[Big FN Deal]

Quote: Originally Posted by Aestis

You won't like hearing this, but you're operating the assumption that MUT = poor quality. Spoiler The guys who enjoy MUT and have seen its progression over the past several titles--and there are way, WAY more of them than there are of you--would likely dispute this assumption. If I'm an exec at EA and you simply asked me: would I prefer a game that more people enjoy? Or a game that fewer people enjoy? I know how I'd answer in this hypothetical world. So you can use "optimizing for revenue" to mean "ignoring quality" if you like. But it's not based in reality. Even this indy game your brother works for who is apparently doing everything the right way... let's see how that game actually turns out and how many people actually enjoy playing it before we hold it up as the beacon of all that is right with game development. No, the issue here--as it often is when this topic rears its head--is that what you want isn't the same as what many, many more people want. And you want a AAA game dedicated to your niche desires when the masses have spoken and want something different. (And fwiw, I want what you want. But I'm not going to pretend that anything different than what I want makes it "low quality.")

Quote: Originally Posted by Aestis

As you mentioned, this is a huge one. Dude's brother's indie boss's obligation is to nobody. He can do with his money as he pleases and take whatever risks he likes. The executive team at EA's responsibility is to their shareholders. That is a massive difference that affects all kinds of prioritization & decision-making at nearly every level of the company. It's easy to vilify the giant corporation. I don't always disagree. But there are advantages and disadvantages to being the indie company. They're easy to get excited about and people fall in love with the *idea* of what they're building. But most indie games fail. And even the ones that succeed, most people reading this spend most if not all of their game-purchasing cash on AAA titles developed & published by large corporations. Why is this? The answer is one some won't like to admit: because by & large, they make better games that more people enjoy playing. That doesn't fit the narrative, I realize. But it's true.

WTF happened here? lol. I'm trying to follow your logic here but I having a hard time. In the first quoted post I think you are saying because people play MUT and it's successful, that means it's good quality. I beg to differ because it's in a rigged market, MUT and the game as a whole's "success" could simply be because people feel it's better than nothing, in relation to NFL gaming.

The bold part in the last quoted post I would agree with but I have no idea what it has to do specifically with EA and Madden. Yes, in general, AAA companies produce better games than indie devs but with regard to this game and this giant corp, again, all I can say is their game is better than nothing, for some. In that same vein, it's telling that even with that fact, some portion of long time football gamers, myself included, choose playing nothing.