Nexon's issues are a multi-disciplinary topic. It's much more than simply having poor business practices, shoddy code, poor Customer Relations Management or ill-trained/ill-equipped personnel (BUT THEY SURE DON'T HELP).
Based on some Glassdoor reviews, which I take with a grain of salt and advise others do as well, they are having management problems, specifically with what direction they wish to go for projects. It also sounds like there are communication problems, based on those same reviews and a quick perusal of their open jobs either requiring or highlighting Korean fluency.
Now, this next segment will touch on shoddy code, but instead of the nitty-gritty of it (ie. we go line-by-line of their programming), I'd like to highlight the idea that the existence and proliferation of bugs are likely a symptom of poor documentation and little-to-no standardization of code. Add in the fact that there have been scores of programmers working on the game across the span more than 12 years, each with their own quirks in how they write code, and you have the perfect recipe for exponential potential bugs.
Lastly, there's how and what they code for. Based on the last 5 years or content from my personal perspective, they have been basing content creation on the idea of accretion, a content development strategy that doesn't focus on how old and new additions interlock, but instead focuses on making previous content obsolete (this winds up making power creep even worse than a game that doesn't use accretion). This strategy winds up easier and cheaper compared to careful balancing of pre-existing systems. Think of this strategy like E. Honda's Thousand Hand-spam. Cheap, effective (to a point), and non-taxing to the user. Problem is, they have reached that point where effectiveness is beginning to drop off.
I would suggest to Nexon that they take the time to: 1. Get on the stick of what their vision going forward is. Before they can proceed to the next steps I suggest, they need to figure out where they are going. 2. Make hires and fires/offer training based on new (or at least solidified) vision. Helps to cut back on old issues, be it organizational gridlock, communication failures, or poor programming practices. 3. Consider SCRUM. Largely dependent on vision and personnel. SCRUM, in a nutshell, is an agile and iterative software development framework that focuses on gradual, yet usable/readily demonstrable releases of incoming content.
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Based on some Glassdoor reviews, which I take with a grain of salt and advise others do as well, they are having management problems, specifically with what direction they wish to go for projects. It also sounds like there are communication problems, based on those same reviews and a quick perusal of their open jobs either requiring or highlighting Korean fluency.
Now, this next segment will touch on shoddy code, but instead of the nitty-gritty of it (ie. we go line-by-line of their programming), I'd like to highlight the idea that the existence and proliferation of bugs are likely a symptom of poor documentation and little-to-no standardization of code. Add in the fact that there have been scores of programmers working on the game across the span more than 12 years, each with their own quirks in how they write code, and you have the perfect recipe for exponential potential bugs.
Lastly, there's how and what they code for. Based on the last 5 years or content from my personal perspective, they have been basing content creation on the idea of accretion, a content development strategy that doesn't focus on how old and new additions interlock, but instead focuses on making previous content obsolete (this winds up making power creep even worse than a game that doesn't use accretion). This strategy winds up easier and cheaper compared to careful balancing of pre-existing systems. Think of this strategy like E. Honda's Thousand Hand-spam. Cheap, effective (to a point), and non-taxing to the user. Problem is, they have reached that point where effectiveness is beginning to drop off.
I would suggest to Nexon that they take the time to:
1. Get on the stick of what their vision going forward is.
Before they can proceed to the next steps I suggest, they need to figure out where they are going.
2. Make hires and fires/offer training based on new (or at least solidified) vision.
Helps to cut back on old issues, be it organizational gridlock, communication failures, or poor programming practices.
3. Consider SCRUM.
Largely dependent on vision and personnel. SCRUM, in a nutshell, is an agile and iterative software development framework that focuses on gradual, yet usable/readily demonstrable releases of incoming content.