Company News Bioware pop quiz at XBN

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: BioWare

<a href=http://www.xbnmag.com>XBN</a> posted a <a href=http://www.xbnmag.com/article2/0,2053,1569337,00.asp>thing</a> where developers are shown screenshots of games, asked to identify them, and to comment on their relevance to a project in question. Sounds stupid, but it's a console thing. Anyway, <a href=http://www.bioware.com>Bioware</a>'s good doctors <b>Ray</b> and <b>Greg</b> talk about games and stuff:
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<blockquote><i>XBN: It's Ultima VII. How did the Ultima series influence you as RPG developers?</i>
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RM: Yeah, they were great games, and it's interesting to see, more than anything, the evolution of how Origin sort of gradually changed the different elements. From Ultima (Alkalabeth) to Ultima I, II, III, and beyond—to see how new elements kept being added in every couple of years through the '80s and the '90s, and then see the evolution into Ultima Underworld, which was one of Greg's and my top five favorite games of all time
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<i>XBN: Action games versus RPG: Which are more difficult to make? </i>
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RM: Both? There are different kinds of challenges. From our experience making both types, these are very different kinds of games to make, and they both pose significant challenges if you're going to do them well. In an RPG, some of the challenge is the sheer number of assets, the ways they interact, <b>the nonlinearity</b>, and testing all those different permutations of quests.
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<i>XBN: What do you think of it [Deus Ex]? </i>
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RM: The original game was one of our favorites. The sequel was kind of cool, too, in that the quests would branch when you set out to do a certain goal. The mutually exclusive nature of the game quests was interesting, too; you could follow only one of the paths to conclusion. </blockquote>Bio likes Deus Ex 2. Makes sense.
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[Volourn]

What you menat to say was: BIO is stupid and retarded. It's much easier to post what you mean :D

 

[dipdipdip]

Lies. If anything, that you could jump from one faction to another, never anchored down to either one no matter what you did was a large criticism many have of the game. I could insult The Believers to the point where they'd send people to kill me and then proceed to show up at their mosque business as usual.

 

[EEVIAC]

Weren't you meant to only quote one paragraph in news posts, VD? And besides, you missed this one :

You're putting a real-time fighting engine in Jade Empire, which hasn't been done before in an RPG, has it?

Bioware stand on the precipice of innovation yet again.

 

[Whipporowill]

VD is a cheat, and he forgets to put target=_blank in his links.

I think we should take him out back and shoot him. Fast.

 

[Killzig]

You're putting a real-time fighting engine in Jade Empire, which hasn't been done before in an RPG, has it?

I think mr. interviewer needs to crawl back under his rock.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

VD is a cheat, and he forgets to put target=_blank in his links.

I actually don't care much for target blanking. Most browsers have a rather handy BACK button just for things like that.

 

[Whipporowill]

I actually don't care much for target blanking. Most browsers have a rather handy BACK button just for things like that.

Maybe it's just my big european brain... but I like doing lots of thing at once - just because I can. No seriously - having to back 10 pages in a review or so, to get back here isn't always that entertaining.

 

[Seven]

I agree. I always wondred why links would take me a way from the page, and now I know... (bastards).

 

[triCritical]

You're putting a real-time fighting engine in Jade Empire, which hasn't been done before in an RPG, has it?

I think mr. interviewer needs to crawl back under his rock.

What is even more funny is that dumbshits 1 and 2 probably know it has been done before, but won't say one way or another, because they want to let the world know that they orginal. The fact that it was done on DREAMCAST, probably tells you that they really aren't pushing the envelope.

Maybe Volourn will go back to the Bioware boards and tell Dorks 1 and 2 that their cutting edge technology is actually about 4-5 years. And Shenmue probably wasn't even the original RPG to use a fighting game engine. BTW, JE also has competition because Shenmue 2 is also on the XBOX, and probably won't suck.

 

[Vault Dweller]

What you menat to say was: BIO is stupid and retarded. It's much easier to post what you mean :D

That's exactly what I posted. They publicly admitted that they like Deus Ex 2. How stupid and retarded is that?

Weren't you meant to only quote one paragraph in news posts, VD?

Rules are meant to be broken! Power to the people!!!

Maybe it's just my big european brain... but I like doing lots of thing at once - just because I can. No seriously - having to back 10 pages in a review or so, to get back here isn't always that entertaining.

Has your big european brain ever heard of "open in a new window" thingy? Nifty feature!

 

[Whipporowill]

Has your big european brain ever heard of "open in a new window" thingy? Nifty feature!

Of course I have? But with great power comes great laziness...

 

[Vault Dweller]

See, I'm keeping you from falling asleep by forcing you to perform minimum mental and physical activities. :wink:

 

[Dgaider]

They publicly admitted that they like Deus Ex 2. How stupid and retarded is that?

Oh, come on. Even if they didn't actually like Deus Ex 2, do you really think they would slag another developer's game in public? If they were anonymous dumbshits on some website maybe they could get away with slagging whomever they please, but these are people they could conceivably work with at some point.

 

[Azael]

I always open links in new tabs, man, I love Mozilla.

Oh, can't say that I'm surprised that they are being diplomatic in regards to Deus Ex 2. Then again, maybe they really liked the game.[/i]

 

[Rosh]

<blockquote><i>XBN: It's Ultima VII. How did the Ultima series influence you as RPG developers?</i>

RM: Yeah, they were great games, and it's interesting to see, more than anything, the evolution of how Origin sort of gradually changed the different elements. From Ultima (Alkalabeth) to Ultima I, II, III, and beyond—to see how new elements kept being added in every couple of years through the '80s and the '90s, and then see the evolution into Ultima Underworld, which was one of Greg's and my top five favorite games of all time

Evolution into Ultima Underworld? Are these people that hopelessly retarded and naive?

Oh, come on. Even if they didn't actually like Deus Ex 2, do you really think they would slag another developer's game in public? If they were anonymous dumbshits on some website maybe they could get away with slagging whomever they please, but these are people they could conceivably work with at some point.

That's amusing. Shall we go back to how you publicly called yourself a barely-competent developer, who would rather come up with weak reasons as an excuse for the simplicity in your work?

 

[Psilon]

Azael: Seconded re. Mozilla. I'm so used to middle-clicking links here, I don't actually notice when it's targeted differently.

Gaiderama: Well, there was the id Software .plan feud back around '98 or so. It's not unprecedented for developers to slag each other in public.

 

[Rosh]

Developers do it all the time, I don't know what kind of world Gaider is living in, but it's certainly one that reeks of some kind brainwashed at a "gaming college" and raised up in BioWare's offices. Developers slagging each other is what keeps most of them honest. Of course, slagging each other isn't allowed at BioWare, interview self-fellatio and the fellating of others seems to be their agenda, instead.

The poor, poor bastard. He never stood a chance.

 

[Dgaider]

Gaiderama: Well, there was the id Software .plan feud back around '98 or so. It's not unprecedented for developers to slag each other in public.

I guess the occasional meltdown is not unprecedented per se, but most times a developer is going to opt to be professional and be diplomatic. Ray and Greg aren't the ones who came up with the questions, after all. Given the choice, they might have elected to simply discuss other games.

Mind you, that could actually be their opinion. I doubt anything they choose to say is going to change the opinions of some, anyway.

 

[Dgaider]

Developers do it all the time, I don't know what kind of world Gaider is living in, but it's certainly one that reeks of some kind brainwashed at a "gaming college" and raised up in BioWare's offices. Developers slagging each other is what keeps most of them honest. Of course, slagging each other isn't allowed at BioWare, interview self-fellatio and the fellating of others seems to be their agenda, instead.

Right. Because being an obnoxious prick has worked so well for you it's also the obvious choice for everyone else, I assume.

 

[Rosh]

Ray and Greg aren't the ones who came up with the questions, after all.

Unfortunately they weren't talking about BioWare's games, else they might have some idea about that which they were trying to talk about. The response for the Ultima question was pricess and you don't have to belong to the UDIC to enjoy the snicker.

Then again...nonlinearity mentioned by a BioWare developer and no excuses are involved? That's especially amusing, given who says it. It actually implies that Fed-Ex is complex and nonlinear. It also implies that BioWare has some idea about what nonlinear means.

Given the choice, they might have elected to simply discuss other games.

Most likely BioWare's, of course, if the usual company line is anything to judge by.

Right. Because being an obnoxious prick has worked so well for you it's also the obvious choice for everyone else, I assume.

Better an asshole than someone who makes laughable excuses as to why they can't do anything past simplistic.

 

[triCritical]

Mind you, that could actually be their opinion. I doubt anything they choose to say is going to change the opinions of some, anyway.

You mean they actually believe the shit they say. That's hilarious, all this time I thought they were just a hype machine. Actually thats pathetic.

Actually nothing done by you're bosses has ever been cutting. NOTHING!

But you go places and you hear shit like BG first to have pause and play combat? G&R Yep, we're pushing the envelope.

WRONG!!!!!!! Its been done, at least 8 years earlier.

But you go places and you hear shit like NWN revolutionized gaming with DM client? G&R Its such a k3wl idea, why has no one ever thought of it.

WRONG!!!!!!! Its been done, at least 3 years earlier.

But you go places and you hear shit like JE will be the first game to have a fighting game engine? G&R HOT DOG, we're good watch us revolutionize gaming with our cutting edge technology.

WRONG!!!!!!! Its been done, at least 4-5 years earlier.

Go tell your bosses that they have mastered the art of spin! That they marketing whores perfect for M$, which never did anything revolutionary, but put a spin on it and called it their own. Why don't you're bosses grow some balls and give the other developers the credit they are. Fuck even egomaniac's like Newton gave their predecessors credit.

EDIT: I would give Bioware a whole lot more credit if they sold anything more then hype, and if polls can show how stupid most voters in the U.S. are then it doesn't surprise me why people actually believe the hype.

 

[Rosh]

More fun!

"GZ: There will always be ways to take elements from the great games of the past. Great console RPGs, Chrono Cross, the Final Fantasy series, and so on. As developers and fans of the great games of the past, we can take ideas from those kinds of games and merge them with other ideas and say we did it first."

There's the more accurate version.

"RM: And—in some ways—our games of the future. We're trying to enable people to have different play styles. To allow them to role-play different types of characters whether they be more action oriented, stealth oriented, thoughtful, or charismatic."

Wait...didn't the attention whores claim to have done this before? Is it just now getting through to them?

"GZ: On the pure action-game side, in a game like MDK2, it's not so much the volume of the assets, but the actions and the emergent gameplay resulting from them. When a character uses a jetpack, trying to build an environment where that doesn't cause a big problem is really tough."

That explains a LOT. No wonder pathfinding is often shit, their ability with level design is highly in question.

The rest just speaks for itself.

"RM: The original game [Deus Ex] was one of our favorites. The sequel was kind of cool, too, in that the quests would branch when you set out to do a certain goal. The mutually exclusive nature of the game quests was interesting, too; you could follow only one of the paths to conclusion. We never thought of that! Quick, gety someone to clone it and claim we did it first!

XBN: Strangely, the game maintained the illusion that the player had freedom...

GZ: That's exactly the disappointment of it, as we saw it. The technical requirements being so high, it probably had to be smaller as a result. So it felt a lot more constrained, a lot more linear, more on a direct path. Much like our games."

 

[Vault Dweller]

They publicly admitted that they like Deus Ex 2. How stupid and retarded is that?

Oh, come on. Even if they didn't actually like Deus Ex 2, do you really think they would slag another developer's game in public?

They were the ones who mentioned the sequel and its misterious cool qualities.

If they were anonymous dumbshits on some website maybe they could get away with slagging whomever they please

Flattery will get you nowhere, David

...but these are people they could conceivably work with at some point.

I guess expressing an honest opinion aint cool anymore. Instead, you gotta be politically correct, nice, and pleasant, 'cause you never know who are you going to be sucking up to tomorrow.

 

[Dgaider]

Gosh. So very, very angry. How very betrayed and misunderstood some of you seem to feel. *shrug*

My bosses will spin away as they please. I didn't claim it wasn't PR at work. That's what the media is all about. What's laughable is the derision thrown their way for it... probably because Bioware is so successful, I guess.

Care to beat your chest some more, Rosh? You sound so very impressive I feel humbled here making my excuses and all.

I guess expressing an honest opinion aint cool anymore. Instead, you gotta be politically correct, nice, and pleasant, 'cause you never know who are you going to be sucking up to tomorrow.

Is that meant to be ironic? The alternative, I suppose, is to be cool and make lots of enemies... which I suppose is fine if there was never any hope of you working with anyone anyway, sucking up or no.