Bioware is all about the sophistication.

[Wyrmlord]

It seems like a long time ago, but I recall that long before Mass Effect was even released, when its first gameplay video generated hype and excitement (2005-06-ish?), I as a 14-15-year-old thought that this RPG developer from Canada would be left clueless developing a shooter.

They had no experience in making shooters, they had no member in a team involved in the development of any significant shooters in the past, nothing. All that Mass Effect would do is have the RPG genre try to reinvent the wheel in shooters, and start several years behind the curve.

And several years behind the curve they are, even as my less astute teenage self figured. In 2012, BioWare shall do with Mass Effect series what shooters have done since 1998? That's 14 years behind the curve. That's...I don't even know how far back behind the curve that is. If you were a newly married man playing Half Life in 1998, your 13 year old son will finally discover with Mass Effect 3 what you discovered before he was born.

 

[Valestein]

ME is definitely behind the curve. They're only NOW adding features that were standard in Gears of War 1 like rolling and going from cover to cover and that game was released a year before ME1.

 

[Infinitron]

ME is definitely behind the curve. They're only NOW adding features that were standard in Gears of War 1 like rolling and going from cover to cover and that game was released a year before ME1.

The key to understanding Bioware's fanbase is that it's made up of faux-hipsternerds who pride themselves on not playing the popular "dudebro" action franchises. They don't CARE what's state of the art in Gears of War or Call of Duty. Many of them don't even know.

But, they can be eased into any action bullshit you please, if you constantly hold their hands with an EPIC plot, give them waifu romances, and tell them it's an RPG. It's like taking a shy, hesitant virgin boy to a prostitute and reassuring him "She loves you! She wants you!" so that he doesn't get cold feet and run away.
In summary, action game players are the jocks and Bioware players are the nerds - ie, they're all just a bunch of dumb high school kids. Codexers are the adults.

 

[DraQ]

And several years behind the curve they are, even as my less astute teenage self figured. In 2012, BioWare shall do with Mass Effect series what shooters have done since 1998? That's 14 years behind the curve. That's...I don't even know how far back behind the curve that is. If you were a newly married man playing Half Life in 1998, your 13 year old son will finally discover with Mass Effect 3 what you discovered before he was born.

For comparison, 14 years is almost the difference between Wolf3D and STALKER, and far more than the difference between Wolf3D and HL2, let alone HL1, Unreal or System Shock 2.

And no, being clueless noobs doesn't cut it as an excuse if amateur Unreal modders have released far more involved environments as their first maps since almost the beginning of Unreal modding scene.

 

[Ermm]

-Sophistimicated Gameplay: Objectives CHANGE WHILE YOU'RE PLAYING!!!!!. You can fall through corridors into another corridor!!11!!

Wow. In a few years they may even reach HL1 level of sophistication (optimistically speaking).

Didn't you know, that largely the stuff what was the norm before (branching paths, easter eggs, falling through corridors) nowadays is almost like a niche culture?

Nowadays mostly you fall through floor only if the cinematic epic narrative allows it.

 

[DraQ]

I just remembered falling to lower level in Lands of Lore 1, and I think it's a more apt comparison, given that it's an RPG as well.

So how many years will it be?