Sarah moved from current project, update no longer coming?
- Thread starter CMDR MyNameIsKodos
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Do you really think it could do any further harm? Well, better safe then sorry, I guess?
Not good idea for her sake.
Very bad idea.
Very reckless and could get you banned for a time at worst things like that could get this whole forum closed.
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I'd rather it not turn into a case of some uppity forumites costing a good woman her job. Unlikely but provoking worse case scenarios isn't a good idea. I don't know what it would accomplish other than making the management (who are notoriously adept at patting themselves on the back for nothing and surrounding themselves with yes-men) focus their ire on what they would see as the person "responsible" for the uproar. Let's face it, do you honestly expect Braben to look in the mirror and blame his own lack of time management and people skills for every screwup so far?
No, someone working on the shop floor is going to take the hit for him. Perks of being top of the food chain. Distasteful, but it's all we can expect from a private company run by habitual liars.
Where's Zac? Ask Zac?
Zac .. has FD retasked this, the elite pilot federation's favourite, AI designer?
What's the story Commander?
I've pointed this out myself. This is a distinct possibility - Elite: Dangerous sales are starting to slow and there isn't much financial milleage in big improvements by the looks of things.
Another possibility is simple ego. SJAs work was universally appreciated and praised. Certain other aspects of 1.3 have been, to put it mildly, contraversial, with even white knights struggling to defend them. These certain aspects, being blazoned across the top of this forum and being talked about in the gaming press with giddy anticipation, are obviously close to the heart of someone very senior at FDev, maybe several someones. Maybe this is simple sour grapes?
Pure speculation. One of a number of possibilities. If only a developer was communicative and spoke to us on a human level, perhaps we could find out the truth.
If only.
One thing that isn't speculation; Frontier have definitely lost their way. The vision for Elite in the DDF and in all of those old videos is now dead, and things are being altered to suit a new vision. A vision that is top secret. How on earth do they expect us to support that vision if we don't even know what it is?
She deleted that tweet for a reason - it might be actually not to be true. Go figure people talk a lot fuff when angry. Later she restated it will go in one day.
FD reprioritized her work. I am getting emotional, even angry when it happens to me. Doubtful it's different with so passionate human being like Sarah.
Somehow I doubt any current dev who values their income is going to want to so much as whisper to us now, especially about employee drama that the company has no obligation to disclose externally.
Some wonderful quotes from people who used to work there though. My favourite from an ex-programmer from march of this year, although they didn't state whether they worked on Elite Dangerous or one of those crappy rollercoaster games:
Yes the sensible thing would be just ask him politely by sending him a message.
Combat is the most refined part of this game.
Look at other parts of the game like exploring or trading or background sim. or PP those needs huge amounts of attention from devs.
So when SJA was moved to work on somethin else with higher priority I can understand that.
Look at other parts of the game like exploring or trading or background sim. or PP those needs huge amounts of attention from devs.
So when SJA was moved to work on somethin else with higher priority I can understand that.
FD want Elite to be greater but first they want to be as successful a company they can be and that allows them to then make Elite greater.
They have priorities, business priorities and that is all I think this is. Attention will turn back to Elite AI once the more urgent priorities are done. At least we have a game to play, I do not have that with the other space games I have backed.
They have priorities, business priorities and that is all I think this is. Attention will turn back to Elite AI once the more urgent priorities are done. At least we have a game to play, I do not have that with the other space games I have backed.
Yes, I have considered that for a brief moment. The thing is, if there was a benign and beneficial change, they wouldn't have immediately stopped the AI work basically from one day to the next. They'd let her finish any open sub-task and wrap up the package so that as much of it can be released the way it currently is, and then allow her to announce herself that AI work is complete for now and she is now working on a secret awesome new feature. Imagine just the hype FD could have gotten out of that, SJA making a new secret feature!
Guys... be a little cautious before drawing your swords as forum warriors.
Don't forget that for us this is a game to play in our leisure time but for DB and the shareholders is a business and for SJA it is a livelihood. It may also be a passion for them but that is secondary.
For my part, I hope we didn't contribute to any situations internally at Frontier, or personally with those concerned that culminated in this change of role.
Bear in mind that in our hunger for dev input we did rather latch on to SJA re the AI. In person, she is friendly, enthusiastic and enjoys her job but was the first to say that the AI was split between a few of them.... some working on high level and some lower. No SJA doesn't mean no AI updates.
However. If our enthusiasm fuelled this change, I can only apologise and look forward to whatever new projects SJA's passion and skills can be brought to.
Don't forget that for us this is a game to play in our leisure time but for DB and the shareholders is a business and for SJA it is a livelihood. It may also be a passion for them but that is secondary.
For my part, I hope we didn't contribute to any situations internally at Frontier, or personally with those concerned that culminated in this change of role.
Bear in mind that in our hunger for dev input we did rather latch on to SJA re the AI. In person, she is friendly, enthusiastic and enjoys her job but was the first to say that the AI was split between a few of them.... some working on high level and some lower. No SJA doesn't mean no AI updates.
However. If our enthusiasm fuelled this change, I can only apologise and look forward to whatever new projects SJA's passion and skills can be brought to.
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I considered it.
Then I considered the other possibilities. I can't really see a good reason to pull an AI programmer off AI in a game which desperately needs AI. There isn't really anything more important than AI and certain aspects of the BGS (which also could be considered AI related, such as police responses) to this game. It lacks immersion and feels lifeless and sterile sometimes when interactions occur.
FD have presented themselves as a company where the game is more than just business. This was presented to us as David Braben's dream project, basically. Yet we barely hear a word from him these days and I seriously wonder how involved he even is in the actual development of the game.
This sounds like something you'd talk to your employee about in advance, don't you think?
That is the slightly odd thing. The fact this seems to have come out of the blue somewhat?
Anyway, hard to know what the full (true) story is really!
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She knew about her reassignment *last* week. Just monday on G+ she said she will move on from her current position soon.
So let's stop "it's surprise" rumor treadmill.
Issue here is her indicating that it happened sooner that she expected, thus unfinished code.
It's a bit less out of the blue when you consider frontier management has a history of completely bungling time critical events, mismanaging resources, lying to employees and customers, then having nobody in charge take the blame for failed projects.
Point is you don't have to read many posts to get the gist of it, but this has dragged on long enough. Lurk more, post less, and there'll be less chaff to sift through in order to find the insightful commentary.
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