Game News EA has ruined BioWare

[Sceptic]

I mean, is it any wonder that why multiple people have suddenly been running here going “OMG” look at the Metacritic user reviews!” when nobody has ever done that before? Seriously.

So Gaider thinks that no one had ever heard of or used Metacritic user reviews until DA2 came along?

And then people wonder why we call him a retard.

Bioware has been steadily declining for the best part of the last decade.

I will totally agree with this one

 

[DraQ]

Besides, if one considers Baldur's Gate 2 as the best game Bioware has ever created (or NWN like Volly), then Bioware has been steadily declining for the best part of the last decade. EA had nothing to do with it.

Well EA did deliver coup de grace with its trademark Reverse Midas Touch, but Bioware's history was essentially BG1 (90s oblivious) -> steep incline -> BG2 -> long, steady declining slope of recycled plots and characters.

Also, somebody please repair/replace racofer. Has EA touched him as well?

 

[Hysael]

If that's true then hats off to EA, one shitty company less.

Congratulation !

You sir, are RETARDED

 

[Kaanyrvhok]

Wait, a console gaming article complaining about the "dumbing down" of games?

It has come this far.

It was always like this. Nothing has changed. One of the main reasons why PC RPGs have sold so well on consoles (since Morrowind) is that they were believed to have more depth than JRPGs. I'm not a big fan of Origins but the reality is it and FO 3 had obviously more roleplayingness than BGDA and FO BoS. If button mashing was the hook BGDA and FO BoS would have sold in the multi millions.

 

[Volourn]

"by the gamer for the gamer".

Isn't this Interplay's motto not BIO's?

I'm sorry dudes. I've been playing BG1 (or trying to at least), and every single one of BIO's games since then is better. BG just doens't hold up.

 

[Kaanyrvhok]

No ( read my sig plz. ). And when Spaniards came there were something actually to destroy, while here... Oh why I bother...

lol...
I'm just providing the dumb hollywood analogy after watching Apocalypto. From that perspect I would agree that Bioware was already in a bad way.I thought Origins was their worse offering. You can pin much of this on EA. Again I'm no fan of Origins but the changes from Origins to DA 2 were that of the out of touch overanlyzations of greedy marketing 'experts'.

 

[Daemongar]

"by the gamer for the gamer".

Isn't this Interplay's motto not BIO's?

I'm sorry dudes. I've been playing BG1 (or trying to at least), and every single one of BIO's games since then is better. BG just doens't hold up.

I am pretty Bio's is "We created worlds"

 

[Reptilian Shapeshifter]

EA took Bioware's already rotting corpse and gave it a bit of a mangling for good measure.

From this...

To this...

 

[Black]

If that's true then hats off to EA, one shitty company less.

Congratulation !

You sir, are RETARDED

That's hilarious, coming from a french guy.
When EA closes bioware, I expect you to wave your white flag, like a good frog.

 

[Vibalist]

I wonder what David Gaider has to say to the fact that it's not just the users on Metacritic, but also a bunch of journalists who dislike DA2.
Still a 4chan conspiracy?

 

[mediocrepoet]

EA took Bioware's already rotting corpse and gave it a bit of a mangling for good measure.

*img snip*

Poor Chris Priestly. What did they do to Bioware's beloved, corpulent mascot?

In other news, I'd like to see if Gaider's bosses thought that the metacritic user ratings coupled with shit sales warranted more of an internal response than, "Denial! Codex/4chan conspiracies!" Maybe an internal reality check would get him to remove his tinfoil hat and make him stop acting like such a douche queen on their forums. (Granted, I'd like to see Stanley Woo and Mike Laidlaw get fired, but y'know... I'm petty.)

 

[Befuddled Halfling]

Poor Chris Priestly. What did they do to Bioware's beloved, corpulent mascot?

Racofer - PLEASE work your magic. PriestlyMother lovechild. As to EA ruining BioWare - this is what BioWare employees think:

"Good company before EA buyout"

"EA is destroying what was once a good company"

"Advice to Senior Management - Keep watching out for the little guy, and pushing the senior leadership within EA to raise the quality bar for our projects"

"Advice to Senior Management - Do not treat the contract employees as if they are juvenile delinquents in a boarding school. Be more sympathetic to work/life balance issues. You're making a GAME, not curing cancer."

"Over two-thirds of the employees are contract workers. This creates a very distinct caste system between the "have's" (the full time employees) and the "have not's" (the contract workers)"

"there is an expectation that the employee will sacrifice their lives and the lives of their families to work whatever overtime hours the supervisors demand. One "crunch" period consisted of 12 straight days of work. 7 of those 12 were 12 HOUR days."

Source http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/BioWare-Reviews-E22998.htm

 

[jiujitsu]

Yea, Bioware selling out to EA was a pretty nasty blow to the RPG genre, but as far as money is concerned they are going to do better this way. Them doing well doesn't mean shit to me if they don't produce games I like, but that's the way of the world.

There are more than enough good RPGs that I can replay every year and feel okay. I'm replaying PS:T right now and it's sweet as always. Oh, and at least we still have Obsidian. They are at least capable of making a decent RPG. MotB, FNV, hell even KotoR 2 was mostly cool and fun to play when it came out.

Anyway, Bioware sucks blahblah.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Besides, if one considers Baldur's Gate 2 as the best game Bioware has ever created (or NWN like Volly), then Bioware has been steadily declining for the best part of the last decade. EA had nothing to do with it.

Well EA did deliver coup de grace with its trademark Reverse Midas Touch, but Bioware's history was essentially BG1 (90s oblivious) -> steep incline -> BG2 -> long, steady declining slope of recycled plots and characters.

Except that BG2 was a steep decline after PST.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

"Advice to Senior Management - Keep watching out for the little guy, and pushing the senior leadership within EA to raise the quality bar for our projects"

"Advice to Senior Management - Do not treat the contract employees as if they are juvenile delinquents in a boarding school. Be more sympathetic to work/life balance issues. You're making a GAME, not curing cancer."

"Over two-thirds of the employees are contract workers. This creates a very distinct caste system between the "have's" (the full time employees) and the "have not's" (the contract workers)"

"there is an expectation that the employee will sacrifice their lives and the lives of their families to work whatever overtime hours the supervisors demand. One "crunch" period consisted of 12 straight days of work. 7 of those 12 were 12 HOUR days."

Source http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/BioWare-Reviews-E22998.htm

Bioware - we wear out lives.

but as far as money is concerned they are going to do better this way.

I'm sure pegging enthusiasts Muzyka and Zeschuk are doing better after selling Bio, half the edmonton crew however risks getting reassigned in 3 years' time.

 

[DraQ]

Besides, if one considers Baldur's Gate 2 as the best game Bioware has ever created (or NWN like Volly), then Bioware has been steadily declining for the best part of the last decade. EA had nothing to do with it.

Well EA did deliver coup de grace with its trademark Reverse Midas Touch, but Bioware's history was essentially BG1 (90s oblivious) -> steep incline -> BG2 -> long, steady declining slope of recycled plots and characters.

Except that BG2 was a steep decline after PST.

Except PST wasn't biowhore's game.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

"by the gamer for the gamer".

Isn't this Interplay's motto not BIO's?

I'm sorry dudes. I've been playing BG1 (or trying to at least), and every single one of BIO's games since then is better. BG just doens't hold up.

I am pretty Bio's is "We created worlds"

"We create worlds" was Origin.

 

[Black]

Yea, Bioware selling out to EA was a pretty nasty blow to the RPG genre

Really? What good bioware did to rpg genre?

 

[Daemongar]

"by the gamer for the gamer".

Isn't this Interplay's motto not BIO's?

I'm sorry dudes. I've been playing BG1 (or trying to at least), and every single one of BIO's games since then is better. BG just doens't hold up.

I am pretty Bio's is "We created worlds"

"We create worlds" was Origin.

At Origin's bonfire to celebrate their company closing it's doors, the shirts read "We Created Worlds." Just drawing parallels between Origin and Bioware, tis all.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

Yea, Bioware selling out to EA was a pretty nasty blow to the RPG genre

Really? What good bioware did to rpg genre?

They provided themselves as an example of how a developer should not do a rpg.

 

[SuicideBunny]

Yea, Bioware selling out to EA was a pretty nasty blow to the RPG genre

Really? What good bioware did to rpg genre?

bg2 was a pretty good standard fantasy rpg, nwn broke the ice for mainstream rpg dev tools due to the toolset being polished, accessible and it coming with a really really nice gm client (unlike previous attempts at such things) and at the very least bioware are partially responsible for us getting kotor2 and more importantly motb.

 

[MetalCraze]

EA is to Bioware what the Spaniards were to the Mayans.

I didn't know Spaniards gave Mayans unbelievable riches while asking only low grade goods in return?

Except that BG2 was a steep decline after PST.

How so? BG2 is a better game. Has better combat. And is replayable.

 

[Kalin]

A Bioware product was the leader in it's field, innovative, deep, lengthy and polished. Did the end of that process begin in 2007 when EA took the to the helm?

Nope, it came about in 2001 with the release of Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal.

 

[Volourn]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

[Black]

Yea, Bioware selling out to EA was a pretty nasty blow to the RPG genre

Really? What good bioware did to rpg genre?

bg2 was a pretty good standard fantasy rpg, nwn broke the ice for mainstream rpg dev tools due to the toolset being polished, accessible and it coming with a really really nice gm client (unlike previous attempts at such things) and at the very least bioware are partially responsible for us getting kotor2 and more importantly motb.

Bg2 was horrible, terrible as an rpg, toolset for nwn was nice, too bad they dropped the idea of releasing tool-sets for their other games. And as for kotor 2/motb, I'm still inclined to give Obsidian my thanks here, not bioware.