Anthem

[GhostofAnakin]

BG1/2 + Kotor

 

KOTOR was the game that actually got me into cRPGs.  Loved KOTOR, then went back to play every RPG released before it.

[Pidesco]

Alanschu is around, you guys.

[alanschu]

I wonder what ever happened to alanschu?

 

 

 

I wonder what ever happened to alanschu?

 

I can try to check.

 

Edit: for what it's worth, social media tells me he is still there.

 

 

 

 

I wonder what ever happened to alanschu?

I still have him on my steam friend list, so I know he's online, alive and kicking every now and then.

 

 

 

and for the record, Baldurs Gate 1+2 were Biowares best ever games!

 

 

I'm still around. Time flies and I'm about to complete my 10th year at BioWare - the past few I've been more of a QA programmer than a QA analyst which I enjoy and I get to flex my programming education a bit more. Gorth can probably corroborate that I play an awful lot of strategy games (oh Paradox Studios...) lately. And Football Manager. Because evidently I like spreadsheets!  Also recently got married and in general life has been pretty good I think!

 

As for our imminent doom, I mean it's part of the ebb and flow I find of a lot of game development studios?  People that are still waiting for Baldur's Gate 3 will think it's been all downhill since then. For some KOTOR was the peak. Others the ME Trilogy. And for still others it's the DA games. Even DA2! Just depends on what it is specifically you're looking for in a game I think?

 

I see similar arguments for studios like Bethesda, Blizzard, or even Obsidian! Daggerfall was the best... or Morrowind... or Skyrim.  I loved Doom, but Quake never grabbed me. Commander Keen games were meh while Duke 3D was amazing. Oh the time I spent into Warcraft and Starcraft games, but I suspect far more enjoy Overwatch. And I'm pretty sure Diablo 3 is most popular Diablo, even if a hefty amount wholly prefer Diablo 2 over anything else.  Obsidian's highlight for me is Fallout: New Vegas, but I also really enjoyed Alpha Protocol (flawed diamond it was) and wasn't really pulled into Pillars of Eternity but Tyranny had me binge two playthroughs of it pretty much back to back.

 

I'm certainly not impartial but definitely not hoping that we get shuttered. I'm not overly concerned in any case and Anthem's launch not causing me any sort of dread or worry for whatever it's worth. But hey, 15 year veterans of Blizzard felt the same. It could happen... I suppose we shall see.  Though I'm enjoying it because my current work has been really interesting and doing loads of Python/C#/C++ work in and around the game code which feels pretty cool.

 

Anyhoo, thanks Pidesco for the link. They had mentioned that a few old timers like G1fted (whom I foolishly mistook for Gorth for a moment... too many floating skull/head avatars!!!) and just wanted to chime in for any that were curious.

 

 

Cheers.

 

Allan

[Gorth]

Anyhoo, thanks Pidesco for the link. They had mentioned that a few old timers like G1fted (whom I foolishly mistook for Gorth for a moment... too many floating skull/head avatars!!!) and just wanted to chime in for any that were curious.

 

Nooo... I has an identity crisis!

 

Good to see you again Allan and good to hear you not running around with a bullseye painted on you

 

I don't generally share what people on my friends lists do

[alanschu]

 

Anyhoo, thanks Pidesco for the link. They had mentioned that a few old timers like G1fted (whom I foolishly mistook for Gorth for a moment... too many floating skull/head avatars!!!) and just wanted to chime in for any that were curious.

 

Nooo... I has an identity crisis!

 

Good to see you again Allan and good to hear you not running around with a bullseye painted on you

 

I don't generally share what people on my friends lists do

 

I still remember the time I accidentally called Deraldin Deladrin!

 

And I screwed up Gfted1 by calling him G1fted! D:

 

And I totally took Kaiserslautern from German Div 3 to Champions League Champions! Suck it Bayern!

[Gorth]

One of those European things I miss occasionally... watching Bundesliga matches on the weekends on TV

[Katphood]

At this point, the only thing that can save BioWare is a name change: BoyoWare

[Amentep]

I've actually liked most of the Bioware games. While I'll discuss what does/doesn't work IMO with any of them, I've still enjoyed and put a lot of time in them. I think the released Bioware games I haven't played are Shattered Steel, MDK2, and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood and now Anthem.

 

Since I have no interest in playing online, I'll never buy and play Anthem.  Personally, though, if the next game Bioware announces is single player, I'll keep an eye on it and see if its something that interests me.  And hopefully it will be, as I think the rumor is a Dragon Age game is in development.   If they continue going after online multiplayer gaming, then I won't; no hard feelings but that's a market I'm just not going to be a part of.

[MrBrown]

They already had that tease video of DA4, and are spamming the hashtag, so it's most certainly in development. Who knows what will end up happening to it, and what it will be like, though.

[Chilloutman]

Last game from Bio I liked was Mass Effect 2, everything released after it was really not my cup of tea (I am willing to play ME3 after there is some mega super collectors edition with all those pesky DLCs in one package)

[injurai]

They already had that tease video of DA4, and are spamming the hashtag, so it's most certainly in development. Who knows what will end up happening to it, and what it will be like, though.

 

Yeah, so I guess that means BioWare won't get killed off by EA anyways. Inquisition won game of the year when it came out. It was a weak year though.

[Hurlshort]

I'd say it's fair to be concerned about Bioware as a consumer. It seems like they damaged the Mass Effect IP with Andromeda, and that was in their wheelhouse. Now Anthem is generating a negative buzz, and that is an attempt to launch a new IP for them. They do seem to be in need of a hit. I just don't see why I would root for such a thing. Sure, there is this idea that they have lost sight of the date they brought to the dance with Anthem, but you also don't want to be a stagnant company that does not adjust with the market.

 

I'm rooting for a solid Dragon Age 4 and an eventual return to the ME universe. 

 

Or Jade Empire 2!  

[GhostofAnakin]

Last game from Bio I liked was Mass Effect 2, everything released after it was really not my cup of tea (I am willing to play ME3 after there is some mega super collectors edition with all those pesky DLCs in one package)

 

I liked ME3 well enough until the end.  It was streamlined, which kind of sucked but didn't kill it for me, but the ending is the only thing I really didn't like about ME3.

 

I liked DA Inquisition well enough.  Again, it felt streamlined and the side quests felt really poor quality, especially since Witcher 3 came out around the same time and hit it out of the park with the side content.  But overall, DAI was fine.

 

ME Andromeda is where Bio really started to sag for me.  And from the sounds of it (both in terms of comments from fans and from reviewers) Anthem is taking it down another few notches.

[Hurlshort]

I never bought Andromeda for one reason...it isn't on Steam. It's not a protest or anything, it's just I only log into Origin on the rare occasion, but I log into Steam every day, and every day I see that store page, and every day some game on my radar pops up, and eventually I end up buying them all. But I never really get reminded that I haven't bought Andromeda, or that it is now on sale, so I still haven't picked it up. So I'd say EA can fix some issues by simply opening themselves up to all outlets.

[Gorth]

Steam is my go to platform for multiplayer games, but having the Bioware games on Origin doesn't really bother me to be honest. Where I did get pissed off a lot was when I literally had no internet for weeks and it wouldn't let me play any of my old, bought games.

 

As mentioned, in DA2 the characters were the saving grace for me and it's probably, together with BG2 the games I keep replaying once or twice a year. ME3 was a mixed bag with some very high highs and low lows. Overall I liked it, just quit your game before the end :D

 

Never bought Andromeda and failed 3 times to get into DA:I, failed less than an hour each time. I'll still see if I can't get an actual game going in the latter though, although it is up against some stiff competition in Witcher 3 for my limited spare time.

[evilcat]

Every dead body is foundation for new life.

Obsidian, CPR, Larian, Harebrained Schemes (Shadowrun lads), will carry the torch.

There is also Dontnod and Spiders, yes i know they are not best now, but they keep working, so maybe in future will made something really good.

There are also Open Word games with different level of plot and quests.

Edited February 27, 2019 by evilcat

[marelooke]

I never bought Andromeda for one reason...it isn't on Steam. It's not a protest or anything, it's just I only log into Origin on the rare occasion, but I log into Steam every day, and every day I see that store page, and every day some game on my radar pops up, and eventually I end up buying them all. But I never really get reminded that I haven't bought Andromeda, or that it is now on sale, so I still haven't picked it up. So I'd say EA can fix some issues by simply opening themselves up to all outlets.

 

Similar issue here. After ME3 and DA:I I didn't really want to play Andromeda, and definitely not at the release price, barring rave reviews (and we know how that went). If it had been more in my face I'd probably have picked it up in a sale by now though, if only to see what's what. But it only being on Origin and there not really being any reason for me to check Origin all the time it just never happened.

 

[Orogun01]

Steam is my go to platform for multiplayer games, but having the Bioware games on Origin doesn't really bother me to be honest. Where I did get pissed off a lot was when I literally had no internet for weeks and it wouldn't let me play any of my old, bought games.

 

As mentioned, in DA2 the characters were the saving grace for me and it's probably, together with BG2 the games I keep replaying once or twice a year. ME3 was a mixed bag with some very high highs and low lows. Overall I liked it, just quit your game before the end :D

 

Never bought Andromeda and failed 3 times to get into DA:I, failed less than an hour each time. I'll still see if I can't get an actual game going in the latter though, although it is up against some stiff competition in Witcher 3 for my limited spare time.

DA2 sometimes fell into the "so bad that it is good" area for me, it was just atrocious. I recall just laughing whenever Sebastian (a DLC companion) spoke up in cutscenes and every other companion just ignored him.

Bioware is dying but its because they can't make games like the ones that made them famous. They've been a fun trainwreck for a long time.

[injurai]

I'd say it's fair to be concerned about Bioware as a consumer. It seems like they damaged the Mass Effect IP with Andromeda, and that was in their wheelhouse. Now Anthem is generating a negative buzz, and that is an attempt to launch a new IP for them. They do seem to be in need of a hit. I just don't see why I would root for such a thing. Sure, there is this idea that they have lost sight of the date they brought to the dance with Anthem, but you also don't want to be a stagnant company that does not adjust with the market.

 

I'm rooting for a solid Dragon Age 4 and an eventual return to the ME universe. 

 

Or Jade Empire 2!  

 

If BioWare can capture some of the Chinese market with Jade Empire reboot, they could make a fortune.

[Vitalis]

 

I'd say it's fair to be concerned about Bioware as a consumer. It seems like they damaged the Mass Effect IP with Andromeda, and that was in their wheelhouse. Now Anthem is generating a negative buzz, and that is an attempt to launch a new IP for them. They do seem to be in need of a hit. I just don't see why I would root for such a thing. Sure, there is this idea that they have lost sight of the date they brought to the dance with Anthem, but you also don't want to be a stagnant company that does not adjust with the market.

 

I'm rooting for a solid Dragon Age 4 and an eventual return to the ME universe.

 

Or Jade Empire 2!

If BioWare can capture some of the Chinese market with Jade Empire reboot, they could make a fortune.

The negative reaction to "white folks" making the first Jade Empire is what canned that franchise.

[injurai]

Not like wuxia is any more authentic, but I'd wager the games industry is diversified enough that a reboot wouldn't even run the risk of that stigma. Especially if they fill quotas for key lead roles.

[Pidesco]

 

 

I'd say it's fair to be concerned about Bioware as a consumer. It seems like they damaged the Mass Effect IP with Andromeda, and that was in their wheelhouse. Now Anthem is generating a negative buzz, and that is an attempt to launch a new IP for them. They do seem to be in need of a hit. I just don't see why I would root for such a thing. Sure, there is this idea that they have lost sight of the date they brought to the dance with Anthem, but you also don't want to be a stagnant company that does not adjust with the market.

 

I'm rooting for a solid Dragon Age 4 and an eventual return to the ME universe.

 

Or Jade Empire 2!

If BioWare can capture some of the Chinese market with Jade Empire reboot, they could make a fortune.

The negative reaction to "white folks" making the first Jade Empire is what canned that franchise.

 

 

What canned Jade Empire is that it wasn't very good.

[Zoraptor]

That's part of it, see below, but from the financial side Jade Empire mostly got canned because it didn't sell well after its initial launch window*.

 

Jade Empire was a 20 hour game that somehow felt like it was a 200 hour trudge and with a unique setting that somehow felt more generic than the fricking Sword Coast. I'm sure there's potential for a good Chinese RPG in the vast and varied history and mythology of that country, I'm equally sure that JE will not be the franchise to bring it to us.

 

*and allegedly cost MS a lot of money, not so much because it sold poorly in absolute terms but because MS was selling the xbox hardware at a loss and had to sell ~4 games per unit to make the loss leader back. Lots of Bioware fans buying an xbox just for JE (and maybe KOTOR if they didn't have it on PC already) cost MS more money than just the amount they paid for exclusivity.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Zoraptor

[Manveru123]

Every dead body is foundation for new life.

Obsidian, CPR, Larian, Harebrained Schemes (Shadowrun lads), will carry the torch.

There is also Dontnod and Spiders, yes i know they are not best now, but they keep working, so maybe in future will made something really good.

There are also Open Word games with different level of plot and quests.

Most of the companies you mentioned make turn-based RPG games. Not really something BioWare cares about, so not a replacement. Also, Obsidian already sold themselves to MS just as BW sold to EA, the result will probably be similar.

 

And by CPR you mean that BioWare needs CPR because it's about to die or something?

[pmp10]

Every dead body is foundation for new life.

And that new life will likely be formed around better micro-transactions in another battle-royale.

Bioware may never come back to traditional RPGs but let's not kid ourselves that any replacement for them would either.