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BioWare Employee Busted in Dragon Age 2 Review Scandal

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BioWare Employee Busted in Dragon Age 2 Review Scandal

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108482-BioWare-Employee-Busted-in-Dragon-Age-2-Review-Scandal-UPDATED
from Elemental Forums

Looks like BioWare employees have been posting perfect Metacritic reviews of Dragon Age 2. Not a huge thing, but given the unusually mixed responses the game's been getting from players... Well, something's not quite right at BioWare.

165,035 views 58 replies
Reply #51 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting RavenX, reply 50

Quoting RogueCaptain, reply 43People are generally disgruntled from less than honest activity due to the entire professional game review industry as a whole.  The only reason this case made news is the developer company got caught red handed so to speak.  It's a natural backlash for something long coming.

Aside from Karl above mentioning "Myth", RogueC's comment right here Wins the Thread.
End of RavenX's quote

I agree, I am not surprised that they do things like that one bit, I would prefer they not do things like that, but the reality is there are a lot of dishonest people out there, a large concentration of them seem to be at EA, or come out when studios fall under their wing.

Reply #52 from Elemental Forums Top

I agree, I am not surprised that they do things like that one bit, I would prefer they not do things like that, but the reality is there are a lot of dishonest people out there, a large concentration of them seem to be at EA, or come out when studios fall under their wing.
End of quote

I hate to say it but this probably wasn't a case of dishonesty or some internally promoted nefarious actions. Consider how it must feel to be an employee at Bioware right about now. You just spent a year and half of your life working on a game, and when it comes out, it is blasted by fans and reviewers. I think that any of us finding ourselves in that position would be tempted to jump on metacritics and post a more favorable review. In all honesty, most of the reviews on metacritics are overly harsh and give the game no credit for actually being at least partially fun.

Star Control: Origins
Reply #53 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I've known about mega publishers pressuring reviewers for a long time. Gamesradar had an article a while back that showed a whole pile of goodies and pressure letters that EA alone had sent them. That's why I only look at the major gaming sites for news and previews not reviews. As for the site that is in bed with publishers the most, I'd have to say Gamespot. That site does these "launch centers" for the major titles, which basically promotes them over the more minor (and often better) titles.

Reply #54 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting kenata, reply 52

I agree, I am not surprised that they do things like that one bit, I would prefer they not do things like that, but the reality is there are a lot of dishonest people out there, a large concentration of them seem to be at EA, or come out when studios fall under their wing.


I hate to say it but this probably wasn't a case of dishonesty or some internally promoted nefarious actions. Consider how it must feel to be an employee at Bioware right about now. You just spent a year and half of your life working on a game, and when it comes out, it is blasted by fans and reviewers. I think that any of us finding ourselves in that position would be tempted to jump on metacritics and post a more favorable review. In all honesty, most of the reviews on metacritics are overly harsh and give the game no credit for actually being at least partially fun.
End of kenata's quote

Have to agree with Kenata here. Add to everything he said the fact that there are reasonable signs to suggest that at least a significant portion of the negative reviews on metacritic are themselves fradulant, and it's pretty easy for a misguided employee to justify writing their own review. Doesn't make it right, but I doubt it's part of a conspiracy or a company policy.

Reply #55 from Sins Forums Top

I am not saying what Bioware did was necessarily dishonest, but there are a lot of other things EA has done that are dishonest.

Reply #56 from Elemental Forums Top

Meh, download the demo and decide for yourself.

Personally I was disgusted with the "Tekken" style combat and decided not to buy, others may love it though.

Reply #57 from Stardock Forums Top

I'm not suprised.  All the rainbow and unicorn reviews starting about the time they started talking about the speed of combat and went into hyperdrive just before release.  Not much of a conspiracy theorist, but stuff like this turns folks into one.

Reply #58 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting DrAtomic1, reply 56
Meh, download the demo and decide for yourself.

Personally I was disgusted with the "Tekken" style combat and decided not to buy, others may love it though.
End of DrAtomic1's quote

 

My first thoughts was Japanese RPG - ie: Final Fantasy XIII.