Pucking Ridiculous (The OBG Chronicles): Developer Dialogue

Feature Article

Submitted on: 07/08/2010 by Stephen Holley

Before I begin a journey into the collective hearts and minds of my readers, I must first acknowledge the many supporters and e-friends I have accumulated in my countless hours surfing the OS forums over the last two years. To everyone in the dynasty section on the boards, I thank you all for the support and kind words you shared that often inspired me at times when I needed a push. I would not have this opportunity if it were not for all of the encouragement, so one more time I thank all of you.

Now, in this opening edition of Pucking Ridiculous (The OBG Chronicles), I would like to touch on a subject that unfortunately goes unmentioned far too often. In this case, I am speaking about the lack of gratitude and respect that is given to developers who take time out of their days to log on to the OS forums to seek our advice and input in regards to what we would like to see in an upcoming game.

To give some perspective, let me reference the past.

When I was 11 (1991), I fell madly in love with both real hockey and hockey gaming because of the EA NHL series on the Sega Genesis. Among the many great memories from those days are Pavel Bure's blazing speed, and Kirk McLean letting an opposing goalie score on him from all the way across the frozen sheet in OT, beating him five-hole and costing me the series. I remember how I searched through my parents' closet while Christmas was still over a month away, found my copy of NHL '94 and took a deep breath of its packaging. It was so very sweet.

Fast forward 16 years and I find myself with a fancy Xbox 360 and NHL 10 spinning in the tray on a nightly basis after the wife and kids have called it a night. Lately, I cannot help but think about how far we have come technologically speaking in regards to video games -- and the NHL 11 info we have heard so far has me yearning more than ever before for the summer heat to burn the days into the past so a new year of hockey gaming can commence.

There is nothing wrong with this kind of passion.

However, lately there is something disturbing about the way some folks go about discussing things we would like to see happen in our games. I have recently noticed an attitude of entitlement that has honestly caused me to wonder if some people can ever be satisfied.

"Oh Stephen, there you go dreaming again," you might say and perhaps you may be right. I guess I cannot argue with the fact that many people actually cannot be satisfied. Nevertheless, even if it were just for a moment, I would love for us to think about the great things that have been done for us hockey gamers. Of course, that means thinking about the developers at EA Canada who have done amazing work over the last three years, but it also means taking into consideration the past work done by the folks at 2K Sports -- work that very possibly inspired EA to take a more simulation approach in the first place.

Look, I am not naive. I know that when you lay down sixty bills for a game, you deserve and should expect some quality and improvement on a year-to-year basis. That said, it also needs to be said and fully recognized that these games will likely never touch perfection. However, they are and will continue to be great simulations of perhaps the toughest professional sport to emulate in video-game form.

So the next time you see developers hanging around the forums, be sure to thank them for their time and exercise a little courtesy.

Besides, they say you catch more flies with honey.

Take care until next time, and I hope you enjoyed the first edition of Pucking Rediculous (The OBG Chronicles).

NHL 11 Videos

Member Comments

# 21 Redshirt_EA @ 07/15/10 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plaidchuck


	Well I agree that you should be civil and courteous in EVERYTHING you do, whether it's interactions in real life or a message board like this. At the same time I don't think it's wrong to show a wee bit of frustration(still in a respectful manner) with a certain aspect of a game especially if it has been in multiple iterations of the game. Of course the more constructive the criticism, the better. I just become annoyed when people do make constructive posts and some other members immediately jump on their case acting like they're simply a troll because they made a criticism or point about the game. Or they have the strange attitude "don't say anything negative because the devs will get mad and never listen to us again"

Agree completely with this. Honestly I don't think there's much need to worry about how things go here, it is very rarely outside of what I'd consider constructive. EA Forums are much worse, it took me all of 10 seconds there to find an example of what isn't useful:
http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/1117158.page

It could have been very easy for the poster there to recast his criticism in a more reasonable form -- with less hyperbole and less bile. Imagine how reading that makes someone who's just finished two months of 90-100 hour work weeks feel. I'm pretty numb to it by now, but I certainly don't push any of the younger devs on the team to subject themselves to it because I think it could affect their morale. If there are shortcomings in the game it certainly isn't for lack of effort (or ability I suggest) on the part of any developer who would be taking the time to go looking for feedback, so the attitude of that poster is completely misguided.

It is pretty much a non-issue on OS.

# 22 milesizdead @ 07/15/10 07:03 AM

Yeah EA forums can get quite venomous

They must be quite frustrating at times to moderate, so hats off to those guys!

At least it shows how passionate folks are about the NHL series?

Much respect for Redshirt for coming here, and EA�s forums occasionally, to give us some contact to the devs...You make a wicked game you do.

Now just please work on Euro servers and get rid of looping

# 23 ChitownFan526 @ 07/17/10 01:18 PM

I just want to offer a different viewpoint on the whole "entitled consumer" idea. While our money is indeed hard-earned, it is also ours once we've earned it. If we choose to go buy NHL without taking the time to read reviews, rent the game (if possible), or talk to peers, then is that the devs fault that we have gone out and purchased the game without doing any research? The fact is that once we've shelled out the money, we have agreed to take on the bad parts of the game along with the good ones.

Now does this mean we shouldn't be upset if we don't like certain facets of the game? No, we all have individual tastes and that's fine. But nobody is responsible for the $65 choice of a video game except for us, who possess the $65 in the first place. The fact is we DO have another option before rushing out and buying a video game, but it's a choice that requires much more time and effort than simply saying to devs "you should fix this, that, or the other thing."

There are dedicated threads on the EA forums for feedback on how we would like the game improved. Why? it's the most efficient means of gathering the largest areas of concern within the game and trying to address them in order to make a better product for the consumer.

So I guess my question then becomes, how is there not enough dialogue between developer and community? Having individual dialogues with thousands of consumers isn't a reasonable expectation, because these developers are human beings just like me and anyone reading this forum. They should be required to dedicate thousands of hours to building the game, and then thousands more to appeasing our individual concerns regarding the game? No, it's not realistic to place that burden on any group of people because they are "entitled" to have a life away from their jobs just the same as me and you. If all we did was work and sleep, we'd have no families, no friends, hey, not even time for VIDEO GAMES. In my opinion, the way to facilitate changes in a video game we want are to take the time to know if we truly like the game, and not buy it if we don't. And also to use the tools that the developer gives us for constructive feedback on how to make the game better.

My point is that we as the community HAVE the tools to implement change. However, it takes time and effort for this to take effect, as in the sales numbers of a game go down because people are stopping to research the game and finding it not to their standards, and using the dedicated areas to give feedback so now the company can efficiently gather the information needed to make a better game.

At the end of the day, I believe EA has been doing the right thing by listening to the community, interacting where appropriate, and implementing many of the changes that we have been asking for. Making video games is a business, so not everything can be transparent to the community because it truly can ruin trade secrets in some situations, and give away a company's competitive advantage, which is bad for business. It won't happen because sharing too much information will inevitably improve the competition, which will have the same net effect as not listening to the community at all, because in either scenario, fewer people will be buying EA's games. The fact is that it's better business to interact with their community as they are now, and tempt fate that people will still run out and buy the game. That's what is happening now, and it's working...just look at the sales boom the NHL series has enjoyed over the past three years.

# 24 Vikes1 @ 07/18/10 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChitownFan526


	Now does this mean we shouldn't be upset if we don't like certain facets of the game? No, we all have individual tastes and that's fine. But nobody is responsible for the $65 choice of a video game except for us,

Great point.

We are responsible for our own video game buying choices.

We all know every single video game has is faults...and most of us I believe have the chance to see what many of them are, [but not all] and if their tolerable. By simply renting the games first. For what...$3-$5.

As you mentioned Chitown, people should be using the tools we now have available to nearly all of us. Research the game on the internet, watch the videos, read other gamers comments, and/or rent the game. Sadly...if you race out and buy a game day one, nearly site unseen, your taking a pretty big chance. And that's on you.

Possibly another benefit of doing this might be...for those games that have a history of several faults, and people weren't pre-ordering or buying them up day one, it may very well send the developer a very powerful message. And may ultimately improve quality in the future.

Also like you Chitown...I have no problems with people being upset about some of the especially, annual foul ups of some of the games. But what I can't agree with is the statement..."EA stole my money!" Your money wasn't stolen when you handed it over the counter. However...if the game you bought constantly freezes up on you...then I agree, you got ripped off.

# 25 sroz39 @ 07/18/10 11:11 AM

I find Redshirt and StephensonMC (when he was associated with the Live series) to be some of the best at interacting with us here, especially leading up to and post-release. Ian Cummings was great with it too last year with Madden 10.

And personally, I haven't seen much on these boards as it directly relates to the NHL series that could be considered too disrespectful towards Redshirt. We're pretty good about laying out what we have to say in a constructive manner. Not EVERYONE, but the large majority.

I play this game year-round. No joke, I'm still playing in the EASHL on a nightly basis getting ready for 11 (we've even designed a pretty cool site for our team, www.ragtaghockey.org). I guess as far as I'm concerned, when I post for a dev (Redshirt), I think about the massive amounts of time and enjoyment I get out of this game and look at the big picture. Yeah, there's things that get under my skin but I truly believe the devs know about this. And this year alone, they patched the game twice and released numerous tuner sets to curtail as many problems as possible (to go along with 3 patches for last year's game). The only dev team that can compare is the guys responsible for The Show. These guys "get it". And I appreciate to the work they put into this game and Redshirt's time on here. Maybe more people need to see the bigger picture.

« Previous 12Next »

More Links