[[merged] Do you think the Kickstarter could have been better]

Hindsight is 20/20.

[BioWare Founders Retiring!]

Why are you making excuses and defending them?

Now you are getting emotional again.

Nope. Quit making stuff up or maybe you're just trolling. I don't know.

 

I don't know what position you're referring to that was fabricated. It was pretty obvious from that interview she preferred skipping combat in favor of getting to the story/cinematics in the game. Combat is a pretty important in RPGs and she works on them. She's just a writer but it's going to draw criticism from gaming fans.

 

Criticism maybe, but that's not what she got. Although I do think that it was handle wrong, by replying to the crap that came from people, they did exactly what the crap spewers wanted.

This is true. They gave them the attention they wanted because they couldn't ignore it, and in turn made it worse. No one can say who exactly said what, because of the anonymity of the internet. But Hepler's and other's comments are forever attached to their names and were also equally in bad taste.

Or they could make a better and more intensive combat system, with far fewer but more challenging opponents. I'm not against combat in rpg's, just the busywork of badly implemented repetitive slaughtering, especially when there should be other paths open to the protagonist. Just having a skip button seems somehow to be a little cheap and nasty, taken to its logical conclusion eventually you'd just have a button on the loading screen saying, "press X to win."

Exactly. Instead of stripping out features and making them skip-able, they should work on making those features fun instead. Combat is a pretty big staple of RPGs. There shouldn't be a button to skip it. There really shouldn't even be resources dedicated to that. They should instead invest in making it fun. There really isn't any way to take Hepler's comment out of context. Her position is pretty clear.

[[merged] Vancian Magic System and cooldowns]

I think it's possible to still make prep meaningful by allowing the player to switch between pre-built (by the player) suites of spells at a frequency that is less than "per rest". I.e. if the player can only use a subset of spells at any given time, but can switch between those subsets with a time penalty (or only outside of combat), that still makes the choices important without the system strictly being Vancian.

What about the system in Knights of the Chalice and the first Wizardry games where you could learn all the spells, but had a limited number of spell points for each level of spells. So you might have 5 points for level 1 spells and 4 spell points for level 2 spells. Once you ran out of spell points you would have to rest. This gives you the ability to adapt on the fly by having the spells in your spell book, while also limiting you from wasting and overusing magic.

[Epic level item survey!]

Everyone loves swords. Just make it a sword. And give it some kind of effect that procs 20-25% of the time. Like fire damage, or blindness, or something.

[BioWare Founders Retiring!]

All I hear is a bunch of excuses for Bioware's actions but no responsibility being taken for them. And like I said until Bioware starts taking responsibility for their actions, you guys will keep on making bad games and keep on having PR disasters.

You keep repeating this, but what exactly *is* it you seem to feel that Bioware should take responsibility for? That some gamers are jerks with self entitlement issues? That some gamers lack the emotional and intellectual maturity to realise they are playing games? That they seem to get "attached" to fictive characters? Or is it simply that some guy oversold something (which might not have been the reality at the time of selling the point) and thereby mismanaged expectations? The only cure for that is not to share any information before a games release besides the usual non-committing marketing drivel. That usual leaves those who feel entitled to more very unhappy too.

Why are you making excuses and defending them?

Consumers didn't create DA2 half finished and market it as if it were.

Consumers didn't create ME3 which goes off the deep end at the end of the game with a nonsensical ending.

Bioware tries to appeal to those gamers that get attached to fictive characters. And because they've given them a voice and place to gather and be as crazy as they want, they go off the deep end when you don't give them what they want.

 

Bioware can't control those people who get upset at them and criticize them, they can just control how they react to them. Instead of justifying their actions and blaming the consumers they should take a look at themselves. Pretty basic stuff that should go without saying.

[BioWare Founders Retiring!]

You're saying I'm making excuses for these people? Look how emotional you're getting. Maybe I missed some of the things that were said. From what I read it seemed like a lot of the worse stuff came after the vagina comment.

 

Just how emotional am I getting? You seem to be pretty emotional! (We could go all day with this btw )

 

As for making excuses: You're dismissing it as being "well people are just stupid." Yes, that's making excuses, especially when BioWare employees aren't able to also just be people. I'd rather speak my mind (which it seems like many people actually want us to do, in retrospect) than just spit out what I think would be best for corporate policy. The amount of people that PM'd me hoping that I wouldn't get fired for speaking out against the ME3 endings was baffling (it outpaced my Gmail spam at one point), when the reality is I didn't hear a single word from anyone on the ME team aside from a friend going "I see you posted on the ME3 forums!"

Nope you accused me of defending those people, when all I basically said was people will be people. That's not condemning or justifying their actions. You don't jump to those conclusions unless you're upset about what you're hearing. Also, just to clarify I'm not emotional. Not sure what would give you that idea.

 

I wasn't dismissing it either. I was saying you can't do anything about it and responding makes it worse. You can justify it all you want but the fact of the matter was some of those people were probably kids that you guys were swearing at. You guys made it worse by responding in kind. Like I said if you can't handle the spotlight and criticism, then don't be a public spokesperson for Bioware. I didn't hear anything about EA flipping out when they were voted worse company in America. They just shrugged it off in an interview and it passed with time. No one will forget Hepler's comment or the **** off, **** you comments Bioware employees made on Twitter in response. And that's the truth of the matter.

 

All I hear is a bunch of excuses for Bioware's actions but no responsibility being taken for them. And like I said until Bioware starts taking responsibility for their actions, you guys will keep on making bad games and keep on having PR disasters.

[BioWare Founders Retiring!]

It's not really flattery lol.

 

I do think there's a problem when I catch myself thinking "fans are stupid" all the time though. Hanging out on the BSN has opened me to a ton of jabs and snide remarks, but in general most of the people aren't actually so bad.

 

And these articles that try to throw the brunt of the blame on the consumers are BS. Until Bioware or EA takes responsibility for their actions, none of this stuff is going to change and you'll be going through more PR disasters.

 

I'll wilfully state that DA2 was a subpar game and we can do a lot better. But you'll never convince me that the way the Hepler situation played out was "overstated." You can't tell me "BioWare shouldn't be surprised people are mad at the ME3 ending" and then somehow prevent human beings from acting like human beings with their personal twitter accounts. I suppose it was eye opening that apparently we need to all behave like celebrities and recognize that many of them can't even use a twitter account without recognizing that people are going to stalk and attack it. I think it's a sad state of affairs, however, when I feel like I shouldn't even bother with twitter because I happen to work for a video game company prevents me from doing other things that human beings often do.

 

That you're willing to make excuses for these people says plenty though. Under no circumstances should the things that were said ever be said to another human being. Though you probably got the nice shiny version that you read about on the internets. All because some people fabricated a position in order to attack her. The whole situation sickens me and while you may say "You need to just roll with the punches" I hold people like Aaryn no ill will for standing up for a friend regardless of his position at BioWare.

You're saying I'm making excuses for these people? Look how emotional you're getting. Maybe I missed some of the things that were said. From what I read it seemed like a lot of the worse stuff came after the vagina comment.

 

It still doesn't matter if they said the worst things you can say to a person. You keep your mouth shut and move on. You don't pour gasoline on the fire. You don't let what every 12 or 13 year old says get to you. I'm sure it last a lot longer because of the reaction you gave those people.

 

And this is humans being human btw. Deep down most people are ****, the internet just gives them a voice without the consequences of it.

 

I don't know what position you're referring to that was fabricated. It was pretty obvious from that interview she preferred skipping combat in favor of getting to the story/cinematics in the game. Combat is a pretty important in RPGs and she works on them. She's just a writer but it's going to draw criticism from gaming fans.

 

And about the whole twitter thing, you're going to piss people off when you make a bad product that they can't return. You guys go for making games that are emotionally engaging for people. So when you guys ruin that with the third installment, you're really going to piss people off. The average player probably put 100 hours of their lives into those 3 games. And that's just with 1 playthrough on each game. Probably more with subsequent playthroughs. They have a right to be upset. Again if you can't handle the public outcry don't have a twitter account that you post for Bioware on, don't be a spokesperson for Bioware. It's as simple as that. You could also try making great RPGs that make sense, instead of churning out action games with tons of cinematics.

[Piracy]

Do you have any proof of this?

Not really.

 

It is easy to prove that the delays are gone though. Just go to IMDB and check out the release dates for older movies in the US and Europe and then compare it to newer movies.

 

There never was any valid reason for this artificial delay. It was never difficult to make more movie rolls. It was never difficult to fly them over the ocean. It was never difficult to truck them out to all the cinemas in the world. If digital cinemas had made a breakthrough five or ten years ago, then there would be a less sinister logical explanation for the delays being gone. But they have not yet switched to digital in all movie theatres, so that is not the reason.

 

They just can't abuse their power anymore because the power balance has shifted. People all over the world now has the means to 'strike back' and suddenly the problem is solved.

That makes sense. They have to compete with pirates now, so they have to make more of an effort to distribute worldwide at the same time.

[BioWare Founders Retiring!]

You guys have to ignore that stuff. You guys actually care too much about what your fanbase thinks and you have no one to blame but yourselves for that. All your recent games come off as catering to that forum crowd full of crackpots and now your games and reputation suffers for it. Of course people are going to be vocal about it (their disappointment), you listen to everything else they say. And sad fact is you're owned by EA so you have to continue to churn out action RPGs/games. You'll never be able to make a good classic RPG like PE. And those types of games are what everyone talks about. 10 years from now I don't think anyone is going to be longing for the DA or ME series games.

 

Of course you can't blame fans for being upset at ME3's ending. It made no sense and was crazy.

The Hepler thing was blown way out of proportion by her and a few other Bioware employees who made even worse comments that just fanned the flames. Of course people are going to criticize her for those comments. Just take your licks and keep quiet about it. Those comments made it a lot worse.

 

And these articles that try to throw the brunt of the blame on the consumers are BS. Until Bioware or EA takes responsibility for their actions, none of this stuff is going to change and you'll be going through more PR disasters.

[BioWare Founders Retiring!]

Funny how Trent Oster thought it was a good idea to put that article out. It's not like people won't harass Ray and Greg more now since they're so sensitive.

 

Seems kind of BS to me, but whatever.

[Just how Easy will Easy be?]

Iron man/Hardcore waste of money? You take that back. Easy mode wastes resources too. Who cares what your GF and others like her want? She doesn't sound that smart anyways.

 

The game is being funded by players who want to see an old school RPG. They don't need to sell it to a mainstream audience. But I think it will still sell well because all people can talk about when it comes to RPGs is the older RPGs. You're not going to ever hear people talk about DA2 like that. Bioware and Bethesda will never create a truly good or classic RPG ever again. They're too focused on corporate profits and appealing to everyone. That's why their RPGs tend to be pretty bad these days. I don't care if Skyrim did 10 million copies. It was mainstream crap.

 

Yeah - the game is being Kickstarted, because it's never gonna get backed by a publisher - that doesn't mean that Obsidian don't hope to sell 500K copies of it.

It's totally a niche title, but in NO WAY are they gonna limit themselves to the 50K Kickstarter backers.

 

Now as for "Easy Mode" - there is NO WAY that the game won't have an Easy setting. You know it - I know it. The only thing that weird is that you have some kind of issue with it being there.

 

There's a reason there is no stretch goal for "Easy" or "Normal" difficulties - because every game has them.

No I have no issue with the Easy difficulty. The only reason this discussion rages on is because people come off wanting it easier than that.

 

If they wanted to just make high selling games, they would just take the first contract they could get for an action RPG that a publisher would happily fund. This is about making a great, old school RPG in their vision.

[Just how Easy will Easy be?]

But my girlfriend hates XCom, and when she plays PS:T, or Mass Effect 1,2,3 - the combat is just a barrier between her and the next character interaction. If the combat gets to frustrating, she goes and plays The Sims.

You see, your girlfriend found a solution that satisfies everybody.

 

Everyone except the company that wants to sell the game to my GF, or a sequel to that game. If putting in a "easy" mode is all it takes to make those extra sales - who cares.

 

I could care less for all these Iron Man / Hardcore modes, it's a complete waste of a stretch goal as far as I'm concerned. I'm not gonna scream about it - because it's not going to affect the way I play the game, and other people want it.

 

I have zero idea why adding an "easy" mode on the other end of the spectrum would upset you - if it's not going to affect you, and other people want it.

Iron man/Hardcore waste of money? You take that back. Easy mode wastes resources too. Who cares what your GF and others like her want? She doesn't sound that smart anyways.

 

The game is being funded by players who want to see an old school RPG. They don't need to sell it to a mainstream audience. But I think it will still sell well because all people can talk about when it comes to RPGs is the older RPGs. You're not going to ever hear people talk about DA2 like that. Bioware and Bethesda will never create a truly good or classic RPG ever again. They're too focused on corporate profits and appealing to everyone. That's why their RPGs tend to be pretty bad these days. I don't care if Skyrim did 10 million copies. It was mainstream crap.

[What would make you pledge more?]

MCA eating a banana.

[Have you played an Infinity Engine game before?]

Ban the people who didn't vote the first option.

[Just how Easy will Easy be?]

Console command: Godmode

 

Problem solved, no?

Yeah but then they wouldn't get that good ego stroking from Obsidian by beating the game legitly.

[Just how Easy will Easy be?]

No change for the game you or I will play at all.

 

Okay. If catering to casuals do not affect the game you and i will play, then why are you here? I mean, how come you found yourself in a situation where you have to resort to Kickstarter to get the game you want? How did this happen?

 

catering exclusively to them does. that's not what anyone in this thread has asked for. Not a single person. This entire thread is about an optional easy mode.

Which has already been confirmed so why is this thread still going? Why are the people who are asking for the optional easy mode asking for it to even be easier than that with features that take more time to develop and will shift the focus to making the game more about the easy mode? You guys are coming off as obnoxious.

[Just how Easy will Easy be?]

And I can't imagine a slider controlling the amount of damage enemies do is terribly resource intensive.

What can you imagine though? Not how to beat any games on Hard I bet.

[Piracy]

Something I suspect also adds to the number of gamers turning to piracy is the practice of regional price fixing. Especially noticeable when living down under. A game that costs $50 in the US typically costs between $80 and $100 down here, despite being delivered through the exact same digital distribution channel, so it's not even a question of shipping costs.

haha yeah it sucks to be an Aussie. They also like to lock you in with the Asia servers online, so you don't get to play with the Europeans or Americans who also speak English.

[Just how Easy will Easy be?]

I can't believe how many people think games should be easy just so they can run through it as quickly as possible. I guess they expect developers to stroke their egos throughout the game this way. Challenge isn't fun.

 

But on the other side of it, it hurts people with an average or higher IQ who want some challenge. Because we play it and think it's dull, easy, streamlined crap you get from Bethesda and Bioware. What to do what to do? I guess they'll have to take the easy difficulty or leave it. If you can't beat it, tough.

read the thread. or just the dev response in my post towards the top of this page.

I've already read the thread. You read it. I've already posted.

 

You people are single-handily responsible for the bastardization and decline of RPGs with your demand for easier difficulties, customizable colors/clothes, less features/classes/character customization so you don't get confused, full voice acting, crappy romances, etc.

 

You complain about RPGs today and pretend to long for RPGs of old but as soon as one comes around you're trying to turn it into Dragon Age 2/Skyrim. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

[Just how Easy will Easy be?]

I can't believe how many people think games should be easy just so they can run through it as quickly as possible. I guess they expect developers to stroke their egos throughout the game this way. Challenge isn't fun.

 

But on the other side of it, it hurts people with an average or higher IQ who want some challenge. Because we play it and think it's dull, easy, streamlined crap you get from Bethesda and Bioware. What to do what to do? I guess they'll have to take the easy difficulty or leave it. If you can't beat it, tough.

[Piracy]

That said I'm not sure that piracy serves as a consumer based risk mitigator in regard to purchases in a way that reviewers or early consumer aren't/wouldn't.

Reviewers tend to be bought and paid for by publishers. You can't tell me that reviews like DA2 getting 5/5 are accurate. Reviewers are just a part of the marketing hype machine. They never give honest reviews. Occasionally, you see reviews where the reviewer criticizes the game a bit but then still gives it a 85 or 90.

[For RP/customization sake, please allow us to keep the same "armor/weapon" look if we want for new euqipment.]

This is a terrible idea. I'm not sure why people think this would be fun. It's a RPG not the Sims.

[Romance in Project Eternity: How Important, How Much]

Even if they include them the romance crowd will still complain that they didn't live up to their standards and they would have had them a certain way or preferred to romance someone else or something like that.

[Just how Easy will Easy be?]

Casual mode:

 

Player has + 50% on health, physical and magical damage and defense

 

Enemies have - 50% on health, physical and magical damage and defense

 

Easy peasy.

[Piracy]

We both know it's no use trying to rebut the "moral" aspect of piracy, because that's not its raison d'être. You said it yourself in this very thread, even if it was just paraphrasing someone else. It's not about justice, it's not about consumer rights. It's about convenience. People pirate because warez is cleaner, easier to acquire, and to top it off, it's free. Everything else is just an excuse or an exercise in self-deceit. Now, there is a lot the industry could do to attack the real causes of piracy, and that sure as **** is not pump out half-assed sequels every odd year, protected by ever-increasingly obtrusive DRM schemes or ****ty forced-online activation platforms.

 

I find it funny that since working at BioWare, my disgust with piracy has gone up, yet my acceptance of DRM has gone down! LOL.

 

I do think it's a problem when pirates get a better user experience, though I think the idea that it's free is still the biggest motivator. Although I would challenge that the real cause of piracy is really related to half-assed sequels (though DRM likely does contribute).

I don't think DRM is really a good reason either to pirate and is a bad excuse. As long as that DRM isn't data mining on your computer, which doesn't happen anymore I think.

 

Obviously acceptance of DRM has gone down because it doesn't actually do anything to protect the game from being pirated. However, you hear the occasional stories from consumers who have encountered a bug related to it that prevents them from playing the game. Although this was more common 5+ years ago. I haven't heard anything these days. It's just an online activation and you're done. And I think it gets patched out in a lot of games so you don't need an activation if you reinstall later on too.