Yogol Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 yea the VOs are good,,im not sure how big part of budget they were? I tried to calculate that too... According to Theguinness Book of Receords, SWTOR has over 200,000 VO lines. That is alot, obviously, but I serisouly doubt that it costs even 10$ per line. So, all in all, the budget that went into that would be rather small compared to the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simplius Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 200000 is a lot yea,,but what DID they spend money on then? because i feel shortcuts a lot of places in the game,,specially in the bonus missions and the space part Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foobert Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 I love job postings like this, lol... I used to be very intimidated by these types of ''job requirements'', untill I learned that they are pretty much bogus when they hired me to do one of these. Read this and try to imagine the human being that has all these qualifications... - 2+ years performing quantitative analysis in a metrics-driven, digital product management environment - Experience in defining, developing, testing, and optimizing digital item catalog systems - Experience with digital product campaign and promotion design and evaluation - Proven ability to develop hypotheses, sift through and identify critical data, analyze, report and recommend - Solid grasp of finance, economics and pricing models So, basically, they want someone that is doing that job at another company and wants to join them... I would LOVE to talk to the person who actually gets this job to see how many of these things he actually did in the past... And, in case there is any doubt, they WILL try to get the last cent out of you... listen to this person's job description (my emphasis)... - Optimize catalog assortment (item mix/overlap) and maximize the efficiency (entry/exit timing) of the item portfolio - Work with design and development to formulate strategies to enable individualized, player-behavior based offers - Analyze and report spending behavior, buyer segmentation, and behavioral trends It seems that they are really going to go all-out with their ''free''-to-play coin shop... Any marketing analyst with some cost/financial accounting background working in the entertainment industry (LA/NY) would fit the bill. They may be hoping for someone from LoTRO to jump over, or even a Valve guy. They'll probably hire an MBA dissatisfied with their Zynga employee stock options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellmop Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 For those who are versed in the terms of art of business in the games industry, here is the job posting for the architect for F2P analysis for Bioware Austin. The shaper of things to come, as it were. https://performancemanager4.successfactors.com/sfcareer/jobreqcareer?jobId=9327&company=EA If you aren't versed in business terms of art, don't panic, none of this is really unusual in the industry, on a glance. The interesting thing I suppose is that they are advertising this and don't have a full complement in place. More attrition? Less preparation? Who knows. There would be fewer rumors about this game if the EA(/Bioware) folks were just a bit more transparent. The only thing that has EVER gotten CCP in trouble are the few times they've been utter gits and held cards close. It's been over twenty years since the publication of the Cluetrain Manifesto, yet companies with online customer bases still haven't woken up. If you haven't read Cory Doctorow's FTW, this might be a fun time to do so. Cory's site says "Download for free" but throw the chap some money, he's awesome. The book postulates (among other things) a near future where MMOs and Zynga-like social gaming marketing neuromarketing strategies have merged into drug-like cartels. You can see an article I wrote that got promoted to the front page of Gamasutra a couple years ago on this which although it didn't get much comment on that site, got me some really disturbing confessional emails from social gaming marketing people on the side... Bioware is F2P but I assure you they will be finding ways into your pockets. The industry has recognized that F2P is the only way to get a steady revenue stream now that current fashions in MMO gaming are causing the collapse of subscription gaming. Pity really, but there it is. We've become the flavor of the month club and subs don't weather that. And AAA budgets don't weather the migrating herds the ooo-shiny-what's-next (to put it charitably) hoard. So F2P will be what we deal with for the future, whatever anyone feels about it. That, and indy games that grow with genius and innovation (and damned strong loyal community) but not AAA launches or budget (say, Minecraft as an example). Interesting times! If only there were a big studio that were good at creating innovative genius games with strong communities and great story. Oh...damn... That's right they sold out to the American Sith. Return to the Light! It's not too late to revise your models! Meh, didn't work on SOE either. Well, I'll ride this one out. They're still doing better at it than Sony, IMNSHO. But they have time to do worse. All of Mr. Doctorow's novels are great, also many might find some of his interviews about economics/copywrites interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaD Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Why wouldn't EA do the same when players are stupid enough to accomodate it? Why is it stupid? I've been playing WoW since 2005 and I've never bought anything in the cash shop. It's not my thing, just like I don't use cosmetics irl. But calling people who enjoy something we do not "stupid" is a bit harsh, don't you think? There is a certain stigma attached to buying virtual objects. It has to go away. If people spend 20-30 hours a week in a virtual world, buying objects in this world got to be meaningful. That's more hours than an average working American spends with her child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaD Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 For those who are versed in the terms of art of business in the games industry, here is the job posting for the architect for F2P analysis for Bioware Austin. They forgot to add, "Dark V strongly preferred." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Why is it stupid? I've been playing WoW since 2005 and I've never bought anything in the cash shop. It's not my thing, just like I don't use cosmetics irl. But calling people who enjoy something we do not "stupid" is a bit harsh, don't you think? There is a certain stigma attached to buying virtual objects. It has to go away. If people spend 20-30 hours a week in a virtual world, buying objects in this world got to be meaningful. That's more hours than an average working American spends with her child. Well when they nerf a world drop rate massive and then stick the items they nerfed on the Cashshop........ how would you describe it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaD Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Well when they nerf a world drop rate massive and then stick the items they nerfed on the Cashshop........ how would you describe it? I would describe this as, "Unfounded hypothetical scenario of play-to-win, which does not relate to the discussion of people buying cosmetic items such as sparkly mounts in WoW." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 (edited) I would describe this as, "Unfounded hypothetical scenario of play-to-win, which does not relate to the discussion of people buying cosmetic items such as sparkly mounts in WoW." What on earth are you on about? P2W? Orange drops from chests and NPC were basically cosmetic. Vendetta armour, Supreme Inquisitors etc. Why else would they seriously nerf orange drops (which were basically cosmetic), from chests and NPCS, right before the cashshop, if not to boost the cashshop sales? I mean really, it's one thing to be positive, it is entirely something else to stick your head in the sand and pretend what IS going on isn't. Edited October 11, 2012 by Goretzu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaD Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 What on earth are you on about? P2W? Orange drops from chests and NPC were basically cosmetic. Vendetta armour, Supreme Inquisitors etc. Why else would they seriously nerf orange drops (which were basically cosmetic), from chests and NPCS, right before the cashshop, if not to boost the cashshop sales? I see what you mean. I wasn't aware the drops of cosmetic items were nerfed, but now that you mention it, I can easily believe it. Because prices went up on GTN, and because one person I know who used to farm chests for orange items, and who knows math well enough, said it is now harder. I take back my words about this being unfounded and irrelevant. Thank you for the details. Again, this does not make players who choose to buy orange items in the cash shop stupid. Some people protest money grabs, and others don't feel revolutionary - and pay. Neither choice is inherently stupid. That was my old point. Now for a new point. BW makes some decisions that are guaranteed to upset the majority of people. I often wonder why; it hurts the subscription numbers and the morale quite a lot. They can't be that short on resources. Some things in MMOs are sacred and should not be messed with. For example, nerfing drop rates (like BH comms, or this orange gear now) is always a bad move. Deflation is a better idea. Taking names away is another example. They just might be Sith, and into torturing players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drudenfusz Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 So, is this this now just panic that the drop chance for orange gear in lower or is it actually true? Is there some proof? Would a dev care to post on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I see what you mean. I wasn't aware the drops of cosmetic items were nerfed, but now that you mention it, I can easily believe it. Because prices went up on GTN, and because one person I know who used to farm chests for orange items, and who knows math well enough, said it is now harder. I take back my words about this being unfounded and irrelevant. Thank you for the details. Again, this does not make players who choose to buy orange items in the cash shop stupid. Some people protest money grabs, and others don't feel revolutionary - and pay. Neither choice is inherently stupid. That was my old point. Now for a new point. BW makes some decisions that are guaranteed to upset the majority of people. I often wonder why; it hurts the subscription numbers and the morale quite a lot. They can't be that short on resources. Some things in MMOs are sacred and should not be messed with. For example, nerfing drop rates (like BH comms, or this orange gear now) is always a bad move. Deflation is a better idea. Taking names away is another example. They just might be Sith, and into torturing players. In the sense that we're all just going along with it, what you call it is up to you, but to say that someone elses opinion that is that ,is wrong, is...... well.... wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 So, is this this now just panic that the drop chance for orange gear in lower or is it actually true? Is there some proof? Would a dev care to post on this? Yeah it's lowered a LOT, there's plenty of threads knocking about on it. Both in NPC orange drops and orange drops from chests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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