Bioware Employee caught reviewing Dragon Age 2

[ZephrC]

Wait, a single user review on Metacritic? Out of how many now? That's... really, really not something anyone should even remotely care about. Hell, if they actually played the game I don't even see why it would be a problem. There's almost 3,000 user reviews up on Metacritic right now. I'm not even sure how they found a single one put up by an employee, let alone why they care. It's not like it was the only stupidly positive review out of those 3,000+.

 

[Knight Templar]

That seems like a lot of fuss for nothing really.
Should he have stated he was working at Bioware? I guess but I wouldn't care if somebody posted a user review full of glowing praise for GoW2 when he worked on it.

I really don't get the problem, it wasn't even Bioware, it was somebody who worked there.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Well this is a failure. This debacle is going to wind up doing more damage then good. The negative press is going to hurt game sales.

 

[jthwilliams]

But that fact is that There are more people who dislike the game than like it.

The term "vocal minority" comes to mind, which makes your "fact" inconclusive.

I'm also a PC elitist (somewhat). I like Dragon Age 2. I like to think i'm not the exception that confirms the rule.

As for the OP: so Bioware has one fanboi working for them. BIG SHOCK!
Because of course, the voice of one employee in one amateur user review is the voice of the entire fucking company.

I'm obviously a retard, my mistake, I totally didn't mean for it to come out like that, I was trying to say that if it so happens that a game has more negative than positive reviews don't jump to "TROLLS". I need to learn how to convey my thoughts to words without emotion.

Okay, i can get that, and i'm on the same opinion. Though there's still the matter whether or not some bad reviews are made out of a bandwagon or herd instinct, or by people who haven't even played the game.

Reminds me. do you remember when large numbers of people started a public outcry over the sex-simulator that was mass-effect. They even went on TV and told the world with conviction that it was the ultimate in depravity that would distroy the heart,mind, and soul of american chidren. All based on an article by one person who had a cut screen described to him and a long chain of people who never fact checked a thing but happily added embelishment with every tell.

So I assume by this time next week, the story is going to be that the CEO of EA was paying outside contractors to write glowing reviews on all the public forums across the web as well as bribing all professional reviewers with parties on his personal yatt?

 

[PerpetualGamer]

But that fact is that There are more people who dislike the game than like it.

The term "vocal minority" comes to mind, which makes your "fact" inconclusive.

I'm also a PC elitist (somewhat). I like Dragon Age 2. I like to think i'm not the exception that confirms the rule.

As for the OP: so Bioware has one fanboi working for them. BIG SHOCK!
Because of course, the voice of one employee in one amateur user review is the voice of the entire fucking company.

I'm obviously a retard, my mistake, I totally didn't mean for it to come out like that, I was trying to say that if it so happens that a game has more negative than positive reviews don't jump to "TROLLS". I need to learn how to convey my thoughts to words without emotion.

Okay, i can get that, and i'm on the same opinion. Though there's still the matter whether or not some bad reviews are made out of a bandwagon or herd instinct, or by people who haven't even played the game.

I agree but I think its hardly the MAJORITY of the reviews Which is what they assume each time they say we are all trolls is it not?

 

[Autofaux]

Bioware took some risks. Problem is, not all of them paid off. Things feel marginalised without being streamlined. The PC version feels (Lord of the End Times, I swore I would never use this term) console-ified, without the benefit of making the experience better for all platforms.

The team that developed Mass Effect 2 understood that concept better than this team did.

And while the game is by no means bad, you can definitely see the potential there for the future of the franchise. I am pumped for Dragon Age 3.

 

[Nikolaz72]

When the only ones loving the game are the makers lol

A ridiculous number of people like the game. Stop pretending like your opinion is universal. This whole DA2 thing, as with most "they changed it, now it sucks" situations, is already pretty infantile without you trying to drum up your argument by inventing unanimity.

You know what they say, if you lie a thousand times it becometh thou truth.

Not saying its a lie ofc. Its an opinion, but thats like the internet mostly being COMPLETELY anti-religious. When you go around in here/youtube you feel like Atheists are the majority of world population. I seem to be one of the few who thought Dragonage 2 better than Dragonage 1. They had a less detailed main-plot. With more detailed Sidequests. They really put a lot more work into them, made you wanna do it. I can see why everyone that just rushed directly through the main not caring for anything else would find the game lacking, perhaps the worst. But if you did the sidestuff a lot of the things people claim to be plotholes is filled out.

 

[JonnWood]

There is some sort of scandal going on.

First you have abnormally high reviews from the "official" sources such as gaming magazines and websites (like this one)*.

Perhaps reviewers simply have a different opinion from the general public. After all, someone keeps watching Michael Bay movies.

Second, you have a flood of one sentence reviews on metacritic of 0 that are artificially deflating the user score, the general user score seems to be in the 5-7 region.

Yes, and? There are a lot of people who vote "1" on IMDB just so they can bring movies closer to what they think the rating should be. It means they're self-centered, not part of a conspiracy.

Third, you have us, the players caught in the middle.

That's really just two things.

And lastly, the one nobody wants:

You missed 5) All or some of the above.

Everyone that has given this game a 100/100, 10/10, 5/5 needs to have their integrity looked at and their priorities re-evaluated.

That is a broad, sweeping statement.

It is good, but it shipped with plain flaws that can't be overlooked.

Yet apparently someone thought it was good enough for those flaws to be discounted.

How much weight these flaws carry is debatable, that they exist is not, thus the game CANNOT be perfect.

Maybe they think it's as close to perfect as makes no odds.

Whether it was EA/BioWare employees in disguise, promised first looks/exclusivity for ME3 and other BioWare games, or extra ad revenue, there is definitely something fishy in the promotion of this game.

Or it's just one guy who liked the game and/or worked hard on it, trying to prop it up.

*I noticed The Escapist was the poster child for DA2 positive "Critic Reviews" on Metacritic a few days ago. It has since been removed entirely from the critic's list. I don't know why, and refuse to speculate, but it is an oddity considering I did call him out for glossing over the flaws and giving the game a perfect score that didn't seem to jive with what everyone else on the planet was saying.

Remembered what I said about self-centered people and their opinions? Guess who you are!

 

[ReservoirAngel]

I'm a tad confused, I reread the article (and it's source) a couple times just to make sure I didn't miss anything blatantly obvious. But one guy who works at bioware, and is probably just angry about all the stupidity going on with DA2, decides to write his own counter review to the trolls and now suddenly it's this huge Bioware/EA conspiracy to dupe people into buying the game?

Was it stupid of him? Yes. Should he have done it? No. But I must be missing the connection point where big brother attempted to dupe us all into making uninformed choices.

You're not missing anything. It's just one dude trying to reverse the imbalance of reviews influenced by trolls/elitists.

No big conspiracy, no big attempt to fuck over the general population. Just one dude who made an idiotic decision for slightly good reasons.

P.S: Your avatar really reminds me of Marik from Yu-Gi-Oh, to the point where it's starting to weird me out.

 

[Frozengale]

Is it just me or is Bioware really being aggressive on marketing their games, via television, comic books, toy figures, an upcoming web show, all this unlockable items mumbo jumbo, dlc, etc. Too much or no?

Televison - Yes
Comic Books - Probably
Toys- I actually like the option to get action figures of game characters so I will say no. They need to keep doing this. I need Tali and Kasumi figures!
Web Show - Yes
Unlockables - It can get pretty annoying when I have to go make special accounts to unlock stuff in my games
DLC - First day DLC is stupid, Mini DLC that adds nothing more then a new armor set or weapon is crap, but the really good well thought out stuff I like.

So yeah Bioware needs to tone it down a bit.

 

[Enkidu88]

I actually didn't think Dragon Age 2 was all that bad and personally I think it would have done a lot better with fans if they hadn't slapped the "Dragon Age" logo on it and made it a new IP. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did Origins, so I can see where a lot of the hate is coming from.

That said, I would have a lot more respect for Bioware if they simply came out and said "We're sorry some of our fans didn't enjoy the new Dragon Age game, but this is the direction we've decided to take." That way they at least show some conviction, or belief that they were doing something awesome, instead their acting like a scorned child "YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND IT!!!!" and trying to dupe us with stupid false advertising.

 

[Ian Caronia]

I'm a huge Atlus fan because they've earned it since I was a kid. I can definately say, unless there's proof of Atlus mass firing devs (because they can) or fixing reviews (as is this case)

This isn?t fixing reviews this is one guy writing a user review of his own accord.

Fair enough. I shouldn't have said "fixing reviews" because that implies something different, that Bioware is paying off reviewers to give good scores, and though I believe every big name publisher in the business does that nowadays (why I take all game reviews with a grain of salt), my speculation is not what this thread is about. You are absolutely correct.

That being said, I still think it's wrong to write a review, positive or otherwise, about a product your employers make. Whether he had a part in making the game or not he's going to make his employers look bad if he's caught doing so. And he was. And he has.
First the EA draconian bullshit, then the EA "you can buy our games even if you're underage, but we won't let you play them" crap, then we had Bioware's oh so polite moderators (sarcasm), and now this? Maybe someone at Bioware(or EA) broke a mirror or pissed off an old gypsy lady because this is a horrible month for their PR.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

...and? He advertised. He said the game was good, which, designing it, he is fairly qualified to say. 'S a damn fun game, and more immersive and character driven than anything in the past few years. Any work done by the man seems to have paid off.

Unless he's the guy that decided we can only interact with our companions at fixed points. Then shame on him.

 

[KwaggaDan]

Well this IS EA we are talking about.

Plus this. EA eat fucking babies they really do.

Yeah, and your mom would totally hate that. Angst angst

 

[PerpetualGamer]

...and? He advertised. He said the game was good, which, designing it, he is fairly qualified to say. 'S a damn fun game, and more immersive and character driven than anything in the past few years. Any work done by the man seems to have paid off.

Unless he's the guy that decided we can only interact with our companions at fixed points. Then shame on him.

Ironically that probably makes him the worse person to say that its a good game. Common developer saying is that something along the lines of designers being the worse judge of their own game.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

...and? He advertised. He said the game was good, which, designing it, he is fairly qualified to say. 'S a damn fun game, and more immersive and character driven than anything in the past few years. Any work done by the man seems to have paid off.

Unless he's the guy that decided we can only interact with our companions at fixed points. Then shame on him.

Ironically that probably makes him the worse person to say that its a good game. Common developer saying is that something along the lines of designers being the worse judge of their own game.

If you were an designer of a feature in a game that you felt proud of, and felt that the complete effort of everyone involved produced a good game, would you not boast? Would you not say with confidence that people would enjoy the features?