57 réponses à ce sujet

[matt-bassist]

Now I'm not trying to bash EA, and I'm certainly not trying to start a flame war, I'm just curious to see how much input EA has in the development of ME2 and ME3.

Looking at the scenario realistically, ME2 was EA's first Mass Effect game, and there were already some big wholesale changes noticable from the start. EA is the money, and the game is their investment, and I fail to believe that any company would simply sit back and give Bioware complete reign of the development of the game.

They have their own ideas of what the game should be in order to sell more product, and of course they want to make their own 'mark' on the franchise, hopefully pushing Microsoft aside (as we know ME1 was XBOX and PC only) and taking the franchise for themselves. At least in the eyes of the consumer.

For the record, I personally believe that EA purposefully instructed Bioware to remove ME1 as much as possible from all future ME titles, and simply taking a look at a new game of ME2 without an import is all the evidence you need really to support my claim.

Whether or not this trend will continue into ME3 is obviously unknown at this point, but its really interesting none the less. Does anyone know anything about the behind-the-scenes operations of this kind of scenario?

[BloodyTalon]

Hmm.

[Shepard Lives]

This is going to get so ugly.

[matt-bassist]

Shepard Lives wrote...

This is going to get so ugly.

I dont think so. As long as everyone keeps their cool and approaches this from a mature and level-headed angle...

[Lukertin]

Find out by suing Bioware and seeing if EA is forced to pay.

[Captain Iglo]

Those are the kind of things in a company that will not made public

Modifié par Captain Iglo, 22 juin 2011 - 07:11 .

[Shepard Lives]

matt-bassist wrote...

Shepard Lives wrote...

This is going to get so ugly.

I dont think so. As long as everyone keeps their cool and approaches this from a mature and level-headed angle...

You ask too much of the Internet.

[xSTONEYx187x]

No not really. Although the "Genesis" comic was barebones they won't just abandon players that went from ME 1 - 3.

Millions of fans would be pi***d. I'm sure they have some control, but Casey has the final say. As executive producer is has to, doesn't he?

EDIT: 

Another reason all the default decisions in ME2 result in the death of most charcters is because the new players to the series wouldn't care for them, know who they are. It was the logical choice for a default ME 2 Shepard. 

Modifié par xSTONEYx187x, 22 juin 2011 - 07:19 .

[Whatever42]

I cannot imagine that EA has development meetings with Bioware where they vet game design. That would be beyond silly.

I can imagine that EA might turn around and say something like "we really want an ME4" or "we're making an RTS and we want you to write it".

[BloodyTalon]

We ill never know the truth one or another.

Bur the corporate world is a cold and harsh place

Can a publisher who funds a game ask for somethings yes, can the devs corprations or place refuses and explain why not sure but it comes with risk

Will we know how much of a hand EA has in all its games no its a seeret and we will never find out one or another.

Its really best not to focus on such things nothing anyone can do with how that part of the world works.

[Namevah]

matt-bassist wrote...For the record, I personally believe that EA purposefully instructed Bioware to remove ME1 as much as possible from all future ME titles, and simply taking a look at a new game of ME2 without an import is all the evidence you need really to support my claim. 

You might want to elaborate on that.

I don't know. I'm hesitant to have this conversation since we know virtually nothing about EA's influence on development. It would all be speculation.

[CroGamer002]

They pump a lot of money on ME3.

[Captain Iglo]

Mesina2 wrote...

They pump a lot of money on ME3.

this...if their is one thing you can be sure of then it is that they probably have one hell of a budget!

[Eurhetemec]

matt-bassist wrote...

Now I'm not trying to bash EA, and I'm certainly not trying to start a flame war, I'm just curious to see how much input EA has in the development of ME2 and ME3.

Looking at the scenario realistically, ME2 was EA's first Mass Effect game, and there were already some big wholesale changes noticable from the start. EA is the money, and the game is their investment, and I fail to believe that any company would simply sit back and give Bioware complete reign of the development of the game.

They have their own ideas of what the game should be in order to sell more product, and of course they want to make their own 'mark' on the franchise, hopefully pushing Microsoft aside (as we know ME1 was XBOX and PC only) and taking the franchise for themselves. At least in the eyes of the consumer.

For the record, I personally believe that EA purposefully instructed Bioware to remove ME1 as much as possible from all future ME titles, and simply taking a look at a new game of ME2 without an import is all the evidence you need really to support my claim.

Whether or not this trend will continue into ME3 is obviously unknown at this point, but its really interesting none the less. Does anyone know anything about the behind-the-scenes operations of this kind of scenario?

The true answer, which no-one wants to hear is:

VERY LITTLE.

What you need to understand is that EA isn't Activision.

Activision exercises very direct control over many of it's studios, including very successful ones, to the point where it causes people to quit, causes lawsuits, causes all sorts of idiocy.

EA does not have that policy.

Major EA studios, including DICE, BioWare, Crytek and others, all have considerable separation from EA.

In particular, they all have their own marketing department. That means they make their own decisions re: things like DLC, who they sell to, and so on. BioWare are not "beholden" to EA, they're owned by them. That's what you need to remember. If EA are too controlling, they'll simply lose all the BioWare people as they quit and go start another company, which everyone will know is the "new BioWare". This already happened to Activision with Infinity Ward. I'm quite sure EA doesn't want it to happen with one of their prize cows.

But here's the thing? You already told us what you believe, and it's a belief that's not founded in reality, but founded in your prejudices, so you've already said "LALALA I'M NOT LISTENING!" to the truth - see the bolded text in my quote from you? That's your admitting that you don't care what anyone says, you have your inaccurate, prejudiced view, and you're going to stick to it. Good job with that, I guess? Your whole thing about "purge ME1" is utterly irrational, and you even admit it's irrational foundation with your "just look at ME2 with no import!!!!" nonsense.

[Sakanade]

Ooooh boy.

Shepard Lives wrote...

This is going to get so ugly.

Modifié par Sakanade, 22 juin 2011 - 07:35 .

[aftohsix]

100%

Press the panic button. Do it. You know you want to.

[Phaedon]

Eurhetemec wrote...
The true answer, which no-one wants to hear is:

VERY LITTLE.

What you need to understand is that EA isn't Activision.

Activision exercises very direct control over many of it's studios, including very successful ones, to the point where it causes people to quit, causes lawsuits, causes all sorts of idiocy.

EA does not have that policy.

Major EA studios, including DICE, BioWare, Crytek and others, all have considerable separation from EA.

In particular, they all have their own marketing department. That means they make their own decisions re: things like DLC, who they sell to, and so on. BioWare are not "beholden" to EA, they're owned by them. That's what you need to remember. If EA are too controlling, they'll simply lose all the BioWare people as they quit and go start another company, which everyone will know is the "new BioWare". This already happened to Activision with Infinity Ward. I'm quite sure EA doesn't want it to happen with one of their prize cows.

But here's the thing? You already told us what you believe, and it's a belief that's not founded in reality, but founded in your prejudices, so you've already said "LALALA I'M NOT LISTENING!" to the truth - see the bolded text in my quote from you? That's your admitting that you don't care what anyone says, you have your inaccurate, prejudiced view, and you're going to stick to it. Good job with that, I guess? Your whole thing about "purge ME1" is utterly irrational, and you even admit it's irrational foundation with your "just look at ME2 with no import!!!!" nonsense.

Well, EA does have a lot of say on deadlines, but I think that we can agree that the fact that EA acknowledges some sort of "sovereignity" for their studios is good.

They always refer to them as if they are idividual companies and Bioware has actually opened new studios even under EA's ownership.

Bioware Montreal, Bioware Ireland, Bioware Austin, etc. 

Correct me if I am wrong, though.

Modifié par Phaedon, 22 juin 2011 - 07:43 .

[hoorayforicecream]

Typically in the games industry, the more troubled a project is, the more a publisher will intervene.

[Eurhetemec]

Phaedon wrote...

Well, EA does have a lot of say on deadlines, but I think that we can agree that the fact that EA acknowledges some sort of "sovereignity" for their studios is good.

They always refer to them as if they are idividual companies and Bioware has actually opened new studios even under EA's ownership.

Bioware Montreal, Bioware Ireland, Bioware Austin, etc. 

Correct me if I am wrong, though.

I do agree that EA has some say on deadlines, but if you read EA investor calls and the like, it's clear that EA no longer attempts to shove games out long before they're ready by simply screaming at developers until they do it (as they did in the '90s), and indeed, BioWare in particular has been "allowed" to slip it's deadlines on many games, many times (probably because BioWare make a lot of money and give EA a lot of prestige).

The closest I can think of to a "get it out the damn door!" from EA in the last four-five years was with Mythic (before they were BioWare-Mythic), when they threw a ton of resources at Mythic (i.e. money, extra studios to help, etc.) to try and get Warhammer Online out before WotLK, which actually turned out to be a huge mistake (cue: Arrested Development), because if they'd let Mythic keep developing, it'd have cost them less money, and a post-WotLK release would likely have been more successful, not less (esp. as they'd have been able to deal with the horrible bug/FPS issues WAR launched with, which hurt it so much).

Seems like they learned from that, though.

What EA is doing is definitely good for consumers, because EA studios regularly attempt more risky games than Activision subsidiaries, and we've had some incredible games from EA studios in the last few years (and that doesn't seem likely to change). I assume it's good for the corporate bottom line, too.

[matt-bassist]

Eurhetemec wrote...

matt-bassist wrote...

Now I'm not trying to bash EA, and I'm certainly not trying to start a flame war, I'm just curious to see how much input EA has in the development of ME2 and ME3.

Looking at the scenario realistically, ME2 was EA's first Mass Effect game, and there were already some big wholesale changes noticable from the start. EA is the money, and the game is their investment, and I fail to believe that any company would simply sit back and give Bioware complete reign of the development of the game.

They have their own ideas of what the game should be in order to sell more product, and of course they want to make their own 'mark' on the franchise, hopefully pushing Microsoft aside (as we know ME1 was XBOX and PC only) and taking the franchise for themselves. At least in the eyes of the consumer.

For the record, I personally believe that EA purposefully instructed Bioware to remove ME1 as much as possible from all future ME titles, and simply taking a look at a new game of ME2 without an import is all the evidence you need really to support my claim.

Whether or not this trend will continue into ME3 is obviously unknown at this point, but its really interesting none the less. Does anyone know anything about the behind-the-scenes operations of this kind of scenario?

The true answer, which no-one wants to hear is:

VERY LITTLE.

What you need to understand is that EA isn't Activision.

Activision exercises very direct control over many of it's studios, including very successful ones, to the point where it causes people to quit, causes lawsuits, causes all sorts of idiocy.

EA does not have that policy.

Major EA studios, including DICE, BioWare, Crytek and others, all have considerable separation from EA.

In particular, they all have their own marketing department. That means they make their own decisions re: things like DLC, who they sell to, and so on. BioWare are not "beholden" to EA, they're owned by them. That's what you need to remember. If EA are too controlling, they'll simply lose all the BioWare people as they quit and go start another company, which everyone will know is the "new BioWare". This already happened to Activision with Infinity Ward. I'm quite sure EA doesn't want it to happen with one of their prize cows.

But here's the thing? You already told us what you believe, and it's a belief that's not founded in reality, but founded in your prejudices, so you've already said "LALALA I'M NOT LISTENING!" to the truth - see the bolded text in my quote from you? That's your admitting that you don't care what anyone says, you have your inaccurate, prejudiced view, and you're going to stick to it. Good job with that, I guess? Your whole thing about "purge ME1" is utterly irrational, and you even admit it's irrational foundation with your "just look at ME2 with no import!!!!" nonsense.

But it's true, isn't it? When you import your game, many of the things you would've experienced in ME1 are absent. For new players it sort of "resets" the clock.

Anyway, besides that, thanks for your insightful response. You may think I've already made up my mind, which I have to a certain degree, but I'm not beyond listening and examining other people's opinions and, more importantly, factual information. I'm certainly not "la la la la Im not listening"

[Mr.House]

Eurhetemec wrote...
The true answer, which no-one wants to hear is:

VERY LITTLE.

What you need to understand is that EA isn't Activision.

Activision exercises very direct control over many of it's studios, including very successful ones, to the point where it causes people to quit, causes lawsuits, causes all sorts of idiocy.

EA does not have that policy.

Major EA studios, including DICE, BioWare, Crytek and others, all have considerable separation from EA.

In particular, they all have their own marketing department. That means they make their own decisions re: things like DLC, who they sell to, and so on. BioWare are not "beholden" to EA, they're owned by them. That's what you need to remember. If EA are too controlling, they'll simply lose all the BioWare people as they quit and go start another company, which everyone will know is the "new BioWare". This already happened to Activision with Infinity Ward. I'm quite sure EA doesn't want it to happen with one of their prize cows.

But here's the thing? You already told us what you believe, and it's a belief that's not founded in reality, but founded in your prejudices, so you've already said "LALALA I'M NOT LISTENING!" to the truth - see the bolded text in my quote from you? That's your admitting that you don't care what anyone says, you have your inaccurate, prejudiced view, and you're going to stick to it. Good job with that, I guess? Your whole thing about "purge ME1" is utterly irrational, and you even admit it's irrational foundation with your "just look at ME2 with no import!!!!" nonsense.

Say that to the many companys EA has killed and DA2.

[Bad King]

www.youtube.com/watch

This is a very good documentary as it shows us a bit about EA's role in the development of BioWare's games.

Modifié par Bad King, 22 juin 2011 - 07:59 .

[BloodyTalon]

Bad King wrote...

www.youtube.com/watch

This is a very good documentary as it shows us a bit about EA's role in the development of BioWare's games.

Very funny stuff but its not  documentary though very cleaverly put together.

[Phaedon]

Bad King wrote...

www.youtube.com/watch

This is a very good documentary as it shows us a bit about EA's role in the development of BioWare's games.

lol!! A mod locked the thread on the official DA2 forums that linked to this video saying its 'Not DA2 related'!! Massive fail!!ssjstoner 2 months ago 54 

And then I realized how retarded YouTube users can be.

[Vicex]

matt-bassist wrote...

Now I'm not trying to bash EA, and I'm certainly not trying to start a flame war, I'm just curious to see how much input EA has in the development of ME2 and ME3.

Looking at the scenario realistically, ME2 was EA's first Mass Effect game, and there were already some big wholesale changes noticable from the start. EA is the money, and the game is their investment, and I fail to believe that any company would simply sit back and give Bioware complete reign of the development of the game.

They have their own ideas of what the game should be in order to sell more product, and of course they want to make their own 'mark' on the franchise, hopefully pushing Microsoft aside (as we know ME1 was XBOX and PC only) and taking the franchise for themselves. At least in the eyes of the consumer.

For the record, I personally believe that EA purposefully instructed Bioware to remove ME1 as much as possible from all future ME titles, and simply taking a look at a new game of ME2 without an import is all the evidence you need really to support my claim.

Whether or not this trend will continue into ME3 is obviously unknown at this point, but its really interesting none the less. Does anyone know anything about the behind-the-scenes operations of this kind of scenario?

This is not Call of Duty where the developers don't seem to care as much; I find it hard to believe that Bioware would let EA force them to do something to the game that they disagree with.

Even if that did happen, Bioware likely would have outright told us that.