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Denver, 7:35 AM
Sat Nov 21
50 posts in the last 24 hours
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06/05/09
06/05/09
06/05/09
10/31/08
The common factor here? Darren used to be the president of one of EA's main brands (Los Angeles one, i believe) then came to Lucasarts and launched the outsourcing trend as well.
It just comes to show you that EA does in fact seem to corrupt everything they touch. I simply cannot think of a worse company to work for in this type of industry and for all of those still "lucky" enough to have a job with them, please note that this could apply to you just as easily as it did to those who got laid off.
11/01/08
Personally, I believe that "sourcing" IPs to other dev houses outside of the company hurts the overall productline, since I would imagine that you have lesser QA abilities when said dev house can be in india (or elsewhere), let alone within the country and away from corporate.
I've kind of felt that games these days felt waterd down, as a result of this trend, and a reason why my purchases have gone down. I believe that with more in-house dev teams, you can maximize QA, while leaving a bigger pipeline for more input between the dev channels, and the company will know more about what it is that they are selling.
Because these days, I can't trust one SEGA game from another. (Used for emphasis on example.)
10/31/08
For example, I bet the CEO makes a healthy paycheck that amounts to at least 10 if not 20 grunts (the guys who do the actual work). 20 grunts can bang out something productive with enough time at no pay increase, but a CEO can only write so many e-mails before catching a game of golf before he gets yet another promotion for the fine keynote speech at the Overpaid Management Luncheon.
11/01/08
I think it is the system of how the CEOs are paid that is the problem, in general.
I believe that as investors, we should seriously be looking toward "merit pay", as a means to gauge how corporate officers are paid. If the investors vote to pay by satisfaction, the CEO would probably take their jobs more seriously; which would lead to better direction.
I also think that cutting in software to make a profit is a very short-term solution; as that developer you laid off could have the next best product. It's not like other industries, since the staff in software are true investments to your next product. They are all potential innovators and inventors, and all add to the collective. This should be merit based, too.
10/30/08
"However, EA has made good progress in improving product quality, building a holiday lineup of titles that is extremely strong, filling our new IP pipeline, and expanding our Direct-To-Consumer and online businesses. As well, our talent remains the best in the industry."
Improving product quality? Nope, haven't seen any indication of that. Expanding your online business? Yeah, but still haven't fixed any of its flaws leaving dozens of Spore players in particular hanging out to dry so long they moved on to other games. Industry-leading talent? Where? What industry-leading talent? I haven't played a game from EA in which blew me away since the days when EA used the cube, sphere and cone logo. EA has made efforts to damage their relationship with people on top of everything else they've managed to screw up. I predict even more layoffs. 600 is optimistic. In the next 6 months I imagine that number may double or triple.
10/31/08
Come on, I know hating EA is still for some of you but really? Dead Space is excellent. Skate took down a ten-year reign of Tony Hawk. FIFA and NHL this year scored in the high 80s on Metacritic. Battlefield Bad Company did the same. Warhammer Online has been reviewed well. Let's not forget about the all the free DLC from Burnout Paradise, another well-reviewed game.
On the EA Partners end, they've got Crysis, Orange Box, and Rock Band 1/2.
Upcoming they've got Mirror's Edge and more EA Partners releases like Left 4 Dead.
Sure, you may not like their games personally but you can't say all their games suck. Are you saying then all those reviews on Metacritic were lies?
If you don't like EA, that's fine but give another reason instead of weak ones.
10/31/08
10/31/08
While you interpreted my words as me saying all EA games suck, that's not what I actually said. I said they haven't blown me away since the cube, sphere, and cone logo days when they were less of an acquisition firm. A few of their games in recent memory have sucked, a couple of been good, but the vast majority have been merely average. Franchises I used to enjoy have gone downhill or been destroyed thus causing me to bash EA on quality (C&C, NFS, Sim City). EA's expanded use of the EA Download Manager in a Steam-like fashion makes me hate their online expansion particularly since EADM can't even do a simple thing like run the 64 bit edition of Crysis instead of the 32 bit edition, among many many other problems. EA's only industry-leading talent is from their video production crews who cast babes and Hollywood talent to create cut scenes and market their products rather than polishing their games or doing something innovative.
I could go on and on, but this explains things sufficiently. Actions like refusing to release games on the PC despite being on every other platform, banning people from their games for the words they say on a forum, and milking products to death with expansions, parts packs, DLC, and so on just add more fuel to the fire. I don't like EA. While I concede that Crysis was good and Orange Box was just great, games like Battlefield 2142, C&C3, Sim City Societies, nearly all of the recent NFS games, and more have been downright terrible.
10/31/08
Your response is simple backpedaling. You failed to be clear in your initial statement. No where did you say you were primarily a PC gamer. Thus, when you wrote:
"Improving product quality? Nope, haven't seen any indication of that."
we had to assume you meant all EA games across all platforms because you gave us no reason to think you were only saying just PC games. So yes, we did interpret you correctly.
Here's another thing I found problematic that you wrote:
"A few of their games in recent memory have sucked, a couple of been good, but the vast majority have been merely average."
Clearly, this is just your opinion. Also, you don't give specific examples of what sucked. It's also your purely your own assessment that a "couple of been good". I gave specific examples of games that had high Metacritic scores, information that is verifiable. Your statements are simply your opinion.
I'm fine that you have your opinion but to try to make your point by implying all EA games suck is faulty.
If you had simply wrote, "I believe all EA games on the PC suck", no one would have a problem with that. Instead, you tried to make an implication that all EA games suck and swept your very specific opinion there.
11/01/08
It read alot more like an opinion, and like other posters on this blog site, BigDragon's opinions are a means to put those two cents on the thread where others can read posted thoughts on the subject.
"Improving product quality? Nope, haven't seen any indication of that." and "A few of their games in recent memory have sucked, a couple of been good, but the vast majority have been merely average." can't be faulty is it is that posters OWN opinion. How anyone faults another's opinionation on here in a sea of opinions that are scattered on this site is beyond me, and it looks as if you're reaching for something that just isn't there..
So, how about I add my opinion on here that I haven't found any game from EA that were worth me paying my hard earned dollars for in years?
Will you attack that logic too?
10/30/08
10/30/08
10/30/08
When jobs get shipped abroad, the employer will offer the staff the same job in xxx country, with the same pay as they had in the US. No one ever takes it.
10/30/08
My guess is they'll downsize easily-substitutable functions (eg QA) at EARS and move more work to EA Canada (AAA QA) and India/China/Korea (non-AAA QA).
Redwood Shores is incredibly expensive and the location is a throwback to the old days when the CEO was also a programmer. You don't need to have Silicon Valley people (and pay them a correspondingly-higher wage) to do QA or bitch-code.
10/30/08
10/30/08
10/30/08
10/30/08
Every studio in the biz is doing this now. Next gen games take massive art teams to produce the levels/characters/animations. It's just not possible to staff up for projects anymore without lowering the quality bar.
10/30/08
10/30/08
There is no "cheaper" in my post. All I said was that it's nearly impossible to keep an entire next gen art team on staff these days. The majority of studios have to outsource just to meet deadlines.
10/30/08
10/30/08
High-Cost: EA Redwood Shores
Low-Cost (by comparison): Canada
Seriously, the rent alone has got to be killing them.
10/30/08
10/30/08
10/30/08
I work at EARS and I still have my job :)
Also, anybody that thinks EA is a bad company to work for is incorrect, I've never had a better employer before
10/30/08
10/30/08
Yeah, I hope they fired the shitheads, but I doubt it. :( Good luck to those 600 who probably didn't deserve to be let go. Trust me, you should be working for a better company anyway.
10/30/08
10/30/08
outsourcing to third parties (which many of the bigger studios already do), or setting up development centers in countries like India and China(again being already explored by many) will be ways many companies will have to adapt.