A salute to the game programmers and designers

[Great Unclean One: VK]

Let's all be honest. Some of us probably don't know the immense amounts of hard work needed to make games. We're not talking about a simple 9 AM to 10 PM job. No, we're talking about 9 months of crunch time. Working for weeks on end for 1 week of vacation and a $1500 bonus. Not to mention losing their health, possibly their kids and loved ones, and their social lives. That's what game designers and programmers have to deal with AT LEAST. Take for example EA. They work their programmers to death, and for all of that, deny overtime pay and possibly killing the franchise so no one can have it. Look at Ultima and Command and Conquer. Remember what EA did to them? Think what happened to the developers and the teams. Activision has some explaining too. Namely, milking a franchise to death. COD, Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, etc. All died (Most) due to being deluged upon us and weakening the name. Not to mention creating new and exciting IP only to do the same or kill it off to strengthen another one.

Even the folks in Japan ain't safe. Look at Capcom. They, like EA, withhold vital parts of games, release it, then sell the withheld parts and use it as DLC. Not to mention Square releasing lack luster games and possibly killing off the interesting ones.

But guess who gets the pointy end of the stikk here? You think gamers? f*** no, the teams get the axe. Sometimes, I honestly don't want to continue working with my friends on a game we're making, but I get reminded, I get reminded by Indie developers and the more awesome publishers and developers. Valve (Who seem to turning to the dark side slightly), Betheseda, Obsidian, Atlus, Sega, Relic, Bungie, theChineseroom, Frictional Games, and others.

So let's remember the guys who made our favorite games. Mainly because they don't deserve the bullshit publishers and some of their bosses give them.

[Tentacruel]

Great thread. As someone going into the industry, I can't stand the corporate douchebaggery that's ruining gaming.


I'd also like to bring up GameStop which really should throw the developer a bone (like 5%) on used game sales.

[.Rai]

I absolutely agree. I'm helping on a game for art (which I have no clue how it's doing, progress-wise, because lack of contact) and it's much harder than people think.

Big props for all indie developers who have the patience and the courage to get into one of the harshest markets ever, along with music.

[Darth Revan of the Sith]

My favorite developers have got to be Treyarch, Raven Software, and Frictional Games.

I honestly dislike how no matter how much Treyarch tries to make a successful COD game, Activision f*cks around with them and continues making the MW series their higlight game series while using Treyarch as a "Get extra money developer" while they continue to present Infinity Ward as their Golden Child. I am so sick of the lack of care put into the MW games. Treyarch has put their heart and soul into their games, constantly trying new ideas, and what do they get?
"Infinity Ward is better!"
"Infinity Ward is original!"
"Treyarch wishes they were Infinity Ward."
I am so sick of Activision making Infinity Ward look like their child prodigee and then making Treyarch look like the second son thats not as good as his brother. And the layoffs Activision does to Treyarch is sickening.

[Lucifer the Wise]

[i]"My favorite developers have got to be Treyarch, Raven Software, and Frictional Games."[/i]

K then, nice diversity you got there. You have one of the biggest developers out there, an almost dead company, and the developer that spends its time recycling old materials over and over again.

[i]"I honestly dislike how no matter how much Treyarch tries to make a successful COD game, Activision f*cks around with them and continues making the MW series their higlight game series while using Treyarch as a 'Get extra money developer' while they continue to present Infinity Ward as their Golden Child."[/i]

When did Activision ever do such a thing?

[i]"I am so sick of the lack of care put into the MW games. Treyarch has put their heart and soul into their games, constantly trying new ideas, and what do they get?
'Infinity Ward is better!'
'Infinity Ward is original!'
'Treyarch wishes they were Infinity Ward.'"[/i]

Activision does not determine what fans like and don't like.

[i]"I am so sick of Activision making Infinity Ward look like their child prodigee and then making Treyarch look like the second son thats not as good as his brother. And the layoffs Activision does to Treyarch is sickening."[/i]

Yes and that is why Activision screwed IF during MW3 developement, because they just love IF so much.

[Dr. Cakey]

I don't want to defend publishers...at all, [i]however[/i] I do want to ensure that everyone knows that publishers make far more of a financial risk than developers do. Once a contract has been made, the developer is spending the publisher's money, and the publisher then has to cover manufacturing costs, PR, marketing, etc. (not to mention the money baths...those don't come cheap). The publisher risks millions, while the developer risks virtually nothing.

In reality, of course, if the game flops, the developer gets axed and the publisher has still likely recouped most, if not all, of its expenses.

On a related note, Nintendo has recently remembered that in the 80's and into the 90's they were the evil company, and have are attempting to revive that image for nostalgia purposes.

[Tentacruel]

I thought of something else, I hate how publishers slap their name all over any product they ship and hide the developer's name. The developer's logo should be on the box.

[?someone?]

[quote name='Comrade TentaSparkle' timestamp='1345927634' post='6012777']
Great thread. As someone going into the industry, I can't stand the corporate douchebaggery that's ruining gaming.


I'd also like to bring up GameStop which really should throw the developer a bone (like 5%) on used game sales.
[/quote]

YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESSSS.
Not making money on used games is the reason we have on-disc DLC and the deplorable practice of online passes.

[Heimdall The Watcher]

I have to say, regarding the list of developers near the end of the initial post, Bethesda and Atlus are particularly impressive.

Bethesda has their name on games I like (Morrowind), games my best friend likes and I want to try myself (Bioshock, Oblivion, Skyrim), and all I've seen of their work thus far has been nothing short of impressive. The vast sandbox world even in the now ancient Morrowind is still staggering, eclipsing most modern games even in terms of sheer space, and all of the smaller dungeons throughout.

And Atlus...if it has their name on it, I want it. They have the Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation and Shin Megami Tensei series here, and Im addicted to both. Intricate, well made storylines, complex characters, overarching plots, likable/hated characters (because even a character you despise is obviously better than one who inspires apathy), detailed and varied gameplay...regardless of anything else, Atlus means quality to me, whatever the system.