Game News Ian Frazier of Ultima: Lazarus Fame To Be Lead Designer on Mass Effect 4

[FeelTheRads]

One thing is for certain: Ian won't be posting on the Codex anymore -- EA/Bioware must prohibit it contractually. Right, @tibermoon?

Huh, them too? Wasn't it Bethesda that did that?

Good to know the butthurt reaches such heights (lows?).

 

[RK47]

Should've brought in Michael Bay instead.

 

[catfood]

Good for you, @tibermoon . Though I won't even bother torrenting a Bioware game.

 

[Brotherman Bill]

One thing is for certain: Ian won't be posting on the Codex anymore -- EA/Bioware must prohibit it contractually. Right, @tibermoon?

Huh, them too? Wasn't it Bethesda that did that?

Didn't you see him just posting here? I'd wager it was Gaiders butthurt more than anything that stopped him.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Wait...

They're making a Mass Effect 4?

 

[Xeon]

I wonder what kind of villain 4 will have.

In the first it was perfect, One being from a very mysterious race capable of annihilating worlds. The second an abomination. The third went full derp.

Edit:
Congratulations tibermoon

 

[Leimreу]

Kingdoms Of Amalur were garbage. As impossible as it may sound, Mass Effect franchise might hit a new low.

 

[Servo]

Wait...

They're making a Mass Effect 4?

That was basically my first reaction as well. I thought ME3 was the end

Maybe I should finish that game and find out what all the fuss was about.

 

[Gurkog]

Mass Effect 4: The Search For a Cure to the STDs That You Picked Up From a Drunken one Night Stand With Some Asari Strippers.

 

[Stabwound]

Congrats to this guy, I guess. It seems like being a notable/successful game modder is a good way to get your foot in the door of real game development. The guy who did MedianXL for Diablo 2 now works on Path of Exile, for example. There are other examples that I can't think of off the top of my head, but I think one of the guys who was working on the Planescape NWN2 mod got hired by a major company, too.

Having said that... yeah, no thanks to ME4. If they made an actual sci-fi RPG, awesome, but the way the series is going it will eventually just be a full-on action game with gay sex and weapon loadouts between missions.

 

[Infinitron]

I think one of the guys who was working on the Planescape NWN2 mod got hired by a major company, too.

That's Monty Markland. He worked at Obsidian, and is now a producer for Torment: Tides of Numenera.

 

[catfood]

Mass Effect 4: The Search For a Cure to the STDs That You Picked Up From a Drunken one Night Stand With Some Asari Strippers.

I think that would probably make for a better plot hook than whatever Bioware will come up with.

 

[Bizarro Jimmy Olsen]

At least Bioware's finally hired someone who actually likes and plays RPGs overseeing this one. Actually, that will probably alienate their core demographic of cosplaying trans-gaymers hoping for more dating simulators.

 

[Akratus]

I think they thought it a good idea to get this guy to please the spiteful rpg fans whilst secretly whipping him to do exactly not that.

 

[TripJack]

Too early to tell about ME4

what?

it's never too early to tell that a game is going to be shit

 

[thesheeep]

Wait...

They're making a Mass Effect 4?

That was basically my first reaction as well. I thought ME3 was the end

Afaik, with ME3, only the Shepard storyline ended.
But when you see the (awkward, to say the least) ending of ME3, it seems pretty clear that the setting itself is open for moar epicness.

 

[Severian Silk]

Afaik, with ME3, only the Shepard storyline ended.
But when you see the (awkward, to say the least) ending of ME3, it seems pretty clear that the setting itself is open for moar epicness.

In that case, they should start a new trilogy and start the numbering over at 1.

 

[Akratus]

They should start their company over.

They've ruined everything they have. I mean, the named Mass Effect both after their fiction scientific process and also the apparant huuuge effect you supposedly have with your choices in game.

Either you do it right or your rationality should kick in and make you stop. The "We'd better not" process.

 

[Spectacle]

They should start their company over.

They've ruined everything they have. I mean, the named Mass Effect both after their fiction scientific process and also the apparant huuuge effect you supposedly have with your choices in game.

Either you do it right or your rationality should kick in and make you stop. The "We'd better not" process.

But the biodrones lap it all up, so where's the motivation for change? The devs at bioware probably live in a bubble kept afloat by fan adoration and honestly believe they are making awesome, thoughtful games.

 

[Akratus]

Indeed. That's the problem.

And they even complain that their fans don't respond maturely when they go for the younger, dumber crowd.

 

[Metro]

Make it isometric turn based.

 

[Grape_You_In_the_Mouth]

I just started Lazarus and (although I wish the game had more than maybe 30 weapons) it seems to be a legit CRPG, which makes it in rare company as even BG & BG2 didn't have much of a plot. BioWare hiring him may be some effort to replace the roots of their founders, and if that's the case then the real danger for him is that BioWare has gone too far into the typical company lifecycle of "bozo explosion" where the management only hires/keeps people less skilled than them. But EA probably just hit his resume on the dartboard during one of their coked-out hooker meetings.

 

[Ebonsword]

I'd like to see Mass Effect 4 be more like Mass Effect 1 (i.e. more RPG and less FPS).

I also would like to see the "epicness" scaled back. Instead of dealing with foes who can destroy the galaxy, I'd like to see something more small scale. Like, there is a new drug that is causing havoc and you have to travel around the galaxy trying to trace it back to its source.

 

[taxalot]

I'd like to see Mass Effect 4 be more like Mass Effect 1 (i.e. more RPG and less FPS).

I also would like to see the "epicness" scaled back. Instead of dealing with foes who can destroy the galaxy, I'd like to see something more small scale. Like, there is a new drug that is causing havoc and you have to travel around the galaxy trying to trace it back to its source.

You might as well ask for world peace and free while you're at it.

 

[Akratus]

Mass Effect 1 incorporated a lesser known (for gamers) art style, and employed musical talents to create a unique and atmospheric soundtrack.
Naturally it is the most unsuccesful and least liked in the series, and Bioware avoids quality now at all costs.