The truth is that quality is something that depends on a certain rigidity.
After all, standards exist only if you are somewhat rigid; fixed limits, which determine what is or isn't tolerable. This rigidity may come from a certain idealism (like, "I'm going to do a fucking hardcore RPG heavily based on C&C") or, in the past, hardware limitations (which forced artists to think creatively to do the best within the limits available). Boundaries are great ways to direct and focus efforts, and often serve as the motivation for you to go break them. But if there is a characteristic feature of Bioware's current culture, it is that of "tolerance" - "we will defend all minorities and present the most tolerant and comprehensive narrative in any fictional world: transgender, gay, asexual, furry or whatever, all welcome". The problem is that this kind of bias is hardly contained to one aspect of a person's life, just as a fanatic (political, religious, or of any kind) rarely limits his insanity to only one theme, it ends up leaking to other areas of their life.
The infiltration of the colored-hair-culture in the company caused the dissolution of the barriers that restricted (and simultaneously focused) the intent behind the games made by Bioware. Not that they were that awesome to begin with, but still. The degeneration of the culture of a company (or movement, or group, or country) ends up spreading to other areas, and we end up having the degeneration of gameplay, concepts, presentation... Everything. The end result is what we see here.
After all, standards exist only if you are somewhat rigid; fixed limits, which determine what is or isn't tolerable. This rigidity may come from a certain idealism (like, "I'm going to do a fucking hardcore RPG heavily based on C&C") or, in the past, hardware limitations (which forced artists to think creatively to do the best within the limits available). Boundaries are great ways to direct and focus efforts, and often serve as the motivation for you to go break them. But if there is a characteristic feature of Bioware's current culture, it is that of "tolerance" - "we will defend all minorities and present the most tolerant and comprehensive narrative in any fictional world: transgender, gay, asexual, furry or whatever, all welcome". The problem is that this kind of bias is hardly contained to one aspect of a person's life, just as a fanatic (political, religious, or of any kind) rarely limits his insanity to only one theme, it ends up leaking to other areas of their life.
The infiltration of the colored-hair-culture in the company caused the dissolution of the barriers that restricted (and simultaneously focused) the intent behind the games made by Bioware. Not that they were that awesome to begin with, but still. The degeneration of the culture of a company (or movement, or group, or country) ends up spreading to other areas, and we end up having the degeneration of gameplay, concepts, presentation... Everything. The end result is what we see here.