19 réponses à ce sujet

[RussianSpy27]

I posted this on SW:TOR and have gotten various hater responses centering on a contention that SWTOR and other games are produced by different development teams...sigh. Anyhow, I'm reposting this here as I got responded to on this site, so maybe it should have been posted here instead.

Note: I genuinely believe every word I'm saying. This is NOT sarcastic or a trolling attempt. 

Dear Bioware,

I'm not sure if this is a proper thread for this, but you have, hands down, the most amazing work-ethic pertaining to communication with fans. Numerous questions get answered by writers, staff members, designers and the like. 

No one, not a single competitor compares. For example, Starcraft 2 developer, Blizzard barely responds to posts and fans have to wait for weeks or months for a single post. 

For example, I asked a question about dragon age 2 today and got a writer's reply in an hour -http://social.biowar....8487/1#5398923 What more can you ask for? 

Compare it to say Blizzard's Starcraft 2 forums where it's a huge deal to see one of their "blue" posts -http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/ . For example, it took a poster who constructively critiqued the game's plot and gathered 80 pages of responses and debates, 3 months to get a "don't worry writers are reading threads" post -http://us.battle.net....5?page=74#1466

Once again, thank you BioWare!

~RS 

[Seb Hanlon]

ptibog wrote...

Morroian wrote...

ptibog wrote...

if only those answers weren't a polite way to say "deal with it or GTFO"...

Most aren't actually, they only really get snarky with those who deserve it.

"dear Bioware, I don't want a shepard like character" - "deal with it or GTFO"
"dear Bioware, I don't want a conversation wheel" - "deal with it or GTFO"
"dear Bioware, I don't want the tactical view to be removed"- "deal with it or GTFO"
"dear Bioware, I don't want parts of the game to be sold as DLC on day one" - "deal with it or GTFO"
"dear Bioware, I don't want to pay 70€ for a PC game" - "deal with it or GTFO"
"dear Bioware, i don't want DAII to be shorter than DA:O" - "deal with it or GTFO"
"dear Bioware, i don't want ridiculous animations" - "deal with it or GTFO"
"dear Bioware, i don't want darkspawns to look like skeletor" - "deal with it or GTFO"
"dear Bioware, i don't want DAII to be an hack and slash" - "deal with it or GTFO"

well, it seems that wanting DAII to be DA:O's sequel deserves a "deal with it or GTFO"

You know, we're standing right here. Maliciously misrepresenting what we've actually said doesn't do you any favors.

ObResponseToTheOP: Thanks! 

[John Epler]

Nighteye2 wrote...

blothulfur wrote...
For all the crap we give them they're pretty good to us, I like to think its because they're genuinely enthusiastic about the games they make and they realise we obsess because we care.

It's also because they know that much of the criticism we give them is because we care, too. They want their games to be good, as do we. We just have some differing opinions about what makes games good.

Many people here really liked DA:O, and are very concerned by how DA2 is different from DA:O in aspects other than the story.

We're their biggest critics because we're their biggest fans.

Second biggest critics, actually. I doubt you'll find anyone more critical of their own work than the people who create it

[John Epler]

The Director wrote...

Nighteye2 wrote...

We're their biggest critics because we're their biggest fans.

Aren't those the best fans? The ones that provide constructive feedback at least. I'm not sure if just simple compliments work because those might be misconstrued  as back-handed or sarcastic compliments. Curse you, text that lacks human emotion!!!

And that's the key, really. If I see someone who's often critical but, at the same time, is always well-reasoned and avoids ad hominems or vitriol, I might look at their post and think 'hmm, even if I don't agree with them, they raise an interesting point'. I like criticism! We're not perfect - no one is, and I doubt there will ever be a game released that doesn't have some flaw or another.

When it goes past that into 'Way to go BioWare, ruining yet ANOTHER part of DA:O, you guys suck' in every post, well, you become white noise and we just tend to look at your post as 'oh, great, that person again.'

I mean, some of my favourite posters on these forums are also the most critical of us.

[John Epler]

Nighteye2 wrote...

JohnEpler wrote...

Nighteye2 wrote...

blothulfur wrote...
For all the crap we give them they're pretty good to us, I like to think its because they're genuinely enthusiastic about the games they make and they realise we obsess because we care.

It's also because they know that much of the criticism we give them is because we care, too. They want their games to be good, as do we. We just have some differing opinions about what makes games good.

Many people here really liked DA:O, and are very concerned by how DA2 is different from DA:O in aspects other than the story.

We're their biggest critics because we're their biggest fans.

Second biggest critics, actually. I doubt you'll find anyone more critical of their own work than the people who create it

What about the QA guys whose job it is to point out all the mistakes you made? :innocent:

Usually, while fixing those mistakes, I find three other mistakes. And a scene that I desperately want to rework. And some animations that don't look quite right.

[John Epler]

philbo1965uk wrote...

But what the hell...it's friday , poker and Bud night.

And they did buy Witch Hunt without a great deal of fuss.

Sometimes, I'm astounded by my own laziness.

Why, on Saturday, I only came in for seven hours instead of ten! And I took a Friday off back in mid November to move.

It's difficult to live with myself.

Oops. I think I hit the 'snark' button by accident.

[Stanley Woo]

lv12medic wrote...
Whose a oogie boogie boo boo.

Whose a oogie boogie boo boo.

I am. Quit asking!

I've always felt that I didn't know even a little about how videogames were made until I got into this industry, so i enjoy explaining some of what goes on behind the scenes (when I am permitted). i'm also a big fan of consumers exercising their might, so you'll see me sometimes flip-flop between "sorry, company's gotta do what it's gotta do" and "gamers of the world unite!" They're not mutually exclusive, but it does make me sound a bit inconsistent.

But as a developer and a Moderator here, i'm always happy to engage our community members in discussion. As long as they're discussing something and not demanding it, that is.

[John Epler]

The only reasons threads get locked are:



a) They drift completely and hopelessly off-topic.



They descend into personal attacks and strawman arguments.



c) The topic doesn't contain any possibility for discussion.



d) It duplicates another thread.



I mean, you can certainly believe otherwise, but I'm going to have to disagree. If anything, I think some of us are more tolerant towards leaving negative threads open because we don't want to be seen as censoring debate.

[John Epler]

fchopin wrote...

You forgot off-topic threads.

True. I should say 'They're off-topic to begin with, or drift hopelessly or completely off-topic'.

[Stanley Woo]

MIke_18 wrote...
Thanks Bioware for turning KOTOR into an MMO,

You're welcome. I hope y'all like it as much as I did. And if you look very closely, you might just find some familiar names in the characters. Just sayin'...

abandoning RPG development for shooters with dialogue trees,

I defy you to demonstrate how Dragon Age 2 is a "shooter." And it doesn't sound like you had a problem with our "dialogue trees" before.

and now casualising your "hardcore" RPG offering.

Yes, our games are now going to be enjoyed by millions upon millions of potential players rather than just going to please the small number of players who identify as "hardcore RPG." Terrible thing, this wanting to make money and open up our games to a wider audience. Simply terrible. Videogame elitism is a shameful thing. We should be sharing our interests and preferences, not denouncing others who happen to like different features or games or genres.

I think all this defensiveness comes from having our hobby denigrated as "nerdy" or "childish" for so long. Now that it's mainstream, we still lash out at our detractors when we feel threatened. Fret not, gamers, for you are now awesome--so awesome, in fact, that you can love multiple genres, games, and features simultaneously. You can be gaming-polygamous!

[David Gaider]

Upsettingshorts wrote...
RPGs and I have an open relationship.  I can play shooters and strategy games, and Dragon Age can date Mass Effect.  It's not an issue for us.

We're okay with it, too, but you know how some people can be about mixed marriages. Society will implode, entire armies will become unable to engage in combat, New Orleans will be awash in natural disasters, etc etc.

RPG ARMAGEDDON!

[David Gaider]

Lucy_Glitter wrote...

Comparing nerdrage to homophobia. Smooth. 

THERE IS ONE WAY TO LOVE RPG'S AND ONE WAY ONLY


...of course, now this makes me remember that conversation Mary, Sheryl and I had about the Blight as an analogy for the Dreaded Gay Agenda following one amusing news bit during the gay marriage debate up here in Canada. It made more sense than it should have.

[Stanley Woo]

I like to think that we're just a tiny bit crazier and masochistic than other game developers, or else every developer would be doing this.

[Stanley Woo]

We'll likely start talking to ourselves. With people like Sheryl, Mary, and Priestly around, who needs other people?

[Stanley Woo]

No, the industry and our company has come a long way from the old days where one of the teams ate nothing but KFC for a month. Now our meals during crunch time are a bit more substantial and arguably healthy. it's still not an ideal situation, but the company and our project leads do try to take care of us during this period of increased insanity. My girlfriend still sees me a couple of times a week, and I still get to hang out with friends for an hour or two, some days.

[Stanley Woo]

Precisely. Lots of people come here wanting specific answers, then when they don't get them, accuse us of lying or not communicating or being lazy or whatever. Like i always say, if you can accept both a yes or no answer, it's a request. If you can't accept an answer you disagree with, it's a demand.

[John Epler]

If DA2 sells a billion copies, I'm buying myself a pony. Made out of gold. With rockets. That shoots lasers out of its eyes.

[Stanley Woo]

Or lucha libre. I'm a big fan of that!

[Stanley Woo]

mhendon wrote...
More DA2 hints please?

I hear there might be combat in Dragon Age II.

[Stanley Woo]

mhendon wrote...
Oh...thanks. May I have sum mawr?

I'm not supposed to tell you this, but there are characters in Dragon Age II, maybe more than one.