Bioware Employee caught reviewing Dragon Age 2

[CrashBang]

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.

Agreed. This guy is frustrated by a few negative user reviews and takes his revenge (in a very mundane way), what's so evil about this? How is this Bioware 'stooping so low'? I'm really not following, nor do I care. Now, back to enjoying Dragon Age 2

 

[McNinja]

http://vividgamer.com/2011/03/14/bioware-employee-caught-reviewing-dragon-age-ii/

Really sad. When the only ones loving the game are the makers lol

not the entirety of Bioware worked on Dragon Age 2. There are Bioware employees who had nothing to do with the game.

Also, the game wasn't that bad. Anyone who says otherwise is just being a toaster.

 

[Yopaz]

Wow.
Was Dragon Age 2 that bad? I thought it was just /v/ being bored.

It's not; I think it's quite good. The problem is it has a very different focus from Origins, so the people who loved that game feel betrayed by BioWare.

While BioWare isn't at fault for deciding to move in a different direction with their franchise (it is theirs after all), they need to accept that in changing direction you're gonna piss off some fans, not try tricking them into liking the new game. I love BioWare and want to overlook this, but it is just so low.

Yeah, what most want is Dragon Age with betetr graphics, slightly different story and more quests. Fans are frustrating...

 

[tunderball]

Yeah all of this Bioware bashing is really getting very silly now. DA2 is a perfectly adequate game, yeah it's not the best thing they've ever made but it is still very good.

Wasn't everybody on this site worshiping Bioware no more than a few weeks ago? Than they make a very tiny slip up and you all turn on a great developer it's a damn shame. They are still one of if not the best developers out there and I only wish everybody else was able to invest as much time and effort into each game as they do.

I find it very wrong how everybody can just turn on a great developer like this almost instantly forgetting the countless hours of joy they have brought YOU with almost every game they have ever released.

 

[Perfice]

On that note, I realized there is alot of people who hate EA.
This lead me to question: "Who the fuck cares about who makes a game when you buy it."

When I decide on a game I decide from this order:
1. I stand in front of all the games on the shelves and look at the covers.
2. When I see a cover that looks interesting I pick it up and look at the back.
3. After I look at the gameplay pictures on the back I read the description.
4. I do this for a about 5-6 games before I make my decision.

Not once do I ever look to see who makes the game. I mean, it's not like I'd be enjoying a game and once I found out EA made it I'd suddenly hate it.

 

[JeanLuc761]

THERE IS NO BIOWARE. ONLY EA.


Bioware is just a name now, they died the moment EA bought them. Supporting them means you support EA and all their bullshit.

Speak for yourself. I like EA, as a general rule. They've published an astonishing number of great titles over the years and they're one of the few publishers that takes risks (Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, The Old Republic). They aren't a perfect company and they have more than their share of bad publicity, but they don't seem malicious.

 

[Meggiepants]

Wow.
Was Dragon Age 2 that bad? I thought it was just /v/ being bored.

It's not; I think it's quite good. The problem is it has a very different focus from Origins, so the people who loved that game feel betrayed by BioWare.

While BioWare isn't at fault for deciding to move in a different direction with their franchise (it is theirs after all), they need to accept that in changing direction you're gonna piss off some fans, not try tricking them into liking the new game.

This.

When David Gaider went off bashing how all the bad reviews were just an attack from 4chan, I thought that was pretty juvenile.

If you are going to change the game as much as they did, you have to at least own up to the fact that it isn't the same game people fell in love with the first time.

At the same time, I also think all the fans giving the game scores of 1 & 2 out of 10, should own up to the fact that they are letting their passion for DA:O color their opinion. E.T. for the Atari is a 1. A score of 1 should be reserved for a game that is total and utter crap. Clearly, DA2 is not that game. It's a very polished game. It's just not DA:O.

As to scandal here, I don't really see one. One employee in a huge company posting a counter review does not a scandal make.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

It isn't terrible. The art direction was weird and, it's a pain in the ass to interact with stuff sometimes (ie: I sometimes have to leave a room, tell my party to stay where they are and then re-enter aforementioned room in order to interact with a glittering chest)

I didn't realize this game was so poorly received though. Sure there are a ton of threads here that are slamming it but that happens with just about every other big-name game that's released. It's kind of funny that this article even exists I mean, of course one of the developers would say something like that about his/her own product but I don't see why he needs to be so heavily criticized. If the reviewer was being pressured by a higher-up then there's a story. If it's a bit of anti-trolling (which is what it sounds like) then it sounds like a wasted space where something more important could have been reported.

 

[Zapad]

...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?

I am happy to respond to such a level headed question, and kudos to you for being smart.

I would boast, but not in a public rating system as that is just bad idea for the above reason (invoking the wrath of the public).

But the following

The immersion and combat of this game are unmatched! A truly moving and fun epic. Anything negative you?ll see about this game is an overreaction of personal preference. For what it is, it is flawlessly executed and endlessly entertaining.

Is not a boast, it is a statement that says "if you don't like our features, you are incorrect and your opinion does not matter". You know what, I wouldn't be half suprised if this whole thing was faked by a professional troll, cause thats the kind of review i expect from a troll.

I do like what you've said here.

To add my opinion to this whole mix:

>>One person writing a review: not Bioware's fault.

>>That person trying to look unbiased: absolutely insulting. Every review is biased on this or that way, but it is important to point out when something is truly personal and the aforequoted sentence is ridiculously childish.

>>That rumour of Bioware or EA blocking somebody's game account because they've been bad on the forum: Outrageous. Being a jack ass in the forums doesn't automatically make you a jack ass in the game. And giving negative reviews should NEVER be punishable. That's a problem with a lot of organizations, countries even. When you are dubbed a traitor if you point out something bad in your country.

>>DA:O coloring your opinion of DA2. Yes that should be normal. It is alright for people to point out that as a single standing game it's not so bad. But it is a sequel. DA2. It MUSTN'T use the same name if it wants to be a standalone game. You CANNOT blame your fans for expecting improvements or at least same quality as your previous game. It's a sequel. Make a new game and then you can talk. It's absolutely ridiculous to cash in on a game by it being a sequel (a lot of purchases were probably due to people having already played the first one) but then think the game should be rated on its own, and not as a comparison.

>>A lot of "big name games" have received amazingly high scores on pages like IGN and so on lately. It is ridiculous when half the text of the review is identical for some other game (using phrases like "repetitive", "dull", "short", "poorer graphics", etc) but then DA2 gets an 8.5 and the other game a 6.5. Woah woah woah, excuse me?

 

[rad666a]

I've been waiting for DA2 to be released, so I could confirm something, and it makes me smile.

So many people are saying "ignore the reviews", or "there's a bias", or "reviews don't mean anything", or something like that. These are probably the same people who, when someone has something negative to say about ME2, immediately point to the reviews and say things like "how could you say that when the reviews are so positive".

I love hypocrites...

 

[fealubryne]

Wow.
Was Dragon Age 2 that bad? I thought it was just /v/ being bored.

It's not; I think it's quite good. The problem is it has a very different focus from Origins, so the people who loved that game feel betrayed by BioWare.

While BioWare isn't at fault for deciding to move in a different direction with their franchise (it is theirs after all), they need to accept that in changing direction you're gonna piss off some fans, not try tricking them into liking the new game. I love BioWare and want to overlook this, but it is just so low.

This entire comment is pretty much exactly how I feel. I'm not a fan of the direction they went with Dragon Age II, but at the same time I understand why they did it. It appealed to a niche group, and let's face it, the changes they made appeal to a lot more people now.

That said, it's even worse that this happened... it discredits the fact that the game honestly seems to be doing pretty well on its own.

 

[ramboondiea]

not sure why people care? he is a person, im going to go out on a limb and say he enjoyed the game, so why cant he write a review? its like people giving the game 0 because they changed it, or were fanboys rate 10 because its there favourite franchise,
he liked it, he reviewed it. where is the problem?

 

[Rarhnor]

People get so melodramatic when their pet seal turns out to be a pile of seaweed. It was pretty aggressively marketed by EA, which doesn't help, but this case is Bioware trying to get money out of EA instead of the usual viceversa. Plus, EA would've used one of their own people to fake the review, instead of a subordinate engineer

Sad Bioware...

 

[m72_ar]

I've been waiting for DA2 to be released, so I could confirm something, and it makes me smile.

So many people are saying "ignore the reviews", or "there's a bias", or "reviews don't mean anything", or something like that. These are probably the same people who, when someone has something negative to say about ME2, immediately point to the reviews and say things like "how could you say that when the reviews are so positive".

I love hypocrites...

Your review only mean something if you do actually buy and play the game and not just read how bad it is on a forum somewhere.
The review bombing is done mostly by people who did not play the game and go with the momentum of the hate to post bad review or they just hate the game based on principle.

Example i frickin hate Call of Duty franchise based on principle and never buying that franchise again after MW, but i don't go to review site and bashing a game I don't even play no matter what the forumite says.

This is the problem with user review, those review are not necessarily done by people who played the game. So basically as far I'm concerned user review are like FOX news.
Granted there might be a good point here and there but in the case of review bombing like this, most of the 1 or 2 stars review are worthless

 

[Ch@Z]

Why does this matter? Can't anyone post there, just like with youtube comments, or even posts on The Escapist, no?

That's what I thought too.
So what? It's not like we found out that EA paid a pro reviewer to give the game 10 out of 10.
He is just a nobody.

 

[teknoarcanist]

You know what, I give the employee a pass. I can almost guarantee that this was done in response to the fact that publishers like EA rely on meta-critic as the largest barometer of a game's critical success -- despite numerous articles which point out why scored, amalgam review sites like MC and Rotten Tomatoes create inaccurate, misleading statistics.

To put it another way:
You've just done some damn good work, and now your boss has told you he'll only give you a bonus if his cat approves.
Now you and I both know that cats don't speak, and certainly aren't the best measurement of the quality of your work -- but your boss is adamant: he needs that cat's second opinion on all management decisions.
So you, quite reasonably, pick up the cat and go "Yeah, it's cool, he did a good job, hook him up."

Chastise the employee who did this all you want -- but the real blame lies with the idiotic corporate policies that led him to do it.

 

[Woodsey]

Plenty of people, myself included, love Dragon Age 2. Most of the bad reviews are PC elitists who wouldn't admit a game being good if it's also good on consoles.

I love it too.

Although plenty of complaints seem to be coming from the consoles about the combat actually, because now it feels too hack and slash. They also seem to have forgotten how much they complained about the combat in the last one.

 

[carpathic]

I wouldn't say they're the only ones, but this does put the first signs of blemish on my vision of Bioware. They are no longer pristine in my eyes.

Who's left?.....


nothing but a barren wasteland....

sorrow.

or perhaps a "VARREN" wasteland...hehehee