Quote:As it is in most game studios; you have the devs and then outside the studio with a complete disconnect from reality you have the guys who run things and control the money (WB in this case). These are the assholes that say we want that new update for blahblah, but in two months (5 month job) and you get X $$ when it really cost Y, also it takes at least 20 people but there are only 5 left... see where problems start to pop up?
Then shit gets slapped together in a rush so they don't lose their job... in this case we're talking about Turbine (which already plays against these devs when they try to get a job at a good studio, they cannot afford to get fired from the B team game company if this is to be their career) So, unused content gets swept under the rug... eventually they may use those assets to cut corners on another project but that is why in modern days, every game is a bag of problems on release... (not just Turbine) When was the last time anyone has seen a game shipped that didn't need patches to fix shit almost immediately and then 10 more over the course of the first month?
Now, an MMO is a 'new' release every single time an update, patch or expansion comes out. SO NOW, all that 'not enough $$, time and staff' has to compete with any sort of new releases and fix the stuff they didn't finish from before which ends up breaking the game. If the fat cats above gave the proper funding, time and upped the number of necessary staff instead of releasing them to cut yet more money corners... but instead they will do something awesome like come out with another game to further split their resources on....
That's your answer
This one gets rolled out frequently by game developers to justify the half complete, partially tested crap they deliver.
The above situation is not unique to MMO's or game development in general.
Construction projects, Resource projects all suffer from abbreviated timelines and under-budgeting because the accountants think saving a couple of bucks up front is best (ironically it is often their KPI, to the detriment of the business).
Most projects could use more budget and more time. The trade off of risk vs reward is a balancing act, and sometimes decision makers get it wrong. I don't know how sophisticated the modelling and analytics are around game development. It might be that they do consistently get underfunded, or conversely it might be that the industry doesn't have enough good projects managers to adapt to changing scope, limited budgets or tight milestones.
I haven't seen enough case studies on the industry to know the drivers of success in that sector.
It's not is common to the entertainment industry - we don't see movies released half finished with the promise that it will be fixed in the Director's cut to be released next year.
And it is not endemic to software development in general. I know that other software developers in finance, medical etc can't use the same excuses as game development. You cannot get away with responding to client complaints with shrugging your shoulders and saying "tough shit".
Turdbine says, "but our code base is a spaghetti mess". So what? Ever looked under the skirt of other software - DDO is not Robinson Crusoe in the software world. But why fix it, when you can just complain about it? There is no appetite in Turdbine to fix it when they can continue to use it as an excuse.
To the best of my knowledge this behaviour is particular to electronic games development. Why is that?
I believe it is partly due to culture - but it is not work ethic. It is the culture of management.
I believe the difference lies in the demographic of game software customers. In gaming, the developers do not fear their customers litigating them.
The customers are perceived as unsophisticated individuals without the resources or motivation to sue them.
Hence over time, games development companies have observed that they can push the envelope of quality on games, such that they start using their paying clients as involuntarily Beta testers.
There are no perceived consequences to cutting corners - until the project fails.
Developers and staff, like most professionals are motivated to do a decent job. Most of us don't start our work day planning to produce poor results or outcomes, but excessive mgmt interference, demotivated workforces and poor KPI's drive this outcome.
I think Turdbine suffers from poor middle mgmt decision making too. It has shown a blatant disregard for customer concerns (QA/CS) and an unwillingness to listen in development. Even the PC claim their ability to influence decisions is minimal - why bother with the a focus group if you won't listen to them?
Turdbine have a great IP in DDO. With professional mgmt (Producer/Marketing/Development/QA&QC) and competent staff, they could have a great product, regardless of the age of the product. It'll never have WoW success, but it could be a stable income earner for many years to come.
But given it's stage in the product life cycle, some MBA at Warner will never permit it to recover.