Answers HQ a Joke?

by Tveohed
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Re: Answers HQ a Joke?

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@PandaTar wrote:

Of course. Using Twitter makes it impossible expressing what really needs to be expressed. Or suggested. Or reported. Or demanded. Or feedbacked, if that's even a word.


Yeah twitter has an impossibly short text limit - but can always tweet them links to more indepth stuff. Maybe some of the gathered lists or something.

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Re: Answers HQ a Joke?

[ Edited ]
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@Nykara360, I have been in the software business for over 30 years.  I have seen this time and again.

 

  1. Devs do not post to twitter or generally communicate with users.  That is what marketing and community managers do -- that is why the tweets are all fluff or server status.
  2. If you are customer-focused, you delay a release and give that beta test cycle the time it needs or you risk screwing the pooch.
  3. If you do end up screwing the pooch, you own it and get your marketing folks and product managers out there talking to your customers, buying your devs time to get fixes in.
  4. You timebox development so that you can respond on a regular, predictable schedule that inspires confidence in your customers.
  5. You communicate, communicate, communicate.

I have seen this over and over in different horizontal and vertical markets.  There is over 40 years of published work describing software process and how to avoid these situations. Somehow people think they can cut corners and get away with it, but it inevitably bites them in the butt.  A sign of a truly professional organization is that they avoid these predictable traps, and how they deal with it if they happen to get caught in one.

 

 

Message 12 of 30 (404 Views)

Re: Answers HQ a Joke?

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And most of these companies keep or start doing these things because of indifference of a part of their own clientele, coupled with the fact that people are starting to think it's a tendency, conformed with 'a new way to do business' based on reoccurring failure.

Message 13 of 30 (395 Views)

Re: Answers HQ a Joke?

[ Edited ]
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@PandaTar, I can guarantee that this situation was not caused by the developers.  Generally, professional developers are more software process-aware and raise concerns.  They are overruled by Product Managers, Marketers, and Sales types that have a fixation on deadlines rather than on quality.  The poor devs end up working 80-hour weeks trying to put it right, if they are really good and lucky.  I have also seen teams flame out under that kind of pressure.  Companies like CD Projekt Red seem to have Sale/Marketing/Product Managers that understand the partnership with dev to create something special.  Those are rare.

 

Edit: I forgot my original reason for replying. Heh. YES!  "A new way..." is often code for "seat of the pants, f*cking it up." :-)

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Re: Answers HQ a Joke?

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During my years as a gamer I have also seen the other side of the spectrum - the side where some poor unsuspecting PR person has recieved harassment, death threats and other equal nasties at the hands of an angry gamer mob and this is not ok, its downright terrifying for those on the recieving end. 

In a way, I can also understand why larger companies maybe more hesitant to inflict that on anyone. As many nice and constructive people around - the larger the community the more horrible people are around also. No one should ever be made deal with that * and its already happened on a memeber of the andromeda team since launch.

online bullying and mobbing can lead to some serious mental health issues for the victim.

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Re: Answers HQ a Joke?

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@Nykara360, yeah, there was a great open source tool called NDoc that went by the wayside because the part-time developer received threats when he did not get an update out fast enough for people. He just walked away.  I hear you.

 

Nonetheless, in Forums, BioWare has the ability to shield people's identities and still allow them to communicate officially.  They can ban people who make threats or are otherwise abusive (a power they have to be careful not to abuse).  They can even have screeners who filter the content before the actual responders see it to lessen the psychological impact.

 

Yes, that all costs money.  But, by releasing a defective product, they have sacrificed their right to their imagined profit margin.

 

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Re: Answers HQ a Joke?

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@angrybunnie wrote:

@Nykara360, yeah, there was a great open source tool called NDoc that went by the wayside because the part-time developer received threats when he did not get an update out fast enough for people. He just walked away.  I hear you.

 

Nonetheless, in Forums, BioWare has the ability to shield people's identities and still allow them to communicate officially.  They can ban people who make threats or are otherwise abusive (a power they have to be careful not to abuse).  They can even have screeners who filter the content before the actual responders see it to lessen the psychological impact.

 

Yes, that all costs money.  But, by releasing a defective product, they have sacrificed their right to their imagined profit margin.

 


Unfortunately even with banning, the messages have already been seen first Frown

I mean I get it, from all sides.

Bioware did give a list and a two month time frame, including a comment of and more.. at the end. We may just have to sit tight until that times up and hope to hear / see more before then.

I think they are working on it and that we will see improvements soon. It's easy to get impatient, I know I am.

Ive also seen some tech support responses to technical issues people have had, so there is some help happening there.

Im gunna try and remain - hopeful. With so many issues they can't just flick a switch to fix them all. Im sure they are all busy working ! And there was the easter break in there too.

Message 17 of 30 (357 Views)

Re: Answers HQ a Joke?

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@Nykara360, I appreciate that you want to give them the benefit of the doubt.  I am not out here just ranting about this bug or that. I do try to make my comments somewhat constructive.

 

However, you also need to realize that some of us know quite well how companies get into these messes, and how the better ones turn things around.  The President of a company I once worked for used to say "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."  It is unclear whether BioWare has stopped digging because they are not really communicating.

 

Ubisoft had similar problems with The Division.  I think they did eventually turn it around, but they lost a ton of customers along the way.  A Pyrrhic victory at best.

 

I hope someone at BioWare sees this thread and reaches out to someone who can help them with software process and crisis management.  My heart goes out to the devs who must be under a lot of pressure and working late while all of the Marketing and Sales folks who probably got them into this mess go home at 5:00 or 6:00 pm.

 

We all continue to be hopeful that BioWare will turn it around. I would not waste my time here if I did not have some hope.

Message 18 of 30 (350 Views)

Re: Answers HQ a Joke?

I think people in general underestimate how well the game works for some people....ie the game ain't broken for everyone, and while it MAY be broken for you(and that is what's important to you), it isn't EVERYONE.  I have, LUCKILY, two complete 60 hour plays through MEA....I don't really play multiplayer, so I can't comment on it much, other than it works usually for me when I try.  So for me, NOPE the game ain't broke and is fun to play.  So to say EA/Bioware delivered a broke game isn't correct...they may have delivered one that doesn't preform on all, or more importantly YOUR SYSTEM, but it does preform on some/most/mine....  So while they need to work on it, they also need to take the time to make sure they don't break more than they fix, AND they also need to figure out EXACTLY why I can play it pretty much perfectly, and YOUR system Shotz a duck.....so they can tweak it so it works fine on BOTH of our systems.  I have heard the 2 month time period on patch....sounds about right to me, unless something goes horribly wrong....or incredibly right, Murphy bets on first.....

 

Second thing to remember, is Mass Effect 3 ending fiasco and the toll it took on all Bioware personnel who dealt with the public.......and this is also probably why you see such a total dev team blackout to the public.  One on one, people are generally pretty nice, but put them on a message board or forum and large numbers of them become raving lunatics and I personally think Bioware just doesn't want to deal with them.......  So they use media to limit access, limit the * they have to take, and just try to skim what they need from forums, bug reports and the like and then do what they can to fix it without much contact.  So saying I am one of those who hated ME3 endings....still do even after all the upgrades....but I try to keep myself civil at least, but I know from the old forums that wasn't everyone and interviews of the ME3 dev teams even stated they were incredibly hurt and stressed by the reaction. 

 

So basically, due to the internet being what it is, and game patching being what it is, kinda figure on the two months they said, hope for better, and try to keep yourself civil.

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I am NOT an EA employee, I am just a simple gamer like most everyone else here volunteering my help to those who may can use it .....That means I have to pay for my games just like you, lol.
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Message 19 of 30 (343 Views)

Re: Answers HQ a Joke?

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@mcsupersport, sorry, I don't get how I or anyone in this thread was being "uncivil."  Further, I am overjoyed that you seem to be having a much better experience with MEA.  The preponderance of opinions in posts online and articles such as those in Forbes and other online magazines seem to suggest that BioWare has a real problem with this release.  Your good experience seems to be the outlier. 

 

 

It is not "uncivil" to suggest that BioWare handle the situation better, especially when you have experience in handling these exact kinds of situations.

 

BTW, I liked the original ME3 ending.  In a truly galactic-scale, all life-threatening conflict, even a victory may not be all rosy. 

Message 20 of 30 (336 Views)