761 réponses à ce sujet

[packardbell]

Hmm, I was wondering if you share creative ideas with other teams in Bioware like the ME team for example, or whatever Casey is working on atm.

[Cutlasskiwi]

Who drinks the most coffee in the office? Yes, that's the kind of stuff I find interesting.

[deuce985]

Allan Schumacher wrote...

I got in by applying to BioWare as a contract QA Tester.

I was able to strengthen by application by having a Computing Science degree, which let them use me in more technically minded ways (rather than general playtester).  I did a good enough job between the end of DAO and start of DA2 that when my contract was expiring, I was deemed "valuable" and they offered me a permanent position.

Now I drink tears of fans and sit on my hands enjoying the life of affluence and decadence, all the while doing a minimal amount of work while reading the forums for my own personal amusement.

Living the dream

lol

Judging by John's tweets on cinematic design, I'm guessing it's the opposite for him?

[Farbautisonn]

Allan Schumacher wrote...  Fans don't have this perspective, so they can only judge purely based on what is actually delivered (which is entirely fair).

If you dont mind the logical observation, its the only perspective that matters when you sell a product? I can have worked hours on a piece, weeks or months even, gruelling research, hard times finding empirical data, lived of cheap coffee and danish plus tobacco for days on end, travelled far and wide to obscure places, and alot more, and if I deliver a piece to my editor, or my client that bums out at the end user, nobody is happy. It cant happen too often or I dont eat. It doesnt matter how much work I put into it. Doesnt matter how happy I am with it.  If  the end user isnt happy, or if my work isnt up to my usual standart, or if I made blatant errors, I loose my client, I dont get the full paycheck and I likely wont get hired to write there again.

But despite DA2's flaws, and some other extra incentives (such as it being my first full game), I'm still proud of my contribution and the work we did on DA2.  I recognize there was a fair bit of negative reception, however, and would love to make a game that turns skeptics/doubters into full on fans of DA3.  It's a challenge and helps keep enthusiasm.

-Never played DA2 aside for 2hrs whilst I was with my son at an internet cafe. I never made it far enough into the game to enter "suspension of disbelief".  And that was a first for me with a Bioware game. Others of my D20 crew from my pen and paper days who also loved Bioware games "warned" me, so I  wasnt surprised. Streamlining clearly isnt for my segment of the fanbase.

I hope you can put my sceptizism and my doubts to shame. I really do. I hope you can put Storytelling (as I and other "oldtimers" liked it) back into it.  I wish you all the best. But I have to tell you, with the established pattern and the apparent fetish for "streamlining" that has become apparent over the last couple of years, I am really not optimistic, and Ill hope you forgive myself, and others for venting that sentiment. Especially when we are given nothing else but recent trackrecord and that frankly wafer thin PR quib of "we are listening" to go on.

I am however very happy for those that still believe in you that you are making an effort to be significantly more visible and "vocal" on the boards. Even if its only on trivial matters. Despite my dissapointment, I do wish you the best.

[Allan Schumacher]

If you dont mind the logical observation, its the only perspective that matters when you sell a product?

Someone is asking me if I like DA2. I'm pretty much admitting that my opinion as to whether or not I like it is irrelevant because I'll never see it the same way as a customer does.

Modifié par Allan Schumacher, 10 mars 2013 - 09:47 .

[Farbautisonn]

Allan Schumacher wrote...

If you dont mind the logical observation, its the only perspective that matters when you sell a product?

Someone is asking me if I like DA2. I'm pretty much admitting that my opinion as to whether or not I like it is irrelevant because I'll never see it the same way as a customer does.

Thanks for your reply .

[Allan Schumacher]

Varric!

[SeismicGravy]

If you could make a Fallout type game, what would you base it on?

[Naughty Bear]

Any developers felt like strangling certain forum members here?

[Renmiri1]

Allan Schumacher wrote...

Varric!

After Anders ya, Varric is the best. But Anders wins for LI reasons 

Modifié par Renmiri1, 10 mars 2013 - 11:00 .

[EpicBoot2daFace]

Allan Schumacher wrote...

EpicBoot2daFace wrote...

Allan Schumacher wrote...

Yes.  (Kaboom!)

I'm about as biased of a source as there possibly can be on the game, however.

Good point.

It's important to note that how a developer looks at his own work is going to be different than a fan.  While a fan may look at something and say "That was lazy/poor/whatever" there's a good chance that the dev that worked on it looks at it and goes "Look at all those flaws.  I could have done better."

By a counterpoint, while a fan may look at something and say "That was awesome!" there's a good chance that the dev that worked on it looks at it and goes "Look at all those flaws. I could have done better."


DA2 has its flaws for sure.  It's not a perfect game.  What some may see, as an outside observer, as intrinsically poor, I'll more often see as "issue with execution" because I'm privy to the concepting, enthusiasm, and so forth behind a particular idea that can influence how I look at something.  Fans don't have this perspective, so they can only judge purely based on what is actually delivered (which is entirely fair).


But despite DA2's flaws, and some other extra incentives (such as it being my first full game), I'm still proud of my contribution and the work we did on DA2.  I recognize there was a fair bit of negative reception, however, and would love to make a game that turns skeptics/doubters into full on fans of DA3.  It's a challenge and helps keep enthusiasm.

I don't think anyone was asking for a perfect game. It's an unreasonable expectation to have. However, I think most people expected a game that was, at the very least, as good as Origins. That's not what we got, and I really didn't appreciate Mike's dismissal of fair criticism in his defense of the game shortly after it launched.

On one hand, he says that they can do better. Okay, that's fair. But then on the other hand, he tries to say that fans had unresonable expectations (such as expecting the game to be more like Origins, but with improvements) going into Dragon Age 2 and that is why they were disappointed. Not only is he wrong on his assumption, but those are not unreasonable expectations for a sequel at all. 

If DA2 was going to be more of a spin-off and less of a sequel to Origins, it shouldn't have been called Dragon Age 2. I also think the main reason for the negative reception from fans had very little to do with expectations and more to do with poor execution and bad storytelling. It wasn't all bad and it sure wasn't a terrible game by any stretch, but the flaws were not of the subtle kind, they were very obvious.

Depsite all that, I think Dragon Age 3 has a chance to be great and actually win me over. That said, I certainly don't have very high expectations after the last one, but I will try to remain open minded. And I know this had very little to do with what we were talking about, but it's more or less my own take on it as the customer. I appreciate you taking the time to reply in detail. As the customer, we are always on the outside looking in. It's always nice to get a perspective from someone on the inside.

I wish you the best of luck, Allan.

Modifié par EpicBoot2daFace, 10 mars 2013 - 11:25 .

[Plaintiff]

Dragon Age 2 is not a spin-off. It is a sequel, no matter how much you want to protest otherwise. Just like Elder Scrolls V is a sequel to Elder Scrolls IV, and just like Fable 3 is a sequel to Fable 2, even though they all tell different stories with different characters.

Nobody said the series would continue to deal with Darkspawn. Nobody said the series would continue to star the Warden.

Each game is going to tell a different story about a different point in the history of Thedas. That's the series, that's how it's going to work, and how it was always intended to work.

Modifié par Plaintiff, 11 mars 2013 - 12:58 .

[Allan Schumacher]

This tangent is derailing this thread.

[Fast Jimmy]

In an attempt to get the thread back to asking devs questions...

Did you grow up in or around Edmonton, did you come there to work at Bioware, or did something else bring you to the area?

Modifié par Fast Jimmy, 11 mars 2013 - 01:55 .

[Allan Schumacher]

I grew up around Edmonton. I spent Kingergarten through Grade 5 in the city, and then the next 13 years about 30 minutes west just outside of a small town called Stony Plain.

[Plaintiff]

What do you think of the Tomb Raider reboot?

[Thrillian]

Allan Schumacher wrote...

I grew up around Edmonton. I spent Kingergarten through Grade 5 in the city, and then the next 13 years about 30 minutes west just outside of a small town called Stony Plain.

This just really took me back.  Growing up in a small town north of Edmonton, we all called Edmonton "The City".  Anyone I met who actually grew up in Edmonton thought that was wierd. lol.

Edit to ask an actual question:

Hmm, I think coke or pepsi has been done so I will go with... what is your favourite movie involving an aquatic villain?

Modifié par Thrillho_82, 11 mars 2013 - 06:36 .

[Allan Schumacher]

Plaintiff wrote...

What do you think of the Tomb Raider reboot?

I haven't played it, but it's piqued my interest based on what some of my peers and friends have said about it.

Hmm, I think coke or pepsi has been done so I will go with... what is your favourite movie involving an aquatic villain?

Errrr.  Does Jaws count?

[Reidbynature]

Tomb Raider does look great. A mate of mine has it and he can't stop going on about it and he's not a big TR fan. I'll likely pick it up myself when I can afford it. I've heard the mp is a bit tacked on though.

[Commander Kurt]

I have a question. It lacks entertainment value, but still...

Are you guys still checking out the "What do you want for DA:I" thread? I've been playing Jade Empire for the first time, and I finally figured out what I want more than anything from the game.

[Jayce]

Mustang or Spitfire?

(No, I'm not talking cars.)

[Allan Schumacher]

Mustang. But to be fair it came much later in the war (and without the Merlin engine wasn't as awesome, so the Spitfire is still pretty awesome)