EA giving studios freedom with Game development

[Riff Machine 2,105]

Interesting read here.  I wonder how long it will last though.  Thoughts?

 

EA Pledges Total Freedom For Studios With Game Development, Including Dragon Age, Titanfall, And More

WWW.GAMEINFORMER.COM

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In recent years, there has been a massive disconnect between EA and gamers and with so many...

 

[RenFengge 1,039]

I legit cannot help but be annoyed by this.

 

Quote

"In terms of our game development philosophy, our players are always our north star," Miele mentioned.

 

Like... my knee-jerk reaction is "Go burn in hell." Because it rarely has ever been, and it's always been about the $$$ which is why they broke BioWare by demanding them to create GaaS instead of the games that they are actually great at making.

 

This whole interview is a bunch of gaslighting BS.

 

It's EA trying to appease their audience after the news of Casey giving up and Anthem 2.0 no longer happening.

 

It's like an abusive ex saying, "I always loved you, and I promise to not hit you anymore and let you have some more freedom instead of locking you in the house. But, do remember who gave you this mansion to live in and all your food and clothes."

 

So... go burn in hell?

 

I love Dragon Age and Mass Effect. I want DA4 to be amazing. But, I also think that maybe Mass Effect Legendary should be their swan song/greatest hits as they fade away and make room for other studios.

 

I say this as I grew up watching Squaresoft evolve, merge, do whatever, and become Square Enix. As a huge fan of Squaresoft and never thinking we could have the great games that were FFIX and the predecessors, because I loved Chrono Trigger too... and I know the team responsible for those games have moved on. I enjoyed FFVII Remake and will play it all as it is released. But, the heart wrenching stories, especially that of FFVI and Kafka, I haven't seen Square pull anything off like that since FFIX.

 

Anyway, the interview is them covering their ass and is a puff piece. (So say me, an Exec Assistant to numerous powerful people in NYC who has had to work with marketing departments to "create goodwill" with puff pieces)

[phil bottle 9,743]

Madame Sterling talks of EA and Bioware and the industry at large with some commentary I tend to agree with, minus the boglins🙂

 

 

[J4MES OX4D 10,025]

Let's not forget this is the same company who's PR extended to calling lootboxes 'surprise mechanics'. GameInformer is a bullshit publication designed to promote publishers rather than report gaming news - they have had secret deals with Activision over the years regarding backdoor marketing dressed up as hit-pieces. Looks like EA have bought their way in the doors now just as GI need the money and 6 months before Activision get their next circus slot. 

 

EA were, are and will always be pieces of utter shit to developers and consumers. Any publication that gives them the time of day can piss right off. Them removing the live service for Dragon Age 4 which is a single player game is nothing to celebrate. Everything else said is general PR fluff. 

[Riff Machine 2,105]

To be fair, They were reporting on an interview done by IGN.

 

I have zero faith in anything EA says in this piece though.  I thought it was interesting that of all times NOW they'd say "Oh, you game developers have nothing to worry about from us.  You do your thing and we'll leave you be."  The fact that Dragon Age 4 was suppose to be a live service game blows my mind.  Have they not seen the previous interations???  I do agree with Ren about ME legendary edition being a greatest hits for them.  After the joke that was Anthem, I'm surprised they're still afloat.

[RenFengge 1,039]

2 hours ago, phil bottle said:

Madame Sterling talks of EA and Bioware and the industry at large with some commentary I tend to agree with, minus the boglins🙂

 

 

 

This. A million times this. 

 

I have seen and watched so many people just play grindy ass games, for what? Look, I've said it before, I play Destiny 2 not because I particularly enjoy it, but because I actually enjoy the people I game with. 

 

But please don't think that I think Destiny is anything to be amazed about. It's lazy in the mechanics, the grind, and the various difficulty levels. 

 

That said, I am amused on the shit given to Anthem because of the million things wrong with it.. because I see and hear those million things and go "Destiny was originally just as shitty" and all them other loot shooters are just as tedious and terrible as this. But, we want to only shit on Anthem? Come on. 

 

I am very much guilty of pre-ordering Anthem and Andromeda... Because I wanted to support my favorite studio in their new direction and hope that EA didn't eat their soul. But, BioWare is dead. Casey gave up, AGAIN. There's nothing to salvage. 

 

I also get it. The video game development cycle is expensive. It rivals the budget of likes of Marvel movies and James Cameron movies. And, studios want a return on their money. But, for the love that is all good, just give us games that don't suck and throw microtransactions on them. I will continuously buy things for games I enjoy. But, you will never see me drop $5 on some bullshit outfit or color scheme. Or to unlock a character in a very poorly written story. 

 

I want good games. I want games that make me think. That have a story worthwhile. That have characters who I love or love to hate.

 

I want publishers like EA to do more than just throw money and dictate boxes that the studios need to follow, then watch them fail. It's like asking a fish to climb a tree. Look at what Square has done with their failures and risen above them. They have this fantastic Final Fantasy online world that was originally trash, but it is now rich and full after the overhaul.

 

Again, while I am thrilled to have found this gaming community that I thoroughly enjoy, that does not erase the fact that this is a very dark time in the gaming world with trash games everywhere. 

[GazzaGarratt 11,037]

17 hours ago, RenFengge said:

Anyway, the interview is them covering their ass and is a puff piece.

 

That's what it felt like to me. I'm a firm believer in always reading things and seeing what happens too, because, whilst it was a good analogy, I wouldn't rate this on the same level to partner abuse 😄. I bought Anthem for a fiver one past Christmas because it felt like it was worth that gamble to see what they'd do - and so I didn't lose too much after the many worries that came out before and just after the launch. Funnily enough, I agree with you in most parts of Destiny too as many developers can get super lazy in these times but theres enough in that game to be able to enjoy yourself with just the basic core gameplay loop. That is something that many games don't seem to be able to master in the times of 'Give me everything NOW and ALL OF IT so I can gorge it and forget about how good/bad it tasted'.

 

13 hours ago, RenFengge said:

Again, while I am thrilled to have found this gaming community that I thoroughly enjoy, that does not erase the fact that this is a very dark time in the gaming world with trash games everywhere.

 

I think you're bang on the money. The amount of games we all at FG play with each other are either games that have been out for many years and well established, or they are new games that are based on their predecessors. I can't see when the next stand-out game will be out there for our one community to rally behind. CoD and Destiny were the ones and ironically still are to some degree - but that isn't a bad thing either. We're all very quick to jump on the bandwagon and give games shit whereas, if we stopped for one second and played some games with everyone, you'd find it we'd be talking more about our hilarious memories we've made than how shit the games are. From a keyboard. Without the games switched on.

[RenFengge 1,039]

5 minutes ago, GazzaGarratt said:

if we stopped for one second and played some games with everyone, you'd find it we'd be talking more about our hilarious memories we've made than how shit the games are. From a keyboard. Without the games switched on.

 

I mean... that's what I love about our constant grinding of DSC. It's not like most of us need anything in it anymore, but it's just hilarious fun.

 

We're all still talking about the third encounter and @Kemp210 's birthday happening during it hahahaa. And, I wasn't even there!!

[GazzaGarratt 11,037]

1 minute ago, RenFengge said:

I mean... that's what I love about our constant grinding of DSC. It's not like most of us need anything in it anymore, but it's just hilarious fun.

 

And on balance (which is effing weird cos i'm saying this in a thread I have little love for EA 😄 )but you would say that the fun has happened because sometimes game development IS good? I don't like watching the news because its far more bias to negative news because it generates more interest. I'd love to see what makes us tick in a positive sense. Not many people decide to pick up on the positive parts of really anything created these days but I'm just trying to step back a little and see if there is any positive stuff in this?

 

Maybe just admitting the fact they were wrong to dictate so much to game developers and the next few games they'll be trying to allow them some freedom....IS a good thing? Albeit very minor because we have little faith that they'll truly follow their own words? 😄

 

Just a random 2p that popped in my mind.

[RenFengge 1,039]

1 hour ago, GazzaGarratt said:

 

And on balance (which is effing weird cos i'm saying this in a thread I have little love for EA 😄 )but you would say that the fun has happened because sometimes game development IS good? I don't like watching the news because its far more bias to negative news because it generates more interest. I'd love to see what makes us tick in a positive sense. Not many people decide to pick up on the positive parts of really anything created these days but I'm just trying to step back a little and see if there is any positive stuff in this?

 

 

If D2 is in good game development, it's because it's a cash cow. It because they were given what they needed to fix their initial Destiny and become what it is today. But, being successful in that sense is because a cheetah was asked to run and not do something it couldn't naturally do.

 

I think a lot of fun in multiplayer games happens in spite of bad game development. For example, when @TurboR56Mini  and I played No Man's Sky with a few people, just getting an update or a patch was intriguing because of various things breaking or completely changing. Every patch and update was like getting a new game. It was always a question of "What's broken today? What's fixed now that we couldn't previously do because it was broken?"

 

I'll cite Square Enix on actual good game development, but the culture there is vastly different. We only recently talk about that "crunch" time in gaming studios, but that's like embedded in anime production and game production for them. However, they don't necessarily abandon games because they give up either. Again, FFXIV was a redo, and congrats on them for making good on that.

 

1 hour ago, GazzaGarratt said:

Maybe just admitting the fact they were wrong to dictate so much to game developers and the next few games they'll be trying to allow them some freedom....IS a good thing? Albeit very minor because we have little faith that they'll truly follow their own words? 😄

 

Just a random 2p that popped in my mind.

 

Admitting they were wrong in a puff piece was an orchestrated move pushed by their PR, most likely. I've been on the side of companies with their C-suite needing to do this BS. I've seen the arguments that PR and Marketing make to the C-suite to do these things. They put it out there to pacify the game audience. That's it. They expect people to forget in a week. If they follow through, I will be pleasantly surprised. If they don't, it's what was expected.

 

Them giving the studios they bought "more freedom" is vastly different than what they are used to. It's not what their Board is used to. It's not what their major investors are used to. Unless their Board is on the same page, it won't happen. And, Boards only care about profit. "More freedom" to studios is not an overnight thing. It's not even a "couple of months" thing. It's a culture change that will take time and the willingness to fight for it.

 

I love games, and the industry as a whole makes me sad. Sony is my bright spot in how they manage their studios. Look at Bend Studios and Guerrilla Games. Look at how they are being grown and guided vs what EA has done to studios they bought. Sony does it right. And, I look forward to anything they do for the gaming world. They aren't perfect, but they have always tried to be for the gamers.

[GazzaGarratt 11,037]

Good thoughts, La. I enjoyed reading all of that.

 

20 hours ago, RenFengge said:

I think a lot of fun in multiplayer games happens in spite of bad game development.

 

Usually this is my tagline for anyone at FG when i'm trying to get them to join in on the fun 😄 The only thing I would say is that not all shite games are salvageable, even with the fun levels us lot can create 🤣

[phil bottle 9,743]

We're good at making the best of a bad situation, that's life in a nutshell I suppose.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't demand the best or be satisfied when we are served shit.

[francisbaud 10]

"Within her role, Miele oversees over 6,000 gaming developers from all kinds of backgrounds working on all sorts of projects." 6K developers under the EA's umbrella, that's a lot. No wonder why there's an actual (perceived) disconnect between the giant and its studios.

 

"Since then, we have announced a slate of games that players asked for: a new Skate, College Football, a Command & Conquer remaster, the Mass Effect Trilogy and we developed free content in Battlefront 2 for several years to turn the perception of that game completely around." Yes, also because the games gamers want help generating additional revenues.

 

"She also talked a little bit about how the goal is to have players involved in the conversation during development, which was a big push behind the reason to release the source code for Command & Conquer." Didn't know about the release of the source code. That's a step in the right direction I guess.

[MrBiron 1,451]

If they're giving studios freedom THEN WHERE THE FUCK IS TITANFALL 3?!?!!?!?!? 🤔 Until I see an announcement of that then I'm calling BS.

[RenFengge 1,039]

3 hours ago, MrBiron said:

If they're giving studios freedom THEN WHERE THE FUCK IS TITANFALL 3?!?!!?!?!? 🤔 Until I see an announcement of that then I'm calling BS.

 

Don't hold your breath. It's a fluff piece... and full of lies they told in hopes to appease the masses.

[GazzaGarratt 11,037]

Its called Apex Legends @MrBiron . You know dis. 😎

[MrBiron 1,451]

13 hours ago, GazzaGarratt said:

Its called Apex Legends @MrBiron . You know dis. 😎

 

Apex isn't even close to being a Titanfall 2 sequel. If you'd played Titanfall 2 then you would know dis 😉

[phil bottle 9,743]

Yeah it's a funny one how Titanfall 2 didn't blow up, particularly as the single player campaign was excellent. Just bad timing I suppose.

[J4MES OX4D 10,025]

4 hours ago, phil bottle said:

Yeah it's a funny one how Titanfall 2 didn't blow up, particularly as the single player campaign was excellent. Just bad timing I suppose.

They launched it in the same week Battlefield 1, Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered were released from what I remember.  EA completely threw it under the bus. Thankfully Apex reignited Titanfall as a brand and really put Respawn in the spotlight. They seem to be the one studio EA wont meddle with so I hope it stays that way. If Titanfall 3 exists, then it'll be Respawn's call it seems. They did the Star Wars game so there is definitely resources available outside of Apex so a new Titanfall is a strong possibility now.

[MrBiron 1,451]

On 3/18/2021 at 2:52 PM, J4MES OX4D said:

They launched it in the same week Battlefield 1, Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered were released from what I remember.  EA completely threw it under the bus. Thankfully Apex reignited Titanfall as a brand and really put Respawn in the spotlight. They seem to be the one studio EA wont meddle with so I hope it stays that way. If Titanfall 3 exists, then it'll be Respawn's call it seems. They did the Star Wars game so there is definitely resources available outside of Apex so a new Titanfall is a strong possibility now.

 

They launched TF2 the week between the launches of BF1 and IW, so it was BF1 first then TF2 the next week and then IW the week after. The simple fact is that it wasn't an established IP so few people were going to choose it over BF or COD. They released the first game in March so they should have done that with the second.

[GazzaGarratt 11,037]

On 3/18/2021 at 9:28 AM, MrBiron said:

 

Apex isn't even close to being a Titanfall 2 sequel. If you'd played Titanfall 2 then you would know dis 😉

 

It may not feel that way when you play TF2 however, you can't deny that Apex launched at the correct time, for free without any fuss which gave it a huge step forward in the market. Right now, its seriously a big deal with it being a successful F2P game alongside Warzone and Fortnite. This saved the existence of TF series for the future imo.

 

On 3/28/2021 at 10:46 AM, MrBiron said:

 

They launched TF2 the week between the launches of BF1 and IW, so it was BF1 first then TF2 the next week and then IW the week after. The simple fact is that it wasn't an established IP so few people were going to choose it over BF or COD. They released the first game in March so they should have done that with the second.

 

With Apex keeping the franchise relevant, Ithink they could easily work on a small DLC/patch update to Titanfall 2 and create a 'Definite Edition' to relaunch Titanfall 2 at the right time. They could make a little bit of cash and increase the playerbase overnight bearing in mind how well it was received previously from the 47 players that played it at the time.

[MrBiron 1,451]

19 hours ago, GazzaGarratt said:

With Apex keeping the franchise relevant, Ithink they could easily work on a small DLC/patch update to Titanfall 2 and create a 'Definite Edition' to relaunch Titanfall 2 at the right time. They could make a little bit of cash and increase the playerbase overnight bearing in mind how well it was received previously from the 47 players that played it at the time.

 

There were definitely at least 100 playing Titanfall 2 at one point 😉

I think they should release a new gen version with cross-play support. That would be awesome.

[Plumbers Crack 4,059]

9 minutes ago, MrBiron said:

 

There were definitely at least 100 playing Titanfall 2 at one point 😉

I think they should release a new gen version with cross-play support. That would be awesome.

101 fella, I was there as well 😂😂, that was a terrific game ruined by it’s release clashing with a CoD release IIRC