#boycott bioware

[scorpioandthefrog]

Listen I’m absolutely furious about Bioware unceremoniously firing a whole team because they are expensive and unionized. Obviously furious on behalf of the workers, but honestly selfishly upset that I won’t be able to play the next game of THE series that I absolutely obsessed over back in college

But honestly? It would have sucked even if they hadn’t fired all the creative people responsible for making it good. Bioware never understood what was good about the games in the first place. Inquisition was so goddamn gorgeous, but it completely lacked the charm of the glitchy, ugly first game

No matter what, Dragon Age 4 was always going to be full of soulless “swooping is bad” callbacks and “well… that happened” style humor

#baldur’s gate iii is already better hornier da:o anyway #can i get you a ladder so you can get off my back #anti corporations #bioware #bioware firings #dragon age #boycott bioware

[zevrans]

.

#yeah man.. had a few hours of back and forth argument with my friend..idk really if i want to call her that now #but it was an eye opening mess.. it all started with her sending me dreadwolf trailer and i said it's all promises talk #and literally it went downhill from there she claimed that it's been announced like a year ago i said it's been in development for years #it then went to a fandom talk and how she thinks people in fandoms are pathetic and etc bullshit #how being a fan of something is not normal #and being invested in fiction and vgs and fandoms is something ppl with little responsibility do.. #man i can't even write out all the stuff she said i genuinely felt so bad after this argument #i don't think i ever want to speak to her again #people having fun in her understanding is pathetic childish and a sign of a person not having enough responsibilities in life?? #jfc i never realized just how truly toxic she is... #i mean deep down i did i just didn't want to admit to myself.. her general attitude to people being fans of something is just sickening #i'm determined to not write to her at all unless she reaches out which i doubt #she just shitted on everything despite me trying to expain how fiction can even literally save people #i tried expaining to her why some people are telling other ppl to not buy dreadwolf and pirate instead #i said about the fucked over emplyees of bioware and what she said was #it's a cruel world but idgaf it's business cry me a river - something along these lines #she literally has zero empathy i understand it now #the way she only selectively cares about wars going on in world #i said if people can boycott companies that support wars why cant they also support people who suffer from companies #she said and i qoute 'to compare war to people being fired wow that's something' #i was not comparing i just tried to find empathy in her to no avail #anyways.. i am so dissapointed in her and in myself that i didn't see this sooner #tbd

[soloragoldsun]

I'll be honest, guys. I don't know if I'll be getting Dreadwolf when it comes out. Between laying off people who have been with the company and the Dragon Age franchise since the beginning, and now the union-busting and refusing to pay severance, Bioware is showing itself to be utterly unworthy of any support.

I love Thedas and I love the games that I do have. I'll definitely continue writing fanfiction for the series, as I have several stories I'm working on and want to tell. I was looking forward to seeing what Dreadwolf brought, even if I was nervous about several things (the treatment of the Dalish storyline being a big one). Now, I think anything involving the future in the story of my Wardens, my Hawkes, and my Inquisitors will be solely in the form of fanfiction.

Maybe Bioware will pull its head out of its ass and do right by their people after all, but that seems about as likely as the Chantry suddenly inviting the Dalish Clans and the Qunari over for a cup of tea...

#bioware #critical #dragon age dreadwolf #boycott #thedas #personal #union busting #layoff

[ziracona]

At the very least I'm hoping that more people come to their senses because Bioware is really not worth defending. There's way too many folks on Twitter that still defend them even when they fuck up when I think that as fans we deserve better than scraps and half measures. Granted alot of the Twitter side is home to a lot of faux progressive suckups who worship the ground BW walk on and keep giving them way too many chances.

It’s not just on Twitter, but yeah, mood. Too much of that in almost all areas of pop culture tbh. Human fuckin’ beings. 🙄

#ask #anonymous #I feel you bro #bioware ciritcal #dragon age #idk why people are fucking allergic to criticism like you CAN like a thing and criticize it and if it keeps getting worse & you don’t it’ll #become utterly without value eventually or you’ll lose your own ability to think critically by forcing yourself to defend things you know #are bad until your own abilities are ruined. : / ‘if doesn’t matter’ yes it does??? boycotts are a thing? also like criticism alone works? #UD fandom was obsessed with a not canon queer couple in a game w only gets & the devs in their next big release made a canon queer pair #everyone went @ Watch Dogs for having a white man pain lead and killing off the woc for his story & in their sequel the MC is a black guy #and 3/4 supporting cast are also pov & that was a tripple A title. it /absolutely/ matters. fundamentally even #say what you will about Qunatic Dream every time a game comes out people complain about the race rep and the women and every game they do #more and better race rep and women like are they perfect? no. but compare DBH to Indigo Prophecy and tell me criticism did nothing #like it’s so simple. if you demand they do better if they keep wanting money from you? they will #if you do not? they will keep getting worse bc worse is what /they/ want and are and unless acted upon by an outside force that will not #change. how do you think game studio staff get diverse writing rooms? mostly they don’t pick them out of a personal desire!! it’s when they #get raked over the coals for their failures of being /not/ diverse and are under scrutiny and pressure to do better #this is /literally/ how it works. some of you act like you have no fucking idea how hard the people older than you have faught for what we #have now. do you think queer couples on TV just happened? do you think the poc leads were just studios fucking??? getting nicer? NO. people #faught for this! they suffered and struggled and came out victorious! and if we do not keep pushing? we lose ground. this is not a battle #that is over bitch. an improved situation is not an end to the war. have the people in /power/ improved? no. and that means the only thing #between representation in media and a hellscape is us. is the people. creators. fans. staff. all of us #fighting and keeping the pressure on. demanding action matters. /not/ giving shit media money of views or buzz? matters #people in power care about money and control. hit them where it hurts

[askagamedev]

From the game developer's perspective, would gamers boycotting upcoming BioWare title "Dragon Age: Dreadwolf" due to the studio's poor treatment of its workers e.g. with regards to severance pay, help or hinder the developers who were laid off and the developers who remain at the company?

It likely wouldn't do anything. First and foremost the timing doesn't line up. The developers were laid off in August, and Dragon Age: Dreadwolf won't launch at earliest until April of 2024. Boycotts won't work until the game is actually launched which would be a full nine months at earliest after those people lost their jobs. The need for severance pay is usually immediate because that money is what we live on while we look for a new job. Promising a starving person that you'll help them get some food nine months down the line is not particularly helpful.

Second, boycotts rarely work. The majority of Dragon Age players couldn't name a single developer who worked on the game, let alone have the kind of deep-cut awareness of the business dealings at Bioware. It's helpful to remember the [80-20-5 rule] - things that the really hard core fans know about are utterly foreign to the majority of a game's community, especially AAA games with literal millions of players.

Even if gamers somehow managed to get the message out to the community, the community rallying together to affect the game's sales numbers, the publisher getting the right takeaway from the boycott, and the publisher deciding to give those developers their due severance pay all those months after DAD launches, we still probably wouldn't ever find out because it would almost certainly end (at best) in a settlement with all parties signing NDAs as a requirement for the settlement to go through. In that situation, we'd get no news at all about the matter. Ever.

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[kaija-rayne-author]

So, it should be pretty obvious by now that I'm firmly against fans boycotting Bioware and Dreadwolf due to the layoffs. I'll put it in business terms. I've worked for Fortune 500 companies, and I speak from that perspective.

The people who made it are hoping, and have said, that they hope people will love Dreadwolf as much as they do. Even when they were laid off.

It would punish the creatives who made the game far more than it would punish Bioware. They likely can't even talk about it due to NDAs unless/until it's released. Can you imagine not being able to talk about a thing you loved and poured years of your life, creativity, and passion into? I can. It would be heartbreaking.

I don't want to be responsible for harming people who love dragon age enough to make it for us. If I boycott, that's exactly what I'd be partially responsible for. I'm usually very pro-boycott, but in this case, I'm not.

So here's the question... we unequivocally live in a late stage capitalist nightmare world. Do you know how many other companies have laid off employees this year?

This type of behavior has been pro forma for corporate for at least 20 years, probably longer.

So, why would people boycott Dreadwolf and Bioware when they're by far not even the most egregious example of mass layoffs?

In 2022-2023, we've had these mass layoffs.

Meat giant Tyson Foods is laying off about 15% of senior leadership roles and 10% of corporate roles, according to an internal memo shared with CNN.

Y'all gonna boycott meat? I didn't think so.

3M announced significant layoffs as part of another major restructuring plan. The brand behind Post-It Notes and Scotch Tape said in a statement it would lay off 6,000 staff around the world.

Gonna boycott tape? Ear plugs? Sticky notes?

Lyft (LYFT)’s move in November to cut 13% of its workforce, citing fears of a looming recession.

Buzzfeed announced a 15% reduction in its workforce, or about 180 employees.

David's Bridal is eliminating 9,236 positions across the United States but did not specify how many stores would be affected.

Walmart is laying off more than 3,000 workers.

And I know many people can't afford to boycott Walmart.

Meta announced an additional 10,000 layoffs across several months on top of mass layoffs in 2022.

You still use Facebook? I personally loathe it and only keep an account for marketing reasons. I can barely even make it work anymore.

Three rounds of layoffs hit Disney (DIS), announced through a March 27 internal memo to employees. Around 7,000 people will be affected by the move over the next several months.

Amazon (AMZN) said in March it would cut 9,000 jobs, bringing the total number of Amazon (AMZN) staffers eliminated this year to around 27,000.

Indeed.com announced cuts of approximately 2,200 employees, representing almost 15% of its total workforce, the company said in March.

Satellite radio giant SiriusXM laid off 475 people, or about 8% of its workforce, as part of a broad restructuring.

Zoom (ZM) said it will lay off about 1,300 employees, or approximately 15% of its staff, in a memo to employees in Feburary.

Dell (DELL) laid off roughly 5% of its workforce, the company said in a regulatory filing in February. Dell had about 133,000 employees, the company told CNN. At that level, the 5% cut represents more than 6,500 employees.

Gonna refuse to use your computer?

Microsoft said in January it would be laying off 10,000 employees, according to a securities filing.

This was only up to around March of this year. There's loads more.

Point being it's ridiculous to boycott a company and hurt the people who made a thing they love just because they got laid off.

This is what corporations do. There is 0 loyalty to the employee at a corporation. It's all about the bottom line.

Maybe all y'all haven't worked in corporate, maybe people are hopping on the 'I'll boycott too' bandwagon. IDEK.

I honestly don't care if I change anyone's mind about it all, but it’s silly. Just outright ridiculous to expect a corporation to do anything but what corporations do.

It's not right. It's awful. I hate that Bioware basically backstabbed the creatives who made them what they are. But it's not new or even remotely rare. Bioware has laid off roughly 125 employees in the past handful of months.

Every company I named laid off far, far more. And if you think I'll believe you're going to boycott Microsoft, you must have a bridge you want to sell me, too.

Here's the source, if you want it.

#dragon age series #dragon age #dragon age confessions #dao #dai #da 2 #bioware critical #Bioware #Dreadwolf #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age inquisition

[minthara]

me checking to see if the boycott bioware ppl and the ppl who said they would never touch dragon age again after bg3 are reblogging stuff 🔎

#petra.txt #fjsfjsof no im not really i dont remember who reblogged stuff like this #but i do remember lots and lots of ppl saying stuff like that fjsjfjsdf

[stormsofasorceress]

bro i remember people being like 'omg bioware bad we're gonna boycott them!!!" only to throw their morals out of the window the moment that 20 second landscape ass looking trailer was released😭 its a little embarrassing to witness

#i deduce tomfoolery #mf pirate that game man #like seriously #a company is breadcrumbing u and playing into ur consumer instincts and amygdala #and ur falling for it hook line sinker. do better i beg #personal

[starmewpower]

Bioware Boycott

Maybe it's time to boycott Bioware (and to an extent EA) as well in return for the recent layoffs and cutting ties with a unionized third party testing company to save money. I don't care what you think about their writing(but writers weren't the only ones let go! I know at least one senior programmer was too), but letting go senior staff members just to save a buck??? Fuck that shit. We can't let that pay off with good sales.

#bioware #dragon age #mass effect #dragon age dreadwolf

[yarnpenguin]

The Greedy Truth Behind BioWare's Layoffs...

This is an excellent video!

What I'm about to say isn't an attack on devs, and is, instead, about we the gamers and the "AAA" side of the industry (eg, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, UbiSoft, Bethesda Softworks/Zenimax Studios, Square Enix, Nintendo, etc). It's about money being the root of all evil, just like the video says.

What's important to the "AAA" gaming industry is paying their shareholders and their CEOs. It's important to them to pay the people who don't actually make their flipping games. Their workers' livilihoods and lives aren't important to them; that's why they fire them en masse after stock buybacks and record profits, that's why they get rid of people with 10+ years of experience (they're too expensive). That's why CEOs get massive bonuses and workers get crunch and layoffs. Meanwhile, players are only important to them when we open our wallets. That's why we get broken games, bugs, "live services", and microtransactions from them.

Let's not forget how recent it was that Activision Blizzard bragged about their record profits and immediately turned around and fired hundreds of people.

Let's not forget "stress casualties". Let's not forget crunch; microtransactions right out the gate or being added after reviews are out saying "hey, there's no microtransactions!"; loot boxes; pay-to-win "mechanics"; games that are so broken they are unplayable on launch (hi, Jedi Survivor); games still filled with bugs 13 years after release (hi, Skyrim, love your Unofficial Skyrim Patch mod); games that are shipped incomplete and we have to buy the ending; horse armour; garnishing a man's wages for life.

They'll do this so long as we reward them with our money. I'm not saying to boycott (unless of course you actually are boycotting the entire "AAA" video game industry, and in that case, my hat goes off to you, you're a more ethical person than I am)!

I'm saying to unclench about FOMO (and maybe even spoilers) and wait. The devs have been paid. Buy "AAA" games on sale--especially when you're playing on PC (and I know that Nintendo-made Nintendo games go on sale so rarely; I almost don't even know what to say about that).

Every time we pre-order/buy on day one for full price, every time we buy "cosmetic" DLC, etc, we reward these companies for doing what they do to their workers and to their customers. And, look, this video itself--and the whole thing with Activision + profits + layoffs--is proof positive that we are not actually helping or rewarding the workers when we pre-order and buy their games at full price. They've been paid, and chances are they're gonna be laid off anyway. Chances are studios are going to be shuttered anyway. That's how the "AAA" gaming industry works, because we just give them all of our money.

All we're doing is padding the pockets of CEOs and shareholders. We are not helping the working class. We are helping the owner class. That's the truth of it. They make massive profits, and they pay the shareholders and CEOs, and they lay off hundreds of workers. The only way they will learn anything is if we stop rewarding them for their bullshit.

Pay full price for indie games, or for games from studios that are "AA" and below that (eg, Focus Home Entertainment, though they have had their problems, too), and especially pay full price for games from studios that have a proven track record (eg, Supergiant). I know the feeling of the FOMO, and acknowledge that I'm kind of uniquely apathetic about spoilers, but I also know I have a massive backlog of games that I can play while I wait for the Next Big Thing to go on sale, even if it's only 10% off.

#video games #corporate greed #soapbox #late stage capitalism #the AAA video game industry is utter trash and we should burn it to the ground honestly #please forgive me for the soapbox I have really strong feelings about this

[lavux-art]

I'm going to support Dragon Age Dreadwolf as much as I can.

Aside from me not wanting Bioware to shut down, I haven't really seen any indication that the devs want the fans to pirate and or boycott the game? I've just seen some discourse about fans going to do this because f*ck EA, but EA isn't going anywhere and the devs put a lot of their blood sweat and tears into the next game. Same for the next Mass Effect. They already blocked American McGee's new Alice game, pls don't help them shut down Bioware too ಥ_ಥ I'm so worried...I hope they do a ton of marketing when a release date gets decided. Just my thoughts as someone who has worked at a game studio and who loves Bioware.

#bioware #dragon age

[bran-ridire]

If you are excited for ANTHEM you are a traitor to the memory of Mass Effect, I want nothing to do with you and encourage you to block me as soon as possible.

The Outer Worlds and Cyberpunk 2077 can't get here soon enough.

#mass effect #bioware #electronic arts #ea sucks #the quartering #youtube video #insult to injury #anthem #origin #demo #i hate you #boycott ea #boycott electronic arts #boycott bioware #boycott anthem #cyberpunk 2077 #the outer worlds

[shift-shaping]

#i will. boycott this video game if they do that #solas #fen'harel #and if you don't see the issue with that #i am begging you to just #not engage with this post please #i do not have the mental energy to explain why it'd be fucked up to compare a character like solas to hitler #tw nazis #tw hitler mention #dragon age 4 #it's just about the only thing that i think would absolutely kill my love for this series #because on top of how fucked up it is #it's just so so cliche #sad post #even if you don't like solas or even if you hate him #i am begging you to try to see why this would be really fucked up #in part because bioware writers (gaider maybe?) have previously compared alienages to jewish ghettos #and i just #i can't #why am i worried about this? #because i'm deeply paranoid #and i know this sounds out of left field but i was a big GoT fan and i will forever be pissed about what happened to the show's themes #and i'm so incredibly jaded now about 'dark' fantasy fiction #and if you really want some tea #i am so worried that this game is going to be deeply offensive and that it will not be able to handle its own themes #that i am always a little relieved when there's no news #like i know i know i know it's not going to be perfect #there is absolutely no such thing as unproblematic media #but i am Concerned that with what they've set up #it's going to be a complete shitshow

[lordofhunger47]

This karen is one of the writers of the old republic remake

And fun fact,she was once was asked what is her favorite SW game is in 2019 and she said"Not KOTOR"

#star wars #anti disney #anti disney star wars #anti kathleen kennedy #old republic #the old republic #game: kotor #boycott #boycotting #anti lucasfilm #anti bioware #sjws ruin everything #star wars old republic #star wars knights of the old republic

[koltowave]

A kind reminder that swtor originally had options for LGBT romances for vanilla but got pressured by anti-gay campaign “family organisations” to scrap it in vanilla swtor and in ME3. Unfortunately, as we can see on release, vanilla was scrapped of romances having the option to romance as same gender.

#swtor #will need to check sources #but a lot of sources is lost to digital decay or deletion #one website who wanted to fight the boycott said there was a ton of letters from anti-LGBT orgs like into hundred thousands #will keep digging but i recalled remembering this and talking with a newer player of swtor #i suspect EA did crack and no doubt LucasArts got spooked #man i want to access those information from EA/Bioware about this

[kaija-rayne-author]

It's so sad. Bioware has been a staple, almost, of RPGs for a long time.

But them laying off so many people (it's 125ish over the past handful of months) really doesn't increase confidence in the company.

Even though DA:DW is in Alpha, it's going to affect how many people buy the game. Because they'll think that many layoffs will affect the quality of the game. Average people have little idea about how games are made. Alpha means it's in primary testing, meaning the game is mostly finished.

Could they have shot themselves in the foot better if they'd tried?

Fans are pissed and swearing they're done with Bioware.

A lot of fans.

And I have a Kassandra like feeling that DA:DW is Bioware's last chance as a company.

So, their behavior toward employees = loss of consumer confidence = fewer people buy Dreadwolf = Bioware sinks and we don't get any more Dragon Age after DA:DW.

Don't execs have business degrees and such?

If so, why is my ridiculous ass better at cause/effect for economics and business than they are? I've never even taken a business class.

What exactly do the execs do to earn those obscene paychecks?

Anyway, I really think it comes down to this; if we want more Dragon Age past Dreadwolf, we'll have to ignore Bioware's behavior and buy the game regardless.

And... I don't know how many people will do that. I don't even want to do that. I've boycotted companies for far less.

Edit Saturday Aug 26, '23

I need to add some thoughts to this.

Unfortunately, negative chatter will likely affect whether they release the game at all. Which sucks for people who do want it. (It's rhetorical, but it’s almost finished, why wouldn't they release it?)

I've read that Andromeda DLCs were canceled because of that. I won't be boycotting. I'm unhappy with bioware, but there's much more to consider.

For me, I've been thinking and reading what those laid off have said. It's them that are most affected, after all. It's not about bioware as much as it's about the people who no longer work there who poured years of time, love, and passion into Dreadwolf.

I don't like bioware, but at the same time, I refuse to shat on the creatives who loved and made Dreadwolf. I know, personally, how much of yourself you pour into a creative work. I'd be heartbroken if people boycotted something I'd worked on and truly loved. Even if I were no longer working at the company. I believe the devs can't even talk about it, unless/until it's released due to NDAs. Can you imagine putting years of your life and creativity into something only to have people boycott it?

And to use your status at the company as the excuse?

Kirby has said she hopes people love it as much as she does. She's one of the most affected and she's still hoping people play and love it.

And to be calmly realistic, Bioware isn't the main source of the issue. EA demanded a layoff of 800 people across all their holdings. Corporate greed. I doubt bioware would've made such awful choices without that pressure.

So even though my kneejerk reaction is to boycott, I'll buy it and play it for the creatives who poured everything into it.

Is it right? Hell no. There's no ethical consumption in a late stage capitalist nightmare world. But I'm also not going to punish the people who loved it enough to make it.

Y'all do you, but I wanted to share my more measured thoughts on the matter.

#dragon age series #dragon age #Bioware #dragon age: dreadwolf #dread wolf #solas #solavellan