233 réponses à ce sujet

[Lady Nuggins]

Is it possible that we could just ask one of the devs when the DA team is likely to disperse? Halloween seems like a really good holiday to tie it to, though.

[aTigerslunch]

Could ask Allan directly.  I will less someone did already.  I dont want to message him a repeated question. 

[Prince of Keys]

Since the game is delayed 'till November 18th now, a Halloween treat for Bioware sounds like a good idea to me. Everyone should still be around and it would be just a few weeks before release.

[aTigerslunch]

Ouchies.... got delayed... well. .guess that is ok. I want to play this game so bad.      I finally got into a new playthrough. I forgot how moving that Ostagar battle was.

[DragonRacer]

Since the game is delayed 'till November 18th now, a Halloween treat for Bioware sounds like a good idea to me. Everyone should still be around and it would be just a few weeks before release.

 

Yeah, I think I'd still prefer sticking to the "around Halloween" idea as well, even though that now pushes it to just before launch.

 

Soon post-launch was a nice thought, but the idea of asking Allan when the team might be dispersed afterwards so we'd have a timeframe was one I reeeeeally didn't wanna ask. Because it's also like saying, "So, when are all the contract workers getting laid off again?"

 

That's what happened after they stopped officially supporting ME3 Multiplayer (i.e. stopped making DLCs and doing community events). All the contract workers got let go, and a good friend of mine I made on here was one of them (and had been a contract worker for 2 years there). It was anguishing seeing him on Facebook unable to find other work to support his family.  Fortunately, when BioWare started looking to hire contract workers again for DA:I testing, he got picked back up. But I imagine there's a feeling of the guillotine hanging overhead now.

 

I really don't wanna ask them about how long BioWare plans to keep the team together. It hurts my heart too much.

 

It's also one of the many reasons why I hope DA:I has an MP component that they've not revealed yet. I know people have strong feelings about MP, but as long as it's fully separated from SP this time, I don't see too big an issue. If there's an MP, they'd keep a lot of the team intact to work on that and keep it running/make DLCs/do community events, etc. MP kept a whole team of people still employed for a year after ME3 launched, and I don't think a lot of fans realize that.

[Lady Nuggins]

Oh no, now I'm sad.  I don't want to think about the team breaking up.  Can't Bioware pay them to stick around and talk about Dragon Age with us?

[DragonRacer]

Oh no, now I'm sad.  I don't want to think about the team breaking up.  Can't Bioware pay them to stick around and talk about Dragon Age with us?

 

It wouldn't be the whole team, of course. The main salaried positions would remain - which are a lot of the common dev faces we see here on the forums and on Twitter, the "familiar faces" - and I assume would either have focus shifted to pre-production of the next DA game or, possibly, be reassigned to whatever the mysterious new IP BioWare Edmonton is working on and has been very quiet about (since the main ME team is now the Montreal studio instead of Edmonton).

 

But in early development, there's not as big a need for loooooooooots of QA testers, so a lot of that is contract work. Once the game's out and they aren't needed for testing DLCs, they get cut loose until BioWare needs to hire an influx of testers again when their next big release nears the beta stage. So, the contract guys tend to be in flux like that, coming and going and sometimes coming again or sometimes having to just move on.

 

The harshness of running a business. Think of it like hiring seasonal employees for the higher volume of holiday shoppers... the extra personnel gets work when they are slammed and need it, then get let go when it quiets down and the company doesn't want/can't pay a lot of extra people who might not have immediate work to do there for a while. 

[oceanicsurvivor]

Well...now with the delay...what if we planned the cupcakes for October 7th? The devs have mentioned that the delay hurts them a bit, since they work long 'cruch time' hours, and this will extend that grueling pace by another 40 some days...plus, as much of a bummer as it is to have to wait even longer for the game, the devs are already taking heat for it. So essentially, while its good in the long term, the delay sucks a bit for everyone involved. So, maybe it'd be a good 'we're pulling for ya, you're in the home stretch!' kinda a thing...

 

Just thought I would throw it out there

[Lady Nuggins]

I will go along with whatever date you guys think is best. 

 

Here is a nice blog post about us!  It's late because the author actually asked to quote me right after the whole event happened, but didn't see my affirmative response until now.  

[aTigerslunch]

Wow, that is pretty awesome. I'm glad to been part of that.

 

The next one, setting date to Oct 7th for...

 

"hanging in there"?  Is this going to be our plans instead of a postcakequisition? 

 

Endurequisition for Oct 7th does sound intriguing to me. I would of supported Bioware in past if had been on forums long before now. I am not sure what to write, thanks for sure on the hard work. Will have to think on that subject a little bit.

[Brass_Buckles]

Well, this is a late response, but since the BioWare folks said something about coffee being the best gift for game developers, maybe we should send them packs of gourmet/organic coffee, instead of candy/cupcakes.  Or we could send them chocolate-covered coffee beans, if anyone knows where those could be purchased within Canada so they could be shipped straight to BioWare.

 

Then we could call it the Coffeequisition.  Or Project BioWake.

[aTigerslunch]

That sounds great but not aware of any coffee deliveries.

[Lady Nuggins]

Yeah, I like the idea too, but how do we get it there?  Especially if we're looking at doing both Edmonton and Montreal this time.

 

I suppose coffee products don't need to be fresh like baked goods, so we could have it shipped to their offices.  

[Brass_Buckles]

I'm pretty sure you can buy containers of chocolate-covered espresso beans, and we could either send coffee beans or ground coffee--it's packaged--so in that case we'd only need to buy a few packs of coffee or candy to ship to them--safe for them, because it's sealed.

 

Cupcakes are, of course, still also a good idea.

 

Beer would probably go over the best, but shipping that may cause its own problems!

[aTigerslunch]

Ok... several coffee shops in US will ship to US locations.

 

www.coffeeforless.com

 

www.coffeebeandirect.com

 

Canadian (listing two of each but there are more out there)

 

www.buycoffeecanada.com

 

also giftbasket sets for Canada (coffee and tea baskets)

 

http://www.thesweetbasket.com

[Brass_Buckles]

Well, it was just something to consider.  I didn't mean to hijack the thread with my idea... There are other considerations, too.  Such as the fact that people hand-delivered the cupcakes with our messages and that probably added a certain personal touch.  Sending coffee and/or espresso beans is likely to be cheaper, which would spread the money around further, but it is also less personal.

 

Whatever gift we send, will probably be appreciated.  I know if someone sent goodies to my workplace, they would go over well.  Though maybe not so much coffee, because we don't have a coffee maker at work (even though there are days when we could definitely benefit from one).

[aTigerslunch]

You didn't hijack anything Brass, suggestions of coffee and cupcakes or the like is open still I think. I gave links for coffee just in case cause we have cupcake ones in Canada already. I don't mind going either route, but not everyone drinks coffee either, some would prefer cupcakes more while some would be opposite. Depends on each individual, also, cupcakes at my place would be better received than coffee due to no coffee pots.

 

I would go with either option. Deliveries of coffee versus cupcakes, good question, those I saw listed reported UPS or FedEx deliveries, not a van or something that cupcake companies would do. Then again, those gift baskets could be a little more personal than just a crate full of bags or cans of coffee. I want a personal touch, personal messages and such.

[Lady Nuggins]

No apologies necessary, I think your idea is a totally valid one.

 

So with coffee vs. cupcakes, there are a few issues I can think of:

 

Coffee pros:

- Cheaper/more for the amount we raise

- Can be shipped over long distances, allowing us to send to both Edmonton and Montreal from the same source

- Probably lasts longer, can be enjoyed over multiple days

- Probably very appreciated during crunch time

 

Coffee cons:

- The DIY necessary--having to brew their own coffee, instead of opening a container and eating a cupcake right away.

- Personal messages might not be an option.

- Not hand-delivered, less personal

- Timing will be less predictable.  Canadian shipping companies are notoriously bad, and we may not be able to set an exact day/time when it arrives.

- Not everyone drinks coffee.

[DragonRacer]

Coffee is an intriguing idea. Certainly one to ponder, although I'm biased towards the cupcakes because 1) instant yummy and 2) the girls at Flirt were so fabulous. However, while everyone may not drink coffee, not every may eat cupcakes either. I consider that pro/con a wash.

 

We need not worry about hand-delivery of personal messages. Allan wanted to send ours out to everyone quickly, so when the cupcakes were delivered, he asked me for a digital copy of the file I sent to Flirt for printing, and he then emailed that out to... um, basically all of BioWare. So, I do have his work email address (which I shall take with me to my grave because Holy Trust, Batman!   ) for emailing a file of letters as needed... plus, if this second batch of letters gets BIG (which I imagine it probably will given the impending expansion), asking someone to print 10+ pages of letters would be a bit gratuitous... so, chances are I'd end up emailing him the personal messages anyway, so that can be considered a non-factor. I'd likely send a cover letter again stating reason for the treats and listing names of everyone contributing (be it money, a personal message, or both - giving everyone equal credit here) to be printed out so there's something personal with the treats, but otherwise the bulk will likely be emailed.

[Brass_Buckles]

Well there's also the candy + coffee option:  chocolate covered espresso beans.  Usually they come in tins, I think?  And yet spreading those around the office equally may be difficult.

 

I tend to lean toward cupcakes, also, but to send to two offices, we'd need something around double the amount we raised last time.  Maybe more.

[DragonRacer]

Yes, double would probably be about right.

 

I need to get cracking on investigating Montreal options.

 

I also need to figure out how, exactly, I'm going to let folks know we're expanding to general thanks for inclusiveness (be it FemQuisitor, LGBT representation, and POCs). Right now, I've got the group set to "Invite Only", so the only folks who can join are those that are sent an invite by a group member. Making a general thread seems a bit... weird, soliciting, and off-topic. My original gameplan was to post in all the character-dedicated threads to invite folks after the last of the LIs were revealed... but now we have no idea if the last ones will be revealed pre-game at all.

 

So, maybe leaning towards posting in all the character-dedicated threads a brief post about what we're doing, why, and inviting them. I'd likely change group status to "Open" for a brief time so people could freely join. Thinking I'd do these invitation posts after the hub-bub of Gamescon passes by week's end.

 

Thoughts?

[Lady Nuggins]

Ah DragonRacer, I was wondering how Allan got his hands on the digital copy of the letters.

 

I still like the instant gratification of baked goods.  Maybe we can send a hefty amount of espresso cupcakes.  That's what I baked for Desert Bus for Hope one year, and they were a huge hit.

 

Character-dedicated threads seems like a good idea, since those will generally be people who are excited for this game, as opposed to the ones who hang around just to be critical.

 

But there are also others not on the BSN who might want to contribute.  Last time I felt maybe we should advertise it on Tumblr, but chose not to since I wasn't sure how it would be received.  But after the positive response to the Cupcakequisition on there, I think there would be at least a few willing to get in on it.  But that runs into a whole other host of problems, like can people at least see threads in this group (if it were open) if they are not forum members?  But they don't necessarily have to participate in the discussion, we could just have a post saying "if you want in, send money here and letters here by X date."

[aTigerslunch]

My thought would be going with that. I am bit more biased to cupcakes but fine with coffee options as well. We could do any of the options if emailing the letters is going to happen. I never dealt with coffee shipping or Canadian shipping. If they aren't reliable, maybe use next day shipping for coffee. Cupcakes were reliable.

Agree with Lady Nuggins on maybe trying Tumblr to see what others might say. But how they would respond to where?

Also, thought I read Solas was an LI? I could of read the post wrong.

[DragonRacer]

@ Lady Nuggins - Tumblr is a great idea! As far as the group here... hmmm, if/when I made/make it fully "Open" during a "recruitment period", I am unsure if non-forum members could see it or not. I suppose I could log out and see if I can read any of the public groups to answer that question. But likely what would have to happen is you'd end up counting any Tumblrites' pledged monies and collect their letters to send to me (or post here) to compile, unless they'd be willing to make BSN accounts to post here.

 

@ aTigerslunch - Solas is not confirmed. His voice actor hinted that he might be a love interest, but right now it's just hints and speculation, not actual confirmation.

[Lady Nuggins]

@ Lady Nuggins - Tumblr is a great idea! As far as the group here... hmmm, if/when I made/make it fully "Open" during a "recruitment period", I am unsure if non-forum members could see it or not. I suppose I could log out and see if I can read any of the public groups to answer that question. But likely what would have to happen is you'd end up counting any Tumblrites' pledged monies and collect their letters to send to me (or post here) to compile, unless they'd be willing to make BSN accounts to post here.

 

I foresee a lot of organizing in our future. 

 

But happy devs will make it all worth it.