OH GOD BIOWARE WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Sifright

This is silly, the mass effect novels show that if anything the fanfiction is far more capable of keeping the setting intact and not shitting all over the timeline, technology or characters. So to that effect I'd say it's pretty clear the fanfiction is better than the actual novels.

Did you not READ that link I posted earlier?

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Originally Posted by Liz

Did you not READ that link I posted earlier?

I think he's saying that most fan fiction actually tries to keep itself in line with Mass Effect canon, while the novels don't.

The statement seems to actually be based on the information you linked to, if not that link itself.

[Kim]

Ah, I thought he was considering the novels to be fanfiction. My bad.

[stefan]

Originally Posted by Aerozord

From what I have read EA has had zero input on the production of this, or any bioware game.

if you really believe that, I have a quantity of prime agricultural real estate on Jupiter you may be interested in purchasing.

[Darth SS]

I want Bioware to continue to churn out wonderful games. I want Mass Effect 3 to continue to dazzle and amaze me. I want to believe, I really do. But when your company says you want to "patch the novel" I just lose all the faith and happiness that I once felt.

Please don't suck Mass Effect 3. I'm not sure I can handle that. I'm not sure I can handle another disappointment like Splinter Cell Conviction.

[Gregness]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

*snip*
It's just unfortunate that I'll feel as tortured playing ME3 as Shepard presumably feels fighting impossible odds against the Reapers by that point

Man, what are you talking about? That's some quality writing right there. It really immerses you in the character's suffering y'know?

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by stefan

if you really believe that, I have a quantity of prime agricultural real estate on Jupiter you may be interested in purchasing.

how I'm just saying what the heads of bioware said. If you think they are lying fair enough, but it doesn't make much business sense to start messing with a company thats making alot of money without your input. Nor would it make sense to sell your company just to have someone dick over your intellectual properties. Hostile take-overs and being "forced to sell" is not the norm in software companies. What happens is you are doing well but need more funds to expand, thus a larger company purchases yours not only providing funding but also access to a wide network of people to aid in the production of your final product.

Though it is possible for the founders to take the money from the buy out and just stop caring about what they are making forcing the new parent company to try and salvage it. Buy outs aren't what you should worry about, its a cash out, when the guys in charge sell the company just so they can bail on it.

[stefan]

Originally Posted by Aerozord

how I'm just saying what the heads of bioware said. If you think they are lying fair enough,

they're spewing the company line. The biggest fear people had about EA acquiring Bioware is that EA would get all up in their business, so of course they're going to deny it. This barely counts as lying, every large company does it to smaller subdivisions and you'd have to be blind to think that the EA bigwigs aren't going to try and "fix" Bioware to be "more successful" by implying what choices they should make at every possible opportunity.

but it doesn't make much business sense to start messing with a company thats making alot of money without your input.

in case you haven't noticed, the Video Game Industry has a disproportionate amount of short-sighted, stupid executives who signed on because they figured they could rook the small developers and gaming public to make them a shitload of money before imploding. Gaming as a "big industry" isn't much more than a couple decades old, and the people running the show likely didn't expect it to even last that.

Nor would it make sense to sell your company just to have someone dick over your intellectual properties.

good design and good business sense rarely overlap. Designers of all stripes have a bad habit of taking investors at their word and giving them entirely too much ground in exchange for dodgy promises.

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by stefan

they're spewing the company line. The biggest fear people had about EA acquiring Bioware is that EA would get all up in their business, so of course they're going to deny it. This barely counts as lying, every large company does it to smaller subdivisions and you'd have to be blind to think that the EA bigwigs aren't going to try and "fix" Bioware to be "more successful" by implying what choices they should make at every possible opportunity.

and you are basing this assumption on what exactly? Have you like seen an interview from people formerly working under a EA subdivion or something? I just want to know where you are getting this information that this is what happens in the industry.

Originally Posted by stefan

in case you haven't noticed, the Video Game Industry has a disproportionate amount of short-sighted, stupid executives who signed on because they figured they could rook the small developers and gaming public to make them a shitload of money before imploding. Gaming as a "big industry" isn't much more than a couple decades old, and the people running the show likely didn't expect it to even last that.

Bioware was by no means a "small developer", and EA isn't some outside investment group. They themselves started as developers, one founded on the ideal of growing the medium as an art form. You can say what you want about what they have become, but this is not a company that expected the industry to implode.

Originally Posted by stefan

good design and good business sense rarely overlap. Designers of all stripes have a bad habit of taking investors at their word and giving them entirely too much ground in exchange for dodgy promises.

Several things wrong with this. For one, yes a successful game developer does have good business sense, thats how they got to be successful. Plus the founders of Bioware all have medical degrees, they aren't exactly hard up for cash where they'd need to jump on "dodgy promises".

They aren't as incompetent as you seem to think they are. Bioware was an established and successful developer, even if the owners managed to succeed while being idiots in business, and never networked with others in the industry to learn about the practices of one of the major companies in the industry (and if they couldn't the company wouldn't have survived that long to begin with), they'd still have the money to afford attorneys and consultants to evaluate any business dealings.

I mean I am so small I sub-contract all my works but I still got consultants and have a lawyer look over any legal matters

[Azisien]

Bioware makes pretty sweet games if you ask me! Of course, Bioware is much more a brand now then in years past. They have several development studios now, and while they shuffle staff and probably have an overarching philosophy, I kind of consider Edmonton Bioware to be the "pure" studio. That's just me.

I've had the honour of meeting quite a few of the Edmonton employees and I follow a lot of them on Twitter, and yeah a lot of the slander sounds pretty short-sighted and, well, completely made up.