If I was in the boss' shoes, then how would I start tomorrow? By an email of course!
I have to start the day with a simple email to get the troops up and going. They know they are about to get an *** chewing so I use keywords like "mind-boggling" and adverbs like "absolutely" to stress my concern for the patch that was released.
Now that I have all my employees in a room with me, then what am I going to say to them as they settle down?
I will start the meeting with the phrase:
What the @#$@?
Then I would wait for the blank stares to go away and ask the question again:
What the @#$@?
Then I would randomly select a volunteer and that volunteer being responisble for QA ask him/her:
What the @#$@?
Then I would take that randomly selected volunteer and call out the he/she responsible for "Open World PvP" and ask him/her:
Gabe, What the @#$@? Seriously, what the @#$@?
...
I am frustrated.
I am not the only one.
I don't understand what is going through the minds at SWTOR HQ but this type of patching is frustrating and pissing off a lot of people. Fix the process and in turn you will fix the problem.
There is an issue with the process of testing out content and fixing bugs. There may be a process but it is absolute @#$@.
For some odd reason, the gaming industry puts itself on this imaginary pedastool of douchebaggery and of being all mighty to allow itself to @#$@ on its' customers. Then they play the psychological game of "oh, you are right we found the issue and are going to fix it right away" to "calm the masses" and get praise once again. Then, if it still doesn't get fixed, it is suddenly "our" and "our" being the customer fault due to the ever changing requirements. It is a vicious cycle of absolute ****. It is regressive and un-innovative. This is why companies and games fail. They do not know how to admit their mistakes and they have people in leadership roles that have no desire to make the changes necessary to their organization in order to be successful. They want to collect a paycheck, do their years in the industry, collect their options, and then move to the next big thing. Man up, be a leader, and take pride in the product you released.
What needs to be done?
Bring the persons responsible for development and QA to review the process. If there is more than 3 people, then this is an organizational problem. Assign a point of contact because everyone has their own agenda. Improve the process. The game is new, so do it now while we are early in the process with tons of subscribers rather than later with no subscribers. You guys NEED to be proactive.
I cannot stress this enough. This type of patching absolutey cannot continue. Release a quality product. Delay if you have to, but RELEASE A QUALITY PRODUCT. Repeat after me, RELEASE A QUALITY PRODUCT.
Provide incentiveto make and LEVEL a character to 50 on test. Give a title, a mount, do something. People that play this game are the BEST testers. Just make sure they do it on the TESTserver.
What are the critical items that need to be fixed?
Warzone win count. Ilum kill credits.
I want this game to be succesful. It is extremely hard to back a game that clearly has organizational and process issues that is seen in the quality of their product. Maybe I should I apply for a job.
Thanks,
FACEONGLASS (Sweetbro on Helm of G)