Sarah moved from current project, update no longer coming?

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Sorry Zac but that response is completely generic and devoid of information, and in particular does not explain the distress SJA appeared in and the suddenness of the change. Is this such a big secret that you can't even tell us what she has been reassigned to? Is it even something for ED still?

Do you expect him to hand write a love letter to sooth your broken emotions, and come over and give you a kiss on the cheek and tell you it'll be alright?

He's said all he needs to say on the matter.
 
Hey guys, I just wanted to jump on this thread and just give a really quick reply.

It’s very common in development that people work on different elements of the game in order to best support the game and the community as a whole.

AI is an area we’re actively working on but how and when those updates happen may flex slightly based on the needs of the game overall.

Thanks,

Zac

The Longest jump in history Zac. Putting you in for next Olympics:eek:
 
Sorry Zac but that response is completely generic and devoid of information, and in particular does not explain the distress SJA appeared in and the suddenness of the change. Is this such a big secret that you can't even tell us what she has been reassigned to? Is it even something for ED still?

I don't think it is legal or even moral to be speaking of resourcing in a public manner such as this. Where they want to send her is their prerogative, whether we like it or not. I agree that openness helps prevent abuse of power and abuse in general, but to expect that we be privy to the human resource decisions of a company is utter madness.
 
The Longest jump in history Zac. Putting you in for next Olympics:eek:

It's around 1PM/13 BST. Considering that Zac most likely have to work on newsletter, some planned stuff and then meet Michael to hash out this announcement, it's quite fast I must say.

Or you think they have community managers/PR working 24/7.
 
Do you expect him to hand write a love letter to sooth your broken emotions, and come over and give you a kiss on the cheek and tell you it'll be alright?

He's said all he needs to say on the matter.

No. I expect him to dance around using some words that might mean something, to placate the fanbase whilst at the same time saying absolutely nothing of substance, which is what community managers are for in every developer studio.

He didn't disappoint.
 
No. I expect him to dance around using some words that might mean something, to placate the fanbase whilst at the same time saying absolutely nothing of substance, which is what community managers are for in every developer studio.

He didn't disappoint.

Actually he did say what he could say, and read between the lines he also said what they should have said, if they would have said anything from the beginning, as the should have.
 
It is a real shame that FD have decided to shelve the much talked about (on here) AI implementation - So we will have to put up with 'Xbox user friendly' AI* for the foreseeable ; )

*AI is a bit of a false description for current NPC performance - it should be AU!
 
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It's around 1PM/13 BST. Considering that Zac most likely have to work on newsletter, some planned stuff and then meet Michael to hash out this announcement, it's quite fast I must say.

Or you think they have community managers/PR working 24/7.

Obviously the funny emoticon is lost on fanbois. Did someone steal your sense of humour.
 
No. I expect him to dance around using some words that might mean something, to placate the fanbase whilst at the same time saying absolutely nothing of substance, which is what community managers are for in every developer studio.

He didn't disappoint.

[video=youtube;ERDUbAv8Qz0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERDUbAv8Qz0?t=50s[/video]
 
No. I expect him to dance around using some words that might mean something, to placate the fanbase whilst at the same time saying absolutely nothing of substance, which is what community managers are for in every developer studio.

He didn't disappoint.

What would you accept as "substance"? That a WIP upgrade to AI is immediately rolled out in the next update regardless of the fact you have no idea of it's state or impact.

I for one am glad Frontiers dev team is not managed by proxy based on random forum dwellers with no visibility on the situation or understanding of what's involved. There is no evil manager with a bag of cash sitting in a raised office twiddling his moustache and laughing.

Far more likely this game is being created by a bright dynamic team that knows how to focus appropriately.
 
I don't think it is legal or even moral to be speaking of resourcing in a public manner such as this. Where they want to send her is their prerogative, whether we like it or not. I agree that openness helps prevent abuse of power and abuse in general, but to expect that we be privy to the human resource decisions of a company is utter madness.

It most definitely is legal and moral for them to say something like "we discovered a big issue in the game engine that halts development in some key areas, and needs urgent fixing, and SJA is one of the few people around here with the expertise to do so", if that is the case, for example.

Do you expect him to hand write a love letter to sooth your broken emotions, and come over and give you a kiss on the cheek and tell you it'll be alright?

He's said all he needs to say on the matter.

When you look at it so technically, no one of FD is required to say anything on anything at all, ever. But when the most compelling thing one can say about what as been said is that no rule or law requires them to say any more, then that is a quite weak response.
 
It’s very common in development that people work on different elements of the game in order to best support the game and the community as a whole.

AI is an area we’re actively working on but how and when those updates happen may flex slightly based on the needs of the game overall.

That is crap talk. You guys pulled a dev who was liked by the community for their openness off work which players were eagerly waiting for, shelved the work, and placed said dev on a mute project.
If Frontier's priorities are such that they consider such obvious mistakes neccessary, they must really be in a bind. Good luck!
 
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Hey guys, I just wanted to jump on this thread and just give a really quick reply.

It’s very common in development that people work on different elements of the game in order to best support the game and the community as a whole.

AI is an area we’re actively working on but how and when those updates happen may flex slightly based on the needs of the game overall.

Thanks,

Zac
That's a nice corporate answer, saying as little as possible. How about you rewrite to specifically:

  1. Acknowledge SJA's great work on ED's AI, including the Docking Computer
  2. Acknowledge her community interaction has been great and very much appreciated
  3. Acknowledge Sarah had valid reason to be upset yesterday.
  4. Re-assure us we'll still see her work on ED's AI 'soon[tm]'
  5. Re-assure us she's valued and will be doing great work on the new project (and if possible tell us if this is even part of ED, or another FD title)
 
What would you accept as "substance"? That a WIP upgrade to AI is immediately rolled out in the next update regardless of the fact you have no idea of it's state or impact.

I don't know, something like "AI has been shelved for now" or "Sarah has been moved to work on X"

Don't give me crap about super secret gameplay stuff. These are video games, not the flightplan for Air Force One. If they reveal something the community doesn't like and there is a backlash that's ok - they can change things or move forward with it regardless. But what's the worst that can happen from being honest?

Even a "We're not going to tell you" would be much better.

I for one am glad Frontiers dev team is not managed by proxy based on random forum dwellers with no visibility on the situation or understanding of what's involved.

You'd be surprised how much I understand what's involved in game development.

There is no evil manager with a bag of cash sitting in a raised office twiddling his moustache and laughing.

Far more likely this game is being created by a bright dynamic team that knows how to focus appropriately.

Nobody said anything about super-villains. You're assuming malice when simple incompetency and ego looks to be to blame.

The fact of the matter is that game development studios are not made up of super human "bright dynamic teams" - they're composed of human beings who make mistakes and fail all the time. Look at what happened with Arkham Knight recently. Or AC: Unity last year. Look at what Konami did with PT.

So many games turn out to be trash after a lot of hard work poured into them, and so many at the top have big egos (that's pretty common in business in general). Assuming that because a professional corporation is at work they're going to be professional is an assumption made in spite of the evidence, not because of it.
 
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I remember the first time I was referred to as part of a "resource pool", it did make me sad as I had been referred to as Jason before.
Over the last 20 years I just have got used to being a resource and I do not even think anything of it now.

Funny how we change...

Well, being part of a "resource pool" does atleast imply some individuality.
I know a head of HR, who likes to refer to employees as "Befüllungsmasse". Like if people are some sort of strange elusive goo, that you just fill into your companys subsidiary bubbles.
 
It most definitely is legal and moral for them to say something like "we discovered a big issue in the game engine that halts development in some key areas, and needs urgent fixing, and SJA is one of the few people around here with the expertise to do so", if that is the case, for example.

So your employer issues a public statement every time a deadline is missed or a staff member is relocated to another department?. Glad I don't have shares in that company!
 
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