Outstar has lied to us - Hiring Lead Game Designer with RPG (Bloodlines 2) and AAA experience? This late?

[Moody]

Paradox/Hardsuit hiring a Lead Game Designer this late in development for Bloodlines 2?

The fact that they are looking for RPG and AAA experience.

And this is not the first position they are hiring for lead over the past 2 months with RPG and AAA experience.

Maybe Hardsuit should have thought of not firing Mitsoda, Schuttler, pushing Cara out, and the other producers?

Link:
https://careers.hardsuitlabs.com/jobs/978972-lead-game-designer

Clearly Outstar has lied to us about the game being near complete.

[timestamp!]

Originally posted by Moody:

Maybe Hardsuit should have thought of not firing Mitsoda, Schuttler, pushing Cara out, and the other producers?

And I'm sure they had, because the other thing you seem to suggest (without any actual first hand knowledge of their situation, most likely) is that they fired them cos... 'why the hell not' sounds really improbable.

[Amadeo]

Originally posted by Moody:

Clearly Outstar has lied to us about the game being near complete.

VtMB 2 entered the alpha stage about a year ago. Outstar played an old build back in March, if I am not mistaken, and stated that it was nearly finished. However, since HSL received a lot of negative feedback on gameplay, combat, and graphics, they decided to redesign the game. Thus, the company had to let some people go and hire new personnel to replace them. From what I can tell, this is the only reason why the game has not come out yet. Hopefully, when it does, it will be of much higher quality.

However, I do have to admit that the fact that they are looking for new leads in December of 2020 does not make one particularly optimistic. It certainly seems that HSL bit off more than they could chew with Bloodlines 2. Perhaps they should have polished what they had and released the game in the summer or early fall.

[Bamsmacked]

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Employee-Review-Hardsuit-Labs-RVW36517052.htm

Read that recent review from a former employee who left couple months ago. "Good for starting out, better to leave behind."

That studio is in chaos and probably bit off more than they can chew, and based on that employee review the culture there just looks really really bad.

The employee that wrote that review even claims that the company and HR tries to inflate it's image with false positive reviews of the company.

The job openings area also lists lots of lead positions and even a senior producer which was posted a day ago.

[Selvokaz]

The hirings sound like a good thing to me. It tells me they starting some aspects of the game over, and they want a AAA design and quality to their game, these are all good things.

[Bamsmacked]

Originally posted by Selvokaz:

The hirings sound like a good thing to me. It tells me they starting some aspects of the game over, and they want a AAA design and quality to their game, these are all good things.

Considering that they delayed the game twice, went totally radio dark and this far down the line they want to redesign the game?

That's not a good look. I encourage you to read that review the former employee talked about how managers and leads don't even know what a "RPG" is, don't even care about the IPS they trying to make and can't/won't be bothered to learn more about them.

"High level execs randomly fill in for other producers - unfortunately, makes it hard to do job well"

"Studio problem with micromanaging – you have to Justify every single decision to the point you wonder why they even hired you."

"Enter into projects and IPs they know very little about, but don’t make the effort to really learn or care"

"Work on products you understand - because explaining how an RPG works to those who never worked on one but insist on approving and judging each piece of content wastes a lot of time"

I really feel like they bit off more than they can chew and as a result has made the studio culture more toxic.

[Amadeo]

The job openings area also lists lots of lead positions and even a senior producer which was posted a day ago.

This is not as concerning as the lead game designer opening this late in development.

Yet, again, this doesn't mean that Outstar lied to the community back in the spring. They had a working, yet technically inferior, build. Now HSL is trying to redesign it, but they lack in experience, talent, and funds. I hope they will figure it out.

[Selvokaz]

yeah what you say does sound damning, but what else can we do? I don't pre-order games until i've seen the final cut and liked something about it, can't say i pre-ordered bloodlines 2 based on that criteria either. It cost me nothing to be optimistic though.

[Bamsmacked]

Originally posted by Amadeo:

The job openings area also lists lots of lead positions and even a senior producer which was posted a day ago.

This is not as concerning as the lead game designer opening this late in development.

Yet, again, this doesn't mean that Outstar lied to the community back in the spring. They had a working, yet technically inferior, build. Now HSL is trying to redesign it, but they lack in experience, talent, and funds. I hope they will figure it out.

Yeah it's great they're looking to bring in more talent and experience. But this game has been in development for 4 years and based on the trends we've seen lately games don't see the light of day in these sort of circumstances. I'm not saying the game won't be released but I am saying is if it's released next year it's going to be loaded with technical issues or it won't be released at all until late 2021 maybe even 2022.

You can't just redesign a game this late in the process, you either try and launch it still and face lots of technical back lash or develop for another year or more. Redesigning a game is a daunting task it's more than just the graphics they have to alter story, and quest design plus more.

The company apparently has a really bad culture which would explain the woes this year. It's going to be hard to turn this thing around and nothing is stopping me from thinking otherwise -- SINCE THEY WON'T EXPLAIN TO US WHAT THE F IS GOING ON.

Now when I think of Bloodlines 2, and when I hear they're trying to redesign based on the info I gathered the game to me at least is starting to sound like it's going to be another Anthem. Dead on arrival.

[Castyles]

Originally posted by Amadeo:

The job openings area also lists lots of lead positions and even a senior producer which was posted a day ago.

This is not as concerning as the lead game designer opening this late in development.

Yet, again, this doesn't mean that Outstar lied to the community back in the spring. They had a working, yet technically inferior, build. Now HSL is trying to redesign it, but they lack in experience, talent, and funds. I hope they will figure it out.

They're not lacking funds. Paradox has lots of cash and they already poured plenty in this project. You're right about the other bits.

With that said, however, I pity the bottom pits of HSL. But at the same time I can't really be bothered to it's suffering, to be honest. Because if they bit more that they could chew, if ego spoke higher than raw talent, then the rightfully justice that soon follows is inevitable. And they deserve it.

[Muscarine]

Leads are not directors

[Mr Jt (Gog is king)]

Mitsoda should be in it’s good cara is out

[frank1nyc]

I’m less enthused and disappointed in loss of lead who worked on original. Feels like shift from RPG to fighting genre and dumbing down for wider appeal.

Had planned to pick up Day 1. Now, I’ll wait and see.

[Hao Zhao]

Why would being far into development impact any of this? If you're 1% into development, you need a lead designer. If you're 80% into development, you still need a lead designer. Games don't finish themselves.

[Amadeo]

Originally posted by Hao Zhao:

Why would being far into development impact any of this? If you're 1% into development, you need a lead designer. If you're 80% into development, you still need a lead designer. Games don't finish themselves.

At 80% the game is supposed to be pretty close to beta. At this point, a lead gameplay designer should be tweaking balance and adjusting the pace of character progression while occasionally introducing additional elements, such as a new ability or weapon type. Changing a lead this late in development is not a very good sign, especially if you are looking for a professional who will "be responsible for owning gameplay progression systems from concept through release." Source[careers.hardsuitlabs.com]

However, even if they were thinking about some future titles (which I find highly doubtful) and were not trying to hire someone to design their VtMB2 progression systems from scratch, this entire affair would still be quite worrisome. Granted, people do quit or get fired suddenly for all sorts of extraneous reasons, so if this was an isolated occurrence, no one would be particularly concerned. However, considering the recent exodus of writers and producers, it would be logical to assume that the work of the previous lead had been "weighed in the balances and found wanting." Alternatively, it is possible that the said person simply left because the development was going nowhere. I am not sure which one is worse.

[Hao Zhao]

Originally posted by Amadeo:

Originally posted by Hao Zhao:

Why would being far into development impact any of this? If you're 1% into development, you need a lead designer. If you're 80% into development, you still need a lead designer. Games don't finish themselves.

At 80% the game is supposed to be pretty close to beta. At this point, a lead gameplay designer should be tweaking balance and adjusting the pace of character progression while occasionally introducing additional elements, such as a new ability or weapon type. Changing a lead this late in development is not a very good sign, especially if you are looking for a professional who will "be responsible for owning gameplay progression systems from concept through release." Source[careers.hardsuitlabs.com]

However, even if they were thinking about some future titles (which I find highly doubtful) and were not trying to hire someone to design their VtMB2 progression systems from scratch, this entire affair would still be quite worrisome. Granted, people do quit or get fired suddenly for all sorts of extraneous reasons, so if this was an isolated occurrence, no one would be particularly concerned. However, considering the recent exodus of writers and producers, it would be logical to assume that the work of the previous lead had been "weighed in the balances and found wanting." Alternatively, it is possible that the said person simply left because the development was going nowhere. I am not sure which one is worse.

Sorry, dude. You're just full of it. You didn't even do a very good job of hiding it. Game development is not the army. "Lead Game Designer" and every single other title ever invented by a corporation, is an arbitrary designation and its duties are completely made up as well. The job of the Lead Game Designer is whatever the boss of that company says it is and that can vary from company to company. For example, the lead game designer on The Old Republic coordinates different teams but doesn't actually program or QA anything.

In any case, I only threw out 80% as a random number. We don't know where the game is, exactly. This is a big game from a big publisher. This isn't some early access indie trash where the developers update you on exactly where the game is, every single week, because they're afraid of being forgotten. LOL