job boards at Bioware for awhile cuz I want to work there at some point and I only really saw gameplay specialists like Game Balancers and Level Designers pop up a few months ago which is LATE in the development cycle).
In reference to tools I think that is why they choose the Hero engine. It’s well known and understood, works well with MMOs and thus doesn’t need much “re-tooling.”
This to me explains why we haven’t heard or seen anything about crafting and only one example of end game content whereas another developer ArenaNet has produced far more in the last four months than Bioware has. I think it’s because the two companies prioritized differently.
Publicat pe 14 Octombrie 2010 at 12:30
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