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Where's Steve Jobs when you need him? > Steve Jobs summoned the MobileMe team to the Town Hall > auditorium on Apple’s Cupertino campus for an obscenity- > lad

Where's Steve Jobs when you need him? > Steve Jobs summoned the MobileMe team to the Town Hall > auditorium on Apple’s Cupertino campus for an obscenity- > laden dressing down. ‘You’ve tarnished Apple’s reputation,’ > he told them. ‘You should hate each other for having let > each other down.’ Then he named a new executive on the spot > to run the team.” http://macdailynews.com/2011/05/08/steve-jobs-to-those-responsible-for-mobilemess-you-should-hate-each-other/#Gb5gk9Qr5v3TWy0M.99 http://macdailynews.com/2011/05/08/steve-jobs-to-those-respo...

NoPiece 14y ago
Although it is more likely in this case that the EA executives mandated online only to the developers.
- goatforce5 14y ago
  No doubt. Doesn't mean you have to implement it badly though.
  - NoPiece 14y ago
    Agreed! But having worked at a company similar to EA, I know the developer may have wanted to implement certain things a certain way, but may not have been able to due to corporate mandates. For example, they may have wanted to deploy using AWS, but their CTO demanded they use the in-house infrastructure he has been working on. Obviously just speculation, but things like this happen all the time at large companies where internal factions put their own agendas ahead of the product and users. I would just hold off blaming Maxis or the development team until more is known.
    - alcari 14y ago
      Here's the thing though: they DID use AWS (one of their EU servers is 46.137.165.11). They have no excuse besides poor architecture design for not simply doubling server capacity.
      - NoPiece 14y ago
        Right, but I'm just saying that there isn't nearly enough information to claim the devs let down the CEO (as the parent comment implied). We don't know why things are failing, or or who made the decisions that let to the problems. We don't even know if they have tried to throw more servers at the problem (I hope so). I agree that given the narrow scope of the online plain in SimCity, they should have an architecture that scales easily. I hope they do a public post-portem.
  - OWaz 14y ago
    What I'm failing to understand is how a company the size of EA could launch a game with strict online requirements and fail to deliver online capabilities.
    - NoPiece 14y ago
      I think the bigger the company the more likely it is to happen. You may have separate teams in separate locations with differing agendas. One building the game, another managing infrastructure, not necessarily on the same page or with the same goals. Software team will say they want the best user experience. The IT team might be hearing they need to get costs under control, so they are going to try and be efficient and not over capacity. The software guys may have had a passion for single player, but marketing needs them to add features they are not passionate about. They spend less time on and the features end up less robust.
- 27182818284 14y ago
  Why? I see this over and over again in this thread, but I don't believe it anymore because it is not just a one-off case of the developers being ignored, they're willingly doing bad practices like this over and over and over again. Best case: They do it reluctantly, but don't care enough about their work to stop it. Worst case: They do it willingly and think it is a great idea.
  - NoPiece 14y ago
    I wish developers had more power, but believe me, 90% of the time they are completely beholden to their publisher. In this case, Maxis is a 100% owned subsidiary of EA. They have no ability to kill the project walk way in protest (other than individuals quitting). The most you can do is plead your case, but it is ultimately EA execs making the call.
    - NoPiece 14y ago
      I'd edit this into my last comment, but it is too late. Anyway, note this exchange on Twitter with the SimCity producer, Ocean Quigley. -- Iain Kidd ‏@oceanquigley Just wondering if you regret the decision as creative director to refuse to provide an offline mode now? Ocean Quigley ‏@iainkidd Making a lot of assumptions there. https://twitter.com/oceanquigley/status/309710429687537664 https://twitter.com/oceanquigley/status/309710429687537664
jonknee 14y ago
... And iCloud is still weak.
FireBeyond 14y ago
Sorry, but no. I should not hate people because we weren't able to develop another new product that made you another billion. That's not a healthy work/life balance, that's a cult.
- vacri 14y ago
  Nice how it works, eh? Product is good, love Jobs because he created the conditions to make it. Product is bad, hate the team that let Jobs down, because we know he's only ever involved in the good stuff.

NoPiece 14y ago

Although it is more likely in this case that the EA executives mandated online only to the developers.

goatforce5 14y ago
No doubt. Doesn't mean you have to implement it badly though.
- NoPiece 14y ago
  Agreed! But having worked at a company similar to EA, I know the developer may have wanted to implement certain things a certain way, but may not have been able to due to corporate mandates. For example, they may have wanted to deploy using AWS, but their CTO demanded they use the in-house infrastructure he has been working on. Obviously just speculation, but things like this happen all the time at large companies where internal factions put their own agendas ahead of the product and users. I would just hold off blaming Maxis or the development team until more is known.
  - alcari 14y ago
    Here's the thing though: they DID use AWS (one of their EU servers is 46.137.165.11). They have no excuse besides poor architecture design for not simply doubling server capacity.
    - NoPiece 14y ago
      Right, but I'm just saying that there isn't nearly enough information to claim the devs let down the CEO (as the parent comment implied). We don't know why things are failing, or or who made the decisions that let to the problems. We don't even know if they have tried to throw more servers at the problem (I hope so). I agree that given the narrow scope of the online plain in SimCity, they should have an architecture that scales easily. I hope they do a public post-portem.
- OWaz 14y ago
  What I'm failing to understand is how a company the size of EA could launch a game with strict online requirements and fail to deliver online capabilities.
  - NoPiece 14y ago
    I think the bigger the company the more likely it is to happen. You may have separate teams in separate locations with differing agendas. One building the game, another managing infrastructure, not necessarily on the same page or with the same goals. Software team will say they want the best user experience. The IT team might be hearing they need to get costs under control, so they are going to try and be efficient and not over capacity. The software guys may have had a passion for single player, but marketing needs them to add features they are not passionate about. They spend less time on and the features end up less robust.
27182818284 14y ago
Why? I see this over and over again in this thread, but I don't believe it anymore because it is not just a one-off case of the developers being ignored, they're willingly doing bad practices like this over and over and over again. Best case: They do it reluctantly, but don't care enough about their work to stop it. Worst case: They do it willingly and think it is a great idea.
- NoPiece 14y ago
  I wish developers had more power, but believe me, 90% of the time they are completely beholden to their publisher. In this case, Maxis is a 100% owned subsidiary of EA. They have no ability to kill the project walk way in protest (other than individuals quitting). The most you can do is plead your case, but it is ultimately EA execs making the call.
  - NoPiece 14y ago
    I'd edit this into my last comment, but it is too late. Anyway, note this exchange on Twitter with the SimCity producer, Ocean Quigley. -- Iain Kidd ‏@oceanquigley Just wondering if you regret the decision as creative director to refuse to provide an offline mode now? Ocean Quigley ‏@iainkidd Making a lot of assumptions there. https://twitter.com/oceanquigley/status/309710429687537664 https://twitter.com/oceanquigley/status/309710429687537664

jonknee 14y ago

... And iCloud is still weak.

FireBeyond 14y ago

Sorry, but no. I should not hate people because we weren't able to develop another new product that made you another billion. That's not a healthy work/life balance, that's a cult.

vacri 14y ago
Nice how it works, eh? Product is good, love Jobs because he created the conditions to make it. Product is bad, hate the team that let Jobs down, because we know he's only ever involved in the good stuff.