Employees review Bioware/EA

[Kragg]

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/BioWare-Reviews-E22998.htm

This looks interesting and mostly untrolled for now, some insight in company atmosphere. Didn't see anyone mention this before. Could confirm/deny EA meddling on lower levels.

looks like QA get free breakfast and icecream ...

 

[Fappy]

Looks like the reviews so far have been eerily similar to what people around here have been guessing at all along. Except for the contractor thing. I haven't heard about this until now.

 

[Joseph Harrison]

Most of the complaints seem to be about contract employees and unfortunately I'm not very well versed in the business world so I don't quite get what that means. Aside from that they were rather positive although some people had nothing good to say about Senior Management. Quite an interesting read, although, this is Bioware Austin, so that's the one in charge of SWTOR right?

 

[Kragg]

Most of the complaints seem to be about contract employees and unfortunately I'm not very well versed in the business world so I don't quite get what that means. Aside from that they were rather positive although some people had nothing good to say about Senior Management. Quite an interesting read, although, this is Bioware Austin, so that's the one in charge of SWTOR right?

mixed I believe, most Austin, some of the canada branch and I spotted one of the Galway Ireland branch aswell.

Contract employees stuff is probably their temp jobs not getting hired fully or dont have their contracts renewed, I think most Q&A works like that, most of all helpdesk stuff aswell, people rotate in that sector alot, its not a fun job

 

[MisterShine]

Quite an interesting read, although, this is Bioware Austin, so that's the one in charge of SWTOR right?

Most of them are from Austin, and judging by the complaints of the anonymous ones (these complaints are almost exactly the same as the ones from Austin), most of them are from Austin as well. There are a few from the main office in Edmonton, which is funny since the cons from all of them are "we're stuck in edmonton"

Overall a very interesting picture of the company. I'd like to read more of these.

 

[DustyDrB]

Wow. Does Edmonton (the city/town/whatever) suck that badly?

 

[Fappy]

Quite an interesting read, although, this is Bioware Austin, so that's the one in charge of SWTOR right?

Most of them are from Austin, and judging by the complaints of the anonymous ones (these complaints are almost exactly the same as the ones from Austin), most of them are from Austin as well. There are a few from the main office in Edmonton, which is funny since the cons from all of them are "we're stuck in edmonton"

Overall a very interesting picture of the company. I'd like to read more of these.

Most of the negative reviews coming out of Austin is no surprise after the giant cutbacks they have been suffering from. EA overhead ftw

 

[Zhukov]

That sounds like... actually, that sounds like just about any largish company. Both in good and bad.

Generally nice people, some arrogant pricks among the managers, communication issues, grumpy temporary contractors who were expecting a full time job.

Obviously a some ill will toward EA.

Apparently Endmonton isn't the nicest place to live.

Notice that current employees tend to say it's nice while formers say it's iffy. No surprise there. Glowing reviews from those currently in management positions. Heh. Funny that.

...

Do we have any way of knowing if these are genuine? It's all anonymous. I just checked and there is absolutely nothing from stopping me writing one right now. Even if the current ones are the real thing, how long before the volatile mouth-breathers of the internet notice the 'submit review' button like I just did? It says they review submissions, but anyone with half a brain can fool a reviewer given that there is no requirement for specific information.

 

[Saviordd1]

I love how most of the people reviewing were from the Austin branch (The Old Republic) and that most of the Cons listed were all related to EA and management douchebaggery.


No surprises there.

 

[Fappy]

That sounds like... actually, that sounds like just about any largish company. Both in good and bad.

Generally nice people, some arrogant pricks among the managers, communication issues, grumpy temporary contractors who were expecting a full time job.

Obviously a some ill will toward EA.

Apparently Endmonton isn't the nicest place to live.

Notice that current employees tend to say it's nice while formers say it's iffy. No surprise there. Glowing reviews from those currently in management positions. Heh. Funny that.

...

Do we have any way of knowing if these are genuine? It's all anonymous. I just checked and there is absolutely nothing from stopping me writing one right now. Even if the current ones are the real thing, how long before the volatile mouth-breathers of the internet notice the 'submit review' button like I just did? It says they review submissions, but anyone with half a brain can fool a reviewer given that there is no requirement for specific information.

Some of the current employees didn't post anonymously.

 

[Zaik]

You can tell who is full time and who isn't from the posts in there, lol >.>

Don't even need to look up and see if they have some fancy title.

Still, really nothing unexpected or surprising. EA force chokes, management issues, royalty beating the peasants for fun, etc.

 

[back pain]

Wow. Does Edmonton (the city/town/whatever) suck that badly?

I live in Edmonton, how good the city is depends on what time of year it is. Edmonton follows the standard 4 seasons in Canada: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.

For the 2-3 months of the year that we get summer it's great. We have ridiculous amounts of urban green space and trails to explore and enjoy. Summer temperatures are warm but rarely does it get overly hot (above 35c), and the high latitude means the days are nice and long. There are lots of festivals and outdoor events during the summer to keep you occupied, and nightlife isn't too bad either. However road construction during the summer tends to mess up traffic pretty badly, and the mosquitoes can get bad at dawn and dusk.

Winter is a completely different story. Average winter temperatures hover around -20c and it's not uncommon to get at least one week of -40c weather. Snow and ice make the roads exceedingly dangerous, this combined with the below average public transit means you'll likely stay in. The same high latitude that gives us longer days during the summer gives us really short days during the winter. Not really much to do during the winter but drink, or watch hockey and drink.

 

[DustyDrB]

Wow. Does Edmonton (the city/town/whatever) suck that badly?

I live in Edmonton, how good the city is depends on what time of year it is. Edmonton follows the standard 4 seasons in Canada: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.

For the 2-3 months of the year that we get summer it's great. We have ridiculous amounts of urban green space and trails to explore and enjoy. Summer temperatures are warm but rarely does it get overly hot (above 35c), and the high latitude means the days are nice and long. There are lots of festivals and outdoor events during the summer to keep you occupied, and nightlife isn't too bad either. However road construction during the summer tends to mess up traffic pretty badly, and the mosquitoes can get bad at dawn and dusk.

Winter is a completely different story. Average winter temperatures hover around -20c and it's not uncommon to get at least one week of -40c weather. Snow and ice make the roads exceedingly dangerous, this combined with the below average public transit means you'll likely stay in. The same high latitude that gives us longer days during the summer gives us really short days during the winter. Not really much to do during the winter but drink, or watch hockey and drink.

Eek. Yeah, I couldn't live there. Not a fan of cold weather or snow. Though mosquitoes are common here too. And sand gnats (extremely tiny bugs that swarm you and make you itch like crazy. They're so small that they're better known as "no-see-ums").