BioWare "Surprised" by Mainstream Success of Dragon Age
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Actually I think the success was because RPGS have always been a *BIG* Niche market, something people in their constant search for tapping the mainstream market tend to forget. Dragon Age succeeded because it was more or less a real RPG with tons of numbers, customization, and really no "twitch" in the combat at all. This brought in the RPG fans who have always been a market force, who had been waiting for a game like this for a looong time now given the way RPGs have been turning into glorified action games with some customizable components which wind up irritating both crowds. Dragon Age had many flaws, but it was an attempt to do a straight RPG with a decent budget.
The success of Dragon Age is also noteworthy because I think that the RPG niche market isn't diluted because there isn't much in the way of competion anymore. It's not like when you had a bunch of RPGs coming out every month, and had big franchises like Might And Magic, Wizardry, and Ultima all competing for the same basic audience along with all the other lesser productions. This means Bioware pretty much got the entire market for their product, or at least a good portion of it that wasn't paranoid due to all the disappointments. In comparison tons of people are releasing action-RPG hybrids and "compromises" and such which means that the market for those games is getting split up every which way as people with limited budgets go to specific products.
I also suspect that Dragon Age: Origins helped Mass Effect 2 quite a bit in sales because it got a lot of real RPG players to buy it who might otherwise have skipped it, hoping it would be like DA:O. I also think that while ME2 was a success this is one of the reasons why it's gotten sume very negative responses from some people because it was just barely could even claim to be a hybrid, never mind a full bodied RPG.
Such are my thoughts.
The RPG Niche Market can support a number of developers, but can be saturated (it has happened before) right now it's rife for exploitation.
The success of Dragon Age is also noteworthy because I think that the RPG niche market isn't diluted because there isn't much in the way of competion anymore. It's not like when you had a bunch of RPGs coming out every month, and had big franchises like Might And Magic, Wizardry, and Ultima all competing for the same basic audience along with all the other lesser productions. This means Bioware pretty much got the entire market for their product, or at least a good portion of it that wasn't paranoid due to all the disappointments. In comparison tons of people are releasing action-RPG hybrids and "compromises" and such which means that the market for those games is getting split up every which way as people with limited budgets go to specific products.
I also suspect that Dragon Age: Origins helped Mass Effect 2 quite a bit in sales because it got a lot of real RPG players to buy it who might otherwise have skipped it, hoping it would be like DA:O. I also think that while ME2 was a success this is one of the reasons why it's gotten sume very negative responses from some people because it was just barely could even claim to be a hybrid, never mind a full bodied RPG.
Such are my thoughts.
The RPG Niche Market can support a number of developers, but can be saturated (it has happened before) right now it's rife for exploitation.
Oh god, they want to move another perfectly good series in a MMO? Isn't KoTOR enough? Must you sacrifice more?
The only consolation is that MMOs compete heavily with each other, meaning there probably simply isn't enough markets for a Dragon Age one.
I don't get their fascination with the genre anway: Bioware's games are deeply solitary ones, focusing on guiding your personal characters through a story-rich experience. It makes no sense to me that they would want to turn games like that into MMOs.
The only consolation is that MMOs compete heavily with each other, meaning there probably simply isn't enough markets for a Dragon Age one.
I don't get their fascination with the genre anway: Bioware's games are deeply solitary ones, focusing on guiding your personal characters through a story-rich experience. It makes no sense to me that they would want to turn games like that into MMOs.
Well, good for them. I've never been blown away by Bioware games, but they're certainly not bad. I just don't understand why nearly every developer seems to think the logical next step for an IP is to make an MMO out of it. As has been seen before quite frequently, the MMO formula is not a recipe for instant success. In fact, it's just as likely to send the series crashing and burning, and I'm afraid that's what'll happen here. Let's face it: a Dragon Age MMO would look like every other generic fantasy MMO on the market right now, and do very little to attract new customers. If Bioware do decide to do an MMO, I hope they try something drastically different from the norm.
I disagree. I think that the success of DAO resides in the structure of the game. Every big quest rewards you really well, the NPCs are deep and interesting, the leveling mechanic is simple enough that anyone with an elementary knowledge of RPGs can make a decent character, but complete enough so that someone who knows their shit will make a killing machine. There are hundreds of items and they almost never feel like generic copy+paste of other items, of just simple upgrades of the weapon you have. The map allows you to play for dozens of hours in sidequests, but you can go back to the main storyline anytime you want to.
Everything just fits beautifully, and even though the game has its faults, the good parts are so well done that I keep going back to it even though I've finished the game with three characters.
Oh and it's a good thing that the hard mode is pretty god damn hard. That's what hard mode is supposed to be, the last obstacle after you've had your share of Normal.
If I had to call it something, I'd call it "solid".
Everything just fits beautifully, and even though the game has its faults, the good parts are so well done that I keep going back to it even though I've finished the game with three characters.
Oh and it's a good thing that the hard mode is pretty god damn hard. That's what hard mode is supposed to be, the last obstacle after you've had your share of Normal.
If I had to call it something, I'd call it "solid".
The conversations and characters were amazing, but I don't think it'd do well for a MMO.
Like a poster above stated, it'd be a little too much like WoW, nevermind the fact it probably wouldn't be able to keep its quirky humor intact with the lack of AI dogging after you.
Like a poster above stated, it'd be a little too much like WoW, nevermind the fact it probably wouldn't be able to keep its quirky humor intact with the lack of AI dogging after you.
translating the game into the MMOG genre.
Wouldn't that just be WoW, except with the brightness setting turned down? Or Warhammer Online? Or Age of Conan? Or Lord of the Rings Online? Or that D&D MMO? Or any of those attempted fantasy MMOs that start out strong but quickly have to shut down 90% of their servers because people try it and realise that it's nothing new?
Personally, I didn't like Dragon Age that much. It was an incredibly solid, well-polished RPG, but not much more than that. I suppose I did enjoy it for quite a while, but there just wasn't enough imagination or uniqueness to keep me playing for the dozens of hours required to see it all the way through.
Wouldn't that just be WoW, except with the brightness setting turned down? Or Warhammer Online? Or Age of Conan? Or Lord of the Rings Online? Or that D&D MMO? Or any of those attempted fantasy MMOs that start out strong but quickly have to shut down 90% of their servers because people try it and realise that it's nothing new?
Personally, I didn't like Dragon Age that much. It was an incredibly solid, well-polished RPG, but not much more than that. I suppose I did enjoy it for quite a while, but there just wasn't enough imagination or uniqueness to keep me playing for the dozens of hours required to see it all the way through.
I'll be honest. I only bought Dragon Age because it was made by Bioware. And I was pleasantly surprised. It was quite an enjoyable romp, and I need to replay it while not rushing through the story.
Besides, can anyone sit here and say that all the characters were one-dimensional? No. They were all, if you took the time to get to know them, quite well-developed. Or stared at Morrigan to declare her well-developed.
Besides, can anyone sit here and say that all the characters were one-dimensional? No. They were all, if you took the time to get to know them, quite well-developed. Or stared at Morrigan to declare her well-developed.
I'd much rather have Dragon Age 2 (minus the loot stash bum rape they performed) then a Dragon Age MMO, personally.
I thought all of Bioware's games sold very well? This is a surprise? Ah well good for them.
Can't wait for the expansion.
Can't wait for the expansion.
I'd be willing to bet you're going to get your wish.Mihz00 said:
It's easy to say "One day we'd like to maneuver this successful single player game into a giant MMORPG that gets us 15 bucks a month from everyone who plays it". But then you look at how many soldiers have fallen in the war fields where WoW reigns supreme and you realize that making just a few hundred million dollars by putting a second game on steam is good enough.
That's very good news, if Origins sold well it makes future Dragon Age games much more likely.
My brother can sympathize with you on that.Baby Tea said:
This is pleasantly surprising, I always thought that the Mass Effect series had more mainstream appeal. It'll be interesting to see how many copies Mass Effect 2 sold, although DA:O has the advantage of also being on PS3.
Oh Bioware, you modest hunks. It was a good game, but one sixty hour playthrough is enough for me.
I just hope they realize that a huge reason why the game is so popular is the relationships you have with the NPCs and the ways your choices change things. The game play good but that alone doesn't feel like enough, especially something you have to pay for every month.
What I'm trying to say is I wanna be able to bang a npc, then have the rest of my group tease me about it. You can't really do that so far with a mmorpg.
What I'm trying to say is I wanna be able to bang a npc, then have the rest of my group tease me about it. You can't really do that so far with a mmorpg.
I agree. I doubt they will, though. I get the impression that they're just saying it simply because they can.Axeli said:
Not every game needs to be turned into an MMO. No one wants to pay $15 a month for a game the way it is, let alone have to do that for every game that developers want to turn into an MMO. Whatever happened to just making a game like "Diablo II" where a few friends could join, you could be different classes, jobs, w/e & just have fun w/o draining your wallet dry?