Charas-Project
Off-Topic => All of all! => Topic started by: Dragonium on March 15, 2011, 02:44:02 AM
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I imagine some of you have seen this already. (http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/bioware-employee-accused-of-manipulating-dragon-age-2-metacritic-scores/)
Bioware haven't been averse to the murder of good game franchises with excessive "streamlining", or putting intrusive DRM into their games that they specifically said they wouldn't, but apparently they're now resorting to bumping up the Metacritic user reviews of their own games. In my opinion, this is pretty unacceptable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing).
So do you think this is cause for much frowning, or not a big deal?
This could of course have been avoided had Dragon Age II been anywhere near good.
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I blame EA.
Because I just can't be bioware, man.
it just cant
[/denial]
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Hey, it's whatever.
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LOL DISCLAIMER: I've interned at Electronic Arts twice under the Sims Label in California. Bioware is in Edmonton, Canada.
Although yes, it is annoying that Chris Hoban did not give a disclaimer for his review, keep in mind that the people who work at game companies are gamers as well. Mobygames, one of the best resources for finding out credits and other info of that nature, lists Chris Hoban as only having worked on one game: Dragon Age: Origins (http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/by_genre/developerId,419947/). The credits page for one of the Dragon Age games he worked on (http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/dragon-age-origins-awakening/credits) lists him as "Application Support". This most likely means that he provided technical support to either the development team themselves or as some sort of support on troubleshooting the game install process or dealing with isssues in the game.
Now, if Chris Hoban was in marketing, or if he was a high-profile developer or producer, then yes, this would be highly suspicious. As it is, it looks to me like he personally made a mistake in reviewing a game that he liked, and tried a bit too hard in writing his review well. I highly doubt Bioware knew anything about it (of course, I could be wrong, but this doesn't seem like something they'd do), and if they did, they're not dumb enough to let it happen.
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See, that's why I don't buy in to the pissy attitude when things like this surface until all the details are fleshed out. From the sounds of it, there's no crime here, and it's just a somewhat bad decision made without thinking about the results. But, of course, whatever media ran into this is likely just trying to drum up some attention (and page views).
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They also banned someone from playing Dragon Age 2 for badmouthing EA on the forums. Once word got out to news sites they went back on it saying it was a "glitch".
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Yeah, it seems that they banned the account, forgetting that it affected everything tied to that account, not just forum access. Seems like an accident to me. Although, the post that got the guy banned suggested that Bioware sold their souls to the EA devil, but didn't really contain any vulgarity. That seems a bit extreme, but by no means is it underhanded.
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Well this isn't special.
I'm pretty sure this happens all the time seeing the scores things get over here in magazines and stuff. Games that pretty much sucks get a solid 5 out of 5, albums that works better as doorstops than listening to ect.
DA2 have received pretty high scores wherever I've looked, maybe it's good or maybe people like to praise it, I don't get what difference the person's job makes though.
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One would think that the era of the official game reviewer should have ended some time in the past decade. Back when the internet was nonexistant / unpopular, gaming magazines served a decent, if self-service, purpose. But nowadays anyone can just ask gamers directly on the internets what they think of a game. It shouldn't matter if official joe shmoe thinks it's 5/5 stars great game if the people that bought it aren't happy.
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I personally don't buy a game just because a review says it's good. Doubt it's the first time something similar happens.
Look at Black Ops. 9-10/10 everywhere, yet many, many people were disappointed by the game.
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I don't watch/read a lot of reviews either beside Zeropunctuation, and that's mostly because of that guy's boldness, so I don't buy games based on ratings. I usually download DS games before purchasing them to make sure that my time in the backseat won't be wasted though.
Got a friend who visits all the sites such as gamereactor to see what's new and hot, he always buys the latest high rated games. He gets all hyped while waiting for delivery and the opening movie then he gets bored or disappointed mostly. Especially FFXII/XIII.
I must admit myself guilty to fanbasing though. I keep buying the next game of a series only because I liked one of the previous games. Trying something completely new kinda demands a visual appeal; like Monster Hunter Tri for me, ,Borderlands or dragon age. Otherwise I stick to what I know (although FF is slowly slipping away).
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Bioware games always get good reviews. They could release anything and it'd get 90%+
I personally think every Bioware game I've ever played has been excruciatingly boring
and dragged out. Dragon Age 1 was a complete catastrophe.
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I don't think it's entirely the same as an "official" review being paid off. Yeah, that happens all the time. Most people with sense know to take official reviews with a pinch of salt. This isn't really a major crime (unless you're in one of those countries where astroturfing is illegal), but in a way it's a betrayal of trust. Companies can shill for themselves, but they shouldn't. User reviews exist so that people who aren't sure whether or not to buy a game can see whether other human beings enjoyed the game.
Consider this: if you looked at reviews for a game, and it had twenty 11/10 official reviews and a hundred user reviews saying it was mediocre, what conclusion would you draw?
At the end of the day though, I guess Moose is right in that this is mostly harmless. It's annoying, but as far as I'm aware user reviews are largely ignored by developers, so the guy most likely just wanted to give a game he worked on some good rep. It still looks bad on Bioware, but then again they don't do much worthy of praise these days.
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User reviews exist so that people who aren't sure whether or not to buy a game can see whether other human beings enjoyed the game.
Developers are human beings. Bioware didn't write that review, Chris Hoban did. That's the mistake that people are making.
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Alright, point taken.
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I don't get what the problem is, I played dragon age II for 26 hours total and played it every hour that I wasn't working/sleeping until I beat it. I absolutely loved it, the story was a little shaky but everything else I thoroughly enjoyed.
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I think the problem is, people are forgetting to take reviews with a grain of salt. Everyone enjoys different aspects of gameplay. Something you enjoy in a game, might be the bane of some game reviewer's existence, thus giving it a low rating.
Maybe Hoban had some special interest in giving the game a dishonest high-rating. Maybe he didn't. It doesn't change the fact he's presenting the review as his opinion and should be taken as such; just an opinion.
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(http://i.imgur.com/cB7e1.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMcVZQI6ybw
I don't like Bioware much anymore. They used to be cool.
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I'm sorry, relevance?
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"Bioware Are Dicks"
Also be sure to read the full description of that video
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(http://i.imgur.com/cB7e1.jpg)
At the bottom post...No. Just no.
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I choose to believe that they are referencing my pony avatar and not the vampire movies.
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That's pretty much what I thought when I saw "Twilight" in there. And I prefer it this way.
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Yes...I see now. Now my sanity can remain intact.
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I refuse to believe that the's actually being serious, and think that he's just trollin'.
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It's whatever. Bioware is made up of people, and people are like trail mix - There tends to be a few nuts mixed in.
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I don't think complimenting one aspect of a bad franchise makes this guy a moron.
I haven't read Twilight, and neither have you guys.
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It's whatever. Bioware is made up of people, and people are like trail mix - There tends to be a few nuts mixed in.
Yeah but you don't want those nuts to be lead writers of plot based games.
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I haven't read Twilight, and neither have you guys.
I have, actually, and I'm not proud. I wanted to see if it was really as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Oh god, it's worse.
I mean, the book literally made me angry. That's a feat not easily accomplished by any book outside of a Sarah Palin autobiography.
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I don't think complimenting one aspect of a bad franchise makes this guy a moron.
I haven't read Twilight, and neither have you guys.
I've actually read it too, and it could have been a decent book if it was written by someone who didn't have a 24/7 hard-on for Edward, I mean it was a decent concept and could have been turned into a decent book, but the endless descriptions of Edward's perfection and Jake's rippling muscles just made me want to tear my eyes out.
But back on topic the only thing that really just let me down about the story was that:
[spoiler] The rest of the story had nothing to do with Flemeth or Morrigan's Archdemon/Hero child from the first DA [/spoiler]
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I never read Twillight but all my friends did and they say it was good.
>_>
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I've read it.
Actually found it to be an entertaining read, even if it did suck. Not really sure how that is.
New Moon, however, bored me to death.
Still though, the romance sucks, mostly due to the fact that neither character is really described (strangely enough), and all of the reasons that everybody knows about (Edward's a stalker, Bella is vapid, Jacob is all RARGH, **** like that)
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This topic just got put on notice. Totally gonna abuse powers if I see any more Twilight conversation.
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I don't get why they gave Qunaris horns in this game. The Qunari where golden skinned muscle men in the last game - now they remind me of Darkspawn. Odd indeed.
I really loved having Sten by my side in that game, a far more interesting character than most quiet stoic warrior types out there.
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You know what's weird? My friend's mom loves twilight. Absolutely thinks its amazing. She's like 48. I don't get it.
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It's either a preteen girl or an older woman.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT, LET'S BITCH ABOUT BIOWARE.
uh
Yeah, I think that all that could be said has been said, actually.
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Allegedly EA pay their dev houses based on metacritic scores. Gives good incentive to astroturf their games like this.
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I really loved having Sten by my side in that game, a far more interesting character than most quiet stoic warrior types out there.
Weird, I think Sten is my LEAST favorite character. Alistair, Leliana, Morrigan and Wynne (depending on where I am) always make up my party. I never even equip Sten with a weapon. The other characters have actual personalities.
Maybe I just never let Sten grow enough. Once I actually BUY origins, I want to play through it with a few different race/class types, as opposed to the standard Human Warrior. Perhaps as a mage/rogue Sten will actually make it into my party at some point.
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Allegedly EA pay their dev houses based on metacritic scores. Gives good incentive to astroturf their games like this.
Stop saying "astroturf". As a Houstonian, I only recognize astroturf as that fake grass inside the Astrodome.
God, so many red squiggles in this post.
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I actually think the new Qunari look is better than it was in the first game. It's much more appealing to their collective personalities, more warrior like than before.
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Don't talk **** about Bioware they've got William Wallace on their side. :eyes:
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(http://biobreak.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wallace.jpg)
Don't mess with the Wallace, man. He'll **** you up.
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He looks like a baby.