BioWare Loses Another Key Player

[Somebloke]

...
OT: Yeah, we've certainly seen this kind of thing with EA before. And we've seen where it lead, too. Time and again. Doesn't necessarily mean Bioware is gonna eat its gun anytime soon, but hey. One can never now.

'

It's not so much a matter of a sudden bullet, as it is like the way some insects devour their prey by injecting it with digestive juices and then suckling the resulting soup, before tossing the remaining empty shell to the side, maybe after briefly wearing it as a novelty hat first.

 

[crazyrabbits]

Honestly after ME3, I can't wait to see Bioware die. I want it gutted and the IP sold off then I want EA to collapse. Fuck them.

I'd normally say 'that's too harsh', but given EA's track record, and given what we're seeing happen (history repeating itself), maybe a quick bullet to the head is better than a drawn-out suffering.

 

[Quazimofo]

Calling it now. Dragon Age 3 will be Biowares last game.

sadly, i agree. with so much of the staff that made games we all loved gone (are any even left?) i can imagine dragon age 3 will be their last big game, and i hope to god they knock it out of the park, but i doubt it.
and even if they do, after the end of the mass effect trilogy, tor being somewhere in-between success and flop (you didn't flop if you start with 2 million subscribers who played day one. that's 30 million dollars at LEAST, plus the cost of the game itself (which was how much? 30$? 40$?) which means another nearly hundred million dollars. thats out of the gate success, but i digress)

after all that, even if DA3 does well, i want them to die. die so that your work does not go to be perverted, so that you end on a note worthy of respect, rather than a slow, whimpering death, years after abandonment by those who once loved you. and i know thats not how business works, you dont end right after success, though the employees could rally together and quit, which would have everyone agree that, effectively, effectively yeah, bioware is gone.

but that is all an ideal world. before something like that can happen, 2 publishing giants must be toppled, burnt, and broken into so many pieces that are each disassembled on a molecular level, so that they have no hope of restoring what once was of their tyranny.

kinda sad really. i used to be one of the ones who hoped that bioware could continue and make good stuff for years to come. that the mass effect universe might go and become something beautiful and diverse and multi-media, a bit like starwars. but yeah, thats probably not going to happen. not now.

 

[Quazimofo]

Honestly after ME3, I can't wait to see Bioware die. I want it gutted and the IP sold off then I want EA to collapse. Fuck them.

ah yes, forgot that tidbit. i could care less about ea's existence, if only they didn't own so many damn IPs that i like.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

So that's now 2 people who have joined Bethesda right after leaving BioWare? Interesting...but at the same time, i like it. Bethesda at least attempts to make quality RPGs. I think, with Skyrim, they spent too much time crafting an excellent world, rather than fleshing out a proper RPG experience, but it's still better than how EA/BioWare turned Mass Effect into a shooting gallery. Interested to see where this all goes, or if it will make a difference at all.

captcha: caesar salad
HAIL CAESAR!

I think if Bethesda and Bioware co developed an Elder Scrolls RPG it would be the greatest game.

Imagine Bethesda lore and map design with Bioware character design and polish. I want it NAOW!

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

I called it when EA bought Bioware. I knew they would ruin them.

 

[DrunkenMonkey]

I don't know... it's a bit sad, but is it too early to say that Bioware is getting hollowed out, and is going to become a shell of its former self? I just don't know... I feel bad for some reason, when dedicated game designers quit/forced out of their jobs because reception for their work wasn't 100 percent positive just bugs the hell out of me.

 

[antipunt]

There is no way all these departures are going to look good to the shareholders.

No... NO!
You replaced the cat!
Nooooooooooo!
WHY!?

OT: Looks like ToRtanic is becoming Bioware-tanic... or something like that.

Yeah, I done changed it. Made a thread regarding it in OT as well XP

Dam that's Fappy?! I couldn't even recognize him!

In another news: E A SPORTS

ITS IN THE GAME

 

[bl4ckh4wk64]

There is no way all these departures are going to look good to the shareholders.

Wait... dafuq happened to your avatar?

OT: I'm not sure how I feel about this, I mean it's going to definitely hurt Bioware, but it might just be what they need to break free from EA. Maybe it's EA execs blaming Bioware's veterans for listening to them and making a game set to EA standards, and then having that game completely flop and all the Bioware employees are leaving. Or maybe the talented people still at Bioware will all leave and create their own studio as far away from EA as possible.

I swear to God, if EA kills out Bioware like they did with Pandemic studios...

 

[Tiger Sora]

Is there a sinking ship and the bioware employees are likes rats?

I like to think of this as a special case. Keep thinking it as a ship, but more like this.

Washed up, beached, unable to slip into the depths to be lost forever. It's broken and battered for all to see, and it can not die. (EA slaver will not let the waves take it).

It's a tragic sight isn't it?

 

[Woodsey]

Daniel Erickson, the lead designer and creative director on Star Wars: The Old Republic, has left BioWare.

And nothing of value was lost.

He was the lead writer, not entirely sure why he's been given two titles but not his actual, most obvious one.

 

[IronMit]

Honestly after ME3, I can't wait to see Bioware die. I want it gutted and the IP sold off then I want EA to collapse. Fuck them.

I'd normally say 'that's too harsh', but given EA's track record, and given what we're seeing happen (history repeating itself), maybe a quick bullet to the head is better than a drawn-out suffering.

And when that happens random articles will pop-up that will have the audacity to blame the fans and not the pisspoor product.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Its sad, the reaction on this thread. And kind of boneheadedly hypocritical. People who are calling/wanting Bioware to die are most likely to have bitched at EA for closing down their favourite studios.

I now see how the EA hate machine works.

 

[IronMit]

Its sad, the reaction on this thread. And kind of boneheadedly hypocritical. People who are calling/wanting Bioware to die are most likely to have bitched at EA for closing down their favourite studios.

I now see how the EA hate machine works.

rather they 'die' then watch them rape a much loved franchise. That's how it works.

Oh you bought into the 'people just love hating us because we are so awesome' EA statement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfMkvnyLYU4&feature=related

 

[Saulkar]

There is no way all these departures are going to look good to the shareholders.

No... NO!
You replaced the cat!
Nooooooooooo!
WHY!?

OT: Looks like ToRtanic is becoming Bioware-tanic... or something like that.

Yeah, I done changed it. Made a thread regarding it in OT as well XP

Oh sweet Jesus! Now you name supplements your erotic avatar.

OT Myself: I am really not surprised and merely expect this to be the tip of the iceberg.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Its sad, the reaction on this thread. And kind of boneheadedly hypocritical. People who are calling/wanting Bioware to die are most likely to have bitched at EA for closing down their favourite studios.

I now see how the EA hate machine works.

rather they 'die' then watch them rape a much loved franchise. That's how it works.

Oh you bought into the 'people just love hating us because we are so awesome' EA statement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfMkvnyLYU4&feature=related

Never said EA was awesome, just think that the hate they get is kind of sad. Or at least the way people hate on EA. It looks childish the way people take digs at EA every chance they get, yet when other companies pull the same thing (sometimes more often) EA is still the only company besides Activision that can do any wrong.

 

[-Dragmire-]

To be honest, I'm more interested to see Dragon Age III now than I was before. I'm curious if that was the last straw for these people.

 

[Knight Templar]

So he's not an old hand from Bioware or really from Bioware at all, but one of the people EA brought in, presumably to work on TOR?
Well if that is the case, as it seems to be, I'm not surprised he's moving on.

 

[Burst6]

Never said EA was awesome, just think that the hate they get is kind of sad. Or at least the way people hate on EA. It looks childish the way people take digs at EA every chance they get, yet when other companies pull the same thing (sometimes more often) EA is still the only company besides Activision that can do any wrong.

It's because other companies are far easier to trust. We haven't seen say CD project red's or bethesdas brutal history of killing devs and it can be inferred from their more unique and quality games that they care to some degree about game making and not 100% about making money. If they do something wrong people think that it's an honest mistake, or they know what they're doing.

EA on the other hand has been pretty much cartoonishly evil for years. When they do something wrong it's hard not to think that they're trying to increase profit at the cost of game quality.

Also you missed out another company. Capcom is pretty easily hateable too.

 

[shrekfan246]

I'm betting DICE is next.

Fun fact, considering that a sequel for Mirror's Edge is basically on ice right now (EA "confirmed" it at E3 2011, but there hasn't been any information about it in any form except that it might use the Frostbite 2 Engine), DICE is really only being sustained by Battlefield right now. But, you also have to consider Visceral Games, who made Dante's Inferno and are on their current last leg with Dead Space, because EA is looking like they'll axe the entire franchise if the third one doesn't sell more copies than the first two combined.

OT: Well, that sucks. It seems all of the memes about EA killing Bioware are rapidly becoming more and more relevant (as if anyone except Bioware themselves were really questioning the validity of them).