Originally posted by roo67
Sounds like he plans to make and drink beer . Now thats what I call living the dream .

   La Chaim

Originally posted by kalrhael

Originally posted by DSWBeef
Code for "We hate what EA has done to BW, so we're gone"

 

If that was the truth they would of gone elsewhere that was video-game related, with the sort of resumé that these guys have they can land a gig anywhere...but it sounds like they're done with videogames in general. 

 

But I say good-luck to them both, I'd say most of us have been touched by a bioware game at some point in our lives, what they've done is still held at the pinnacle when it comes to videogame naratives... Baldurs Gate II, KOTOR, Mass Effect...all shine at the top.  

 

 

The sale to EA probably contained a "Non Compete" clause in the contract for the principles (pretty common).... which means even if they wanted to work in videogames, they can't because that would be competing with EA and would get them sued.

So I think I've got a good handle on EA's business plan:

1) Identify companies that produce good games that your crappy games can't compete with...

2) Buyout said companies using your warchest of cash as an enticement and force the talent, who you know are capable of producing better games then you into signing a non-compete agreement forcing them from the industry if they leave you, so you eliminate any future competition.

3) Rebrand your studio sweatshops with the well respected brand of the studio you just aquired and crank out a high volume of subpar games that you sell primarly on hype and marketing while leveraging the previously valuable brand name of said studio to help you fool unwary customers into sight unseen purchases.

4) Continue step 3 until the studio's brand is drained of all value. Get rid of all the principles, and point the finger of blame toward them when your stockholders question why the products produced under the previously well respected brand were of such poor quality.

5) Take the money you earned from steps 3 and 4 and use it as capital to repeat the cycle with a new victem.

Am, I missing anything?

Originally posted by GrumpyMel2

So I think I've got a good handle on EA's business plan:

1) Identify companies that produce good games that your crappy games can't compete with...

2) Buyout said companies using your warchest of cash as an enticement and force the talent, who you know are capable of producing better games then you into signing a non-compete agreement forcing them from the industry if they leave you, so you eliminate any future competition.

3) Rebrand your studio sweatshops with the well respected brand of the studio you just aquired and crank out a high volume of subpar games that you sell primarly on hype and marketing while leveraging the previously valuable brand name of said studio to help you fool unwary customers into sight unseen purchases.

4) Continue step 3 until the studio's brand is drained of all value. Get rid of all the principles, and point the finger of blame toward them when your stockholders question why the products produced under the previously well respected brand were of such poor quality.

5) Take the money you earned from steps 3 and 4 and use it as capital to repeat the cycle with a new victem.

Am, I missing anything?

Seems pretty dead on accurate to me.

Originally posted by GrumpyMel2

So I think I've got a good handle on EA's business plan:

 

1) Identify companies that produce good games that your crappy games can't compete with...

 

2) Buyout said companies using your warchest of cash as an enticement and force the talent, who you know are capable of producing better games then you into signing a non-compete agreement forcing them from the industry if they leave you, so you eliminate any future competition.

 

3) Rebrand your studio sweatshops with the well respected brand of the studio you just aquired and crank out a high volume of subpar games that you sell primarly on hype and marketing while leveraging the previously valuable brand name of said studio to help you fool unwary customers into sight unseen purchases.

4) Continue step 3 until the studio's brand is drained of all value. Get rid of all the principles, and point the finger of blame toward them when your stockholders question why the products produced under the previously well respected brand were of such poor quality.

5) Take the money you earned from steps 3 and 4 and use it as capital to repeat the cycle with a new victem.

Am, I missing anything?

 

 

Nope, that looks accurate to me.

The games BioWare produce since EA took them over are no where near as good. I wont be buying DA3 after the rubbish that was ME3 and DA2.

And with the two founders bailing out now speaks volumes for the future of BioWare and Dragon Age 3.

EA rips the heart out of each and every dev house they buy and then forces out puke that people buy till in the end the disolve the dev house and name and buy a new up and coming development team. CDProjekt will be next you wait and see.

Well that's it for Bioware, I guess.

Will the last person with a soul at Bioware turn out the lights before you leave the building?

And EA carves another notch into their record of game studios killed.

Originally posted by GrumpyMel2
With EA's track record....can't really say they should be surprised about what happened. Expecting EA to not trash your brand when you sell to them is kinda like coating yourself with A-1 SteakSauce and jumping into a Tiger pit to cuddle with them.

Contrary to popular belief, tigers aren't fans of A-1 Steak Sauce.

Originally posted by Elikal

Originally posted by GrumpyMel2

So I think I've got a good handle on EA's business plan:

 

1) Identify companies that produce good games that your crappy games can't compete with...

 

2) Buyout said companies using your warchest of cash as an enticement and force the talent, who you know are capable of producing better games then you into signing a non-compete agreement forcing them from the industry if they leave you, so you eliminate any future competition.

 

3) Rebrand your studio sweatshops with the well respected brand of the studio you just aquired and crank out a high volume of subpar games that you sell primarly on hype and marketing while leveraging the previously valuable brand name of said studio to help you fool unwary customers into sight unseen purchases.

4) Continue step 3 until the studio's brand is drained of all value. Get rid of all the principles, and point the finger of blame toward them when your stockholders question why the products produced under the previously well respected brand were of such poor quality.

5) Take the money you earned from steps 3 and 4 and use it as capital to repeat the cycle with a new victem.

Am, I missing anything?

 

 

Nope, that looks accurate to me.

Careful, EA might buy out this post so they can rebrand it and "correct" your post to be more in-line with a quality AAA forum post.

Originally posted by Vantras

I love how folks pretend that a founder who sells his/her company to a huge corporate entity is somehow innocent when that huge company butchers the original vision, guts the brand or exploits its strengths.  They call it "selling out" for a reason. These guys built a great company, saw an oppurtunity to reap an enormous harvest when they sold to EA-but they did so with their eyes wide open-they took the cash and sold the baby.  Acting as if their departure now is somehow an act of defiance at how the baby they knowingly sold is being raised is naive and absurd. 

I dont blame them at all for selling but i also wont pretend that they arent 100% culpable in what BW has turned into.

THIS^

[mod edit]

They are doing what they're doing because they want to, and that's all there is to it...what you think about it is irrelevant to them  and I have to imagine that leaving is probably a HUGE weight off their shoulders.  I don't begrudge them bowing out at all and wish them both a happy healthy life, and a big thank you for creating some of the best games I've ever played.