What do people think about Bioware right now?

[DSK-]

In general, I think they've grown too big and stretched the original team that made Bioware great too thin. Add to this the oversight by EA which has pushed them into several questionable directions and it's not looking too great...

Mass Effect 2 was a good game. But even here, the damage was starting to show. The main plot was kinda crap (and by "kinda" I mean "real fucking") and the RPG elements were a bit too streamlined. However, the gameplay was better, the subpolots were good, the characters were interesting and the excellent background of the ME universe held it together.

Then came Dragon Age 2. This is where it became evident that there was a problem. The game simply didn't have the production values or the quality that other Bioware games had. It was inferior to Dragon Age 1 in visuals, writing, plot, characters, gameplay, pretty much every department. The cut corners were pleantiful and obvious, with content being reused over and over and over again. Add to this a very small number of locations (which were also reused constantly), lazy combat design (nonsensical wave combat and health-bloated bosses) and a slew of other problems, you get a game that was obviously rushed by Bioware's B- or C-list team.

The likely reason for that was that resources were being shifted to The Old Republic. Yes, at this point someone will tell me that those were separate teams. Maybe, but that doesn't mean that they can't put all the good designers and developers on the TOR team. Also, it doesn't say anything about the funding or deadlines. I'm sure the DA2 people did what they could with what they were given, which probably wasn't much.

Now TOR's come out, and while the general reception is positive, the complaints make it fairly obvious that it too was dumped out too soon, likely to meet the Christmas deadline. From what I understand, crafting was only implemented a month before release, and as a result it's utterly crap, with most crafting skills being pointless and one of the wto good ones (Slicing) had to be nerfed in the first patch for being too profitable. There are plenty of other pieces of evidence that the game was shoved out the door before it was ready, like a raid where someone forgot to change the placeholder names for enemies, so they're named Boss Beast 1, Boss Beast 2, etc.

All in all, it has me worried. Worried for ME3 and DA3. Worried that they've taken on yet another project (C&C:Generals 2). Worried that the Bioware that I am a fan of no longer exists, its members spread across a bunch of substudios under the direction of EA.

At this point it could go either way. In the near future it all hinges on Mass Effect 3 and how well they'll fix TOR. If Mass Effect 3 manages to at least match ME2 in overall quality, that would be a good start. If the fixes to the broken parts of TOR are swift (crafting, ability delay, bugged class quests) and they also manage to follow up with some much needed features (dual specs, UI customization, mod support) and more endgame content to satisfy the hardcore crowd, that would be another good sign.

In the long term, the question is what will happen with Dragon Age 3. The ME franchise didn't suffer such a terrible drop in quality, so I'm less worried about ME3. But DA3 has to make quite a few big changes in almost every aspect to save itself from the wreck of DA2...

You've summed up my thoughts better than I possibly could have. Have some milk and cookies on me! o/

Having said that, I'm just hoping that they don't end up being too mediocre and seriously ruin ME3. Apart from that I'm not really interested in anything Bioware may produce unless it's KOTOR 3; But even then I'd need to be sure it wouldn't be a bad game.

 

[LetalisK]

I like Bioware(note: I haven't played Dragon Age 2 yet). They are in a personal slump with their games right now, but even their "mediocre" games beat the "good" games from other studios.

It seems to me the hate for Bioware comes from two places, sometimes both at the same time: People who did not enjoy Dragon Age 2 and people who did not enjoy SWTOR. The latter irks me the most because 75% of their complaints are with MMOs in general, not a problem with the game specifically and sometimes it's even worse in other games, but it gets stated as if it's a problem exclusive to SWTOR.

 

[Ziame]

What I think of Bioware right now? Well, duh, I love them. Wait, no. I don't.

I love Mass Effect. All the things you point out as flaws - they are the best things that happened to me, because I can play the game with my dad. (I play, he makes the RP decisions) And he wouldn't do that if it wasn't so visually stunning.

But it all boils down to my standpoint - I hate fantasy. In my opinion, Tolkien created a beautiful thing, all those elves and dwarves - then people came and ruined it.

Baldur's Gate was pretty meh for me. Planescape, Icewind - same. KOTOR was cool, but the fights were so utterly boring I thought I wouldn't make it to the end. Jade Empire was nice, yeah. But Mass Effect? Fuck yeah. (No interest in Dragon Age)

Also, they want to cash in on CoDers? Good! Too bad they destroyed one of their top brands along the way, but the idea was perfect.
Also, cookies.

 

[Paladin2905]

Bioware was the first studio I really fell in love with back when they worked with Black Isle on the Baldur's Gate games. The problem is that their core competency was always polished gameplay, meaning that the game always worked and the game was always complete at release. Of course they'd have their patches and add-ons, but there was never any "It's crashed ten times this hour and I can't finish the mage's guild because I installed the Orrery DLC" crap that other developers had.

That seemed to disappear post-acquisition. The games aren't released with much completion anymore and the general theme seems to be more towards creating breath rather than depth in their games. Now instead of a world to explore in (comparatively) free-form like Mass Effect, we have the Mass Effect 2 style of "Here is a list of missions, choose one and we'll take you to a shooting gallery for a few minutes". For me, that is a disappointing development.

 

[Snotnarok]

How do I feel? They're a developer who make good RPGs with over priced hoodies and stuff. I don't get why people hold favoritism with companies.

 

[kickyourass]

I love Bioware, in my opinion they have done very little wrong, like 99% of my problems are nit-picky at best. Really the only truly major problem I've had with one of their games is that they had a silent protagonist in Dragon Age Origins after they did the fully voiced Mass Effect, and I still think Dragon age is one of the best games of the past 5 years.

Most "fans" however piss me off, I don't know if I'm just a magnet for these types of people or what but Bioware fans are easily the whiniest, most irrational pack of lunatics I've ever met. When they're not screaming that an entire game is ruined based on the contents of a 40 second trailer, they're holding contests over who can find the smallest thing to go berserk over. Oh no someone mentioned God, quick, everyone panic like she just swallowed an infant!

So yeah that's my deal, don't hate the games, but I do hate the players.

 

[CleverCover]

I'm worried about them.

I love Mass Effect to death and they practically own my wallet, but I have limits. DA2 and ME2 weren't great compared to their predecessors. There seemed to be a lot taken out, a lot of which I saw unnecessary, in favor of less clutter.

They make great games, but I feel like they're taking out all the little parts that I loved about ME and DA:O. That extra stuff helped add to the game for me. And apparently my brother.

We're, okay I'm hesistant about ME3. My brother has already given up, but I'm holding out hope that they can bring back what I loved from ME1 and what brought me to love DA:O.

I'd like to blame EA for it, but I know it's not just the producers making the changes. If it was just the producers, then Bioware would do their best to find a new one when the contract ends. I don't know. When March comes, then I'll have a better answer. One I hope is positive.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I still say we need to stop blaming EA on this one, and start seriously considering that Bioware themselves are at fault. EA is nice and big to wail on, and Bioware has goodwill from their previous, non EA titles. However, we should not discount criticism leveled directly at Bioware. Shoddy workmanship within the company itself is not the fault of EA.

 

[MisterShine]

In two words: Love 'em.

Granted they are far from perfect and of late they are straying from their CRPG roots, people should also remember their first two games were a mech sim and a 3rd person shooter, so I don't see it quite as an utter betrayal of where they came from but more a desire to branch out into other ways of making a game.

Bioware has a history of not being superb all of the time, and in regards to Dragon Age 2 while I am not so harsh as others, mostly because I remember the Neverwinter Nights release and that pile of mediocrity wrapped in clunky, yet it eventually gave way to the stellar Hordes of the Underdark expansion and all was forgiven. Likewise, DA2's many flaws led to an interesting if sometimes painful experience, but the two meaty DLC's released were both excellent (Legacy being in my mind about as good as ME2's Lair of the Shadowbroker)

While what we've been shown so far of ME3 would be concerning for the RPG-gamer in me, however EA's marketing has proven time and time again they are almost diabolically terrible at their jobs of showing off a game other than to the most puerile of consumers. I remember being very concerned about Dragon Age 1 and ME2 after seeing all the pre-release info and marketing, but both of those turned out excellent so I'm really not too troubled.

 

[getoffmycloud]

Eh, I like 'em.

When it comes to characters and dialogue, they're the best in the business, bar none. Their quality fluctuates wildly in every other department, but I can forgive them that because they are one of the precious few game developers who are capable of making me give a shit about their characters, an ability usually reserved for other and better story-telling mediums.

I couldn't give a damn about the scrapping of "complex RPG elements and mechanics". I don't buy a game, any game, for the sheer uplifting joy of adding +2 to strength or swapping out a heat sink III for a heat sink IV. If I want to watch numbers get bigger I have a calculator on my desk.

Granted, DA2 was a bit of a mess. I enjoyed it, but I'm not about to defend the recycled dungeons or disjointed plot. That said, I'm not sufficiently fickle to condemn a developer for one sub-par game.

I couldn't agree with you more and I hate this stupid idea that people seem to have about RPG's having to have mountains of stats its not about that its about playing the role of a certain character and making there decisions that affect the story and Bioware are still doing that brilliantly.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

I'll admit i'm worried about bioware' future ME3 was a day one purchase for me as soon as it was announced then along came DA2 and i got a little concerned and then the ME3 multiplayer was confirmed now I've decided I'll wait for reviews see if the singlep player has been compromised at all.

For the record i never trust any developer that claims the mutiplayer hasn't compromised the single player as it's nearly always horseshit!

 

[Imre Csete]

I've used to follow their new game developements with excitement, but now I'm just, "meh, it'll come out someday anyways". Not to mention their marketing with EA is horrible. Following Dragon Age ][ from announcement to release caused me mental damage for sure.

I've lost respect for the gaming industry as a whole really, it's no longer the medium where they wanted to make their ideas possible and stretching the boundaries even further, they just want to make a quick buck and they aren't even trying to hide it.

Deus Ex HR managed to blow me away with implementing game elements from 10 years back, and Skyrim using a Gothic-esque crafting system immerses me a lot. It's kinda sad, that by dusting off old mechanics they are bringing in something "new" and "fresh".

Only a few developers are out there for me to respect and BioWare isn't one of them anymore sadly.

 

[RaeveSpam]

I absolutely loved Mass Effect 1. Mass Effect 2 disappointed me, I didn't like Dragon Age 1, never played Dragon Age 2, but a good friend told me it wasn't worth it either.
So Mass Effect 3 looks to be like Mass Effect 2.
I'm still hopeful, I love Mass Effect 1, so they have the potential but right now I'm just feeling 'meh' I'll keep an eye on their projects, because they might actually make something great again.

 

[KingGolem]

I greatly respect Bioware for their superlative character and story writing. The problem is that they don't really know how to make games; rather, those games of theirs which I have played range from boring to infuriating.

I played the first Mass Effect, and aside from its middling shooter controls and average rpg elements, it had a blatantly cliched sci-fi setting that utterly failed to engage me. It also seems that it favored conversation and wandering around corridors above the actual shooting. I still finished it, however, because it had halfway decent gameplay and an excellent story. Garrus and Wrex are two of the best characters I've ever encountered in video games. I got Mass Effect 2, then, to see if they could improve upon it, only to find that they had shoe-horned in a limited ammo system where previously there was none, thus effectively ruining the gunplay for me. Not to mention that I found their attempt at making it "darker and edgier" came across as cartoonish. Most of what I noticed is that they just threw in more racism and allusions to lousy government. I did not enjoy or finish Mass Effect 2.

Then came Dragon Age, the worst of the bunch. It had the worst characters, them being ones I perpetually wanted to throttle, a groan-inducingly cliched setting, and combat that was utterly insufferable. Worst of all, I didn't appreciate their foray into "dark fantasy." I found it was just "standard" fantasy, but with a story that never rewarded you. I returned Dragon Age the very next day after I got it, disgusted and angry.

Given such a lukewarm track record, I'd be hard pressed to consider Bioware anything more than a curiosity. They have the potential to create something genuinely worthwhile, but they can't seem to get it together. I hadn't heard of this supposed appeal to the Call of Duty audience, but I agree, it sounds like a sad, cynical, move and a turn for the worst. If their intention is to appeal to THAT market, I fear they may never get around to making a great game.

 

[Darkfiretiger]

DA2 is where they attempted to replicate the success of ME2 but forgot that unlike ME DA:O was using a winning formula and changing it was taking a step back not forward.
ME3 dosen't need online co-op and they should have been either more conservative with their release date or harder on their staff to get the game out on time.
KOTOR should have been released worldwide on it's worldwide release not just to the 22 contires closest to the servers... also labeling european servers as "oceanic servers" isn't going to make up for the fact that us Aussies have to wait unknown number of months for the game to be released here.

 

[Imbechile]

It'll lead to a crash sooner or later. You can't have an industry this highly strung without something burning out somewhere and bringing the whole edifice down.

What a glorious day this will be. That's probably the only way the industry is going to evolve into something better.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Snip

True, but there are things that Bioware chose to do that just baffles me. The internal groups working on DA2 seemed to be working separately from each other, and not at the same time. The gameplay designers obviously weren't discussing things with the writers. The Blood Mage character tree is the worst offender.

The story was written and finished before the gameplay designers even got to work, so you could be a blood mage in a magic hating city without any consequences storywise. Wouldn't the Designers have looked over the writers notes for ideas that wouldn't contradict themselves in-game? Wouldn't both teams be better off collaborating, and working with each other instead of isolated, and one team starting only after the other finishes?

 

[RookwoodX]

In general, I think they've grown too big and stretched the original team that made Bioware great too thin. Add to this the oversight by EA which has pushed them into several questionable directions and it's not looking too great...

This is it. And both those problems are one in the same. EA is a terrible company. EA is so profit-hungry that they drive ANY developer under them into the ground. If Activision takes out their greed on their customers, EA takes it out on their developers, and ultimately that's a far worse crime.

Bioware is the only thing that EA has (had if you ask me) going for it, and do you think that means EA was gonna nurture the culture that helped Bioware make all those great games? Hell no, its time to rest every quarterly report on their shoulders and force them to make games that are more "mainstream."

EA did the same thing to Mythic Entertainment. The only difference is Mark Jacobs didn't play ball and walked out.

Bioware's best days are behind them. Right now, they only exist in name, and even that will only last as long as EA can drive the "brand".