Battlefield 3

[sedition]

I have mine pre-ordered through Amazon with free release day delivery.

The BF3 alpha was just as much, if not more, a test for the Battlelog. It's EA/Origin infused game launcher/stat-tracker for BF3. I've never really liked what EA had to offer when it came to these type of apps. It's always been an awful experience. Not looking forward to being forced to use this.

[Cowdisease]

Im sure yall saw the hiring call DICE posted earlier this week asking for additional onsite QA testers:
http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/batt...eds-you.aspx##
...add that with the hiring of software devs all summer, and DICE devs basically confirming over twitter they are in studio 7 days a week.

This news is troubling, especially if the devs have already been working that many days already. Studies have shown that prolonged bouts of crunch does not lead to more work done well. With less than two months before the game is supposed to go gold, it's guaranteed that there are going to be a lot of day one and week one patches to fix the bugs and errors that will be created by a fatigued team reaching their October release deadline. It's too bad EA is dead set to compete with MW3, because this game would probably benefit from a few more months of development.

[Yoshi]

Common sense has shown that prolonged bouts of crunch does not lead to more work done well.

Fixed for simplicity.

[Diff-chan]

Like I said earlier in the thread, it's been known for literally over 30 years. Of course, the game industry's foolishness with this is well-documented. It's a badge of honor to force your team to crunch I guess. I got BF2 like 8 months after it came out and it was still a bug-ridden clown show. I think this will be worse.

I know EA wants to compete with MW3 but surely EA knows the flip side? If a gazillion people buy your game and it's bugged out the asshole, they will drop it, go back to MW3, and never return.

[Destro777]

This news is troubling, especially if the devs have already been working that many days already. Studies have shown that prolonged bouts of crunch does not lead to more work done well. With less than two months before the game is supposed to go gold, it's guaranteed that there are going to be a lot of day one and week one patches to fix the bugs and errors that will be created by a fatigued team reaching their October release deadline. It's too bad EA is dead set to compete with MW3, because this game would probably benefit from a few more months of development.

Heh, DICE BF3 main gameplay designer seriously just posted this:
"Reaching the point of exhaustion where I'm making stupid mistakes. Great."
http://twitter.com/#!/demize99

[bVork]

I wonder what would happen if publishers hired producers from outside the gaming industry. I suspect a great deal of the problem with game production is the fact that producers are generally promoted internally and don't have experience with other industries. I'd love to see a gaming company hire a project manager with experience in "normal" commercial software production or product engineering - I suspect they'd be much better at handling game development than the clowns who overwork developers and then are shocked when the resulting game is a buggy pile of shit and that there's a subsequent mass exodus of experienced developers from the studio or the industry altogether.

[Yoshi]

Project managers are fucking worthless almost without exception in my experience.

[Changeling]

PC users are going to be limited to 1 account ala consoles. So there wil not be any toe-dipping in one class to see what is worth pursuing. Kinda shitty, esp if the unlocks are done like 2142. If not, its not gonna matter.

[Error]

LOL

[Destro777]

Tuesday baybee. 64 player conquest trailer (feat jets + choppas) and a live stream of gamescom BF3 booth starting at 10am est. Hopefully its as horrible as the E3 live stream - that was a laugh thatll last a lifetime. At least we're getting an official trailer though.