EA CEO: We Failed Well

[Alma Mare]

I'm amazed at the lack of perspective that makes people say Mass Effect 2 is a bad game. As far as quality goes, it's EASILY one of the best games of all times. It's written with enormous care and detail, it's huge, it has beatiful visuals and sound and its mechanics are 100% functional (amazing that in this day and age this can't be taken for granted). It's one thing not to like or be interested in what it is trying to do, but its production values are absolute top notch. Bad? If I didn't know better I'd figure you guys never played a BAD game.

 

[UnravThreads]

Except that both Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins were made under EA as well and that whole thing called ME2 was widely praised as far better than the original.

Mass Effect wasn't. EA bought BioWare in 2007, one month after the release of Mass Effect. The game was published by Microsoft Gaming Studios for the 360, but the PC version was published by EA.

On the ME1/ME2 thing - I think they're similar but different. Mass Effect, to me, is a military science fiction game that uses a perhaps too arbitrary point system, has a very well written story and a good cast of characters, but on the PC version at least, it suffers from being a bit of a technical mess. Mass Effect 2 is a much more polished release, but shifts from military sci-fi to something more akin to space opera, and has an RPG system that actually works. When you level up, you feel the benefit. A lot of ME1's levelling didn't allow for that; it was too gradual. The armour/weapon system made more sense, too. Your character isn't going to magically find better armour every five minutes, they'll generally stick to what they know. That's what Shepard does, and he/she just adjusts and replaces parts.

ME2 wasn't a dumbing down, it was a streamlined game. Yes, it had issues, but it was a more fluid experience.

As for EA... I'm in two minds. They can put out some absolutely amazing, mindblowing titles (Mirror's Edge) with one hand, but the other spends more time putting out unfinished and buggy releases. Bulletstorm is not pretty and has a few issues (Not including being technically unsound on PC. Heck, I can't uninstall the bloody thing), The Sims Medieval doesn't feel right to me in terms of controls and gameplay (Might be a personal thing, though) and Medal of Honor 2010 was just a flop because they overstretched themselves.

That said, I will defend EA to the grave over one thing. Out of the biggest publishers, only EA are putting out new and non-standard, if not innovative, titles. Activision are relying on their money printers, Nintendo are relying on money printers, Ubisoft are... Ubisoft - You get the idea.

P.S. Mirror's Edge 2 please.

 

[hamasins]

The gaming world is changing very rapidly indeed. It certainly is going to be "adapt or die" for a lot of these big companies like EA. I agree that failure is always a part of eventual success. So, let's hope EA has finally turned the corner.

I really hope ES does not adapt and just dies ¬_¬

 

[Grufflenark]

This is actually not a new thing for EA. They completely ruined the Command and Conquer franchise way back, when they bought Westwood Studios. They have allegedly done the same to other franchises, but C&C, Mass Effect and Dragon Age have hurt the most.

My heart sank when I heard that EA had bought up BioWare...

When EA killed off command and conquer, and westwood, it was a sad day.

Sad is not the word. I played those games religiously as a child. I was devastated.

This is actually not a new thing for EA. They completely ruined the Command and Conquer franchise way back, when they bought Westwood Studios. They have allegedly done the same to other franchises, but C&C, Mass Effect and Dragon Age have hurt the most.

My heart sank when I heard that EA had bought up BioWare...

They didn't really ruin C&C right away, though. Red Alert 2 was still quite awesome, C&C3 wasn't bad from a gameplay standpoint, and RA3 was still plenty of fun too. No, it was Command and Conquer 4 where EA dropped trousers and took a massive shit all over the place.

...Good think there won't be a Mass Effect 4, right?

Alright, I'll give you that, but I suspect EA drained Westwood out of all its genius before they went on to ruin a perfectly respectable and ENJOYABLE franchise.

Also, Mass Effect 3 only ends Shepard's story. According to Casey Hudson, the ME universe will carry on.

Well Generals was a pretty good game, and they didn't fuck up C&C3 too much, but C&C4 was just.. .. Urgh.

 

[Vrach]

snip

As for ME2 being more widely praised. Meh, Expendables absolutely killed in the box office.
*shrug* People like shit, what can I tell ya?

Fair enough, wasn't aware of the dates, my bad

But you're going by the "everything that's liked by more than a niche group of people is shit by default"? Really? Couldn't be that just maybe a small group of people don't like the game because it tore away from what they wanted from it?

ME2 wasn't a dumbing down, it was a streamlined game. Yes, it had issues, but it was a more fluid experience.

^This. I get the appeal in ME1, I really do, but saying ME2 was shit or even just a lot worse is just silly. It was simply different and it succeeded in appealing to a lot of people.

As for EA... I'm in two minds. They can put out some absolutely amazing, mindblowing titles (Mirror's Edge) with one hand, but the other spends more time putting out unfinished and buggy releases. Bulletstorm is not pretty and has a few issues (Not including being technically unsound on PC. Heck, I can't uninstall the bloody thing), The Sims Medieval doesn't feel right to me in terms of controls and gameplay (Might be a personal thing, though) and Medal of Honor 2010 was just a flop because they overstretched themselves.

That said, I will defend EA to the grave over one thing. Out of the biggest publishers, only EA are putting out new and non-standard, if not innovative, titles. Activision are relying on their money printers, Nintendo are relying on money printers, Ubisoft are... Ubisoft - You get the idea.

P.S. Mirror's Edge 2 please.

Odd, I had no issues with Bulletstorm. Look up a guide for uninstalling it on the net, deleting the folder and messing around with regedit (looking up is for this part, you don't wanna mess something up) usually does the trick when I've got my hands on a game that has a fucked uninstall.

And I agree they're a big publisher that does cool things. I get why they're hated, but I think they're doing a pretty good job as both a business and someone who furthers the industry. They have their cash cows and if people are happy to be milked on a yearly basis buying sports games, that's their choice. Those cash cows can then feed other awesome titles and EA has plenty of them under their belt, especially under the studios it owns.

When you're not independent, you're always gonna have someone standing over your head. And having someone big standing over your head can be that much worse. That's the reality of things. But that's the downside, the upside is having that someone there for you to do his part in what you need. A lot of those studios bought off by the evil EA might not have had the budgets to put out some of the games they did and a lot of them might not even exist anymore if they were on their own.

Bottom line is, when I see an EA logo on a game, I have that much more confidence in it. It's not a "OMG EA, instant buy" thing, but I know I can expect a quality game most of the time and having EA behind them will make me that much more interested to check it out and see what it's about.

 

[-|-]

I'm amazed at the lack of perspective that makes people say Mass Effect 2 is a bad game. As far as quality goes, it's EASILY one of the best games of all times. It's written with enormous care and detail, it's huge, it has beatiful visuals and sound and its mechanics are 100% functional (amazing that in this day and age this can't be taken for granted). It's one thing not to like or be interested in what it is trying to do, but its production values are absolute top notch. Bad? If I didn't know better I'd figure you guys never played a BAD game.

I enjoyed it. Subjectively this makes it a good game for me. I can accept that this is my opinion and others don't like it.

What is quite amusing is the posters saying without any irony "its a bad game - FACT". What objective measure's are they using to decide this? Critical acclaim? Sales? I bet I know what it is - it's like a lot of facts on the internet, it's based on what they 'reckon'.

 

[honestdiscussioner]

Did it learn from the whole "Dante's Inferno\hiring fake religious zealot to protest the game" fiasco?

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

The way EA ruined the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises was just marvelous. I'm guessing "embracing failure" means buying good studios and turning their games into abominations of what they used to be.

Well, from a business standpoint... if it makes money, then yes, yes it does.

 

[Pinstar]

Uhh hey guys, I think you left a typo in your article. It's "Failed Will" not "Failed Well" As in Will Wright.

 

[dj Facchiano]

The way EA ruined the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises was just marvelous. I'm guessing "embracing failure" means buying good studios and turning their games into abominations of what they used to be.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, though I know for a fact that there is a shitstorm of people who have thoroughly enjoyed the latest Bioware games. I'm proud to count myself amoung them.

Good for you. That does not change the fact that the game was subpar

Actually what everyone is trying to yell at your deaf ears is that IT IS NOT A FACT that anything is subpar. ITS AN OPINION, and your opinion is the minority in this situation, that's what something selling well means, it means that a large group of people enjoyed the game, It DOES NOT mean that everyone but you or those sharing your opinion are idiots, it means that people with your opinion have different tastes than everyone else, of which is fine. However trying to shove your opinion down peoples throats by saying your opinion is a fact, and everyone disagreeing with you is an idiot, makes you look like a douche bag. Have a nice day

 

[SovietSecrets]

The way EA ruined the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises was just marvelous. I'm guessing "embracing failure" means buying good studios and turning their games into abominations of what they used to be.

What turning terrible to actually good? ME 1 was boring as hell with a story that only got good once you were in 3/4 into the game. Terrible combat as well to match. ME 2 actually improved a lot on the combat and make the story and characters interesting enough. You and the rest of the people that hate ME 2 amaze me.

 

[ecoho]

Let the EA bashing commence.

The way EA ruined the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises was just marvelous. I'm guessing "embracing failure" means buying good studios and turning their games into abominations of what they used to be.

And that's your opinion. I'll agree that DA2 was not what it could have been, but ME2 was worlds beyond it's predecessor.

If you like Third Person Shooters then sure, Mass Effect 2 wasn't bad, it was mediocre. From a roleplaying and story standpoint it was absolutely terrible.

The way EA ruined the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises was just marvelous. I'm guessing "embracing failure" means buying good studios and turning their games into abominations of what they used to be.

... in your opinion.

I much preferred ME2 and DA2 to both of the first games.

Like I've said before, as action games both Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2 aren't bad. Unfortunately, they're extremely mediocre. You're playing a dumbed down RPG that tries to be a shooter with shooting mechanics that do not compare to other run of the mill third person shooters.

.......ok man let me try to explain this to you. Mass Effect is not an RPG or a 3rd person shooter its both combined which means its a ***** to balance both parts. Please understand that they focused more on gunplay for the second game because the first game was HORRIBLE to have a gun fight in and that problem was the most hated. Now they are giveing you more rpg elliments in the 3rd game so they are trying to please everyone so give them a break.

BTW DA2 is a great game just not what balders gate fans wanted.

 

[Worr Monger]

The way EA ruined the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises was just marvelous. I'm guessing "embracing failure" means buying good studios and turning their games into abominations of what they used to be.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, though I know for a fact that there is a shitstorm of people who have thoroughly enjoyed the latest Bioware games. I'm proud to count myself amoung them.

Good for you. That does not change the fact that the game was subpar

FYI - You seriously lose all credibility when you state your obvious OPINIONS as Facts. People aren't blind like you, they can see the difference.

Show us a hard copy of your apparent Scientific Study where both Dragon Age 2 & Mass Effect 2 were deemed "bad" or "subpar" by law... and please cite your sources.

Plenty of people enjoyed both games. I'm no fan of EA... but I've enjoyed all of Bioware's games... I don't approve of all the things they do... but I've still enjoyed them regardless.

In my OPINION (See what I did there?), "fans" of Bioware, who constantly complain about Bioware making changes will lead to their demise. If everyone gets brainwashed into hating Bioware, they'll have a negative stigma and maybe will sell less... leading EA to think they are no longer profitable... and bye bye Bioware.

Stop hating on Bioware so much for making changes to their games that they actually think, might be improvements. If they left everything the same, a bunch of people who be complaining that they're stagnant and never change anything... they lose either way.

 

[MercurySteam]

The way EA ruined the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises was just marvelous. I'm guessing "embracing failure" means buying good studios and turning their games into abominations of what they used to be.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, though I know for a fact that there is a shitstorm of people who have thoroughly enjoyed the latest Bioware games. I'm proud to count myself amoung them.

Good for you. That does not change the fact that the game was subpar

FYI - You seriously lose all credibility when you state your obvious OPINIONS as Facts. People aren't blind like you, they can see the difference.

Yeah, this is basically what I was going to say. Both games, (yes even DA2 with all that carrying on that happened) got a generally good reception. Mass Effect 2 was deemed to be a 9.0-9.5/10 game while DA2 was worth a least an 8.5/10. For every person that didn't enjoy it the games there were four more who did which is why EA and Bioware has had such a successful partnership.

Flame wars are pointless, but it'd stake my reputation on the fact that all the good reception that the games got from the industry deemed them successful games. Good, is a matter of opinion and I'm not going to try to discredit myself by saying that my opinion is the correct one like 'AndyFromMonday' has been doing. It's just the facts.

 

[Setch Dreskar]

And AndyFromMonday proves once more, while on the internet ignorance of common sense, the dictionary, and reason will always exist.

Stating that your opinion, as that has what it has been this entire time, as a fact puts you within the realm of hilariously dilusional. A fact is something backed up with irrefutable evidence ie, the game is set in space, the Normandy SR1 is blown up by a Collector ship, the Illusive man has glowing eyes, the game has DLC.

Opinions have a bias, where as facts do not.


Now more on topic, they can say anything and promise the world all they like, actions speak louder then words. I sincerely hope they are turning a new leaf, I have seen them do things to games I love and still enjoy. (I feel sorry for WAR... it just got treated so badly by EA its not even funny.) I have also seen some of the worst marketing ads of my life from EA, making catastrophic decisions that feed the anti-games movement all the ammunition it will ever need for YEARS to come. They have some of the worst DLC and Secu-ROM of the games industry, as a note I am refering to the practice of Project 10 Dollar. However, I also truly believe if given enough support people can change, but if in the process of making steps towards something better they get nothing but hate and scorn then they will just revert right back to what they were.

 

[Vault101]

The way EA ruined the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises was just marvelous. I'm guessing "embracing failure" means buying good studios and turning their games into abominations of what they used to be.

dragon age mabye

Mass effect?....FUCK NO!

 

[Dr. wonderful]

Is everyone forgetting that EA also published ME1 and DA1?

Yup, they forgot.

So, the game was bad to begin with.

...

Meh, I loved them both.

 

[thenamelessloser]

Is everyone forgetting that EA also published ME1 and DA1?

No. Mass Effect was published by Microsoft. While with Dragon Age most of it was done I think by the time EA bought Bioware.

However, a better argument would be how dumbed down the role playing mechanics are in Jade Empire to show that Bioware hasn't changed as much as people thought since EA bought them.

 

[odd function]

I could care less about Twilight, I thought that the movies were terrible (my girlfriend downloaded them and I had the bright idea of watching them...), but if so many people buy the books and see the movies, than that is quality to someone.

It's all in the eye of the beholder. I have had great fun with games that most reviewers said were shit, so yeah, I thought that it was good quality.

First off, "I could care less" implies that you do in fact care. "I couldn't care less" is the saying you're looking for methinks. Sorry 'bout the grammar-nazi schtick but that one bugs the hell out of me for whatever reason.

Second, "quality" is not a subjective measure. There are purely objective metrics over the quality of everything in existence. Whether or not it's "good", meaning enjoyable/workable, is subjective, yes, but "quality" is a completely separate beast.

Brief synopsis of "quality" metrics in literature (as I'm unqualified to do so for movies and don't want to put forth the effort to make a list for games):
-Plot - coherent, logical (in-universe, if nothing else), and concise
-Characters - distinct personalities and realistic, understandable behavior
-Prose - engaging and thought-provoking

If a work of literature meets these criteria, it's a high-quality piece of work, regardless of how well it sells or what people think about it. Similarly, if it does not, then it's a low-quality work, once more regardless of what people think about it.

People can like poor quality goods all day, and oftentimes they do. It doesn't mean anything bad, it just means a low-quality work appeals to their sensibilities.

Thus, sales does not equate with quality.

You explained it much better than I ever could. I would like to the obvious example of large sales != quality. McDonald's. Nobody would claim they make quality food, in general what they make is good enough. When somebody is said to have good taste, it means that they recognize and appreciate quality. That said there are people with otherwise good taste that have blind spots, or simply lack the experience with a medium necessary to identify the features in the medium that separate good quality from bad. A case in point could be Yahtzee and fighting games. But not being an enthusiast myself I have to take the word of commenters who discuss things like mechanics and similar (as opposed to things like gore).