Christian Banks

Producer at Gram Games on Merge Dragons.
Formerly at Ballistic Moon, formerly formerly at Codemasters!
Opinions my own etc.

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@SgtDangerCow An alt question would be to ask Dice what their resource splits are across fixing/ new content/ bf7.
And then factoring in specialist work like netcode which will likely be bottlenecked purely based on # of experts about it you have, rather than throw more folks at it.

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@LSXYZ9 What do you think are the defining skill differences at each rank bracket?
I.e. what is the primary skill that someone in emerald should learn to rank to diamond. Or iron to bronze etc etc?

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@BattleNonSense I'd imagine it's a mix of both.
Frostbite is likely impacting their pipeline side costs in ways.
And while maybe they have spun out a team for BF7 - BF6 landed big and execs follow the money. There's no way they wouldn't try double down on it with capacity.

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@chhopsky Making the career choice to be a producer in game Dev has got to be one of the most insane but also rewarding, but did I mention questionable, life choices I've made so far. (I love it but also???)

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

This is the greatest damn news oh my god.

Apple makes such quality stuff TV wise, and Sanderson getting creative control.

Dream combo

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

Apple has landed the rights to turn ‘MISTBORN’ into a film franchise & ‘THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE’ into a TV series.

Brandon Sanderson will write, produce and consult on all projects.

(Source: https://t.co/Ka6RvxmT3S)

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@SgtDangerCow It's an interesting question; with BF6 I imagine part of the issue is the breadth they now have to cater to. RedSec/ portal/ battlepass & new season. But then 2042 shouldn't have had that issue with just seasons.

So then I have to wonder about pipeline/ production issues

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@SgtDangerCow Very true! What I mean is more about how 2042 catered to sandbox moments that weren't really in Battlefield's prior DNA as they were centered on the operator identities.

For me, I'd rather lesser sandbox but the DNA is BF than the reverse.

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@BattleNonSense Absolutely, and I'm sure that's the structure they have right? Producers are just executors of that vision below those directors I assume. As those directors have to have a team to carry their vision downwards and producers are often responsible for a unit/ team.

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@BattleNonSense If you tried to have one person be the grand and sole vision holder overseeing what 4 or 5 studios that now makes up battlefield studios? It would absolutely fail. You're creating a titanic artificial bottle neck. How would you ever get anything approved across that scale

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@BattleNonSense Those two things aren't mutually exclusive. The game should have a central vision absolutely defined by a core vision holder(s). But at the scale of game we are talking about they need to disseminate it. If Dice uses producers - others use Designers, product etc.

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@SgtDangerCow Sure yeah, the mechanics have to feel native and authentic to your game world. So for BF they must feel grounded. The player fantasy for BF is rooted in that, so the implementation/depth of mechanics/ skill ceilings should too.

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@BattleNonSense @Battlefield List of squad members on deploy!
I feel the revive indicator is hard to miss generally, so make x2 for mates in particular.
In pre match lobby, if you have e.g. multiple recons - have the UI suggest balancing the squad out?
Highlight squad placed ammo/ cover etc more clearly

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@SgtDangerCow I enjoyed the flexibility it provided if you were forward thinking, and I don't generally feel it created a massive problem balance wise as I doubt the majority of players will have made use of it to its optimal point.

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@locust9 You think the character design is just placeholder stuff maybe? Idk what point they would usually lock that sorta stuff but it could be quite a bit further down the line I'd guess?
Movement looks like it has a weird momentum to it at times if that's the right way to put it

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@GloriousKev @Cromwelp @Arsene48 Sure yeah I hear ya, and I think that's all entirely fair. As a massive effect fan I was hoping for something cool from Bioware after Andromeda. But was right there with you on the disappointment.

Also agree on performative check box stuff is grim, give it meaning

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@GloriousKev @Cromwelp @Arsene48 And there's trans characters in Cyberpunk and The last of us 2. Brilliant stories and games.
The presence of something you're not interested in doesn't make it activism.

You have reasonable critiques here dude, leave out the culture war rubbish

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@GloriousKev @Cromwelp @Arsene48 Those are valid critiques to make of directional choices and such, but just labelling em social activism is lazy and will switch people off from your point.

If I had to guess, publisher pushing for a more new player/ 'safe' style is far more to likely than 'social activists'

[Christian Banks @csjb2013]

@GloriousKev @Cromwelp @Arsene48 Yeah nah that ain't the problem dude. It's about good story telling, you can tell great stories and touch on sensitive subjects. If you think Veilguard was badly written then sure, but the presence of sensitive subjects doesn't inherently make it bad. Many games have done it well