BioWare - Checking Out Skyrim for Dragon Age 3

There's a proverb in my country that says:
The crow decided to learn how to walk like a partridge, failed and forgot how to walk like a crow, too.

I hope this is not the case with BioWare.

Tiptoe said:

I agree with the above quotes, they should take inspiration from the first Dragon Age game, not from a completely different franchise.

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Dragon Age 2 was the first Bioware RPG I didn't play… (I rented and tried just enough to know that it was not my cup of tea). I've played and enjoyed every single RPG they've put out until this one. And if you think they are going to go "back" to DA: Origins, a game they say "took too long to make" and, as such, didn't give them near the return that DA2 did, you're doing some real wishful thinking.

They are not the Bioware they once were. I've accepted it; others need to accept it as well, and move on.

Also, please don't slag another excellent game (Skyrim) just to make a point. The Bioware folks obviously enjoy the heck out of the game, or they wouldn't see fit to mention it in a published article.

DArtagnan said:

They're not checking out Skyrim, they're checking out the amount of copies shipped.

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Yep. Hard for a company like EA to ignore.

Falchor said:

They are not the Bioware they once were. I've accepted it; others need to accept it as well, and move on.

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QFT sooner the bioware fanboys realize the bioware before the EA buyout ceases to exist the easier their next games will be to swallow. They are not going backwards due to the EA vision of the future of CRPGs, which are short, dumbed down actionfests.

They'll surely try to copy some of skyrim's marketing strategy, the number of people simultaneously playing skyrim on steam was newsworthy and a draw for unaware potential customers. Bioware probably wants to give that kinda publicity a shot by offering some free DLC(lol items) if they manage to get more than x amount of people playing simulatenously on a given date. They've done this sort of tacky thing with facebook likes before.

KapitanUnterhosen said:

They'll surely try to copy some of skyrim's marketing strategy, the number of people simultaneously playing skyrim on steam was newsworthy and a draw for unaware potential customers. Bioware probably wants to give that kinda publicity a shot by offering some free DLC(lol items) if they manage to get more than x amount of people playing simulatenously on a given date. They've done this sort of tacky thing with facebook likes before.

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I don't imagine the bar is set very high for number of people simultaneously playing a game on Origin.

The Bio-docs sold out to EA. They are coasting now on their bankroll. Bioware of old is gone. Limit your expectations.

Bioware was changing long before they were purchased by EA.

Im just shocked anyone actually cares what the docs say or think about anything.
The last spark of creativity in Bioware dissapaired when they ended their
cooperation with Black Isle.
Since then they have basically followed the same story formula in different settings and tacked on some 1 click combat.
Anyone who thinks Ea will risk the amount of money something like Skyrim entails on anything other then an mmo are kidding themselves.
Sure 10 mill shipped is nice but 1 mill shipped off something Ray wrote on his iphone while taking a dump gives better return vs investment.
You dont create something like Skyrim by following marketing trends and focusing primarily on getting paid.

If there's one thing that I want from Bioware in DA3, please give up this copy paste dungeons and add some exploration feeling to the game (I'm not talking about a real open world experience, just the limited exploration of BG series or DAO).

As for Skyrim I can't stop playing it, I really like the game. But comparing DA (or any other Bioware RPG) with a TES game is a bit weird, if there's one RPG of 2011 that can be an example for DA3, it's Witcher 2. Bioware doctors (and Laidlaw fellow) must play this game from beginning to end at least one time (even two times to see the different path) and see what's the meaning of choices/consequences. Otherwise Bioware must stick to what they're doing best. Interesting characters with convincing personalities.

JDR13 said:

Bioware was changing long before they were purchased by EA.

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This is something I think a lot of people forget in their fervor to bash EA.

C

CountChocula said:

I don't imagine the bar is set very high for number of people simultaneously playing a game on Origin.

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You would be right if you ignored reality. The old republic is doing quite well for them, and it should since it is the best MMO I have ever played...kotor 3. CDprojekt has 2 games to their name and they are suddenly a better developer then Bioware? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say perhaps the number of hits bioware has released is probably 5 times that number.

BillSeurer said:

I enjoyed DA:O.
I am enjoying Skyrim.

Yes, it is quite possible to like them both. I consider them two of my favorite cRPGs ever.

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Same here. I love both games but for different reasons. Sure there are some things in common to both of them that I like - especially the ability to play different roles. One may be more defined and more controlled (DAO) but that just provides another way to enjoy it versus the very open and rambling way of Skyrim. Skyrim lets me live a virtual fantasy life. DAO let me live a story. I love both.

DA2 I enjoyed but was very, very dissapointed in for the same reasons most people state - reused content, rushed production, etc.

Right now Skyrim and Baldur's Gate (1,2 and ex-pacs) are tied for my all time favorite game ever. BG has held it since it came out. But Skyrim is coming close to suprassing it … will have to see when I am done.

DA3 I will remain skeptical on. There are going to have to be some changes from what they did DA2 before I would consider it. But just because I am not thrilled with them right now doesn't mean I won't check the game out and attempt to keep an open mind.

As for SW:TOR I am playing that now and its fun and I like the story. Its a good game with some cool things in it. However its not a 10 by any means and I have played better MMO's. I plan on playing through the main story arc's and then see how I feel. Regardless I am enjoying it whenever I can force myself to take a break from Skyrim.

rune_74 said:

If you have played the new star wars MMO from bioware you would see they have made a great new game.

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Absolutely no interest in MMOs, I'm sorry. It might as well be Call of Duty or a sports game for all I'm interested. That's not a criticism - they're entitled to make what they like - but it still leaves me with a bad taste from DA2 and waiting to see the direction for RPGs.

rune_74 said:

You would be right if you ignored reality. The old republic is doing quite well for them, and it should since it is the best MMO I have ever played…kotor 3.

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I played the TOR beta. Are you saying the release version requires Origin?

I don't recall any sort of interactivity with Origin, or even logging on to Origin when I played the beta. Certainly didn't notice any Origin process running in task manager.

Dhruin said:

Absolutely no interest in MMOs, I'm sorry. It might as well be Call of Duty or a sports game for all I'm interested. That's not a criticism - they're entitled to make what they like - but it still leaves me with a bad taste from DA2 and waiting to see the direction for RPGs.

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Hmmm, your loss I guess….it is an more an rpg to me then an mmo. It feels like Kotor3. I find the comment it's not a 10 by any means funny, what is a 10?

One game is enough to sour them to the RPG elite, which hold them to higher standards then everyone else out there…

I meant that I bought it on origin, I'm not sure if it would track it or not.

rune_74 said:

I meant that I bought it on origin, I'm not sure if it would track it or not.

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In any case I meant no offense to Bioware fans, just poking fun at Origin

In fact, I suppose I would consider myself to be more a fan of Bioware's games than those of CDProjekt.

I wouldn't mind that it is an "MMO", except I prefer a single player experience, rather than dealing with the under-age online community.

To be honest thrasher I only deal with them when I want....you can basically go through most of the game without them if you want.

It might be my loss but having tried several MMOs (a few years back, admittedly) they just don't work for me. No matter how good the game (and I'm skeptical about that but I'll accept for now that TOR is mindboggling brilliant), JediJerkWad1991 wants to group and won't leave me to solo or…

"You can easily go into The Old Republic and play it solo. You’ll have other human-controlled characters running around alongside you, occasionally stealing your kills or getting to a mission objective before you (in which case you’ll wait a few minutes for the objective to reset) […]"

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/star-wars-the-old-republic-review/

Not for me, I'm sorry. Much as I'm telling Thrasher in another thread to be open, I'd be a fool to ignore my personal experiences over half dozen MMO attempts. It probably helps that I don't hold KotOR as highly as a lot of people.

As for the "one game" thing (ignoring the RPG elite jibe), it's the reverse - but we've talked about this before. I've found something worthwhile in every Bio game but Dragon Age: Origins is the only game since BG2 to really impress me - and then they stuffed it up. I don't hold big grudges, so I'm open to looking at DA3, but I'd be silly not ignore my previous experiences.