Layoffs at Bioware What does this mean for content

[Deewe]

No idea, but I honestly hope he's on his way out, same with Gabe. Georg is completely out of touch with the PVP community and common sense, when stubbornly insists on saying it's a great trade off for tank stats to only be effective against 2 of the 8 ACs in the game, despite community protests. This is a great example of why how BioWare only did what they wanted, they never engaged the community in extensive discussion on why they kept it the way they did nor did they allow the opportunity for general community feedback to influence designs.

 

Also in regards to metrics. Metrics isn't worth anything if the people reading the data are incapable of interpreting it properly. Take the active population decline for example. During the Guild Summit, BioWare Austin claimed that everything was ok because subscription levels hasn't dropped off, but concurrent activity has. Concurrent activity is people that are actively playing the game, which in terms influences other players enjoyment since that's what a MMO is all about. This was either a case of shameless positive spinning, inability to interpret crucial data properly, or both. However I honestly believe it was the former, instead of the latter two.

 

 

It's all of this that makes me shake my head when people are bashing EA for SWTOR's failure. I don't have much love for EA, myself, they really screwed up some of my favourite games too like BF3 not being moddable in order to shove DLCs down players throat.

 

However I'm a player who has played SWTOR since closed beta last year. I've seen how BioWare had used their time. I've seen how their tight lipped policy, and refusal to regularly engage the community niches in-depth discussion both during closed beta and release has come to bite them in their rear end. Lack of communication and hubris was what contributely mostly to SWTOR's current situation. SWTOR might have been released early, but I was in closed beta. Dialogue errors and game play bugs that persisted build after build after build all the way into release, and existing even now, are still here. Inane changes to things that were nearly universally praised as being popular were changed on a whim. Did you know that you could've literally modded ANY gear you wanted in the game, there were no "orange" gear. If you liked the look from your green gear, you could've kept it. Did you know there was the hoodless version of the Jedi Battlelord gear in closed beta that was inexplicably taken out 2 builds before release? I certainly don't believe EA forced BioWare to do all that. They did that themselves.

 

Heck, nearly a year (since I was championing for Jedi Guardian gear that didn't have hoods well in closed beta) after all is said and done, my Jedi Guardian is still forced to wear a hood! The technology is already there with the Twi'lek toggle toggle, but yet they claim otherwise. Why the heck am I still forced to wear a hood despite people begging for some variance? Why is BioWare saying, "Hey, we get that you don't like our designs, but we're still going to use the mistakes that we've built for the next few contents until we use them all up -AND THEN- get back on track"? Why didn't they say, "Ok, we get that you guys don't like it. We'll start making some new designs, yes it'll take more money, yes it'll take more development time, but we're going to show you we're not dragging our feet when it comes to improving ourselves"?

 

 

Did EA tell BioWare to drag their feet around, or not communicate with the community? I honestly don't think so. The only thing EA did was release SWTOR too early, but even then the development progress during closed beta was pathetically slow. Do I love EA? Hell no. Do I know that they've destroyed other games? Heck yes. Do I think they were the prime reasons why BioWare Austin dropped the ball on SWTOR? Absolutely not. I have eyes, I had the opportunity to have more perspective on their development cycle due to being in closed beta. SWTOR largely ended up in the state it is now because of BioWare Austin itself.

Wanted to thank you for this post. It truly reflects the reality.

 

In case you missed it:

• Behind the scenes of Star Wars: The Old Republic: throwing people at the problem
  
• Star Wars: The Old Republic was built to thrive in a WoW world
  

[KellyX]

No point in arguing this, people think that when EA buys a company going bankrupt or failing on their own, that the developer going to crap was just about to make (insert random title here) sequel, that was going to be the best game ever.

 

I don't have a lot of love for EA, but I was a major Westwood supporter and had many friends in the company. I was regularly involved in many of their internal stuff and worked closely with them on reviews and was flown out to test stuff.

 

When they attempted to do Command and Conquer as a FPS, that was one of the first major missteps, Earth and Beyond ended up being the next and a costly one. The fact it survived 2 years amazed me. That game ended up killing Westwood Studios as a name brand and got Westwood Irvine transformed into EA Pacific... at least that team stayed with their bread and butter, but was heavily gutted of their best people.

 

/Peace Thru Power!

[Enforcious]

Personally I think most of you guys are reading too much into the announced layoffs as a bad sign. But probably most layoffs were temporary employees that were hired to help with the launch of the game. Extra customer service, forum moderators, and other support staff. Most of the main developers and community people were probably untouched by the layoffs.

Did you not just read what I posted? Stephen Reid is the Community Manager.....not some temp

[FunkBandit]

I just dont get it, regardless of other flaws people cant play an MMO without people. I dont care if its EA or BW taking this long to fix it is just dumb.

[Timadan]

Meh Bottom line.........people working for you are not getting the job done, you leave them at the dock the next time you are in port.

[LeonBraun]

Layoffs are always sad... It's disappointing to hear, but hopefully it's a restructuring that could help push the game in some news directions... Which would be welcome.

 

What this game needs most right now, is a very strong and decisive community management leader that engages the the community in an active and healthy way for the game.

[maxetius]

Why call it layoffs then? Temp agents are temporary; they leave when their time is up.

 

How old are you? It's the same thing. Laid off due to 'LACK OF WORK.' been there, done that.

[uaintjak]

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! /kermitflail

[JediKnightJax]

Oh my god.

 

It's Warhammer Online all over again.. :\

[hankart]

OMG What will I do now!

[Zergnaut]

Oh my god.

 

It's Warhammer Online all over again.. :\

 

No it's not warhammer lasted longer lol by the way if they don't get on server transfer soon they won't have to worry about it. We can just move everybody that still playing all the 1 server and reduce the game 2 servers

Edited May 23, 2012 by Zergnaut

[RocNessMonster]

When they attempted to do Command and Conquer as a FPS, that was one of the first major missteps, Earth and Beyond ended up being the next and a costly one. The fact it survived 2 years amazed me. That game ended up killing Westwood Studios as a name brand and got Westwood Irvine transformed into EA Pacific... at least that team stayed with their bread and butter, but was heavily gutted of their best people.

!

 

Hey now, I thought C&C:Renegade was an excellent idea and a serviceable game. I personally enjoyed it.

[Nightfalll]

Here is my dream scenerio:

 

New top leaders walk-in the office Monday morning....

 

New Leaders: W T F have you guys been doing for 6 months?!?!

Staff: Uh, well this rocket boo....(abrubtly cutoff)

New Leaders: Get the hell out of this office! The hell is the matter with you people!?!? Is this your first taste of what an MMO is?!?

Staff: We have voices that really immerse our players into a re....(cutoff again)

New Leaders: One more word out of you and youll be finding yourself a new job! ...How are the mergers coming along?!

Staff: Mergers? We dont believe that is the right course at this time, but in the future, we intend too...(not only cutoff, but grabbed from his shirt and dragged to a PC screen...opens up the server select page, and points his finger)

New Leaders: Look at that you moron.....what do you see?!?

Staff: I see....i see.....one heavy server, 5 standard, and like 150+ light servers?

New Leaders: Yes you are correct! Your fired! Do we have any other idiots in here?! Do you people have any clue what MMO gamers expect today?

Staff: We have never done an MMO...

New Leader: Exactly! I want all of you to stop what you are doing right now.....yes you too...stop it! Stop wasting your time with this crap! Your only goal right now is to get Server Mergers going, with Transfer Servers. Your going to get Warzone rankings up and running, your going to get cross server LFG tool out, your going to add Chat Bubbles, your going to add an optional server wide chat channel so people can continue talking to others anywhere, your going to stop wasting your time on Legacy because you people could not of made it any more boring, and your going to add more things for our dedicated level 50 players to do, and stop forcing them to keep making alts because your too damn lazy to make anything endgame worthwhile. Oh and dont be scared to start adding some sandbox elements into the game.

Staff: Uh....sandbox? What will they do with sand..?....

New Leaders: And your going to get this all done on the next update! And we better not see it drag on for months!

Staff: Sigh...

New Leaders: Also.....start talking to your playerbase on forums ALOT more! What are you vampires!?! Talk people! You have a brain and a mouth....T A L K!!!! Oh and if im still flying Starfox by the end of this year, and still be forced to stay in the Fleet.....you will not want to anticipate what will come upon you.

 

 

 

With so many people agreeing to this post, it tells you exactly what most of the player base feels towards Bio.....

 

Stop being nice/politically correct. Start firing more people for not doing their job. You made the first step, now keep it going.

 

And you know what? people losing jobs is sad generally speaking. But I dont have one ounce of sympathy for workers who did a substandard job and expect to keep their jobs........Not one ounce.........Got it?

 

Your on the right track, keep it going.......Now people will be falling over themselves to bust azz and get the game on track...........

 

No one is safe.......................ever.........................Welcome to the real world

[Drakkip]

If its just the programmers who caused all the bugs ever new patch then I have no issues with them firing them...

 

But to be fair every Design team lays people off after a lunch of a MMO.... If anything Bioware kept them around a lot longer then most MMO companies do...

 

I'd like to have an MMO for lunch =D

 

I agree with you though after launch there is a case to be made for downsizing the project team.

[RendakFel]

Personally I think most of you guys are reading too much into the announced layoffs as a bad sign. But probably most layoffs were temporary employees that were hired to help with the launch of the game. Extra customer service, forum moderators, and other support staff. Most of the main developers and community people were probably untouched by the layoffs.

 

Steven Reid, the Sr. Community manager updated his Linkdin that his tenure with Bioware ended in May 2012. Can't imagine how this won't impact the game.

[RocNessMonster]

With so many people agreeing to this post, it tells you exactly what most of the player base feels towards Bio.....

 

Stop being nice/politically correct. Start firing more people for not doing their job. You made the first step, now keep it going.

 

And you know what? people losing jobs is sad generally speaking. But I dont have one ounce of sympathy for workers who did a substandard job and expect to keep their jobs........Not one ounce.........Got it?

 

Your on the right track, keep it going.......Now people will be falling over themselves to bust azz and get the game on track...........

 

No one is safe.......................ever.........................Welcome to the real world

 

What would that accomplish, except cause a bunch of low level coders file for unemployment? Fact is the executives made the decisions and they would be the ones who keep their positions. That is the way corporate culture works, always blame those beneath you.

[Razmiji]

This makes me sad. I have a couple of things to say, and I am probably going to be called a biodrone for it, but whatever,

 

I feel bad for Stephen Reid. He seemed to do his job with enthusiasm, and cared about the game.

 

I personally enjoy the game. It's not perfect, and I understand the complaints, so I hope that this allows them to start making some improvements in order to grow again (or at least stabilize).

 

I don't understand why so many are rooting for the game to fail. It seems to me that if it does that it could spell the end for AAA MMOs, since investors will be very wary to put any money into them. All we will get are rehashed Korean Grinders (TERA) or bargain-basement games (TSW). I can understand if you don't like the game personally, but actively trying to cause it to fail is something else entirely.

[kronomandar]

Oh my god.

 

It's Warhammer Online all over again.. :\

 

we could only hope.

 

when warhammer began their firings, they started at the top, which is where the problems mostly were.

unfortunately they had waited too long, and too many subs had already been lost.

 

for those who stayed, the game actualy got better, and continued to get better. although there was the occasional hiccup *cough* (land of the dead) *cough*.

 

starwars may have waited too long, infact it definitely has waited too long on the server tranfers/mergers.

diablo didnt have any competition from SW:ToR in terms of its attractiveness to players. that ball had been dropped.

once the shine wears off diablo, GW will be out, and we dont see anything yet on the ToR horizon to compete with that.

 

my sub is up in a matter of days, i havent canceled yet, but also havent seen anything to convince be to stay.

[Encima]

Means they got rid of the excessive weight (sorry, I know these are men and women who's got families to support), which is generally a healthy business decision.

[Sir-Coffee]

This makes me sad. I have a couple of things to say, and I am probably going to be called a biodrone for it, but whatever,

 

I feel bad for Stephen Reid. He seemed to do his job with enthusiasm, and cared about the game.

 

I personally enjoy the game. It's not perfect, and I understand the complaints, so I hope that this allows them to start making some improvements in order to grow again (or at least stabilize).

 

I don't understand why so many are rooting for the game to fail. It seems to me that if it does that it could spell the end for AAA MMOs, since investors will be very wary to put any money into them. All we will get are rehashed Korean Grinders (TERA) or bargain-basement games (TSW). I can understand if you don't like the game personally, but actively trying to cause it to fail is something else entirely.

 

The Devs are the reason to blame. It's sad when we don't see any posts/updates from them. It's pathetic that we don't trust them.

 

However, we didn't just decide that we wanted this game to fail. People are pissed because Bioware ignored us in every possible way.

[Stenrik]

OK, so... Reid is no longer with them. Well, honestly, what does a "community manager" do? I would think a community manager's job is to communicate with the community and keep them very well informed and content that their suggestions are affecting the game development?

 

And yet, the "community" has been very UNhappy with how it was "managed". As in, feeling like we're left in the dark, and uninformed.

 

So maybe we're better off without that community manager then?

[Zergnaut]

It would be ironic if with these layoffs the game did a total 180. When I say total 180 I mean , server xfers go live thiz week and no more vague responses on content updates. We start getting actual time frames with dates. This is just me dreaming of course but it could happen. If only bioware would wake up and say hey we need to take this thing in a whole new direction NOW as in starting today. Edited May 23, 2012 by Zergnaut

[Razmiji]

The Devs are the reason to blame. It's sad when we don't see any posts/updates from them. It's pathetic that we don't trust them.

 

However, we didn't just decide that we wanted this game to fail. People are pissed because Bioware ignored us in every possible way.

 

I get that. I'm not talking about people who want to see it succeed, but are disappointed because it is not. I would say that most people are in that category at this point. I'm talking about the TORtanic crowd, etc. that seem to post on every TOR message board.

[Anomorn]

This explains a lot. There's no way Stephen Reid didn't see this coming.

[JeramieCrowe]

OK, so... Reid is no longer with them. Well, honestly, what does a "community manager" do? I would think a community manager's job is to communicate with the community and keep them very well informed and content that their suggestions are affecting the game development?

 

And yet, the "community" has been very UNhappy with how it was "managed". As in, feeling like we're left in the dark, and uninformed.

 

So maybe we're better off without that community manager then?

 

On the other hand, how do you make a small community like this one who demands to know every little detail, and even if they did, would still complain they don't know enough, feel like they know enough and were communicated to?

 

I think many people here needs to look up the word "communication"...

 

Now, before you go all ballistic on me and call me "fanboi", please know that I've complained about the lack of information of what they're doing in their revamp of open-world PvP... That's about the only thing I can think of that they haven't actually "communicated" on, not even a "we can't talk about it yet".

 

Because, make no mistake: "we can't talk about it yet" IS communication. Just not the communication people want to hear...