What if Obsidian picked up Mass Effect after ME3...

[Knight Captain Kerr]

I love Obsidian, that game could be awesome i'd buy it in a heartbeat.

^^^ Works for Obsidian.

Yes, I am really Chris Avellone you have figured it all out.
Actually I just think Obsidian make good games and I like Mass Effect so I'd buy an Obsidian made Mass Effect.

 

[everythingbeeps]

I love Obsidian, that game could be awesome i'd buy it in a heartbeat.

^^^ Works for Obsidian.

Yes, I am really Chris Avellone you have figured it all out.
Actually I just think Obsidian make good games and I like Mass Effect so I'd buy an Obsidian made Mass Effect.

But Obsidian doesn't make good games. They take sequels of great games and then BREAK them.

 

[endtherapture]

[

But Obsidian doesn't make good games. They take sequels of great games and then BREAK them.

They make sequels of good games with improved gameplay mechanics, infinitely better writing, and sadly a lot of bugs.

KOTOR II isn't just a better written game than KOTOR. The combat mechanics were tweaked and tinkered with to allow for a far better experience. Ranged combat is actually an option in KOTOR II. Characters can switch from melee to ranged weapons at the click of a button. Jedi and Sith have multiple different fighting styles to use from that affect stats.

I enjoyed KoTOR2 more than KoTOR1. Even though it was clearly unfinished, I preferred the characters,they were deeper. The story had twists and turns and was interesting as opposed to the first game, which was pretty much Neverwinter Nights but in Space and a ONE goodplot twist. The sequel was FILLED with awesome plot twists.

The gameplay was much funner, with prestige classes and new better abilities and more variety and having to go around collecting the materials for a lightsaber. The missions and quests were generally a lot more inventive. Plus we had PROPER Jedi robes for once.

Also the atmosphere of the game was great, you really got an idea for how evil and dark the underbelly of the galaxy was, from the survival horror mining facility at the beginning, to Korriban and Dxun and everywhere, it was great.

 

[everythingbeeps]

The problem is that Obsidian are an independent developer. This means that they're given the money to develop a game, a release schedule, and that's it. If a game is a month from release and needs more QA testing, there's not a damn thing Obsidian can do about it. In the case of both KOTOR II and New Vegas, they were given a period of only 18 months with which to develop the games. Give any developer 18 months to develop a multi-choice non-linear RPG, and you're going to get a buggy game as a result.

I'm not letting folks like Bethesda and whoever else is handing over the keys to the convertible to Obsidian. Clearly those folks are colossally stupid. And I guess I can't blame Obsidian for repeatedly agreeing to destroy these beloved franchises.

But don't defend them. They're a travesty of a developer. It's all fine and well that they have nice ideas about game mechanics or improving a story. They still have no business actually developing games on their own.

They're probably cheap labor, and that's why they keep getting work.

 

[kasperbbs]

From my experience they are good with the story part, but everything else is mostly a wreck.

 

[RJ 17]

Unless the entire universe gets annihilated at the end there's no reason other games can't be made from the series. They will undoubtedly conclude Shepards saga, so there's no problem of other companies making more commander Shepard content, I would guess. But there's no reason why other studios or Bioware can't make more games based in the IP.

This is actually what Bioware has said they're doing. "Keep your saved content from ME 3 because there's gonna be more ME to come!" while also clearly stating that Shepard's story does come to an end at the end of ME 3.

Which I think is perfectly acceptable. Personally I like the universe - no pun intended - of Mass Effect. I like the lore, the races, the characters, everything. I wouldn't mind starting up an entirely new saga in the same universe...quite honestly I don't see what's wrong with that.

 

[EHKOS]

I imagine they'd do what they always do.

Namely, create a conceptually interesting and reasonably well written story that is ruined by a laundry list of game-breaking bugs and unfinished content.

I would pick it up about 18 months later during a Steam sale, wait for the fan patches and love it to death/

Fixed that for ya.

I see no reason why they shouldn't. I loved New Vegas and was only mildly impressed with three. I loved the KOTORs but hate the Old Republic. Never got into Mass Effect so....

 

[boag]

An Interesting what if scenario, but I would rather see Obsidian make their own IP. ME is already a good enough IP to stand on its own.

 

[putowtin]

Bioware won't let Mass Effect go, yes ME3 see's the end of Shepard's story, but they have already discussed further games in the Mass Effect universe.

I love Obsidian, they've made a couple of my favourite games, (FO: New Vegas and KotOR II) if they could get their bug problem sorted they'd be making the same great games and gamers wouldn't have anything to complain about!

 

[Aris Khandr]

To all those saying that KotOR2 was not Obsidian's fault: If we were two, four, six months out from launch, I'd agree. KotOR2 was released in 2004/5. We've been able to patch games over the internet for quite a bit longer than that. It may have been LucasArts who screwed up the launch, but the blame for not fixing their knowingly buggy and unfinished monstrosity falls firmly on Obsidian. If they had any integrity, they'd have made it work through patches after the forced release date. They didn't. They just dropped it on us and said "It's out of our hands."

No they did not. If you're going to make comments like this, at least research the issue at hand before you type. It'll save a lot of embarrassment.

For the record, it's well known that Obsidian offered to work on and release a content patch that would restore a lot of the missing content. Lucasarts refused point blank.

Obsidian are an independent company. Therefore, if the license holder and main source of funding for a game they worked on refuses to allow them to release a content patch, then there's not a goddamn thing they can do about it. Lucasarts owns the rights to KOTOR II, not Obsidian, and post release Obsidian have no more right to release an 'official patch' than any enthusiastic modder out there.

I'm not embarrassed. It ultimately falls on their head, since they created the game. If LucasArts wouldn't let them make an official patch, make an "unofficial" one. Not like that has never happened before. They took the job, they made the game, they released it in a deplorable condition. Justify it however you like, it is still their mess. They can either take the steps to fix it, or they can not. They didn't.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Obsidian makes good open worlds. Bioware writes good stories / characters. My ME should have or keep its focus on the second part.

I probably wouldn't play the fourth part of my most beloved game next to Portal

 

[AnotherAvatar]

For everyone giving Obsidian shit: Look deeper into how Lucasarts fucked them on KoTOR II, as that seems to be what you're referencing. All their games have bugs but no more so then any other RPG at launch (In fact playing through New Vegas at launch I actually had no quest breaking errors, unlike Fallout 3 at launch...). So you know, shut the fuck up and quit judging one of the better game companies so harshly while letting Bethesda's glitch-fests go unquestioned as "OMFGGOTYFOREVER!!!!111".

As for OP: While I like Mass Effect, I think it should drop dead at 3, and would much rather see Obsidian do another original IP (especially now that Tim Cain is hanging about...). Plus the South Park RPG is looking epic enough to tide me over while I wait for a new IP.

 

[70R4N]

Obsidian makes good open worlds. Bioware writes good stories / characters. My ME should have or keep its focus on the second part.

I probably wouldn't play the fourth part of my most beloved game next to Portal

Bioware does not write good stories / characters. They are mostly cliche and about as unpredictable as the sun rising in the morning.

 

[lordtec]

I would say no, after KoTOR 2 (I know Lucasarts pushed the deadline, but that is no excuse for that crap, bug filled, very rushed ending) I am inclined not to give them a chance to ruin a game from another company. But if Bioware (on order of EA) already destroys it, I just say: let them try to salvage something good from it. (My confidence in Bioware has dropped to below zero since Mass Effect: Deception)

 

[mental_looney]

No I would prefer the story end for Shepard. More from the same universe we are likely to see from Bioware first rather than another studio but it depends on what type of games the company would be willing to let use the ip.

I have only really played and liked fallout NV, played neverwinter nights and alpha protocol didn't enjoy, can't really give a great opinion on story quality but they sure do like bugs.