Is Bioware the biggest tragedy of gaming history?

[Draahl]

Ive seen worse, alot worse. Mass Effect 3 was an impressive game, except that end which angered alot of people me included. SWTOR was really fun at first, but after we started raiding we realized they have gotten way too much water over their heads. Going from not even having a multiplayer game to making an MMO is not a wise step in development in my experience.

BioWare is the result of modern views on how games should be released, fast, as low cost as possible with as much hype as possible. This is a dangerous development that very few companys strife against, Carbine is one company who dont believe in that philosophy which you can see how they handle the community and their upcoming MMO Wildstar.

[Cakka]

Fun fact: PC Gamer identified "Incomplete Games" as the most negative trend in gaming in 1996. Front and center in that article was Daggerfall, which was impossible to finish out of the box.

This is also funny because you often see people claiming buggy games is somehow a new thing, and how things used to be so much better back then! As someone who started gaming in the 90s I remember there being just as many buggy games as there are now, and with the added benefit of many people not actually not having internet connection back then so getting patches was lot more difficult. I myself had to always go to a friends house to dl patches with his awesome 56k bit modem...

[Deleted]

Last time i checked bioware was doing well, developing at least two potential blockbusters...

Now let's all be silent about SWTOR and move on.

[Wilian]

Last time i checked bioware was doing well, developing at least two potential blockbusters...

Now let's all be silent about SWTOR and move on.

Bioware was so fine before DA2 that EA promoted it to brand name, many studios were renamed Bioware X, Bioware Y and so forth in a glorious blaze. After DA2 and SWTOR, all these renamed back to their original names in silence because Bioware wasn't doing so well, and the "brand name" had actually become harmful.

[dashflash890]

Blizzard is worse.

[Vankrys]

Blizzard is worse.

blizzard is the nintendo of the PC

They only have 3 IP that they exploit to the max, making sequels and spin off. (like nintendo with mario, zelda, megaman)
There game generally focus more on gameplay (like nintendo) than technical prowess. Indeed, they often lower the technical quality (like all nintendo console since the n64) to allow a broader audience with average computer. The gameplay in their game however is usually given a lot of thought (like mario) . whether it's for their RTS, their hack and slash or their MMO, the gameplay is often very responsive, deep and allow creativity (even gimmicky for nintendo) from player.

The last original IP from blizzard is starcraft in 1998. i consider wow a spin of of warcraft rts, not a new ip.

[Deleted]

Bioware was so fine before DA2 that EA promoted it to brand name, many studios were renamed Bioware X, Bioware Y and so forth in a glorious blaze. After DA2 and SWTOR, all these renamed back to their original names in silence because Bioware wasn't doing so well, and the "brand name" had actually become harmful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMcVZQI6ybw Anyone remember this gem?

Personally I've given up on Bioware making good RPG's a while ago. Honestly I gave up on DA3 because of the first press release they did when they announced it. They talked about a few features that the game will have over dragon age 2, and all of them were things that were in Origins, but they took out for DA2 because they weren't "you press a button, something awesome has to happen" quality. Such as equiping your companions with all sorts of gear you find.

Also wow, was interested if DA2 actually managed to sell more than origins or not and found this graph which compares DA:O and DA2 sales in North America.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/foru...on-Age-2-Sales

Basically, DA:O sold about 1 million more copies than DA2. Atleast in NA.

Pretty funny considering the link which was posted in that thread saying:
"Despite changes that will alienate fans of the first game, EA and BioWare will see significantly greater sales success with Dragon Age 2 at both the six and twelve month intervals as projected by HULIQ News."

[Vasti]

Not all titles, but the major flafship titles from Nintendo are still on a no-review needed basis for me.
Zelda, metroid, super smash bros, mario kart especially. (for others the major mario title can be added to that list)
Even ones I didn't like initially (because of the graphical style) are worth their money....sure they aren't all the best games out there, but you can be 100% sure you will get your money's worth.

note: that I am only talking about their flagship titles, not nintendoland, game & wario, mario party or any of that.

So I still have hope in the game industry....just wish other genre's/franchises had such consistency


p.s. before you go there....yes I think Other M was money well spent...it was not the best metroid, but worth the money I spent on it!

[rasako]

don't count bioware out yet. with dragon age 3 announced and we know they are working on mass effect 4 and a new star wars title (EA said 3 star wars games were being made from bioware, dice and visceral)

so that's 3 AAA titles on the horizon from bioware.
Plus SWTOR is still going, it may not have been the success everyone hoped for but it still alive and have millions of players (not all paying).

Quality wise however, they have to prove they can still be the top RPG company. 3 years ago, after releasing mass effect (2008), dragon age origins (2009) and mass effect 2 (2010), they were considered by many as the top story based action-RPG company in the world, and at very least in the top 3 by everyone.

a couple of game later, they now need a truly spectacular hit, a awe inspiring dragon age 3 to regain that title. I'm optimistic, they will do it.

I doubt swtor has millions of players since they only ever broke 1 million subs before they went F2P and lost more subscriptions faster than any mmo in history

[Deleted]

blizzard is the nintendo of the PC

They only have 3 IP that they exploit to the max, making sequels and spin off. (like nintendo with mario, zelda, megaman)
There game generally focus more on gameplay (like nintendo) than technical prowess. Indeed, they often lower the technical quality (like all nintendo console since the n64) to allow a broader audience with average computer. The gameplay in their game however is usually given a lot of thought (like mario) . whether it's for their RTS, their hack and slash or their MMO, the gameplay is often very responsive, deep and allow creativity (even gimmicky for nintendo) from player.

The last original IP from blizzard is starcraft in 1998. i consider wow a spin of of warcraft rts, not a new ip.

Most ridiculous comparison ive seen in a long long time.. I mean megaman?!?!

[Vankrys]

Most ridiculous comparison ive seen in a long long time.. I mean megaman?!?!

i meant metroid, i wrote megaman for reason i ignore. I guess that 's what you'd call a lapsus, don't focus too much on that.

[Deleted]

My vote would have to go with the Rare crowd - I'm still holding out for KI3.

Also, losing SNK to Playmore was a bummer, too.

isnt Killer Instinct confirmed for one of the new consoles.

[Deleted]

isnt Killer Instinct confirmed for one of the new consoles.

Yea, it's gonna be a F2P launch title on the Xbone. But it's being developed by a company who has made nothing but movie tie-in shovelware crap. Such as Battleship. If you wanna see how horrible Battleship is, here, enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7uwNNLrtJk

[MisterMxyzptlk]

anything being bought by EA is bad
but the loss of Rare... we pretty much lost the banjo kazooie style of adventure with them, and dont say nuts and bolts cause that sucked bad

[Deleted]

Yea, it's gonna be a F2P launch title on the Xbone. But it's being developed by a company who has made nothing but movie tie-in shovelware crap. Such as Battleship. If you wanna see how horrible Battleship is, here, enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7uwNNLrtJk

i am familiar with the battleship game.

However, i fail to see how you could fuck up a fighter that isnt in the genre of Blazblue/Guilty Gear.

[Marxman]

All we have is Bethesda... and Blizzard.

Sometimes I think I'm the only person on Earth who finds Bethesda games completely without redeemable qualities. Big, bland, boring worlds with dumb bland characters and boring bland combat. No thank you.

[Deleted]

Sometimes I think I'm the only person on Earth who finds Bethesda games completely without redeemable qualities. Big, bland, boring worlds with dumb bland characters and boring bland combat. No thank you.

Nah, there are plenty more game hipsters like you around.
Doesnt mean you're right though.


Please don't insult other users. --Sj

[namelessone]

Pay Gaming is dying slowly. So many Free to play games are taking away from console and PC companys.

This certainly has nothing to do with rampant piracy.

[Darkhallows]

No. There is no greater tragedy than what happened to Rareware. Nothing will ever top that.

[Deleted]

i am familiar with the battleship game.

However, i fail to see how you could fuck up a fighter that isnt in the genre of Blazblue/Guilty Gear.

We'll have to see, they just don't have a great resume to say the least.

Also hah, just rewatched Angry Joe's review of Battleship for a god laugh and forgot they even released it on the same day as Diablo 3 and Max Payne 3 at 60 dollars. But I guess it wasn't meant for gamers who'd know it would be crap.