So the Warhammer Online community, really the game community in general, is abuzz over a tell all blog post from an alleged employee from Mythic Bioware EA.
I'm not going to link it because that information is out there already. Just check the back posts of Massively.com. And I'm disappointed at Massively publishing this bit with practically no research at all. The blog post doesn't reveal anything new about WAR or it's backstory. It throws out unverifiable gossip about key players in the company. But there is nothing concrete about what is happening now. There is no information about things in development now such as the new "RvR Packs". The blog gives no information about what WAR fans are really worried about, is the game set for closure in the next year or two? Does the game have enough subs to justify at least a maintenance mode life? The ranter did throw in some blows toward the still in development SW:TOR game. Which frankly was just a bizarre addition to a post that was about WAR.
Of course the game community is loving the controversy and it's starting yet another cycle of anti-WAR sentiment.
Now my opinion of the WAR game. I enjoy it. I enjoy playing it a lot. Lately I've been taking a break from it. But I'm never bored when I am in world. Does that mean I think everything is wine and roses with it? NO, heck no. I've experienced the bugs and some class imbalance issues that make others rage for hours on end. I've seen the unfinished RvE content that many gamers would really like to see developed alongside the RvR. Yes, I've been playing online games long enough to know that many developers have amorality problems and superiority complexes. They also have a jones for questionable beliefs such as singularity, scrum and objectivism. Social Darwinism is a beloved ethic among these folks.
The problems the ranter barely touched upon in his post are an all encompassing problem in contemporary capitalism today. Not only in the gaming industry.
These problems are a direct result of game development community's devout belief in free trade and Ayn Randism.
If the game developer community hadn't been so eager to throw away their worker's rights to the winds during the go-go days of 90's/early 00's, then there would be no need for half-baked blogs like this one. If they had decided to unionize and group together for equal rights against company management there would be no Bobby Koticks etc. There would never have been an exodus of their jobs to India, China etc.
Well the horses are out of the barn on that one. So the lowly developers have to scratch and bite one another over chump change. They didn't unionize so all they are left with are blogs to rant. Will it get anything done? No. It just amuses the circus and makes the people in charge laugh.
Instead of ranting, this self named "Louse" should be getting up on a desk and holding up a Union sign. The game industry needs more Norma Rae not Ayn Rand.
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