Will this affect the quality of Star Trek: Timelines?
General McDuck
✭✭✭✭
in The Bridge
This article popped up on my feed - D has laid off 30-40 employees in a "re-focusing" move. Some of the staff included are "Community staff, QA staff, game artists*, and coders."
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/307336/Star_Trek_Timelines_dev_Disruptor_Beam_hit_with_layoffs.php
There are already issues with CS response timelines, QA issues (as evidenced by the many bugs in new features), and other issues that are clearly outlined in these forum pages. The info in the article is scarce, but it would be nice to hear from DB if/how this will impact ST:T moving forward.
Thoughts from the group?
*Wonder if it was the person responsible for 23rd Century Martok....??
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/307336/Star_Trek_Timelines_dev_Disruptor_Beam_hit_with_layoffs.php
There are already issues with CS response timelines, QA issues (as evidenced by the many bugs in new features), and other issues that are clearly outlined in these forum pages. The info in the article is scarce, but it would be nice to hear from DB if/how this will impact ST:T moving forward.
Thoughts from the group?
*Wonder if it was the person responsible for 23rd Century Martok....??
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
I really hope it will be different here.
Getting rid of so many employees is never good, and even worse for morale and motivation of the remaining stuff.
So hopefully it affects DB in a positive way.
Could you please continue the petty bickering? I find it most intriguing.
~ Data, ST:TNG "Haven"
They were laid off and still allowed to continue to work after getting notice? In every company I've been in, either a supervisor or somebody from HR pretty much hovers over the person who was let go, until their stuff is packed up and they leave the building.
Could you please continue the petty bickering? I find it most intriguing.
~ Data, ST:TNG "Haven"
and that it's financing the rest of their games. it sounds to me like they are cutting projects that don't fit into the mold of what has worked for them. But 1/3 is a lot.
Wow - thanks for sharing. With the recent decline in artwork and the weird delays in the event, I've been meaning to look for something like this. It just didn't seem like a "CBS has to sign off on it" problem. Also somewhat explains the "release every pack we have!!!!", although that happens from time to time.
Bottom line, to the paying playing community, there's a right way and a wrong way to do this. Then, there's the DB way, which is to pretend like nothing ever happened. That's the absolute wrong way. Who's going to spend money on this now? A heads up notice would have at least given them the opportunity to paint it in a better light. I think they have no choice but to address it now, and now is too late. Personally, it would not have made a difference, but now it definitely will not.
Very sorry for the people that lost their jobs.
On the other hand, at my last job they worked the staff like slaves to get projects completed before laying off dozens of people in the name of 'making improvements' and efficiency. I hope it doesn't go down the gurgler
To answer the OP's question, I think it's obvious - it already HAS affected the quality. And it wasn't that great to begin with.
DB really needed to be in front of this. Another fail. Good job Radoff.
On the flip side, a large chunk of that was probably from Game of Thrones, we generally question how much QA was really providing, and we know STT is growing form the event results and their admission of this is their staple.
This is an excellent chance to use willing forum goers as QA fodder and early feature feedback. Hopefully take the chance to slow down a bit, catch up, bug hunt, and refocus on what works.
We'll see. There's no doubt that a third of a company gone is a huge morale hit, will have secondary losses from fear leading to really 50% gone, and is generally a sign of deep trouble.
Already at half depending on the source. A source close to... says 30 to 40...
This says they employ 73.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-10-10-disruptor-beam-lays-off-staff
Now you're at half. And like you said, the quality will soon follow.
DB had all day to get in front of this. How did they not predict this outcome? I'm glad I don't have much DIL left to burn through.
It’s interesting that he calls it a character collecting game after they insisted it wasn’t for so long.
It’s all too bad.
That's a good idea. A month's not too long to give to a game you basically like.
I really do not worry about Timelines, except the whole Company goes down the Water.
Not a Native English speaker - be lenient toward me
I can only see one way this is gonna go bad: if the deal with CBS is awful and DB doesn’t get anything out of it.
Seems to be little quality testing done, which given how so much new feature and regression testing can be automated is something of a worry.
Huh? Only if you want to ruin the reputation of your company, something any coder worth a cent would uncover before accepting a position next go around - but more importantly it seems there is nothing short of squeaky wheels at DB. Plenty of bugs need tending. And it's going to have a very negative effect on revenue. Sure, I'll buy that $100 pack. Need to hurry and level him before the server gets turned off though.
I don't think this is standard behavior at all, especially the way it went down. It appears as if this mega event is not ready. Not in the least. No new mid-week characters in the past two weeks either. Everything about this seems unplanned, like they've been post dating the checks to the light company. A brief notice to the user base - also known as CUSTOMERS - would have gone a long way. Had this been planned, unless they laid off everybody capable of writing such notice, it would already be posted here. Either that or they have more contempt for their us than I thought.
Right-sizing is a **tsk tsk** horrible phrase to use for sacking people.
Bingo!
Any games company working with CBS has one sole remit: abuse your player base. Lie, steal, ignore, and generally make in-game life hell for players. It's their MO.
Captain level 50, approaching 100 immortals
All you need to know about Disruptor Beam
It's a horrible phrase for bad management. They seem top heavy for what is essentially a start up with nowhere to go.
https://www.disruptorbeam.com/about/team/
http://www.develop-online.net/news/mobile-developer-disruptor-beam-lays-off-over-30-people-report/0236200
This article explains it better then I can https://kotaku.com/why-game-developers-keep-getting-laid-off-1583192249
Or just google your favorite developer and "layoff" and see what you get
That's too bad. Alex had been there forever and was one of the few who would communicate with us, and he seemed to be a true DB believer. I haven't seen anything from Heather in a long time.
They've cleansed their Team page of all but upper management. Maybe that's all that remains. According to their bios, they all invented the Internet at one point, so we should be good - carry on, spend more - nothing to see here.
Here's the cached version.
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:jnXjOiLRZ9IJ:https://www.disruptorbeam.com/about/team/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Considerable downsizing shows that, in fact, the lack of quality was down to the poor choices made in hiring the team. The guys were doing a bad job, and have been let go. The job they did was so bad that the company began losing money. Now there are fewer staff to repair the damage done by those staff removed, so it's going to get worse before it gets better.
As long as DB continue paying CBS as agreed, CBS won't care at all about the quality we're being offered. As long as CBS don't care, DB won't care either. Let's just hope the company begins to make some money now and uses the delta to hire better qualified individuals to create a successful team driven by standards they set themselves rather than the non-existent QA we have at present.
Captain level 50, approaching 100 immortals
All you need to know about Disruptor Beam