Did EA Screw us over?

[sir_star_wars]

Okay, I just HAVE to ask. I've been here since the beginning, but only recently have I been paying attention to updates coming soon, whose doing what, whats been screwed up this time, etc., etc. So, I was wondering: is it EA who screwed this game over?

[CaptRavenous]

Okay, I just HAVE to ask. I've been here since the beginning, but only recently have I been paying attention to updates coming soon, whose doing what, whats been screwed up this time, etc., etc. So, I was wondering: is it EA who screwed this game over?

 

This game started buggy, like every MMO. It still has bugs, like every MMO.

 

We had around 750,000 subscribers before F2P. We've gained 2 million subscribers since F2P. We probably have nearly 3 million subscribers total. Not to mention all those people who are F2P, and were not counted in the recent figures released by EA.

 

This game's profits are soaring.

 

How has this game been screwed over, compared to other MMOs? Please elaborate upon your question, citing detail & instance where applicable.

[Nigredo]

Okay, I just HAVE to ask. I've been here since the beginning, but only recently have I been paying attention to updates coming soon, whose doing what, whats been screwed up this time, etc., etc. So, I was wondering: is it EA who screwed this game over?

 

Didn't even have the decency to give us a reach around.

[chuixupu]

This game started buggy, like every MMO. It still has bugs, like every MMO.

 

We had around 750,000 subscribers before F2P. We've gained 2 million subscribers since F2P. We probably have nearly 3 million subscribers total. Not to mention all those people who are F2P, and were not counted in the recent figures released by EA.

 

Just to clarify, 2 million accounts created is not the same thing as 2 million subscribers.

[Thylbanus]

We had around 750,000 subscribers before F2P. We've gained 2 million subscribers since F2P.

 

Just have to clarify, there were 2 million new accounts logged, not subscribers. That would include all the F2P accounts. They refuse to release how many subscribers as they feel it will negatively affect their investors. Rightly so, since most people who invest really have no idea beyond some stock market snapshot or Forbes write up they stumble upon. So we will be left in the dark about such things because most people have no idea what they are investing in.

 

THANKS Scottrade, E*Trade, and the like!

[Eshmael]

As Greg Zuschek mentioned in an interview recently:

NO EA HAS NOTHING TO WITH THE PROBLEMS OF SWTOR.

 

It was all BWs decisions.

[Thylbanus]

As Greg Zuschek mentioned in an interview recently:

NO EA HAS NOTHING TO WITH THE PROBLEMS OF SWTOR.

 

It was all BWs decisions.

 

Well to counter that, isn't there an axiom: If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem?

 

Remeber, EA is the one that decides who is and is not capable of running BioWare. Simple solution would be to reorganize BioWare management. Since they did that already, it is an EA problem.

 

BTW, can you link that quote from Greg?

Edited May 7, 2013 by Thylbanus

[TheBBP]

BTW, can you link that quote from Greg?

 

Google it. It's out there.

[xxIncubixx]

I like how people like to point fingers at EA always , well i guess because its a big target and everyone wants to be cool, and join the same hateEA bandwagon. However it was not EA that chose a crap engine to begin with, it was bioware, it is not EA making decisions about class balance, PVP etc.

 

Same for what happened to Warhammer online, it was not EAs fault that mythic used an out dated engine from the get go that had a bad code.

 

TBH all this EA hate is getting old.

Edited May 7, 2013 by xxIncubixx

[Levity]

Okay, I just HAVE to ask. I've been here since the beginning, but only recently have I been paying attention to updates coming soon, whose doing what, whats been screwed up this time, etc., etc. So, I was wondering: is it EA who screwed this game over?

 

EA screwed the pooch for the game at launch:

 

Made BW launch the game early, which made BW scrap a lot of end game content and a whole different engine they were making specifically for TOR.

 

A lot of problems people had back then was no end game, poor performance, and massive empty servers. If EA hadn't been so mind set on the date and actually wanted to produce a ****** MMO they probably would of let BW work a little more on it before hand. But EA just cares about profit over quality.

 

If EA wasn't in the picture there would be a couple scenerio's:

 

Better game that never would of lost it's initial 2 million subs, more content, more everything. Better engine, better game.

 

BW would of failed still and went the F2P route.

 

Who knows. EA, however, is just a crap company.

[Thylbanus]

Google it. It's out there.

 

After digging a few pages deep after inputting a date range I found that he did indeed say that BioWare had complete creative control. Then again, this is also a man speaking from a lack of "fire" as he described it. It's typical self-loathing rhetoric. He's been beat up (in many cases, rightfully so) and just like an abused spouse blames himself. Greg went on to say this, though (which is VERY revealing of his mental state):

At the same time, however, Zeschuk expressed that he would discourage independent studios from selling to a publisher. “Put it off as long as you possibly can,” he advised. “It’s funny, we have this file in our office of all our prior offers that we had—we had a lot of really interesting offers from people to buy BioWare over the years. Some of them we considered and thought a lot about. For us, a lot of it was about building a strong business that could survive being acquired, because one of the challenges of being acquired is very simply that it can destroy your company; it can be very, very disruptive. So if you can, put it off, and ultimately if you can, don’t even do it.”

 

Once I did some more reading I found the true article and found that, much as all media does, has taken things out of context.

 

Since the original post was

Okay, I just HAVE to ask. I've been here since the beginning, but only recently have I been paying attention to updates coming soon, whose doing what, whats been screwed up this time, etc., etc. So, I was wondering: is it EA who screwed this game over?

It does leave the question vague and CaptRavenous put it best:

How has this game been screwed over, compared to other MMOs? Please elaborate upon your question, citing detail & instance where applicable.

Until sir_star_wars gets back to us, we will have to guess and say BioWare did a LOT to hamstring this game from concept to launch (although it was a lunch window that EA set, not BioWare). But the better question is what is EA doing to fix it? Yes, EA. Once Greg and Ray left, it was up to EA to fill those spots. This isn't quite the picture painted, it still rests in the hands of EA. As the parent company, you have to shoulder the responsibility of your subsidiaries.

 

Riccitiello's departure it may be just what the doctor ordered. Maybe they will start to understand that they don't make games anymore, rather than make interactive art. Maybe they will see that and focus less on metrics and more on communication with the other collaborators in their art - the gamers.

 

It's probably a pipe dream, but I'm all about the dream.

[TheBBP]

After digging a few pages deep after inputting a date range

 

What did you put in for your search? I have tried many different ways of searching it including something as vague as "greg says ea" and am getting the result at the very top of the list every time.

Edited May 7, 2013 by TheBBP

[sir_star_wars]

Sorry for the late response everyone!

 

Reading back over it, yes I can see I was scarce on information. I was in a rush to get out of the house, and have been rather busy since then. So, just to clarify everyone on everything, what I mean is that this game had so much hype back when it was released, and everything seemed to be going perfectly. However, after a few months, days even, people started unsubscribing like there was no tomorrow.

 

And ever since then, I have heard constant arguments everywhere, about whose fault it was, why it was there fault, why this game fails, etc. I just want a clarification as to whether or not it was EA who did indeed screw this game over, as it was recently nominated Worst Company of the Year.

 

I mean, end game is crude and horrid, and it seems as if overall after 50 everything else is completely rushed. Not to mention the constant bugs, and dare I say the PvP aspects of this game?

 

Those are the three main issues I am concerned with, as they are, to me at least, what is bringing the game down, alongside the fact that they never even listen to us.

 

That's all, sorry that it didnt come out like that.

Edited May 7, 2013 by sir_star_wars

[Thylbanus]

Sorry for the late response everyone!

 

Reading back over it, yes I can see I was scarce on information. I was in a rush to get out of the house, and have been rather busy since then. So, just to clarify everyone on everything, what I mean is that this game had so much hype back when it was released, and everything seemed to be going perfectly. However, after a few months, days even, people started unsubscribing like there was no tomorrow.

 

And ever since then, I have heard constant arguments everywhere, about whose fault it was, why it was there fault, why this game fails, etc. I just want a clarification as to whether or not it was EA who did indeed screw this game over, as it was recently nominated Worst Company of the Year.

 

I mean, end game is crude and horrid, and it seems as if overall after 50 everything else is completely rushed. Not to mention the constant bugs, and dare I say the PvP aspects of this game?

 

Those are the three main issues I am concerned with, as they are, to me at least, what is bringing the game down, alongside the fact that they never even listen to us.

 

That's all, sorry that it didnt come out like that.

 

Well ok, since we have a basis, it is both EA's and BioWare's fault. BioWare over-reached and EA has done little to stop the mess. They are probably now in recovery mode now, but this is a bit late to have stepped in.

 

Endgame was never fully realized as this was something that couldn't be explored in beta. They wiped the servers with each iteration and all progress was lost. This led to a robust start, but hollow endamge. Sure there were some powerhouses that just burned through the content, but for most of us, we were running around doing crazy stuff that so that we might find bugs (kinda the point of being a tester).

 

Now EA, from what I understand had set the launch date. They wanted it out for the holidays and from unreliable sources rushed the dev team to market. Shortcuts were taken and endame suffered. There was never a PvP only test session that I experienced during beta. I just kept plugging along in PvE to hit my highest point at level 40 before the server wipe. I stared beta in April of 2011.

 

Hopefully being elected "Worst Company of the Year" consecutively may ring some bells for the investors and they will take a look at some of their more controversial policies. Only time will tell, but so far, BioWare has embraced more open and transparent policies (still watching though, I woun't believe it until it's been tested again and again.)

[MSchuyler]

Hopefully being elected "Worst Company of the Year" consecutively may ring some bells for the investors and they will take a look at some of their more controversial policies. Only time will tell, but so far, BioWare has embraced more open and transparent policies (still watching though, I woun't believe it until it's been tested again and again.)

 

Or maybe not. Here's a quote from an MSN Top Stocks article last month:

 

Some critics called on customers to vote for the company as worst of the worst because they disagreed with the choice of the cover athlete on "Madden NFL." Some conservatives campaigned against the company because it lets gamers create lesbian and gay characters in some of its games. Electronic Arts shares don't appear to be much bothered by the "award." The stock was up 24 cents to $17.69 Wednesday afternoon. It's up nearly 22% on the year, although down from a March 14 closing high of $19.34.

 

In other words, some of the complaints are trivial, and some are politically based. It's not all about game content. A fairly comprehensive analysis is in the Consumerist here: http://consumerist.com/2013/04/09/ea-makes-worst-company-in-america-history-wins-title-for-second-year-in-a-row/ which puts the blame squarely on game content and EA pricing policies.

[WarbNull]

In other words, some of the complaints are trivial, and some are politically based. It's not all about game content. A fairly comprehensive analysis is in the Consumerist here: http://consumerist.com/2013/04/09/ea-makes-worst-company-in-america-history-wins-title-for-second-year-in-a-row/ which puts the blame squarely on game content and EA pricing policies.

That is so true.

Ea may make some bad choices here and there, but they are far from being the Worst Company.

 

That Worse Company of the Year Award is a Total Farce. People actively campaign it so that the choices they wanted to win the award will. I remember seeing people asking in game forums all over the web to vote for EA. Heck it beat out Banks that got Bailout Money for ripping people off. All it was was a bunch of disgruntled gamers that reflect EA Hate that fixed those awards to pick EA. Anyone that knows true Business Economics would realize that EA is Far from the Worst Company out there.

 

To summarize. Those awards are always run in the worse way and never give the award to a company that truly deserves it. Those that believe it is a valid rating of a Company are just foolish.

 

Hate me if you wish but it is the truth.

Edited May 8, 2013 by WarbNull