BioWare - GDC Interview @ IGN

The Bio doctors chat with IGN from GDC, touching on Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age and future products. Intriguingly, the doctors hint that a future game might embrace an unusual setting:

Aside from the types of fantasy and science-fiction settings BioWare is known for building into its games, the duo commented on a few other scenarios that might be interesting. "We actually discuss that stuff a lot," said Zeschuk. "We've got other stuff that may be in other genres."

"In fact," chimed in Muzyka, "it probably is."

Getting back to the question, Zeschuk started up with, "A horror RPG you could do a whole kind of different ways, it's been done before by some folks but we'd probably put our own fingerprints on it. There's lots of places you could tell a story. We haven't talked much about Wild West…Victorian England. [laughter]."

"I'm not sure about that last one," said Muzyka. "But you can make almost anything into an RPG.

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More information.

Make a game based on Frank Herbert's "Dune".

That is a perfect universe for an RPG.

I intuitively agree.

I thought it was great fun that Bioware decided to go into different settings with Jade Empire and Mass Effect (KOTOR was also fresh in terms of RPGs). I thought Jade Empire especially had a lot of promise in terms of it setting. But I feel the problem with Bioware is that the games still feel very same-y despite their differences in setting. It feels way to predictable to start up a Bioware game. Since they're led so much by the story, it only feels like the setting makes for a very superficial change between the games, and that the same exact story could be applied to a variety of settings with only *minimal* changes done to the story.

Obsidian is much more uneven in their final products, but I find there is much greater variety between their games. They feel a lot more different than one another which makes them more interesting to play (even though I found both KOTOR2 and especially NWN2 to be fairly mediocre). Especially the 3 different NWN2 campaigns are very different from one another in many areas.

I wish Bioware would experiment more like that as well and not just have the settings change. I think they've got a lot of talent, but I can't help but feel that they're constantly repeating themselves.

I think that Bioware does a great job of creating universes like Jade Empire and Mass Effect, but then they fail at fundamental parts of game design like combat.

doctor_kaz said:

I think that Bioware does a great job of creating universes like Jade Empire and Mass Effect, but then they fail at fundamental parts of game design like combat.

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A lot of that has to do with the fact that we haven't done something that is really a sequel in quite a few years. As a player, I remember the combat in BG2 ramping up a lot on the fun scale from BG1. As a designer, I'm excited by how Mass Effect 2's combat is already better than Mass Effect 1's combat was when we shipped it. (NB: It is still a shooter. That's what it's being designed as in terms of the combat style. So don't go in expecting it to suddenly be turn-based.)

szokol said:

Make a game based on Frank Herbert's "Dune".

That is a perfect universe for an RPG.

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I think they want to move away from IP and create their own. Can't blame them for it.

I've always wanted to play a wild west rpg

I would love to make an Old West RPG. Given that we have a working shooter engine, it would be a lot easier for us than doing, I don't know, a brawler or a platformer.

Tough sell from a marketing perspective, though. Deadwood notwithstanding, westerns haven't done awesomely in ratings or sales in either the movie or game media.

Though they can be tight-lipped about their future plans, those two always give a good interview, don't they? Speaking as a fan, I'd love to have lunch with those guys (assuming they would talk about video games and stuff).

An RPG in the style of "The Wild Wild West" might be very cool. But I think it would be harder to get right and easier to get wrong too since there's less wiggle room than there is in fantasy-adventure or science-fiction, IMO.

Horror is already a big part of this genre, I think. An RPG that put special emphasis on it could be awesome too. I hope they do it.

They need to do Professor Layton, the RPG.

An RPG in the Dune universe! Indeed, that would be amazing. I still remember the old adventure/strategy game Dune 1 - loved it.

Unfortunately, I doubt we'll see a Dune RPG from BioWare anytime soon (or anyone else for that matter). BioWare should focus on finally making some actual sequels - what's the point of spending a lot of time and resources coming up with three entirely different settings (Jade Empire, Mass Effect and Dragon Age) if you're not going to expand it in any way? Look at what Blizzard did to Warcraft through sequels - it went from a rather boring, classic Orc vs Humans (litteraly!) world, to a full sized setting with plenty of races, locations and lore.

I know ME2 is on the way, and I'm happy about that, but I also hope they intend to make JE2 one day - the setting itself is very interesting (but the actual game should've had more places to explore and more side quests to do - the game was over by the time I was really getting into it).

Maylander said:

An RPG in the Dune universe! Indeed, that would be amazing. I still remember the old adventure/strategy game Dune 1 - loved it.

Unfortunately, I doubt we'll see a Dune RPG from BioWare anytime soon (or anyone else for that matter). BioWare should focus on finally making some actual sequels - what's the point of spending a lot of time and resources coming up with three entirely different settings (Jade Empire, Mass Effect and Dragon Age) if you're not going to expand it in any way? Look at what Blizzard did to Warcraft through sequels - it went from a rather boring, classic Orc vs Humans (litteraly!) world, to a full sized setting with plenty of races, locations and lore.

I know ME2 is on the way, and I'm happy about that, but I also hope they intend to make JE2 one day - the setting itself is very interesting (but the actual game should've had more places to explore and more side quests to do - the game was over by the time I was really getting into it).

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That's why I like the Western idea, frankly. We have a shooter engine. We change blasters to six-shooters and rifles and shotguns, and hey, Old West Town in need of a sheriff!

But yes, we also need to do more direct sequels with content changes and minor incremental changes to the system. That lets us focus on the content, and it's also a hell of a lot more profitable, which in turn lets us take risks more freely on other projects (instead of needing every project to be a home run because it was so expensive to produce).

It will be interesting to see just what these alternative genres are. I can't see BioWare gambling with the sales potential of either horror or Wild West...there are unlimited options for someone creative but what would BioWare and EA place a large financial bet on? Interesting, for sure.

Cthulhu based western rpg

guenthar said:

Cthulhu based western rpg

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That would be great indeed, especially if they could get the atmosphere just right.

Dune is SF, Mass Effect is too, space opera but still. The P&P RPG based on Lovecraft was quite cool, I played it a little and enjoyed each session. But well in CRPG that would be a difficult challenge. Well packaged and well marketed I'm sure it could sell very well.

I did a check and there are books and campaigns based on old west cthulhu.

PS. There have been other western/horror games made in other genres and Cthulhu is one of the best horror mythos there is.

Myself I don't like much the western mood, I prefer the Victorian mood, holmes and such stuff.

kalniel said:

They need to do Professor Layton, the RPG.

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Wow, I was almost right! Bring on The Saboteur!