EA responds to impending 'Worst Company in America' win

[JamesV]

There is an article on IGN about Bioware's founder defending EA. http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/10/bioware-founder-disputes-public-perception-of-ea

He basically says that once bought, they had so many resources that it was overwhelming... but the telling part is when he says with those resources comes the need to focus on the bottom line, or how much they will make.

So EA buys your favorite dev, throws everything they can at production, but in the end you have to make a game that casual players will like. So the hardcore gamers that made that dev a success, will never see another game like they used to, because casual players prefer streamlined (or dumbed down) games.

We will never see anything like SimCity 4 again because of this, but 'streamlined' gameplay knockoffs, and I for one reserve my right to bitch and complain because of that.

 

[JTsyo]

People hate Origin because it's EA, it's also the same reason why a lot of people love Steam. I feel pretty sure that if Valve didn't launch Steam, we'd be buying our PC games for $60 at retail stores displaying nothing more than a single shelf worth of games.

Do you not remember the hate for Steam when it first came out? It took a few years before it was accepted. If it wasn't for HL and CounterStrike it might not have caught on.

 

[Sulaco]

There is an article on IGN about Bioware's founder defending EA. http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/10/bioware-founder-disputes-public-perception-of-ea

He basically says that once bought, they had so many resources that it was overwhelming... but the telling part is when he says with those resources comes the need to focus on the bottom line, or how much they will make.

So EA buys your favorite dev, throws everything they can at production, but in the end you have to make a game that casual players will like. So the hardcore gamers that made that dev a success, will never see another game like they used to, because casual players prefer streamlined (or dumbed down) games.

We will never see anything like SimCity 4 again because of this, but 'streamlined' gameplay knockoffs, and I for one reserve my right to bitch and complain because of that.

Exactly! I've been saying this for years, and it's one of the biggest problems with gaming now.

Everything has to be "streamlined". It's no longer good enough for a game to be excellent in its genre and sell well for a Sim, or a strategy game, or a survival horror game, etc. It now has to rival Call of Duty sales, or it's simply "not worth it"

Personally, I'd MUCH rather have a game with more limited resources actually focus on being a great game within its genre, rather than a game with EA-type resources that has to try and appeal to EVERYONE, and end up pleasing no one.

 

[Cutterhead]

Exactly! I've been saying this for years, and it's one of the biggest problems with gaming now.

Everything has to be "streamlined". It's no longer good enough for a game to be excellent in its genre and sell well for a Sim, or a strategy game, or a survival horror game, etc. It now has to rival Call of Duty sales, or it's simply "not worth it"

Personally, I'd MUCH rather have a game with more limited resources actually focus on being a great game within its genre, rather than a game with EA-type resources that has to try and appeal to EVERYONE, and end up pleasing no one.

This is exactly why Kickstarter is becoming a popular way to fund game development.

 

[PowerYoga]

They aren't the worst company, they are the worst game company. There needs to be separate charts ;p

oh comon, that'd make it so difficult. Ubisoft, Activision, EA.... geez I'd spend hours debating which is worse.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

The thing is, I actually believe the developers of SimCity wanted the online to be an integral feature of the game. They just didn't have the resources / time to actually flesh that part out. Forcing you to interact with other cities online for import / export and tourism would be a great part of the 'simulation.' However, what ended up being released was not what I think the developers envisioned when they added that feature.

I'm not completely convinced.

The online component seems to be the absolute bare minimum needed to "justify" always online, modders have practically modded out this component, i refuse to believe the developers couldn't have done it before launch or patched it afterwards. They even claim it's impossible which is jut another lie they've been caught in.

It's a very well constructed series of lies, we can all say that's obviously a lie but we can't say with complete certainty, they're hiding behind this "you can't prove our intentions", we all really know what's going on, lets not fool ourselves here.

 

[BladeVenom]

There is an article on IGN about Bioware's founder defending EA. http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/10/bioware-founder-disputes-public-perception-of-ea

Bioware has now been corrupted by EA. Dragon Age II was nothing more than a quick cash grab exploiting the name of Bioware and the first Dragon Age game.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Bioware has now been corrupted by EA. Dragon Age was nothing more than a quick cash grab exploiting the name of Bioware and the first Dragon Age game.

ftfy. i thought DA:O was awful. it was grueling and painful to finish that game.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

ftfy. i thought DA:O was awful. it was grueling and painful to finish that game.

It wasn't horrible but it autosaved right before the final boss and I had nothing to heal myself with and no way to backtrack for more supplies, or something. I don't think I ever actually beat that game because of that. haha

 

[Bateluer]

ftfy. i thought DA:O was awful. it was grueling and painful to finish that game.

As opposed to the poor UI, crappy combat, lousy animations, and grand total of 6 rooms in DA2? DA2 was a trash, and since there was no toolset released, unsaveable by modders.

I'm not completely convinced.

The online component seems to be the absolute bare minimum needed to "justify" always online, modders have practically modded out this component, i refuse to believe the developers couldn't have done it before launch or patched it afterwards. They even claim it's impossible which is jut another lie they've been caught in.

It's a very well constructed series of lies, we can all say that's obviously a lie but we can't say with complete certainty, they're hiding behind this "you can't prove our intentions", we all really know what's going on, lets not fool ourselves here.

The online component of SimCity was there for DRM only, everything else was there simply to obscure that fact.

 

[poohbear]

Wish the above was a real response. I mean seriously guys, they MAKE VIDEO GAMES! Nothing sadder than a bunch of angry nerds to decide "worse company in america". I heard the last showdown was between EA and Bank of America, and the geeks chose EA! unbelievably lame.

 

[tedrodai]

And those 45M users had no choice but to use Origin, since its mandatory for titles like Mass Effect 3, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, etc. Like Microsoft claiming stellar Windows 8 sales, when PC buyers have no choice when they buy a new PC.

I'm not a fan of EA, but those 45M users sure as hell have a choice to use Origin or not--i.e. a choice to play their games or not. If people really had that much of a problem with Origin, they'd not buy their games. But they do. Similarly PC buyers have a choice with a new PC, whether they know it or not, when they buy a new one with Windows 8. Which I also am not a fan of...but I do have a brand new laptop with a touchscreen and Windows 8 lol.

I wish you could return software for a full refund.

 

[PowerYoga]

I deleted origin months ago, but I bet they still have me down as "an user that uses origin".

Check the amount of people that actually logged in in the past 30 days and you'll see the number is way less than 45m. The 45m is probably the total number of accounts on origin, not ones that have been left to mothball.

 

[mizzou]

Wish the above was a real response. I mean seriously guys, they MAKE VIDEO GAMES! Nothing sadder than a bunch of angry nerds to decide "worse company in america". I heard the last showdown was between EA and Bank of America, and the geeks chose EA! unbelievably lame.

some may say that art = life :\

 

[PrincessFrosty]

*snip img*

Wish the above was a real response. I mean seriously guys, they MAKE VIDEO GAMES! Nothing sadder than a bunch of angry nerds to decide "worse company in america". I heard the last showdown was between EA and Bank of America, and the geeks chose EA! unbelievably lame.

In some ways they have a point. But the award isn't for the most damage done to the environment, it's for worst company.

EA prowl the gaming world for upcoming talent who are making GENUINELY entertaining and much loved games which millions of gamers enjoy playing and in some cases have emotional investment in the franchise, especially so with popular RPGs.

EA buy up the studios, they force the developers to dumb the game down to appeal to a bigger audience, destroying the franchise and deliberately angering the original fans as an accepted trade off for making millions of new sheeple fans who will buy up the game.

Then after all that they have the nerve to turn around to the gaming community and assert that their intentions are pure and that DRM is merely a side effect of their new direction of online games.

Its just sickening behaviour, the very least they could do is throw their hands up and say "OK YOU GOT US", we're a corporation with investors to please, and we make a good living off using our financial momentum to scoop up genuine talent, and then abuse it over and over until the franchise is "done", and then we move on assimilating and ruining more stuff.

If they just had the balls to at least admit what they're doing I might actually scrape together some respect for them, but they don't they treat the customers who OBVIOUSLY know what they're doing, like they're clueless idiots.

The whole circle is just disgusting, it's running gaming for the people who love games the most just to fill their pockets with MORE money they will just use to further destroy gaming,I think they're a large part of what is responsible for the mediocrity in today's games.

 

[pathos]

In some ways they have a point. But the award isn't for the most damage done to the environment, it's for worst company.

Once again, it's about perspective.

EA destroying my beloved Bioware into a shell of what it was formerly? Lying to us about always on not being drm? Having crap servers that can't keep up with demand? They are a terrible company. No doubt about it.

But, do there crimes stack up with companies that cause basically fleece the government out of billions? Destroy the enviornment? Perpetuate what amounts to slave labor as they export their labor to overseas sweatshops? Make their US workers stay in extremely hazardous condtions that could easily be rectified by spending a little money?

Emphatically no. No they do not.

But, because the people voting are people who either aren't affecting by those things, or at the very least, don't realize they are affected by those things, they don't care.

All they care about is that they couldn't log on to their Sim City server. Or, that there was dlc on their favorite game they couldn't afford. Or that the second game in a series they liked was utter trash.

Is EA the worst game company in the business? Imo, yes, by a very wide margin.

Are they the worst company in the word? How is this even up for discussion?

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Wish the above was a real response. I mean seriously guys, they MAKE VIDEO GAMES! Nothing sadder than a bunch of angry nerds to decide "worse company in america". I heard the last showdown was between EA and Bank of America, and the geeks chose EA! unbelievably lame.

The difference is the nerds all dream of making games, almost none of them would ever want to work for a bank.

 

[Red Storm]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57579223-235/ea-streamlines-operations-by-laying-off-workers/

Laying off workers again, and they actually used the old "streamline" buzzword too.

I feel sorry for anyone that has to work for those guys.

 

[smackababy]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57579223-235/ea-streamlines-operations-by-laying-off-workers/

Laying off workers again, and they actually used the old "streamline" buzzword too.

I feel sorry for anyone that has to work for those guys.

Nothing new in the game industry. Bottom level programmers are a dime a dozen. Almost anyone graduating college is willing to work 12 hours a day for $45k a year to be a game developer when they could be making almost double that working as a developer in any other field, with better benefits, hours, quality of life, sick days, job security.

Until people stop accepting these jobs, no company will stop hiring and firing them.

 

[Red Storm]

Nothing new in the game industry. Bottom level programmers are a dime a dozen. Almost anyone graduating college is willing to work 12 hours a day for $45k a year to be a game developer when they could be making almost double that working as a developer in any other field, with better benefits, hours, quality of life, sick days, job security.

Until people stop accepting these jobs, no company will stop hiring and firing them.

It's still beats unemployment with college loan payments due now that you've graduated. We can't place all the blame at the hands of the people, EA definitely deserves some too.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

It's still beats unemployment with college loan payments due now that you've graduated. We can't place all the blame at the hands of the people, EA definitely deserves some too.

EA deserves most of the blame. They take advantage of the dreams of the youth and burn them out. It's a horrible practice.

 

[smackababy]

It's still beats unemployment with college loan payments due now that you've graduated. We can't place all the blame at the hands of the people, EA definitely deserves some too.

I am not saying they don't deserve some of the blame, but they have a motivation as a business to pay something the least amount of money for the most amount of work done. Every business thrives off this. I blame the naive college students who think a job being a low level peon coder of the next Call of Duty is going to somehow put them at a good position. If you want to be someone important in game development, you better be one hell of a programmer. John Carmack isn't John Carmack because he was just some guy that eventually worked his way to the top. Starting the in gaming industry as a software developer is a terrible idea. You will be under payed, under appreciated, and laid off once the project is finished. Get a real development job and learn everything you can, then when you apply for a job in the gaming industry you get something of value and not the generic replaceable code monkey position.

 

[Skel]

It really goes much deeper than that if you look at it through the employees' eyes. They decide to go work for EA because they have dreamt of making video games for a large portion of their lives and worked hard to get the degree that allows them to pursue that dream. So, in a very literal sense, EA is one of the biggest dream killing corporations in the world. Think about how many people they have probably run out of the business with their horrid environment, or worse just broke them down into the program-bots that seem to infest the game development business these days.

EA deserves most of the blame. They take advantage of the dreams of the youth and burn them out. It's a horrible practice.

You give them too much power. They're no different than any other large employer. You go to ANY company and you'll find exactly what you're talking about. It seems in just about every thread like this one people feel the need to start adding crap like this. EA does a ton of things wrong and deserves a lot of their hate without adding useless crap, you might as well add they kick puppies on the weekends and steal candy of needy kids.

 

[kalrith]

they kick puppies on the weekends and steal candy of needy kids.

link?

 

[BladeVenom]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57579223-235/ea-streamlines-operations-by-laying-off-workers/

Laying off workers again, and they actually used the old "streamline" buzzword too.

How much do you want to bet that most of those layoffs are from the quality assurance department?