Nepenthe

First part is a debunked rumour, final part is of the level I hear every day at the water cooler at my own place of employment. The only new info is the EA response to what Greg is doing, ie. enjoying a nice holiday with his family after a sizeable part of his former team has been sacked.

I know, but I thought I'd post my honest opinion, in spite of the inevitable trolling it will lead to (mostly from people who've only played the demo, or not even that). Yep, just like DAO would've been better if half to 2/3 of its filler combat had been cut... Which kind of describes DA2. Also, as a (more) casual gamer with generally an hour per day for gaming (I realise that this is already quite a lot, in comparison), the pacing and the rhythm of the game are things that I've really started to value. This is something that Bioware's really improved from ME2 onwards. Again, this is with the caveat that I played DAO (mostly) on PS3 while bedridden after some surgery and DA2 on the PC. Needless to say that the odds of this making my DA2 experience seem more favorable (better controls and framerate, not missing the camera etc. stuff that was removed from DAO PC because I never had them on the PS3 in the first place) are high. Just read something that's also relevant to practically every discussion that happens here: "Tradition is about passing on the flame, and not the worshipping of ashes"

$5 Steam sale. Latest data mining shows people didn't replay it as much as Dragon Age 1. Conclusion, combat was probably too hard and needs streamlining, so it doesn't detract from the story telling. If the next game has save imports, I'm gonna have to replay them both. I still prefer DA2, the only thing DAO has going for it is that it looks old-school if I squint really hard. DA2 is at least trying, even if it fails (miserably, ymmv).

The other ones'll have to give their idea. I've only gotten back after being away for several months, so I can't comment on what the situation is now (I've only done multi-player missions with a friend of mine who's in the same level bracket). Back around launch, it was mostly regular MMO grinders. I'd assume that the loss would be from that group, but I have no idea what's left behind.

The legal shenanigans were not sufficient to stop games being made though, Neverwinter was in development pretty much throughout and Daggerdale was fairly recent and well post NWN2, though I would tend to suspect that the inability to produce games and specifically 4e games was why Hasbro were so keen to remove Atari. Of course, there still aren't any new D&D games in development that we know of but I'd presume that Hasbro are trying to shop the licence around. I guess if they have trouble getting any takers a 2/3e IE based BG3 could be a possibility to drum up interest and show it's (D&D) still a viable brand even if it's likely more retrograde than they'd want. Personally I'd get someone to make a 5e NWN3 with a SoZ style map as it would be ideal for a drop in dlc/ premium access based business model. Good points, let's not forget that Atari's financial troubles were a big part why games weren't made (and the ones that were, were kind of... cheap). OTOH, I think that the license situation was cleared up at a time where they already were working on 5e. They'll want to tie the two together, so I think it's highly likely they'll start doing something when the rules are finalised, or close to it. I guess they could have somebody already working on pre-development. But since there are only two studios who really can make an RPG in that style, and neither of them appears to be working on one, expectations aren't high.

Been doing the stuff on Balmorra, it's actually quite a lot of fun. I assume this planet is going to run on for too long, as the couple of last ones before it, but so far every individual mission is about the right size, even with all the bonus objectives. I really should start doing some flashpoints, I'm still rocking Esseles and Hammer Station gear (mostly because it's "orange" and I haven't found anything that I like the look of more) - I've been really unlucky with rolls in the past few ones.

Good work digging out the "new engine" bits, I'd (obviously) forgotten those tweets, though I remember seeing them now.

Wonder if they'll actually try to beat MS to the market this time. That said, I doubt I'll buy another Sony console; I only got it for the blu-ray capabilities anyway. I think I have only 2 sony exclusives (and haven't finished uncharted 3).

Considering 5e hasn't been released yet, it's not exactly surprising. As for 4e, I understand that they've been fighting over the IP for years (basically from NWN2 to last year), and the license was only recently restored to Hasbro. There's enough extraneous variable that past performance here isn't a viable indicator of the future.

They've said close to nothing. The last thing we know is that they were going to release an awakening style expansion for DA2, and that one got axed "after the t-shirts had already been printed". They've shown some concept art re: how npc customisation would work and so on, but officially they haven't even said they are working on DA3. They're fond of releasing stuff at Gamescom (this year's show is next week), but I suspect all we're going to get there is more ME3 (stuff on the wiiu release, and maybe a date on the Leviathan).

As far as I know, their license only covers BG1 and 2. So IF they can make a third one, it would be up to the license negotiations to cover the engine as well. I suspect that they'd want to use their updated version of Infinity engine as much as possible. Related, I have no hope that they'd be able to swing for AD&D. They'd probably have to use 4e or 5e. Hopefully 5e won't suck. Also re: the painful vanillaness of Forgotten Realms. Yea. OTOH, with the current selection of settings, it would probably still be the best one available. Always thought that Dragonlance did "standard fantasy" a lot better, even if the literal approach to wearing your alignment on your sleeve rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

As much as I enjoyed DXHR, the jury's still out on Eidos Montreal. DXHR was probably started before some of our younger members were born (Attention people without a sense of humour, hyperbole), they released The Missing Link with a "we're just getting started!" and new menu for DLC episodes (and nothing has been released since), and now the kind of platform shifting which leads to duke nukem forevers. Sigh. (Oops, double post. Je me couvre de cendres.)

While I agree with Gorgon in that Bioware's still doing quite well for the moment, we can't ignore the fire they've come under recently, and the fact that due to good old groupthink, their next game's probably going to have to address the backlash in some way (and from what they've dripped from the next Dragon Age project, it would seem that it's exactly what they're doing). Also, while I understand that people've left Bioware before, they did have 2 key Mass Effect team members leave during the ME3 development cycle (Lead Gameplay Designer Christina Norman and producer Jesse Houston) - both interestingly to Riot Games... Dragon age 3 is going to adress the backlash of the bad ending to Mass Effect 3. That makes no sense. Although I predict the absence of prominent primary colours in the closing cinematic. Seems to me the first step would be to admit that the ME3 ending was bad, they haven't even done that. No, it's going to (attempt to) address systemic issues with DA 2. I'm sure we'll be back to the normal Bioware story-by-numbers format everybody was mocking before they did DA2 and ME3 (and, if you want, people saw the abortions that came out when they broke their formula).

Used to be a training ground for the army, there's a fairly significant off-limits area due to noise. Spent quite a few days in those woods, back in the days. Not that there's much else than trees elsewhere, either.

I think you have emoticons switched off.

More like due to. Nerds, being unable to procreate and tending to have arcane, well-compensated skills tend to have disposable income only surpassed by gays and other DINK couples.

As far as I know, their license only covers BG1 and 2. So IF they can make a third one, it would be up to the license negotiations to cover the engine as well. I suspect that they'd want to use their updated version of Infinity engine as much as possible.

While I agree with Gorgon in that Bioware's still doing quite well for the moment, we can't ignore the fire they've come under recently, and the fact that due to good old groupthink, their next game's probably going to have to address the backlash in some way (and from what they've dripped from the next Dragon Age project, it would seem that it's exactly what they're doing). Also, while I understand that people've left Bioware before, they did have 2 key Mass Effect team members leave during the ME3 development cycle (Lead Gameplay Designer Christina Norman and producer Jesse Houston) - both interestingly to Riot Games...

Remains the only Bio game I've never completed. Meanwhile, getting some low intensity swtor in. Don't get bored in small doses.

... It was 8-10AM on a weekday?

Why a pity? There's a new hole now that has to be filled. This is Obsidians chance. As much as I root for Obsidian, anyone who dreams of this will be in for a rude surprise if Bio does come apart.

I dunno, you were the one linking in https.

I remember seeing a recent Bioware "credits" plate with no mention of Greg, I remember wondering about it, but I can't remember the context. Last I heard he was running Austin. Linkedin shows "Co-founder, Bioware" in the current employment at linkedin. Could be that after the hatchet job done recently on Austin he does not have a more defined position. Also, take nothing "Evil" Chris Priestly says at face value without analysing it for every possible hidden meaning. The man is scary good at his job (you wouldn't believe with the fan backlash that's been going for years now, but he handles individual situations with the ruthless skill of a professional internet assassin)

Or to stay 3-4 levels overleveled because you suck, like me.

That still leaves the French bit. I studied French for 12 years, and somebody has to pay. Looks like Valve killed another one of their projects. I thought Valve only hugged pink bunnies and made gaming a better place for the master race? or it was ****.