No Right Answer: Ur Right Answer Contest Winning Video

Baldr

The Noble
Jan 6, 2010
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Both companies only have two games I love, Kotor1 and Jade Empire from Bioware and Oblivion and Skyrim from Bethesda. Since by my opinion Bioware hasn't made a good game I love since 2005, my vote goes to Bethesda.
 

TheAwesome

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Apr 14, 2009
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Well, as I entered the contest too, I don't know if I can form an unbiased opinion about the debate. But good on them for winning.

As for the topic, I'm gonna have to go with Bethesda. Bioware is great at building universes. You can't deny that the Mass Effect universe is amazing and the world of Baldur's Gate was rich with history. But that's sort of my problem with them. My first few hours with Mass Effect 2 (oh the pain of owning only a PS3) was spent reading a codex, trying to get up to speed with the lore they had created. I never even finished Dragon Age because the lore never grabbed my attention. Other than a plotline that tied directly to my character's history, I just didn't care.

Bethesda wins simply for FallOut New Vegas. Never have I felt so powerful in a video game. Not that the courier is a god or anything, but EVERYTHING you do has some weight on the world as a whole. When I finally beat the game and had all the characters narrate what had happened after the battle at Hoover Dam, I got chills. Such a phenomenal game.
 

SycoMantis91

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Dec 21, 2011
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Since Bioware games are genuinely fun, I'll go with Bioware. Skyrim is the only fun I've ever had with a Bathesda game. Morrowind was decent, Oblivion was the most boring experience of my life, and I really like Skyrim, but I have to be in the mood for it. I have to be willing to force the game to engage me as opposed to letting it. Also, Fallout 3 was pretty bland for the most part. The fights were strategic (by shooter standards) and the character interaction had its moments, but otherwise it was just not all that fun. And really, what is Bathesda known for a besides a bunch of open terrain games, Skyrim (which is the same but prettier and with some effort put into the rest of it), and an Oblivion clone within a world they didn't have to come up with themselves.

And let's look at Bioware. Shattered Steel, the first great mech game. Baldur's Gate, a fucking icon of RPG games. Neverwinter Nights, see Baldur's Gate. Mass Effect, the greatest Sci-Fi epic since Star Wars, maybe Dune. Dragon Age: Origins, another epic tale, except medieval this time. Dragon Age II, well that's besides the point! Bioware creates great, engrossing stories, memorable characters, some of the best dialog in gaming, and just plain grand tales in every aspect. Bathesda dumps you in the same repeating grassland and says "run stiffly around"

For the record, I gave Fallout 3 and Oblivion 20 hours of my time each. If a game can't impress me in that time, it either never will, or it's not worth it when it does.

And I forgot to mention KOTOR. Now I just feel stupid. Not that it hurts my argument in any way, but still... EFFING KOTOR
 

Imp_Emissary

Mages Rule, and Dragons Fly!
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May 2, 2011
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jboking said:
I'm a bit torn on this one. My biggest issue with Bethesda, aside from bugs, is that the writing tends to feel uninspired and the dialogue forced/faked. The one exception to this rule was New Vegas, but New Vegas wasn't written by Bethesda, it was written by Obsidian. Bioware writing isn't the best, and it is often cliche(as if Bethesda's writing isn't), but I still find it better than Bethesda. However, gameplaywise, I would almost always side with Bethesda. The freedom is what gets me every time. I just don't feel Bioware has anything even comparable to the levels of freedom you feel in a Bethesda title.

As I said, I'm torn.
I really have to agree with you on this one friend.

BioWare almost always does game stories better than anyone, but its actual gameplay compared to Bethesda? No contest, Bethesda wins in that regard.

This is kind of like picking between pirates and ninja. Personally, I would say go with pirate-ninja, or ninja-pirates. (combine them)

But that isn't really a choice so I will have to go with Bethesda. While BioWare does an unbelievable job at getting me into the stories, getting me to spend dozens of hours in their worlds, I can get myself almost as immersed in Fallout or Skyrim, and not get bored playing for hundreds of hours.

Still. Best case we could get would be making BioWare and Bethesda have that love child.

Captcha: him with her

Hmmm....Who would be the dad, and who would be the mom?
 

JaceArveduin

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Mar 14, 2011
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Firefilm said:
Aureliano said:
Interesting question, but mechanically this didn't feel much like a debate. Rather we got two guys who are firmly entrenched in their opinions, neither of whom making any ground with the other. If you care about story, your choices making any impact in that story whatsoever or deep character arcs you go with Bioware. If you want to be able to go off the rails, do whatever you want and roleplay whatever you want in a pretty sandbox but don't care so much about the story then you go with Bethesda.

Ultimately I think this all points to how necessary Dan (or whoever they have as the referee of the week) is to the NRA debates as well as the idea of actually trying to undermine each other's points for the sake of some overall goal.
Yay, I am necessary!
s
Well of course you're necessary! You've got to have at least one sexy bastard to make a show work :p
 

Yeager942

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Oct 31, 2008
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I enjoyed this episode. It's pretty much the core of what No Right Answer is about. Two guys, clearly friends, arguing over something nerdy.

I only wish I could have made one for my own. I would've done a threeway debate with my brother and sister as we are triplets. Fun, but fucking finals got in the way.

OT: Despite DA2 and ME3, I'll have to go with Bioware. Bethesda is too unstructured for me, and its stories have never really appealed to me.
 

Firefilm

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May 27, 2011
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JaceArveduin said:
Firefilm said:
Aureliano said:
Interesting question, but mechanically this didn't feel much like a debate. Rather we got two guys who are firmly entrenched in their opinions, neither of whom making any ground with the other. If you care about story, your choices making any impact in that story whatsoever or deep character arcs you go with Bioware. If you want to be able to go off the rails, do whatever you want and roleplay whatever you want in a pretty sandbox but don't care so much about the story then you go with Bethesda.

Ultimately I think this all points to how necessary Dan (or whoever they have as the referee of the week) is to the NRA debates as well as the idea of actually trying to undermine each other's points for the sake of some overall goal.
Yay, I am necessary!
s
Well of course you're necessary! You've got to have at least one sexy bastard to make a show work :p
Oh my gosh you totally won the secret contest of today, which was complement Dan! Yay for you!
 

JaceArveduin

New member
Mar 14, 2011
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Firefilm said:
JaceArveduin said:
Firefilm said:
Aureliano said:
Interesting question, but mechanically this didn't feel much like a debate. Rather we got two guys who are firmly entrenched in their opinions, neither of whom making any ground with the other. If you care about story, your choices making any impact in that story whatsoever or deep character arcs you go with Bioware. If you want to be able to go off the rails, do whatever you want and roleplay whatever you want in a pretty sandbox but don't care so much about the story then you go with Bethesda.

Ultimately I think this all points to how necessary Dan (or whoever they have as the referee of the week) is to the NRA debates as well as the idea of actually trying to undermine each other's points for the sake of some overall goal.
Yay, I am necessary!
s
Well of course you're necessary! You've got to have at least one sexy bastard to make a show work :p
Oh my gosh you totally won the secret contest of today, which was complement Dan! Yay for you!
really? sweet! did I win anything?
 

Firefilm

New member
May 27, 2011
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JaceArveduin said:
Firefilm said:
JaceArveduin said:
Firefilm said:
Aureliano said:
Interesting question, but mechanically this didn't feel much like a debate. Rather we got two guys who are firmly entrenched in their opinions, neither of whom making any ground with the other. If you care about story, your choices making any impact in that story whatsoever or deep character arcs you go with Bioware. If you want to be able to go off the rails, do whatever you want and roleplay whatever you want in a pretty sandbox but don't care so much about the story then you go with Bethesda.

Ultimately I think this all points to how necessary Dan (or whoever they have as the referee of the week) is to the NRA debates as well as the idea of actually trying to undermine each other's points for the sake of some overall goal.
Yay, I am necessary!
s
Well of course you're necessary! You've got to have at least one sexy bastard to make a show work :p
Oh my gosh you totally won the secret contest of today, which was complement Dan! Yay for you!
really? sweet! did I win anything?
Lol, the prize is winning. It's kinda a meta thing. Basically I just like being called a sexy bastard.
 

JaceArveduin

New member
Mar 14, 2011
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Firefilm said:
Lol, the prize is winning. It's kinda a meta thing. Basically I just like being called a sexy bastard.
Well damn, I feel like I've been ripped off! I'd retract my earlier statement, but alas, I'm not a liar.
 

soren7550

Overly Proud New Yorker
Dec 18, 2008
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Me and the boyfriend had a hell of a time trying to understand what these two were saying. -_-'

But I vote BioWare. They hurt me bad with Deception and with the ending to Mass Effect 3, but oh how I love the series.
 

OneOfTheMichael's

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Jul 26, 2010
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Bethesda Won in my opinion. Not just because I"m a fallout fanboy but the options in many of bethesdas games are so limitless and present so many different situations in which you can handle them differently. I agree bioware has a better story direction, but thats all it is story and some side quests/missions. Never time to dive deep into a fully immersed world and explore all the nooks and crannies.
Also why were you just comparing the 2 biggest franchises by the companies, even though they've had other games that are also rpg?
 

Morghuk

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Feb 17, 2011
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while i would previously have been torn as to how to respond to this, i have to say that Dragon Age 2 has destroyed any hope i had for bioware...

while it was a reasonable RPG it never felt like it got out of the introduction.. probably due to the narration style. As yahtzee said.. it feels like a holding pattern, like they felt they needed to release something to keep people interested until they could vomit up a real ending (and call it DA3)...

as for bethseda games.. yes, the choices are many, and the lands are huge. and that is what a good RPG should be...

i have GM'd many DnD games (as well as cyberpunk, rifts, shadowrun, VTM and others) and the one thing that all of these games have in common is this: the players will go somewhere or do something that has nothing to do with the plot you spent the last 2 weeks planning.

bethseda games, skyrim in particular, allow the player to do just this. therefore they get my vote. (not that it matters, the interwebz is no democracy. :p)
 

mysecondlife

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Feb 24, 2011
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Currently, I care for neither.

Bioware did make KOTOR, but rest of the games made after were just lacking.
 

D.Strormer

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Oct 22, 2008
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Well, Bioware has kept my allegiance through KotOR, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect, but I must admit that my favorite game is TES: Oblivion and I greatly enjoy the Fallout series and Skyrim. If I was forced to choose I'd say that Bioware, when they give it an effort, puts together a better game, though Bethesda has nearly refined their main mechanic to a mirror shine.
For my vote, I'll go Bioware, but only by a hair. Both are masters of the RPG, but for different reasons.
 

RobotDinosaur

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Feb 27, 2012
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Am I the only person who really liked Dragon Age 2 quite a bit? The world seemed more coherent, like things happening somewhere at some time can have major effects elsewhere or later. Plus, good writing, choices with more complex options than 'good' or 'douchebag', and a pretty good character progression system as you gain levels. By comparison, I played Fallout 3 a little while ago and it annoyed me that I started at Level 1 with the "Shoot Guns" combat ability and never really got any new combat tricks. Realistic? Maybe. Fun? Not really for me. And I'm more interested in fun when playing video games. If I wanted realism that badly, I'd skip the games and just stay in reality.
So, yeah, put me down as a vote for Bioware, whoever's keeping score.
 

Right Hook

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May 29, 2011
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I'd go with Bethseda. Now I kinda wished I had made a video, no offense but I could have made one of better quality, this was a good debate and they had a great topic but it was a little dry.