Which game made you give up on Bioware?

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

Hard to say exactly when, but it'd probably be Dragon Age 2, which was a game that found new ways to reveal how shit it was the further you went along. That was probably the first time their bad traits combined with just out and out laziness in a way it never had before. Mass Effect 2 was like a sign they couldn't be bothered to flesh out theif own ideas, but Dragon Age just felt like they didn't even give a shit.

Tried the demo for Mass Effect 3, but that was full of such shitty level layouts for a third person shooter I just went back to Binary Domain

 

[Iznaliu]

The best thing that could happen to us, Bioware & EA is for everyone to forgive & forget, and a PROPER sequel to DA:O to arrive. Now that is high fantasy though.

That will never happen, since admitting you have failed is setting yourself up for failure.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

BioWare clearly has no interest in returning to what they did. They want to make action oriented games now, which wouldn't necessary be so bad if they weren't so terrible at it. If they were smart they would have just ripped off Dragon's Dogma as hard as they possibly could for Dragon Age Inquisition. They want to do action, may as well look at people that know what they're doing.

 

[fantadomat]

BioWare clearly has no interest in returning to what they did. They want to make action oriented games now, which wouldn't necessary be so bad if they weren't so terrible at it. If they were smart they would have just ripped off Dragon's Dogma as hard as they possibly could for Dragon Age Inquisition. They want to do action, may as well look at people that know what they're doing.

This would be true if there was anyone left from bioware in bioware. Most people left the sinking ship by now.

 

[Sensuki]

Played Dragon Age and completed it, and threw my DVD's over the fence. So I completely wrote that series completely off.

However since I LOVE SCI-FI, and had an absolute BLAST with Mass Effect 2, I held out for Mass Effect 3....

And then the 100% focus on multi-player gaming started to show up in all the design decisions. Finished it and that was the end of BioWare for me. I didn't give a shit about the ending stuff, that was of little to no concern compared to the rest of the damage the focus on multi-player had on the game (among other things).

And that's when I said good-bye and good riddance. Because you are now completely and utterly dead.

My experience was the same. Played DA once to completion (completed all origin stories first tho), never played again and didn't play DA2 or DAI. Enjoyed ME1 & ME2, completed ME3, hated it and will never play a BioWare game again.

Funny though, I've finished every BioWare game I've played. Every one. With the exception of Dragon Age and ME3, I've completed all of them multiple times.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

BioWare clearly has no interest in returning to what they did. They want to make action oriented games now, which wouldn't necessary be so bad if they weren't so terrible at it. If they were smart they would have just ripped off Dragon's Dogma as hard as they possibly could for Dragon Age Inquisition. They want to do action, may as well look at people that know what they're doing.

This would be true if there was anyone left from bioware in bioware. Most people left the sinking ship by now.

The doctors were still there when Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Dragon Age 2 were made; so even looking at it that way it's still true. BioWare isn't where they are because of EA, they're there because this is what they wanted to do. It's a sinking ship of their own making.

 

[fantadomat]

BioWare clearly has no interest in returning to what they did. They want to make action oriented games now, which wouldn't necessary be so bad if they weren't so terrible at it. If they were smart they would have just ripped off Dragon's Dogma as hard as they possibly could for Dragon Age Inquisition. They want to do action, may as well look at people that know what they're doing.

This would be true if there was anyone left from bioware in bioware. Most people left the sinking ship by now.

The doctors were still there when Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Dragon Age 2 were made; so even looking at it that way it's still true. BioWare isn't where they are because of EA, they're there because this is what they wanted to do. It's a sinking ship of their own making.

They were and then they decided to fuck off because EA is shit. There is nothing wrong with making action rpgs like Jade Empire and Mass Effect.

 

[Cael]

It's not their games that did that, it's EA. Selling your studio to EA is like signing a contract with Gaunter O' Dimm.

Or, as they say here: How do you get a small/medium enterprise (SME)? Give a large corporation to the Kiwis... and wait.

 

[fantadomat]

It's not their games that did that, it's EA. Selling your studio to EA is like signing a contract with Gaunter O' Dimm.

Or, as they say here: How do you get a small/medium enterprise (SME)? Give a large corporation to the Kiwis... and wait.

We really need more diversity in ruling parties in big corporations. Will be fun to see them crumble in half decade.

 

[ilitarist]

NWN1 was the lowest they reached.

Non-engaging boring combat with dumb AI bots was what you'll later see in Mass Effect 2. Story... It was bad. I don't think they ever gotten that low again. Yes, Dragon Age 2 wasn't good but it had some interesting characters. Mass Effect Andromeda is repetetive and unoriginal but it's not offensive like supergeneric NWN story.

Mass Effect Andromeda gameplay is the best one BioWare had ever produced, maybe Dragon Age Origins is on the same level. So I don't think right now BioWare looks bad. It looked bad after NWN but than KotOR and Jade Empire where greata. It looked bad after Dragon Age 2 but ME3 and DA Inquisition were ok, if not great.

 

[fantadomat]

NWN1 was the lowest they reached.

Non-engaging boring combat with dumb AI bots was what you'll later see in Mass Effect 2. Story... It was bad. I don't think they ever gotten that low again. Yes, Dragon Age 2 wasn't good but it had some interesting characters. Mass Effect Andromeda is repetetive and unoriginal but it's not offensive like supergeneric NWN story.

Mass Effect Andromeda gameplay is the best one BioWare had ever produced, maybe Dragon Age Origins is on the same level. So I don't think right now BioWare looks bad. It looked bad after NWN but than KotOR and Jade Empire where greata. It looked bad after Dragon Age 2 but ME3 and DA Inquisition were ok, if not great.

 

[Atlet]

I'll post this again, but when I saw this in Dragon Age Origins, I never felt gayer in my life. I put the game down, and while I returned about a year later and finished it, the damage was already done. I just started questioning all the games I was playing and now have lost all enthusiasm for newer rpgs...

Read the comments on YT.

i.e: "This song always sends shivers down my spine and makes me emotional"

 

[anvi]

NWN1 was the lowest they reached.

Non-engaging boring combat with dumb AI bots was what you'll later see in Mass Effect 2. Story... It was bad.

Are you even aware NWN1 was basically some make your own game software?

 

[GloomFrost]

Defiantly DA 2. The only game i hate more is probably f3. The last straw was the joke about fisting when you have that faggot blond elf and a dwarf in your party. After that i switched off the game and asked myself What am i doing with my life?? Retarded developers comments didnt help, i m talking about "press a button for AWESOME" and ofcourse some stupid slut talking about that she doesnt even know how to use a mini map therefore all games have to be dumbed down.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

They were and then they decided to fuck off because EA is shit. There is nothing wrong with making action rpgs like Jade Empire and Mass Effect.

There isn't anything wrong with making action RPGs. They just aren't good at action, which makes it a problem.

I know people like blaming big bad EA for everything, but BioWare being what they are just seems to be BioWare's own making. The doctors didn't have anything negative to say about EA when they left, no parting shots, think one of them even said something about how EA basically let them do whatever, and gave them enough rope to hang themselves.

 

[anvi]

^ I agree but Bioware did some great work in the past, I think they would have got around to it again eventually. BG2 is still one of the best RPGs I've ever played. KOTOR was pretty good. NWN1 the campaign was dull but it was a big deal to create such an advanced piece of software back then, a lot of scope in releasing what was basically a toolkit to let people make their own games and multiplayer servers, back in the 90s.... The whole thing was probably programmed in machine code or some shit, it's not like today for companies doing the same sort of thing like DOS2. Also the 2 expansions were pretty fun Shadows of Urinetide and Hoardes of the Underpants especially was fun. Jade Empire was kind of a failure yet I think it was a successful experiment in that it showed how an action RPG could be made with a few stats to give it a bit of depth and customisation, but it was mostly an action based experience with a bit of story and some interesting new ideas for combat.

I think in the future they would have gone on to make a BG3 and it would have been epic. And they would have done Jade Empire 2 which would have been far more popular. They could have been the big company behind the best hardcore RPGs, AND the best action RPGs. But they ran out of steam at the time the game industry went big budget, and now they are in EA shackles they will never make anything good again.

 

[agentorange]

baldur's gate 2

 

[Doma]

Mass Effect 2

 

[Lord_Potato]

Seems that Dragon Age 2 was the biggest cultprit.

Mass Effect 2 was not so bad. Although it seemed dumbed down from ME, there were still things to like. I am thinking especially about the final mission. Everything you've done in the course of the game lead to it and you could see the consequences of your choices. Upgraded the weapons of Normandy? You get to destroy the Collectors' ship. You cared about your team? More people survive etc.

On the other hand Dragon Age 2 was an obvious cash grab. Short production cycle, recycled locations, tiny area to explore. Story also wasn't great. And they removed the tactical layer of the previous game. What a wasted potential. I managed to finish it somehow, but never came back to see any new Bioware game.

 

[Blaine]

It wasn't any one game that made me give up on BioWare, although DA2 and ME3 (which I didn't play) definitely stand out as the hard line in the sand.

It was the general infestation of SJWs and fan fiction-tier shitty writing, which seemed to begin to creep up on everyone starting with maybe Dragon Age and only later fully metastasized. DA, ME1, and possibly ME2 were pretty okay for what they were during a time of severe RPG drought, but after that the shit smell was obvious.

 

[fantadomat]

They were and then they decided to fuck off because EA is shit. There is nothing wrong with making action rpgs like Jade Empire and Mass Effect.

There isn't anything wrong with making action RPGs. They just aren't good at action, which makes it a problem.

I know people like blaming big bad EA for everything, but BioWare being what they are just seems to be BioWare's own making. The doctors didn't have anything negative to say about EA when they left, no parting shots, think one of them even said something about how EA basically let them do whatever, and gave them enough rope to hang themselves.

I too will prize EA if they give me a a dozen millions. If they were able do good action it wouldn't have been rpgs. It would have been like asscreed origins or wolfenstein 2.

 

[Cael]

The reason DA2 is the biggest culprit MIGHT be the fact that it came out before the others like FO3 and ME2? I am a bit hazy on the timelines, so I might have had that wrong. Therefore, it copped the lion's share of the drop outs and while the same people might hate FO3 or ME2 with equal or greater intensity, DA2 already turned them off Bioware and the poll only asked for the first one that did.

 

[RNGsus]

Jade Empire 2

 

[anvi]

The reason DA2 is the biggest culprit MIGHT be the fact that it came out before the others like FO3 and ME2? I am a bit hazy on the timelines, so I might have had that wrong. Therefore, it copped the lion's share of the drop outs and while the same people might hate FO3 or ME2 with equal or greater intensity, DA2 already turned them off Bioware and the poll only asked for the first one that did.

DA2 was just so bad. I mean Origins wasn't perfect but it was at least a functioning RPG albeit simplified and a bit half baked. But DA2 was fucking ridiculous. You had a party yet you couldn't do anything with them, you couldn't pick their skills or spells anymore, you couldn't open their inventory and do anything with their gear anymore, there was basically no point there even being 'companions', should have just made it a single character dumb action game. Also they tried to make the combat more exciting and less waiting for the right time to press your spell or whatever (ie: tactics). So they made it so that all characters would just start quickly autoattacking as soon as battle begins. It maybe seemed like a good idea on paper but for most of the trash mobs, (which is like 99% of the game), the auto attacks from everyone would do a lot of the work. So it felt like I barely needed to do anything anymore, just press a few numbers and help it along. Also they removed the tactical camera view that lets you look down on the battlefield which was kind of a defining feature of the first game. You could travel and shop and stuff in the over the shoulder camera view which was nice and immersive and gave a good view of the game world, and you can even fight like that, but when it came to the more challenging battles, you scroll outwards and upwards and you get a nice almost top down view to do stuff accurately. It was like the one thing keeping it a tactical RPG, and they removed that.

So I was pissed off early into the game. Then they had this one dungeon that I ran through early in the game, return to the city, and I get another quest for somewhere else, only it is the exact same dungeon... Not sure if some of the enemies were changed or what, but either way it was the same dungeon (and not even a big one). I didn't even notice at first, I figured it was just returning to the same place to clear it again or something. Then I get another quest and yep, same fucking dungeon, and now I am thinking wtf why do I keep getting sent to this same place? Then I do some screwing around in the town, and then get sent to a dungeon, and it was the same one... Never uninstalled something so angrily before. Imagine how enraged I would have been if I paid for it.

Also for me it is not just that they made a terrible piece of shit, but it also is defiling the (kind of) good name of Dragon Age Origins. They had a decent start to a new series there, and it could have been awesome if they built upon it. But instead they gleefully raped and pillaged that shit into the ground and it was like a massive FUCK YOU to their own audience. I mean incompetence or missing the mark is one thing, and then there is happily middle fingering your entire audience, and with DA2 they went full on second option. I knew at that point it wasn't even Bioware anymore, it was just another EA walking corpse.

 

[Iznaliu]

there was basically no point there even being 'companions'

Don't you realise that the point is so you can romance them?