Poll: Are you finished with Bioware now?

[SajuukKhar]

Yes, and we use the term "RPG" to describe modern RPGs because they have design elements derived from P&P RPGs by way of old-school RPGs. Hence the lack of a concise/consistent list of criteria a game has to have in order to qualify as an RPG.

So you just validated my point.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Yes, and we use the term "RPG" to describe modern RPGs because they have design elements derived from P&P RPGs by way of old-school RPGs. Hence the lack of a concise/consistent list of criteria a game has to have in order to qualify as an RPG.

So you just validated my point.

If your point was, "RPG elements are mechanics originally from P&P RPGs like leveling, inventory/loot systems, turn-based combat, choice and consequence, and tactical flexibility," then yes. If your point was "an RPG is a game where you play a role," then no.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I'm amazed you can hold on to that belief considering (a) a lot of their original writing staff have left or moved on to other projects; and (b) aside from the gay terrorist magician plot twist of DA2, Bioware have never made a plot point so bad that it provoked a tremendous Internet backlash.

Now, you may argue the artistic merit of Bioware's current crop of crap, but the sad fact is, the ending fails not just on artistic, but on technical grounds. We've got plot holes, inconsistencies with lore and the previously established narrative ? within the same game of all things ? and characters acting contrary to their established personas and archetypes. Hell, BioWare has already admitted they pulled the ending out of Mac Walters' ass at the last minute. If anybody has a link to that, I'd appreciate a repost.

Also, I call BS on your nostalgia argument. It's not like the Mass Effect series has had ridiculously long development cycles. Three games in seven years? That's an average of 2.333 years per game; shorter than the industry standard of 3 years.

The new Bioware writers are DIFFERENT sure, but worse? that is entirely subjective, and like all other subjective matters no answer is fact.

Secondly I don't remember Ander's, who is only gay if you actually do him which is entirely up to you, blowing up the church being that hated, the reused dungeons, wave combat, and bosses with stupid levels of HP, the lack of ability to change companions armor at will, and your mother being killed regardless of what you do, and having to kill the leaders of both sides regardless of who you chose, sure.
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As has been pointed out time and time again on other thread by many people beyond myself the supposed "plot holes " of Me3 are entirely explainable withing the given information presented in the first two games. so no there really aren't any plot holes just people who didn't pay attention.
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thirdly my nostalgia comments were to Bioware as a whole not the ME franchise specifically. Considering I never said it was about the ME franchise in general I dont see how you reached that conclusion.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

As long as they remain tied to EA then yes I'm done with Bioware.

 

[Chronologist]

On topic, however, I think I'm done with Mass Effect 3 single-player until they release the free DLC. The multiplayer is still a lot of fun, and I enjoy planning with other players in order to select the best squad composition for each map and enemy type.

I'm not a big fan of the whole "it's Bioware's story, so don't complain" argument. Videogames are not movies or books, they are not one-way experiences. As soon as the player gains the ability to alter the plot, their decisions have to matter. Mass Effect 3 does not deliver in this sense.

The closest analogy I can make for the ending of Mass Effect 3 is if the Lord of the Rings ended with Frodo jumping into the fires of Mount Doom... and the book ends. Literally the lasts words are "Frodo plunged downwards into the fires of Mount Doom, clutching the ring of power, the one ring. The End".

That's not fair to the fans, and it's not keeping in line with the style of writing that's been established.

So yeah, I think fans have the right to complain about the ending of Mass Effect 3, and I think that Bioware should make the sound business decision and make an ending DLC, if only to retain a large portion of their fanbase they'd otherwise lose.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I'm not a big fan of the whole "it's Bioware's story, so don't complain" argument. Videogames are not movies or books, they are not one-way experiences. As soon as the player gains the ability to alter the plot, their decisions have to matter. Mass Effect 3 does not deliver in this sense.

Tell that to Obsidian, Bethesda, Bioware, and every other RPG make who has ever allowed choice in their games only to tell the people later they were wrong in the next game.

Decisions have never mattered in games in the long run because they have ALWAYS been paved over in the sequels.

 

[Artemicion]

I accidentally selected "No" when I meant "Yes".
Yes, this isn't the end of Bioware for me. Their games are just too high quality to ignore.

Actually the whole scandal about the ending serves to prove to me that Bioware is a great company. They're listening to everyone's complaints and have stated that they're in talks about the ending. They care about us. And our money. Mostly our money. But that's better than most companies.

 

[porpoise hork]

Not in the slightest. I'm in for SWTOR for the long haul. Never played ME anyway.

Same here, but they do need to ditch EA..

As does every other dev company out there who uses them. EA is probably one of the worst things to happen to the gaming industry in a ling time.

the last thing i can remember having such a negative impact to the industry was that E.T. game for the atari..

you know the one where they ended up burrying tens of thousands of unused copies just to get rid of them.

 

[captain_dalan]

I may sound like a hypocrite for having this avatar....but....if things remain as they are....BioWare is dead to me. I could overlook DA2 (at least the demo was honest enough to not make me buy the game), but after ME3....i am so....let's just say i am not touching ME1,2 or 3 with a rusty halberd the size of Elminster AND his hat! Not looking forward to any of their potential future work either. MMOs are lost on me, Bio's record keeps going away from the target group i represent...

 

[Chronologist]

I'm not a big fan of the whole "it's Bioware's story, so don't complain" argument. Videogames are not movies or books, they are not one-way experiences. As soon as the player gains the ability to alter the plot, their decisions have to matter. Mass Effect 3 does not deliver in this sense.

Tell that to Obsidian, Bethesda, Bioware, and every other RPG MADE who has ever allowed choice in their games only to tell the people later they were wrong in the next game.

Decisions have never mattered in games in the long run because they have ALWAYS been paved over in the sequels.

Fixed that for you

Never once did I bring up sequels. In Mass Effect 3, the decision you make in Mass Effect 3 do not substantially alter the outcome of the game. I'm not talking about the "long run", as you put it.

Having a canon ending doesn't mean the player's choices were wrong, it means that the new game in the series is based on a predefined set of player choices. The ending of KOTOR is canon Light-side because the dark side option meant the end of the known galaxy, and the events of KOTOR2 would never have happened.

By the way, Bethesda made every ending of Daggerfall canon simultaneously. I think that's a pretty good example of player choice meaning something in the grand scheme of things, and of not being paved over.

 

[RagTagBand]

My response to OP's question (Are you finished with Bioware now?)


Stupid OP asking two differently worded questions to which both Yes and No can be given to give the same answer..

 

[SajuukKhar]

By the way, Bethesda made every ending of Daggerfall canon simultaneously. I think that's a pretty good example of player choice meaning something in the grand scheme of things, and of not being paved over.

Through a complete dues ex machine that wasn't supported by the game itself.

It was an afterthought to cover a giant mistake, and unlike the Es series Mass Effect doesn't have god who represent the aspects of time that can be killed by a giant robot.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

I wouldn't go so far to say that I'm flat out finished with bioware but I'll definitely be reviewing the relationship on a case by case basis.

That or they try charging for a different dlc ending.

To be honest i don't particularly want a whole new ending i just want more clarification on parts of the existing one to be precise... (1) WTF happened to the rest of the crew? (2) How exactly does the normandy end up flying through the mass relay? and (3) How the fuck did garrus end up on the normandy at the end when he was in my squad for the last mission.

Also how did anderson end up been an admiral again after i chose him for the council spot?

 

[RJ 17]

*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* I really hate to say it...but I can't say I'm done with Bioware. Not until Dragon Age 3. I know, it's like begging to be kicked in the balls for a 2nd time by a steel-toed boot...but like with Mass Effect: I've just gotta see how that story frickin' ends.

Fine. Here's what'll happen in Dragon Age 3

The world will be in upheaval after the templars and the mages revolted, maybe three or four years after the ending of DA2. The game will of course not care about your decision from DA2, putting both sides at roughly equal footing. You play as a Grey Warden again, a different character from the Warden and Hawke, who are off on their own separate adventures getting stuff done.

Most of the beginning of the game deals with dealing with darkspawn stragglers, meeting up with a few rag-tag teammates with their own quirks and alignment bars ala DA2, and you fight to keep the peace in your small corner of the world.

The main plot revolves around Morrigan's daughter, who is inheriting the power of a true god. You find this out from Leliana, as the Seekers are trying to find her and for some reason a Grey Warden as well. Ultimately, the villain is revealed to be Flemith, who is trying to possess the young girl because of her immense untapped power. In the end she gains the power, only for you and your group to kill Flemith.

As a Grey Warden, you absorb the power of the god in the same way the child did in Dragon Age Origins, and gain unlimited power. At this point, naturally you are given three choices: kill all the mages, kill all the templars, or make everyone in the world a mage, able to tap into the Fade. Killing the mages or templars results in an off-screen recounting of how you eventually went power-mad and killed millions. Making everyone a Mage requires cleansing the Fade of the Taint, which means you personally absorb it and die, but the powers of the god also die, stopping it from becoming another Archdemon. All three end ambiguously, and in the end your choices up to that point don't contribute to the final ending in the slightest.

There. That's years of waiting and 60$ saved.

Alright, now just go out and design and develop that into a game and put it out on the market. Then I can say I'm done with Bioware.

 

[Actino]

Some people are acting like Bioware betrayed them. This is getting ridiculus. The gaming industry has never been more entitled and immature as it is now. I am actually ashamed to be part of the gaming community.

We've reached the point where people are deciding whether or not to buy a game when they don't even know what the game is. It could be the most perfect game, every aspect tailored to their needs and these people would miss out on it because they are stubborn.

Bioware is a BUSINESS which is renound for producing incredible games. But, when people aren't happy with small little details like silly marketing strategies (Day 1 DLC)and the ending to 1 game, people judge the entire company and pledge to never buy from them again. THIS IS MENTAL!

Frankly, I was dissapointed with the ending to Mass Effect 3 and I would be happy if they released an additional ending, but in no way do I think I am entitled to it and I certainly won't judge bioware on such a small issue. I thought Mass Effect 3 was incredible except the last 5 minutes. I would still even give it 10/10. How do such small issues ruin bioware as a company or ruin the series or even ruin the game?

The fact that Bioware has managed to get such an emotional reaction from their fanbase about the ending to Mass Effect 3 is a testament to how much people care about their games and it's a testament to how good bioware are at making engaging stories. For this reason, I respect people like Casey Hudson and Mac Walters. They have clearly worked very hard in making these games for OUR pleasure.

My opinion is - those people who said 'No' to this poll are either stubborn and stupid or they are lieing and they will consider buying another bioware game.

Also, to some people, if you are done with Bioware, why are you on a forum talking about them? Shouldn't you be getting on with your life?

 

[SajuukKhar]

snip

Didn't bioware specifically say after witch Hunt came out that they were NOT going to do a story about the magic god baby?

I swear i saw it talked about multiple times on the dragon age wiki

 

[blackrave]

Well, sht happens
What I'm more worried about that BioWare might become Origin-exclusive (or already became )
This will make me to avoid further BioWare games more

 

[scarfacetehstag]

Bunch of babies, Whatever people say about ME3's ending doesn't change the fact tat the game as a whole was BETTER than ME2, the one everyone liked.

Of course ill buy the next bioware game, and you will too, because the are still one of the best developers working today.