Profile of SturmtigerCobra

Pathfinders▴
Relic’s new Vancouver HQ manifests the strategic secret sauce their company utilizes in developing their entertainment. ‘Path finding,’ the complex computer game making process is expressed throughout the space with a vibrant, dynamic ceiling form that wraps the building-core and guides occupants towards destination zones.

Pathfinding Simulation▴
The pathfinding simulation is comprised of destination-zones that act as metaphors for experiences one may encounter in a Relic game. For instance, the ‘community hub’ and reception area are composed of dark wood in angled, fragmented forms, that represent the scattering ash of an explosion. ‘Cerebral’ spaces along the journey are reprieves from the simulation. They are pure, clean and crisp and act as safe houses from the very social and active destination zones.

Story Space▴
The client’s goal was to have a design that helped people focus on work and, knowing the industry’s long work hours, to provide opportunities and spaces to re-focus, socialize and refresh. The design team responded with Relic’s story: upon entry, the guest is greeted with a 3-dimensional timeline that shares Relic’s past. The timeline wraps around the core and leads you into the reception waiting area where you are awed by the suspended sculpture above the reception desk. Hundreds of Relic's yellow toy soldiers are assembled in the shape of an R. The game-testing theatre space wears exploding acoustic panels on its walls, a metaphor for the many games the company has wowed the market with. Pin-up areas – where team members collaborate and ideate – were placed along social-hub areas. A stepped wooden bleacher system for tiered viewing offered more capacity. Inside the office’s speakeasy lounge is a water vapour fireplace providing visual warmth and comfort for the lounge users, and a reason for them to step away from their workstations and slow down the hectic pace of their work. Throughout the lounge and other social spaces, one will find graphic mantras on the walls that speak to the culture of the studio.

All's Well That Games Well▴
Making a video game is a whirlwind. The taxing industry can cause staff exhaustion and staff turnover. The executive team from Relic Entertainment agreed that they wanted a space that offered focus and refuel. Common areas varied from lounges to large community kitchens, theatres, break out spaces, open meeting areas and even craft spaces.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/?feed=steam_blog
*SNIP*
Since that post, we've continued to listen to feedback from both players and developers. It's clear to us that players value reviews highly, and want us to ensure they're accurate and trustworthy. Developers understand that they're valuable to players, but want to feel like they're being treated fairly. We've also spent a bunch of time building analysis tools to help us better understand what's happening in the reviews across all titles on Steam. With that feedback and data in hand, we think we're ready to make another change.

That change can be described easily: we're going to identify off-topic review bombs, and remove them from the Review Score.

@thereal_scottv
5. apr.
Not cool at all to misuse the review system like this and shame on @steam_games for allowing it.
Randy Pitchford:
Ironically, that this misuse is possible and that Steam has no interest in correcting this misuse makes me kind of happy about 2k’s decision and makes me want to reconsider Gearbox Publishing’s current posture on the platform.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fallout-76-has-microtransactions-but-bethesda-insi/1100-6462850/?utm_source=reddit.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-hines-6987131/
"If you don't want to spend money in the Atomic shop for cosmetic stuff you don't have to. We give you a sh*tload of Atoms just for playing the game," Hines said. "Folks that want to spend money on whatever the hell it is because they don't have enough Atoms, they can, but it's not, 'I'm now better playing against other players because I spent money.' It's not pay-to-win. And it's not loot crates."

https://twitter.com/dcdeacon/status/1032589221398282241
@ModishNouns
Will it be possible to buy non-cosmetic items, say, a legendary minigun, with microtransactions?

Pete Hines:
No. Only cosmetic.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fallout-76-has-microtransactions-but-bethesda-insi/1100-6462850/
"All the content we ever put out for Fallout 76--all the DLC, all the post-launch stuff--is going to be free. That's important. And to say, the Atomic shop is cosmetic stuff. To make sure folks understand--look there's a line. There are people who have crossed it, but we're going to stay on the right side of it in terms of the things you can spend money on and how this stuff works and what you're getting for your $60," Hines said. "That you know, when they put out new content or features or whatever, I'm getting that stuff for free. That feels right."

https://fallout.bethesda.net/en/article/6eQmVlhbjlkX0GzGb7DB3j/inside-the-vault-looking-beyond-patch-8-april-4-2019
BASIC REPAIR KITS IN THE ATOMIC SHOP
We read tons of feedback and suggestions from the Fallout 76 community, and Repair Kits were a popular request that we wanted to get into players’ hands. We also felt we could try out something new with these, both in-game and in the Atomic Shop. As we look to the future, we’re exploring ways we can bring other community-driven ideas to the game as well, such as refrigerators for C.A.M.P.s, ammo and food converters, and even the ability to send scrap to your stash without having to head home. Repair Kits are our first attempt at a utility item like this, and we plan to make adjustments based on your feedback, so we hope you’ll share your thoughts with us when they go live later this month.

*SNIP*
This account of Anthem’s development, based on interviews with 19 people who either worked on the game or adjacent to it (all of whom were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about Anthem’s development), is a story of indecision and mismanagement. It’s a story of technical failings, as EA’s Frostbite engine continued to make life miserable for many of BioWare’s developers, and understaffed departments struggled to serve their team’s needs. It’s a story of two studios, one in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and another in Austin, Texas, that grew resentful toward one another thanks to a tense, lopsided relationship. It’s a story of a video game that was in development for nearly seven years but didn’t enter production until the final 18 months, thanks to big narrative reboots, major design overhauls, and a leadership team said to be unable to provide a consistent vision and unwilling to listen to feedback.

I've spoken to several current and former BioWare employees since my article went live today, including some I hadn't interviewed earlier. General consensus has been sadness and disappointment at BioWare's statement, which read as disheartening to those who hoped for change.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4222544-brave-new-activision-blizzard
Is Activision betting on the EA business model?
Unfortunately, it seems that Activision is adopting the Electronic Arts (EA) business model. Activision used to focus on building franchises and quality games, which translated into profits. However, Activision saw the profit potential of in-game microtransactions and subscriptions. As a result, ATVI is starting to resemble EA. The problem is that gamers hate having to pay several times for the same game (microtransactions and subscriptions).

“You would’ve thought Blizzard was going under and we had no money,” said a former Blizzard staffer, who told me they left the company this year in part because of Activision’s influence. “The way every little thing was being scrutinized from a spend perspective. That’s obviously not the case. But this was the very first time I ever heard, ‘We need to show growth.’ That was just so incredibly disheartening for me.”

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has a real knack for words: At a recent conference in San Francisco he said that one of his goals when he became head of the company was to "take all the fun out of making videogames."