Battlefront 2: EA Does it Again

[smilodon]

Genius
 
:roflmao:

EA releases new BF2 keyboard ������
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[albert]

And more gets changed:

https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/16/hours-before-launch-ea-strips-micro-transactions-from-star-wars-battlefront-ii/

[Chaosphere]

Oh man this is great to read, a real joy. It's ridiculous to pay £40-£50 for a game and have half of it behind pay wall. Most games I'm lucky if I sink 10 hours into these days, so locking content behind 50+ hours or extra £££ just leaves me paying full whack for half a game!

[albert]

They do state that removal of micro transaction may only be temporary. What the hell that means I don't know but I doubt it will satisfy their audience.

[Jamoe]

I read that as you'd still have to sink a ton of play time to earn these crystals to unlock content... until the work out how to get micro transactions in at a level that won't cause a poopstorm.

From the videos I've watched it seems a damn buggy game anyway. AAA my butt....

[Chaosphere]

I think for the most part the damage has been done. It's a shame as I'm sure there is a good fun game to be had somewhere in there. Sad to see fans and perhaps more importantly the developers suffer through this. I have no doubt the devs are trying to create a great game. They will be passionate about it (its their time and livelihood after all) and no doubt more upset with their publishers nonsense than we are!

[albert]

So someone is saying 'hey devs, make a game full of post launch money making goodness for EA and whilst you're at it drop in some horrible amateurish bugs for free' c'mon the devs are as guilty of going where the money is knowing what their job will be like. The devs companies have as much value for their customers as EA otherwise they wouldn't take the job.

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[Chaosphere]

It's possible it went like that, but isn't it also possible the devs made the game and then the publishers took an axe to it, cutting out content to then shove against a pay wall? And maybe in the same breath they gave them an unrealistic deadline to beat the movie, giving them little time to properly bug test?

I don't know either way, but I do know it can be a messy industry and publishers often put things on devs that they do not want near their game. Things like pay walls for Darth Vader for example! I could be wrong I just wanted to give the devs the benefit of the doubt here.

And with regards  to not taking the job... There are 2 sides I guess. 1 maybe you're a star wars nut and see it as a necessary evil to pour your passion into a game.. Or 2 maybe you just have to pay the bills! Again, a necessary evil i suppose  :/

I think I just feel bad for the individuals. Whatever the overall picture there will be plenty working on the game that fit what I have described above, and it must suck reading all the negativity if you genuinely care about game and gamer.

[albert]

There's a difference between loving your product wanting to do at least a minimum acceptable product and respect your customers vs just turfing out an incomplete product knowing full well there will be a backlash. It takes individuals to start to care to reverse the mindset of a company. Thing is the gaming industry has the luxury of customers who are blinkered. If you book a hotel 3 times and it doesn't have your room booking when you turn up you will be unlikely to use either the hotel or website you booked through again. Not the case with gamers...gluttons for punishment!

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[Chaosphere]

Oh you're on the money with the last bit. In general the industry still laps up the nonsense - for example I'd love to see sales figures for this game, I wonder if this 'controversy' has actually affected them much?

But again I'm only being sympathetic to some of the individuals involved. Your point is valid and it can be applied to the developer as a whole, and perhaps by extension to those in charge, but there will likely be a good many of people working on it who don't deserve such ire. Just to paint my example again, If you're an artist or coder or whatever working on the project with a mortgage and 2 kids at home, simply refusing to work on the game when the publisher demands these microtransactions, or pushes a release date too early for proper bug testing, may not be an option. Walking out would be loss of income and how then does this fictional dev support his or her family? Likewise refusing the project overall may not be feasible, jobs don't come easy in the game industry and at the end of the day food on the table is important.

It's these people I feel bad for, as I know they are out there. People that would agree with you and are just as upset about the buggy game and its pay walls as the rest but simply can't walk away from it. It must suck to be one such person and see all of this negativity. Off topic a little but interesting nonetheless, I think.

[smilodon]

:withstupid:

Very true and although not quite the same I have some first hand experience of this sort of dilemma. I used to photograph for fashion show organisers, specifically working at live events and fashion shows. One of the parts of the job was photoshopping models to unrealistic degrees for the art directors and designers. I knew very well how the fashion industry behaved and the reported negative effects promoting unattainable beauty and size zero figures potentially had on people. But I still had to pay bills and survive. I did pack it in eventually but not until I had secured other clients to fill the gap. A lot of people work on contracts and freelance in both game development and photography. I know how hard it is to turn down work when you're not in a stable job with a regular salary and employee rights etc.

[albert]

I know what you mean about never turning down a job. My Dad was under that pressure as a trades man when I was a kid.

The reality is a bit different in the software development world. There are very few dev skills used in the gaming world that are not easily transferrable to other businesses. Software development skills are in high demand in every major city. There is no reason if a person is a half decent dev to struggle for work. Yes in gaming as jobs are limited but specialiss for gaming are even rarer and there is little demand for the most niche roles. Most are common language skills. My company hires upwards of 100 developers a month in Amsterdam.

So I disagree, software developers have the world at their feet and can pick and choose their next gig. I wish I could code. Plenty work. Home working, good pay, I wouldn't be working for DICE.

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[Chaosphere]

I dunno man. What if you simply don't want to work out of gaming? I mean sure it puts my bread on the table argument out to pasture somewhat, but (to encroach on smilos comparison) it may be a bit like a wedding photographer taking on sports work to fit the bills; neither what they are passionate about, nor what they want to fill their CV/portfolio with. This could be just as hard a pill to swallow perhaps.

But perhaps it's getting too hypothetical now, And maybe I just don't know the industry as well. Regardless I can't bring myself to condemn all of the individuals at the dev team for this, it doesn't sit right with me. I still believe there will be a not insignificant number that do care and hate to see this from EA much as we do, but (for whatever reason, mentioned above or not) can't just straight up quit.

I was close with some guys that worked for Dark Energy Digital in Manchester a few years back and they struggled to find good work within the industry when it went under. Maybe you're right and they could have found work in other areas..but again I'm not sure that's a perfect solution, I can understand reservations there... You couldn't get me back in a GP practice for all the tea in China :roflmao:

Now it'd be great to hear some of these hypothetical people speak up, that'd be something I'd be keen to hear! I'll have a look see if I can find anything, for what it may be worth.

[albert]

Talking as bitter old IT guy whose vocation of network engineer is seen as a poor alternative to software development... Any half talented coder can get work to put a lot more on the table then food. I don't sympathise with them in any way as I know more who have very large egos than those who are humble. I won't say all aaa devs are dicks, thats far to general but they certainly like to brag. We hold a conference for gaming devs to try and attract talent and we've got quite a few would be celeb coders from there.

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[albert]

But let's be clear. Not only devs work for major gaming studios. Sysadmins, network engineers, corp IT, designers, copywriters, translators, graphics people, testers.... I feel the company culture comes more from the masses than the management. I'd love to hear what real employees from that company think of their product and public opinion. Glassdoor here we come.

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