Look what happens when you make a game with infantilizing, terrible writing

[Kazuke_Miso]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-01-31/electronic-arts-slashes-bioware-after-dragon-age-sales-miss?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTczODM1MTgzMSwiZXhwIjoxNzM4OTU2NjMxLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTUVlXVThUMEFGQjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.91ztnslkcG02JwTwRRfVCXIJp8FOdqGBjCNQgz-bE8k&leadSource=uverify%20wall

The logic made sense. BioWare’s next game, a new installment in the popular sci-fi Mass Effect series, was in pre-production and did not need the entire studio. There were no other internal projects for everyone to work on. Instead of getting laid off, they would stay employed, working on other projects until Mass Effect was ready for them.

But this week, the group was informed that the loans had morphed into permanent relocations, according to people familiar with what happened. They were no longer BioWare employees who were temporarily on assignment elsewhere; now, they worked for whichever EA subsidiary had borrowed them. If they want to work at BioWare again in the future, they would have to look for job openings and re-apply.

BioWare is now down from more than 200 people two years ago to less than 100 today, according to the people familiar. A small team will remain to work on the next Mass Effect game — led by company veterans who oversaw the development on the original trilogy as well as on 2019’s Anthem — in hopes of expanding as the game gets further into production.

Despite all the white knights and game journalists cheering Veilguard on, ultimately their lipstick on the pig couldn't save the studio from being downsized.

How will Creative Studio 3 fare, I wonder, if they pump out another Disney slop garbage expansion?

[Ath192]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-01-31/electronic-arts-slashes-bioware-after-dragon-age-sales-miss?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTczODM1MTgzMSwiZXhwIjoxNzM4OTU2NjMxLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTUVlXVThUMEFGQjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.91ztnslkcG02JwTwRRfVCXIJp8FOdqGBjCNQgz-bE8k&leadSource=uverify%20wall



Despite all the white knights and game journalists cheering Veilguard on, ultimately their lipstick on the pig couldn't save the studio from being downsized.

How will Creative Studio 3 fare, I wonder, if they pump out another Disney slop garbage expansion?

Well it's not doing well right now so probably worse. It's time to return to common sense gaming design. Instead of designing the game focused on accessibility and leaving gameplay and story writing second, it should be gameplay and story writing first and accessibility second.

You do want to make it accessible to some degree, but as an afterthought. XIV has become nothing but accessible, at the expense of dumbed down gameplay, ridiculously easy and boring bosses/dungeons, nothing to do for months to "respect time", homogenous design throughout.

They also need to start telling the stories they want to tell, and focus and what they can do well, instead of taking into account whether the characters get along and or are politically correct. If Dawntrail were anything like the inca/mayan/aztec civilizations they definitely did not get along in a giant kumbaya city. In fact, we should've arrived at highly divided continent where people sacrificed their enemies at an altar to appease the gods. Way more shock value and entertaining than reminding people how they farmed their own land. There's a reason everyone remembers that scene in Shadowbringers. It was visceral and shocking.

[BigCheez]

Well it's not doing well right now so probably worse. It's time to return to common sense gaming design. Instead of designing the game focused on accessibility and leaving gameplay and story writing second, it should be gameplay and story writing first and accessibility second.

You do want to make it accessible to some degree, but as an afterthought. XIV has become nothing but accessible, at the expense of dumbed down gameplay, ridiculously easy and boring bosses/dungeons, nothing to do for months to "respect time", homogenous design throughout.

They also need to start telling the stories they want to tell, and focus and what they can do well, instead of taking into account whether the characters get along and or are politically correct. If Dawntrail were anything like the inca/mayan/aztec civilizations they definitely did not get along in a giant kumbaya city. In fact, we should've arrived at highly divided continent where people sacrificed their enemies at an altar to appease the gods. Way more shock value and entertaining than reminding people how they farmed their own land. There's a reason everyone remembers that scene in Shadowbringers. It was visceral and shocking.

Yeah, pretty much. We've gotten to the point where the game tries so desperately hard to please everyone that every every facet of the game makes so many compromises that it pleases no one.

[Kazuke_Miso]

If Dawntrail were anything like the inca/mayan/aztec civilizations they definitely did not get along in a giant kumbaya city. In fact, we should've arrived at highly divided continent where people sacrificed their enemies at an altar to appease the gods. Way more shock value and entertaining than reminding people how they farmed their own land. There's a reason everyone remembers that scene in Shadowbringers. It was visceral and shocking.

If only....

[AvoSturmfaust]

Go woke go broke, wasnt that the words everyone used to describe veilguard?

[Basteala]

I imagine even in the face of success you'd see downsizing. AI is the new hot item and can pump out still more swill for pennies on the dollar.

Granted I feel little sympathy for a group of people that are prioritizing agenda over product like they're still trying to get brownie points from their favorite college professor, but one of these companies needs to go bankrupt for the winds to even begin to change, I think.