EA Has A Good Plan To Make Their Games Better

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I am assuming this isn't just a bunch of PR doubletalk when EA says the company has a plan to make its games better.

EA is going to do some obvious things—and some unusual things—to make games that work better and that you'll like more, the company's CEO, Andrew Wilson, recently explained to me during an interview in L.A. If there's a recurring theme, it could be summed up in a word: "early." Or, maybe, "earlier."
 
clearly "early" access which is just another way for them to take your money before they finish a product
 
Early access is retarded.

It lets them get paid earlier for an unfinished game. They then can drag their feet to actually deliver a "finished" product. Until the bug report numbers get below a certain amount they won't officially release the game... probably in the 200-250 range for EA.

Then once they officially release the game, it will be 6 -18 months before most major bugs are fixed.

Does that sound about right?
 
If they have to make an announcement for these sort of things, the entire "plan" is already bullshit.

Any company, or company leader worth a damn that knows what good business is.... would have kept their mouth shut, and put their nose to the grindstone to crank out good games and create good policies. Let the work and the games speak for themselves. Sure, it's a long term approach that actually involves work, and not being a greedy piece of shit company, but that's what good business is.

All they are doing is saying "hey guys! sorry we've sucked so much ass the past decade... we are REALLLLLY going to get our shit together this time, PROMISE, no foolin!

They want to start being a good company with good games? Stop whoring out the Battlefield name with what amounts to a re-skin to Cops and Robbers.
 
I might be off base here, but how I understood the article is this:

Getting things done earlier means: "using the public to handle beta testing so that we can turn the beta testing process into an additional revenue stream (through preorders, or tying beta access into another paid title), while eliminating or shortening internal testing phases." And that last part means a potentially leaner work force. The rest of what I caught from the article sounds like they want to hammer the developers into getting things done faster and extending the beta phases. While it makes sense to have as long a testing phase as possible I'm not sure cracking the whip or tightening the rack on developers is the right strategy. EA already puts them under the gun more harshly than any other publisher would.
 
So they are figuring out, if they listen to the audience that plays a game, and can find trends in what they like, don't like, and want, and then actually steer production in that direction it will be better for the game?
Well done EA! your business majors are starting to do some thinking!
New business models are required for the digital market, and that is where gaming is heading.

But trying to sell early access... Well, if that's your gameplan, don't tout it like you're doing anyone a favour, because your not, and actually restricting your playtester audience in a negative fashion.
 
If they have to make an announcement for these sort of things, the entire "plan" is already bullshit.

Any company, or company leader worth a damn that knows what good business is.... would have kept their mouth shut, and put their nose to the grindstone to crank out good games and create good policies. Let the work and the games speak for themselves. Sure, it's a long term approach that actually involves work, and not being a greedy piece of shit company, but that's what good business is.

All they are doing is saying "hey guys! sorry we've sucked so much ass the past decade... we are REALLLLLY going to get our shit together this time, PROMISE, no foolin!

They want to start being a good company with good games? Stop whoring out the Battlefield name with what amounts to a re-skin to Cops and Robbers.

Greed is good. To a point. Businesses aren't charities, nor should they be. Greed is only bad when it's such a driving force that decision making is made to maximize profits at the expense of making a quality product. I'd agree EA passed this milestone years ago. With decision making that out of whack it creates a gap between the content provider and the customer, alienating the latter. In the long run it's just a bad idea. There is a balance between making a good product and reasonably increasing profits which is a kind of sweet spot that would make everyone happy all around. If you make a quality product, you should be able to sell it. EA just can't fathom this. No doubt in part to being a publicly traded company. This means having a ton of greedy vultures that only care about maximizing profits and demand more growth than is likely reasonable or even sustainable from company executives. That shit all rolls downhill.

And whoring out the name of Battlefield? I don't think that's a big deal. It isn't like Battlefield as a series is known for being high quality. They are fun games for the most part but they are always so bug ridden and problematic as to be virtually unplayable at times for days or even weeks for some people after launch. No one would bitch if the Battlefield Hardline was good. You can capitalize on a game's name and tie it to another franchise with success. Descent and Descent Freespace couldn't have been more different but the latter didn't do disservice to the former despite having a name implying a connection that only existed in the minds of the marketing team behind it.

Furthermore I endorse the concept of Battlefield Hardline as I think the basic premise is a strong one and we need more variety and less pure military shooters. The game itself may not be so good, but again I liked the idea of it.

I'm not entirely sure what your first point is. The article referred to talking about games earlier which is a win-win for everyone. It gets feedback to the developer in the stages where the feedback actually matters. It doesn't help that much during the beta phase as the games design, direction and content are already made. The extra word of mouth, publicity etc. is a win for the company but it's a win for us as we have more influence over them early on then we do late in the game.

Take Mass Effect 4 as an example of this. BioWare surveyed the BSN after ME3 had been out a little while and asked what the players wanted: Prequel or Sequel? The overwhelming majority of the responses favored a sequel. Mark my words, that's what the game is going to be. It would be useless to ask this question during a multiplier beta test.
Just putting your nose to the grindstone to make a good game doesn't always work. It is especially problematic for sequels in a franchise as certain expectations are formed on the part of returning customers and players. EA would do well to get as much feedback as early as possible about this sort of thing. That is not to say all feedback is valuable as it isn't, but the plan as EA puts it isn't total bullshit if they can execute it well. And that's something I have no confidence in as EA's track record for virtually everything in the last 10 years has been universally bad.

There is a reason why they are hated more than Bank of Fuck me in the Ass who's greed costs people their homes. (Largely, due to perception and broader impact, but that's another topic.)
 
So they are figuring out, if they listen to the audience that plays a game, and can find trends in what they like, don't like, and want, and then actually steer production in that direction it will be better for the game?
Well done EA! your business majors are starting to do some thinking!
New business models are required for the digital market, and that is where gaming is heading.

But trying to sell early access... Well, if that's your gameplan, don't tout it like you're doing anyone a favour, because your not, and actually restricting your playtester audience in a negative fashion.

EA early access will NOT allow for user input in any significant way, just cosmetic rubbish. I doubt theyd even change user unput based on feedback from 'the idiots who already paid'.

No, the same business model still works, good games still sell. EA uses the hollywood system, produce a turd and flood all channels with marketing lies & paid for reviews until the honeymoon period is over. Ironically Early Access would harm this.

They don't listen to their devs or employees, why do you think they'd ever listen to someone they barely acknowledge?

I do think it'll bite them in the ass eventually... the first bad reviews of an early access AAA title are going to be removed so fast Barbra Streisand is going to get whiplash. :D

I'm sure their early access will come with NDAs and so on but those wont help stop annoyed gamers.
 
EA early access will NOT allow for user input in any significant way, just cosmetic rubbish. I doubt theyd even change user unput based on feedback from 'the idiots who already paid'.

No, the same business model still works, good games still sell. EA uses the hollywood system, produce a turd and flood all channels with marketing lies & paid for reviews until the honeymoon period is over. Ironically Early Access would harm this.

They don't listen to their devs or employees, why do you think they'd ever listen to someone they barely acknowledge?

I do think it'll bite them in the ass eventually... the first bad reviews of an early access AAA title are going to be removed so fast Barbra Streisand is going to get whiplash. :D

I'm sure their early access will come with NDAs and so on but those wont help stop annoyed gamers.

It depends on when they start talking about the games. If we don't see anything or hear about anything until the beta then it will largely be useless. If we do hear about these things early on enough, it could mean significant change. Diablo 3's art style was absolutely hated initially and some things changed as a result of backlash from the general public during development.
 
I'm sorry... Until they fix what they did to PVZ2 when they basically made it pay to win and lost all the fun out of PVZ1, EA has a bit to prove to me... I have replayed 1 many times, and never played 2 through even the first set of maps once.

Then again, I play mainly on the PC, and making it touch was silly to me.
 
Unless that list contains all of the following, it won't matter.

1) Stop Requiring Origin for Games not Specifically downloaded through it. If I buy a DVD, I did so for a damn good reason.

2) Stop forcing shitloads of shitty achievement systems and forced unlock systems in games.

3) Stop releasing severely underdeveloped "Early Beta" build games and calling it a gold release. Some bugs are going to happen..SOME, not completely broken games.

4) Stop lying to your customers about what a game Can and Cannot do (Looking at SimCity4). There are loads of smart gamers out there, most smarter than probably most of that shitforce you call developers. We are going to quickly find out if you are attempting to bullshit us and frankly, many of us have been around so many years that we can smell the bullshit before you are even done drafting it.
 
Assign ip to talented teams...

let these teams operate with out interference from financial managers...

give the team 4 years to make a complete game based on that ip
 
Unless that list contains all of the following, it won't matter.
Hah!

Back in reality EA will:

1) Stop selling physical media. Only sell redemption cards that must be redeemed on Origin.

2) Offer a means of skipping all unlocks by paying. Entice players by allowing them to skip one series of weapon unlocks for free.

3) Re-spin Beta release games as "early access" (what this article hints at)

4) Pay websites enough money that all intelligent debunking of PR BS is quickly removed and/or users that make such posts are ostracized and/or banned from said websites.
 
Hah!

Back in reality EA will:

1) Stop selling physical media. Only sell redemption cards that must be redeemed on Origin.

2) Offer a means of skipping all unlocks by paying. Entice players by allowing them to skip one series of weapon unlocks for free.

3) Re-spin Beta release games as "early access" (what this article hints at)

4) Pay websites enough money that all intelligent debunking of PR BS is quickly removed and/or users that make such posts are ostracized and/or banned from said websites.
I sincerely hope they do this, will be entertaining to see just how fast the titanic sinks.
 
after reading the article all i can say its a bunch of fairy dust and unicorn farts.

its all stated to sound good and perhaps even a bit plausible but its just not going to happen from a huge bogged down corporate entity like EA.
 
Ill give them the benefit of the doubt. EA took a lot of heat for being the worst company in the world for like a couple years straight or something like that and who's to say theyre not trying to turn that around?

I hated the idea of Origin when it came out and I bitched and moaned about it and having to use 2 different clients. Now most of the games Ive bought recently have been off Origin and I have no problem with it. I poo poo'ed their game "warranty" until I actually had to use it. Bought Dead Space and had trouble installing it. Finally got tired of trying and just picked up a hard copy at a used book store. Tried to get the refund and it went thru without a hitch and the money was back in my account in a couple days.

So yeah, they've fucked up a lot but maybe theyre trying to correct all that stuff. Like I said, Ill give them the benefit of the doubt til they prove to me otherwise.
 
I participated in BF CTE. Based on that experience, I will say they have a chance of improving. That is if they go about it in a similar fashion as CTE. The LA studio is pretty damn sharp compared to the ineptitude of the previous patches.
 
They can make the games better by removing all the DRM hoops you have to go through.
I miss the days of just CD checks or needing to insert a serial number for the copy you bought.

Anything with starforce or securom I stay away from, it's damn near spyware.
 
I have a plan that would fix EA games but everyone else has to follow it too.
Stop preorders and refuse to buy until their shit is fixed.
Thank you
 
So yeah, they've fucked up a lot but maybe theyre trying to correct all that stuff. Like I said, Ill give them the benefit of the doubt til they prove to me otherwise.

So you're giving them the benefit of the doubt for fixing the issues with the system that no one wanted but still sticking by the same (kinda really shitty) practices with their games?

EA loves people like you.
 
LoL @EA

We are talking about EA here. A greedy lets stick it to the player/buyer by grabbing the wallet. I have no faith in EA to do good. History has shown that EA will bend you over the table in a NY second if it meant that they get more cash from you.

Lets not forget the SimCity 5 bullshit that they pulled just to be debunked by gamers.

Lets not forget the re-skinned games like Battlefield yet telling you to your face ( lying ) its a brand new game built from the ground up.

Lets not forget the micro transaction models and locking out modding of their games and how are those custom maps working out. You want content then pay us for it now. EA said they wanted to keep their game secure, how much bullshit is that. Secure my arse, they wanted to control the content aka MONEY from maps and mods.

Now they want to do Early Access, LOL ROFLCOPTER, yea ok hell the games they do put out are early access as it is. No matter the bitching wither its done in a good manner or not will not get "you" the game you want nor fixed. This is EA we are talking about which has a history of fucking players over time and time again.

Hah!

Back in reality EA will:

1) Stop selling physical media. Only sell redemption cards that must be redeemed on Origin.

2) Offer a means of skipping all unlocks by paying. Entice players by allowing them to skip one series of weapon unlocks for free.

3) Re-spin Beta release games as "early access" (what this article hints at)

4) Pay websites enough money that all intelligent debunking of PR BS is quickly removed and/or users that make such posts are ostracized and/or banned from said websites.

Couldn't have said it any better, I took note of item 4. Knowing EA it would not surprise me if they really will do that. Hell who knows it could have happened already.

In closing, better watch your back as they say. Never forget who you are dealing with and this is EA we are talking about.
 
They are planning on how to implement nano transactions inside of microtransactions after you've already paid your macrotransaction. The picotransaction will be considered once the nanotransactions have been debugged by ver 3.0 of patches; which will only address these transactions to save the company money. Game bugs will be left to 3rd parties/modders to figure out. There is my turn around plan for EA to once again become the biggest festering butt boil again!
 
They can make the games better by removing all the DRM hoops you have to go through.
I miss the days of just CD checks or needing to insert a serial number for the copy you bought.

Anything with starforce or securom I stay away from, it's damn near spyware.

So true...
And that's why I avoid Steam.
I gave it a try and ran away quickly when I saw it's attempt to snoop around my system and "phone home". It also monitored activity!

P.S. My cable set-top box is also (and has been) "OFF" and powered down (another at-home monitoring device). And, the only reason my cell-phone stays on these days is for work - but i'll be switching over to a more secure device very soon.
 
how can you make games better? Let me say some ways stop being tards and listen to the actual problems people are having and listen to all your modders who took the time to "fix" stuff you could have easily and should have taken care of prior to launch.

For sure stop doing stupid crap every time you release a new game that has the same exact issue with every incarnation of these so called "new state of the art engines" that you put more focus on fancy graphics and DLC then the base game. As an example, fog that doesn't belong everywhere, basic functionality such as controller key bindings, rubber banding, lights that seem to float where they don't belong, or my personal favorite that god awful hit/latency/hitbox/lag that every single game you have your name on seems to have in one capacity or another more then any other dev/publisher out there who do not make 1/4 the excuses nor have 1/10 the budget either.

Network and/or multi-player game mechanics need to take precedence in always online games ESPECIALLY when they have to use origin for damn well everything. The most important thing, stop being everything else that other devs are, be unique in what you do, don't worry about all those fancy gadgets that don't make the game better or "fill" like achievements that add nothing to the experience but do chew up development time that could be put to better use.

Straight up, EA has no clue, early in the development phase only at most 3 months but yet you rush the devs that much faster helps nothing at all. Just another ploy. DICE may care about the concept of quality, but they ride coattails that care period about $$. they can make as fast as possible.

I also tend to disagree, Battlefield may have had issue, but it once did stand for an actual franchise of many folks on a well battlefield now its just being watered down to just another title from a company that has lost its roots for $$ nothing more.
 
So you're giving them the benefit of the doubt for fixing the issues with the system that no one wanted but still sticking by the same (kinda really shitty) practices with their games?

EA loves people like you.

Guess my life isnt so sad that I have to hold a grudge against a video game publisher for the rest of my life because they . Theyve done some shitty things the passed few years but lately have made a few strides to get in our good graces. For fuck sake they didnt kill anybody. I see nothing wrong with hoping theyre legitimately trying to fix things.
 
Guess my life isnt so sad that I have to hold a grudge against a video game publisher for the rest of my life because they . Theyve done some shitty things the passed few years but lately have made a few strides to get in our good graces. For fuck sake they didnt kill anybody. I see nothing wrong with hoping theyre legitimately trying to fix things.

they killed my childhood

C&C, Sim City, etc RIP
 
If all the employees of EA were on a deserted island and they only had one book to read .... wouldn't that be best for everyone?
 
I read the title thought that EA was going to go out of business, but then I read the article and realized the company really doesn't understand what it has to do to fix its problems.
 
Of course this kind of PR talk with Battlefield Hardline around the corner is just a coincidence. :eek:
 
I feel like games have become too focused on irrelevant realism/details as well as DLC. You end up with worthless games like BF4. What we need is another game like BF1942 instead.
 
Early access is retarded.

It lets them get paid earlier for an unfinished game. They then can drag their feet to actually deliver a "finished" product. Until the bug report numbers get below a certain amount they won't officially release the game... probably in the 200-250 range for EA.

Then once they officially release the game, it will be 6 -18 months before most major bugs are fixed.

Does that sound about right?

Nope, you left out the bit where they say they essentially plan to reduce the time alloted to devs to get to particular points of development, and that includes the ground work that isn't just coding from the sounds of it. That's how it reads to me anyway.

My cynical take on it is that they are basically saying it will get the kind of low grade effort done to it that a blockbuster movie tie in game gets, and they will go the early release route, and theoretically iterate on it untill people hate it less by some degree.

I think they see the industry doing a lot of things, the gamer community liking a lot of people for it, and not understanding why it is going on or why they are disliked.
 
So true...
And that's why I avoid Steam.
I gave it a try and ran away quickly when I saw it's attempt to snoop around my system and "phone home". It also monitored activity!

P.S. My cable set-top box is also (and has been) "OFF" and powered down (another at-home monitoring device). And, the only reason my cell-phone stays on these days is for work - but i'll be switching over to a more secure device very soon.

I have a 100ft roll of tinfoil that I can send you :p
 
I feel like games have become too focused on irrelevant realism/details as well as DLC. You end up with worthless games like BF4. What we need is another game like BF1942 instead.
I preferred 2142 sci-fi fps just gives so many more creative liberties.
 
Guess my life isnt so sad that I have to hold a grudge against a video game publisher for the rest of my life because they . Theyve done some shitty things the passed few years but lately have made a few strides to get in our good graces. For fuck sake they didnt kill anybody. I see nothing wrong with hoping theyre legitimately trying to fix things.

See but that's the thing, they are really not doing things to help their actual fanbase, just the new ones they hope to get instead of keeping the ones happy that made them who they are, this goes especially for DICE.

They have straight up lost touch with market as a whole, and continue to do the same mistakes game after game, they quash the issues, then release a new game with the same problems and expect folks to just deal with it, many do, but I also know a fair amount that outright refuse to bother getting any new titles that are EA dev based.

They make the bare minimum strides so they can protect themselves granted this is the way things are done, but, it is also why folks eventually get tired of being lied to and stop supporting them. Better lighting, levolution, full destruction, better realism etc. Kids might be to stupid to pay attention to this, but the fanbase that made them who they are by and large are very much getting fed up of hearing the same old crap time and again.
 
We already have alpha access.
EA just calls it retail....

I was just thinking the same thing. Why finish a game when they can sell a late alpha or early beta which seems to be happening a lot with them lately.
 
I was just thinking the same thing. Why finish a game when they can sell a late alpha or early beta which seems to be happening a lot with them lately.

BC2 and on, every release same issues, same bs excuses. Everyone keeps handing them the $ though and drops even more for the premium/DLC which surely is not helping their concepts at all.
 
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