Thanks for the response Trent. It's uncomfortable when devs go silent so when you not only respond, but make an informative post to boot, it's very reassuring and grants a neat optimism buff. Does for me at least.
SoD was heavily criticized for a bad writing (I'm passing over the fact whether it's been justified or not) and suddenly Amber and Andrew left the company...
For the record, my leaving Beamdog had nothing to do with SoD.
I'm always here, just mostly lurking and seeing what you all think about what we are doing and how we are doing. I have a habit of talking too much and "spilling the beans" as it were, so I try to keep my communication tight.
Thank you for letting us know that everything's alright with the company! I personally loved SoD and the Enhanced Editions, so seeing more from Beamdog (oh I hope that big project is BG Next...) is great news.
@Buttercheese I think the entire forum would have to sign an NDA to listen to what Trent has to say and then we'd have to stop accepting new members and make the entire forum private
@Buttercheese I think the entire forum would have to sign an NDA to listen to what Trent has to say and then we'd have to stop accepting new members and make the entire forum private
I really want to see you guys make a full standalone game. Something that doesn't hold you back by the need to fit inside an existing franchise. SoD had flaws but enough merits to make me think you can definitely do it.
My guess is: large = new game medium = iOS / Android port small = patch 2.4
That would leave out IWD:EE 2.x
I was looking forward to a shaman/barbarian run through IWD...
Should I be worried that this comment got an "Insightful" from @Bengoshi, er @JuliusBorisov?
In regards to Trent's post...
1) Wasn't the "lesson learned" from BGEE and BG2EE 1.0-1.2 not to ship buggy code before its ready? IWDEE was supposed to set the new model, i.e., shipping a product when it was ready. It was sad to see that reverted.
2) As sad as it is to see Beamdog team members go, I get that writers like Amber and Andrew would be let go at this point. The game is written and shipped. If David Gaider has decided that he wants to bring in new writing staff (for whatever reason), it makes sense that their positions end.
I'm not sure what artwork MadBee primarily did. If it was areas, portraits, etc.., then it also makes sense that the work for SoD is done. If MadBee did UI work, that would be concerning. There are a lot of user issues with the UI from a functional standpoint, and changes to the UI may require new/revised artwork. There are also the iOS/Android releases and IWDEE 2.x for which revised artwork may be needed. That could mean that the UIs are largely locked and any changes could only be at the level of tweaks that require no (or minimal) artwork revisions. (I guess they could just hire Pecca on a contract basis - damn he's good).
Dee's departure (and the PR/Marketing side of Amber's position) makes the least sense to me. SoD is only a few months post-release, the tablet versions are still in development, the community is actively trying to make suggestions to improve the v2.x experience, and Beamdog's public "face" is gone. (No offense to @JuliusBorisov!)
I also don't understand not having someone to step into Amber's PR/Marketing role. When SoD on iOS is ready, how will you market it? And skipping GenCon, when you just had your most important release this year? That makes no sense.
It feels like Beamdog is going into a "survival mode". SoD sales may have come in below projections, so revenue is tight. They can't axe "BG Next"/Project Beartrap, whatever you want to call it, as that is the future of the company. Getting bugs squashed and the iOS/Android releases are a priority since the latter could bring significant new revenue (and the latter depends on the former). Personnel deemed non-essential are getting cut.
Unfortunately, this doesn't bode well for IWDEE v2.x. Judging by Steam data, IWDEE's sales are <20% that of BGEE or BG2EE, and a v2.x release is unlikely to spur major new sales (as much as I'd love a shaman in IWDEE, I don't see that boosting IWDEE sales by a significant amount). So, making IWDEE v2.x is likely effort for little return - not something a "refocused" company can spend resources on.
I do wish Beamdog the best, and I look forward to seeing whatever Trent, Cameron, Phil, David, and company are working on. But, Trent's letter reads like a LOT of spin...
That insightful only meant that I found insightful you were preparing a shaman/barbarian run through IWD. It's insightful for me to see what people think.
"laying off four staff" certainly sheds light on the recent departures of a rather particular hue...doesn't sound at all like a natural desire for pastures new on their part...
That insightful only meant that I found insightful you were preparing a shaman/barbarian run through IWD. It's insightful for me to see what people think.
Yeah, that part of my comment was tongue-in-cheek. Hence the wink emoji.
"laying off four staff" certainly sheds light on the recent departures of a rather particular hue...doesn't sound at all like a natural desire for pastures new on their part...
The four layoffs could include team members other than the four losses we know about (Amber, Andrew, Dee and Bee).
I think Amber and Andrew moved on for various reasons (as stated by them) and weren't shown the door, as shifty and untrustworthy it might be.
The restructuring could have happened because of their departure however.
I donno, speculation.
But I agree with @Astrobryguy. Everything Trent said, we heard before.
And when the public face of the company disappears, we as consumers are left with speculation on what's to come.
And with no positive news being fed to us, we are going to expect the worst.
Start giving us a positive outlook. Introduce the new writers. Give us a tidbit of what they have done in the past. Put it in a new issue of The Familiar and run with it.
It's strange to hear that Beamdog laid off this many people as part of a business strategy. I'm no expert by any means, but I know that other game studios I follow have been focusing on building a strong and stable team of reliable people, and my impression of Beamdog has been the same.
One could argue that lay-offs are sometimes inevitable and that some people just don't work out for the company, but from as much as I saw from the efforts of at least Andrew and Dee (if indeed they were laid off), I didn't think the work they did could be described as anything other than excellent.
1) Wasn't the "lesson learned" from BGEE and BG2EE 1.0-1.2 not to ship buggy code before its ready? IWDEE was supposed to set the new model, i.e., shipping a product when it was ready. It was sad to see that reverted.
I mean, I wasn't going to say it, but we've been getting that "we learned our lesson from our last poor launch" line from Oster since the PAX before BG2EE launched. Must be quite a lesson if it hasn't sunk in after three years.
2) As sad as it is to see Beamdog team members go, I get that writers like Amber and Andrew would be let go at this point. The game is written and shipped. If David Gaider has decided that he wants to bring in new writing staff (for whatever reason), it makes sense that their positions end.
Foley and Scott (... Scott Foley?) have both said multiple times that it was their choice to leave, rather than having been let go. I agree the timing's incredibly suspicious, but there's no reason not to take them at their word, especially since the end result is the same any way you slice it, Gaider's already put together his new team.
Dee's departure (and the PR/Marketing side of Amber's position) makes the least sense to me. SoD is only a few months post-release, the tablet versions are still in development, the community is actively trying to make suggestions to improve the v2.x experience, and Beamdog's public "face" is gone. (No offense to @JuliusBorisov!)
I also don't understand not having someone to step into Amber's PR/Marketing role. When SoD on iOS is ready, how will you market it? And skipping GenCon, when you just had your most important release this year? That makes no sense.
Ehh, I have to question whether it makes that much of a difference. The Familiar and the Beamblog were both pretty much abandoned even before Amber left; WotC is pushing the Neverwinter MMO; nobody is talking about SoD outside this forum and RPG Codex (not that that particular cesspool is in any way helpful). Beamdog's marketing has been DOA for a good long while, it doesn't seem to have hurt them in the long run.
Start giving us a positive outlook. Introduce the new writers. Give us a tidbit of what they have done in the past. Put it in a new issue of The Familiar and run with it.
That would actually be a brilliant idea - the new hires were asked to write up scripted scenarios as part of their applications, let's see how they did!
Start giving us a positive outlook. Introduce the new writers. Give us a tidbit of what they have done in the past.
I really think there needs to be a period of transition, as I have already said. People who were responsible for certain things left. As Trent has said, a new plan has been developed to ensure the company can deliver products they will be very proud of. This plan needs time to come real. Of course, there're parts of this plan devoted to PR and Marketing. It's just that things don't happen at once. Imagine there're documents that need to be drafted, it doesn't happen in one day or even in several weeks.
And sorry, but I can't agree that the Familiar and the Beamblog "were both pretty much abandoned even before Amber left". During the end of 2015 and the start of 2016 a lot of blog entries have been published, they have been a source of information about company news, and a valid one. The Familiar has been very well recieved and has let everybody find out about different details of SoD production. It had invaluable interviews and was useful. It's just so that when somebody puts so much own effort into something, puts soul into it, it's not easy to substitute by other people.
The four layoffs could include team members other than the four losses we know about (Amber, Andrew, Dee and Bee).
They do, though I'm not sure those team members are/were particularly active on the forum, and if they were whether they'd care to discuss the situation. Amber and I both left before the recent layoffs.
Start giving us a positive outlook. Introduce the new writers. Give us a tidbit of what they have done in the past.
I really think there needs to be a period of transition, as I have already said. People who were responsible for certain things left. As Trent has said, a new plan has been developed to ensure the company can deliver products they will be very proud of. This plan needs time to come real. Of course, there're parts of this plan devoted to PR and Marketing. It's just that things don't happen at once. Imagine there're documents that need to be drafted, it doesn't happen in one day or even in several weeks.
And sorry, but I can't agree that the Familiar and the Beamblog "were both pretty much abandoned even before Amber left". During the end of 2015 and the start of 2016 a lot of blog entries have been published, they have been a source of information about company news, and a valid one. The Familiar has been very well recieved and has let everybody find out about different details of SoD production. It had invaluable interviews and was useful. It's just so that when somebody puts so much own effort into something, puts soul into it, it's not easy to substitute by other people.
Well this is where we disagree (which is ok). If things were planned properly, this transition could have been hidden or at least blurred with some distraction.
Trent's message should have been posted on Thursday, right after the lay offs instead of having to hear it through a goodbye of the most vocal person on the development team and after the community starts asking, what the hell is up?
That announcement could have had something in it to distract the community while the transition finishes. Instead, we have our own questions with just a vague response and nothing to digest except our own doubts and hopes.
Comments
Wait... Huge rumour mill build up! I love making huge assumptions on the very smallest of hearsay!
1 B I G P R O J E C T
Baldur's Gate Next? (oh please oh please oh please)
1 middleish project
PST:EE? (oh please oh please oh please)
1 small project
Android and Ipad port of 2.2? (oh please oh please oh please)
large = new game
medium = iOS / Android port
small = patch 2.4
I guess now all we can do is wait and drink tea >.>
Please, you don't have hold back on our accord
I was looking forward to a shaman/barbarian run through IWD...
I'm really looking forward to know what you guys are working on!
In regards to Trent's post...
1) Wasn't the "lesson learned" from BGEE and BG2EE 1.0-1.2 not to ship buggy code before its ready? IWDEE was supposed to set the new model, i.e., shipping a product when it was ready. It was sad to see that reverted.
2) As sad as it is to see Beamdog team members go, I get that writers like Amber and Andrew would be let go at this point. The game is written and shipped. If David Gaider has decided that he wants to bring in new writing staff (for whatever reason), it makes sense that their positions end.
I'm not sure what artwork MadBee primarily did. If it was areas, portraits, etc.., then it also makes sense that the work for SoD is done. If MadBee did UI work, that would be concerning. There are a lot of user issues with the UI from a functional standpoint, and changes to the UI may require new/revised artwork. There are also the iOS/Android releases and IWDEE 2.x for which revised artwork may be needed. That could mean that the UIs are largely locked and any changes could only be at the level of tweaks that require no (or minimal) artwork revisions. (I guess they could just hire Pecca on a contract basis - damn he's good).
Dee's departure (and the PR/Marketing side of Amber's position) makes the least sense to me. SoD is only a few months post-release, the tablet versions are still in development, the community is actively trying to make suggestions to improve the v2.x experience, and Beamdog's public "face" is gone. (No offense to @JuliusBorisov!)
I also don't understand not having someone to step into Amber's PR/Marketing role. When SoD on iOS is ready, how will you market it? And skipping GenCon, when you just had your most important release this year? That makes no sense.
It feels like Beamdog is going into a "survival mode". SoD sales may have come in below projections, so revenue is tight. They can't axe "BG Next"/Project Beartrap, whatever you want to call it, as that is the future of the company. Getting bugs squashed and the iOS/Android releases are a priority since the latter could bring significant new revenue (and the latter depends on the former). Personnel deemed non-essential are getting cut.
Unfortunately, this doesn't bode well for IWDEE v2.x. Judging by Steam data, IWDEE's sales are <20% that of BGEE or BG2EE, and a v2.x release is unlikely to spur major new sales (as much as I'd love a shaman in IWDEE, I don't see that boosting IWDEE sales by a significant amount). So, making IWDEE v2.x is likely effort for little return - not something a "refocused" company can spend resources on.
I do wish Beamdog the best, and I look forward to seeing whatever Trent, Cameron, Phil, David, and company are working on. But, Trent's letter reads like a LOT of spin...
The restructuring could have happened because of their departure however.
I donno, speculation.
But I agree with @Astrobryguy. Everything Trent said, we heard before.
And when the public face of the company disappears, we as consumers are left with speculation on what's to come.
And with no positive news being fed to us, we are going to expect the worst.
Start giving us a positive outlook. Introduce the new writers. Give us a tidbit of what they have done in the past. Put it in a new issue of The Familiar and run with it.
One could argue that lay-offs are sometimes inevitable and that some people just don't work out for the company, but from as much as I saw from the efforts of at least Andrew and Dee (if indeed they were laid off), I didn't think the work they did could be described as anything other than excellent.
And sorry, but I can't agree that the Familiar and the Beamblog "were both pretty much abandoned even before Amber left". During the end of 2015 and the start of 2016 a lot of blog entries have been published, they have been a source of information about company news, and a valid one. The Familiar has been very well recieved and has let everybody find out about different details of SoD production. It had invaluable interviews and was useful. It's just so that when somebody puts so much own effort into something, puts soul into it, it's not easy to substitute by other people.
Trent's message should have been posted on Thursday, right after the lay offs instead of having to hear it through a goodbye of the most vocal person on the development team and after the community starts asking, what the hell is up?
That announcement could have had something in it to distract the community while the transition finishes. Instead, we have our own questions with just a vague response and nothing to digest except our own doubts and hopes.