BioWare's Most Successful Launch
 

Electronic Arts posted their financial results today, and celebrated with a new infographic with milestones from the quarter. Seems Inquisition was very successful.
Based on an estimate from all the data infographics last month they have sold at least 2.5-3 million games. So all of you calling it a failure are wrong once again.;)

Speaking of sales, EA's failure last year was Sims 4, not DA3. ;)
It's not even mentioned there.

Well I never bought a single game of that DLC ridden pox on gaming.:cool:

That must be the reason it flopped. :p

Well when you release twenty expansions, and endless DLC's it's not a mystery. Yet hold on I seem to remember you bragged about buying most of them.:evilgrin:

To get Back on topic I'm glad the game was not a failure as I eagerly await a new game, or better yet a a full expansion to add more content to Inquisition.

DA:I may be commercially successful game but it doesn't mean it's a good game ;) DA:I = RPG call of duty ;)

I think it is a failure compared to what it could of been. There is a reasonable chance the PC sales would have been dramatically higher if it was a decent game. In my small circle of friends not a single one has purchased it but every single one would have if it had of moved back in the direction of DA:O. I reckon they would have been looking at something that could have reached 10 million+ copies within a year.

I'm glad to hear it's a success, as I really like it.

Yup I'm a proud owner of 5 or 6 Sims 3 expansions.
While I do have expansions that add gameplay and etc, I didn't buy any of their stuffpacks (read: horse armor).

I am glad its success as well since I want to see DA4.

I actually think the opposite of this would have been true. The reason it's probably selling millions of copies now is not that it's a necessarily 'hardcore' RPG, or traditional, etc. More like the exact opposite. It's selling lots because it's a story-based action-adventure/RPG hybrid.

Maybe I'm being cynical but I think a move more towards DA:O again would have resulted in a more niche game, thus less sales. That said, I would LOVE to be proven wrong. :cool:

First post!

Glad to hear this game is doing well. I'm on my second play through. Never played Dragon Age before, but really enjoyed DA:I. First time was a quanari mage. This time I'm playing human female rogue. Just a great game.

Hardcore CRPG-fans don't like it so much (except for the story):

The Codex is testing DA:Inquisition for its CRPG-qualities and chances are good that it pretty much sucks in regard to this genre.

As I said before, it is an Action Adventure with some roleplaying game elements and a few MMO-like mechanics.

Well this Hardcore CRPG fan loves the game so its not a fact HiddenX.;)

I prefer to call the game a single-player MMO as RPS did.

Link - http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014…e-inquisition/
Forbes also published an article in November about Re-thinking RPGs.

Link - http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain…playing-games/
Also welcome to the site Christopher it's always nice to meet new members who make a good first imprecision on me. I hope you stay and comment more often.:handshake:

I love action adventure games. That is why I love all the Gothics, Risens, Witchers, Deus Exs, Fallout New Vegas, Divinity II, KoA, Dark Souls, Two Worlds .. etc.

I bought DA:I (disk) at a low cost from ebay, and will try it as soon as I upgrade my desktop in preparation for the Witcher 3.

Those aren't games that I myself would call action-adventures, SpoonFULL. Action-adventure is more like Tomb Raider, or Assassin's Creed or something like that.

Who knows? The genres are all intermingled now anyway. I don't think RPGs need to be re-thought of, as long as the game contains the core pen-and-paper style elements, I'm happy.

I just honestly want developers to cut back on the graphics and deliver more in the gameplay, lore, world-building, interesting, reactive game design decisions, etc. And for god's sake, have lots of intertwined RPG elements if you're going to make an RPG. Action-adventures can be fun but I'm a diehard RPG fan. I want all those nerdy RPG elements to be included in the games I play. :)

I disagree Fluent as replies on these threads prove we need to re-think the genre. As I don't need every single RPG elememt to be included in my RPGs to enjoy them.

All I know is the game has won over 100 awards, and has sold at least three million copies in three months, So it's a success despite people trying to say otherwise.

Ok. Works as an RPG for me (definitions vary, it seems). As far as your link goes…."It just isn't fun". Um…no. Sorry. Disagree. To each their own and all that, but I'm on my second play through. That is rare for me.

Thanks! Seems like a great site.

I play old RPGs, as you guys know, and the games I'm playing are as fresh as ever. Gothic, Gothic II, Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, and so many more. These games are ultimate RPGs, the types that seem to only be found on Kickstarter nowadays.

Why re-think something completely when we can just take the good elements of all these classics, put them together in a new mix and create another ultimate RPG?

Removing RPG elements is not the answer. Well, if you want to create an awesome cRPG, anyway. If you want to sell lots of copies and create action-adventure/RPG hybrids, then yes, remove most of the RPG elements and focus on graphics and action. But for the diehard RPG fans like myself, that's not the future we want to see.

At this point, the only option is to create the games ourselves that we want to see, or at least support the games that are being made that keep the RPG world alive.

I'm not saying Inquisition is crap, but I'd rather play some old ultimate RPG that I haven't experienced yet, rather than an action-adventure/RPG hybrid. But that's just me. :)

Mcdonalds sells millions of crappy burgers daily. That doesn't mean they are any good or even close to what a real burger should be like.

Sheep are sheep and will follow their shepherd right off a cliff. Now it might have made money, and the magazines that get paid to sing its praise all did. That doesn't make it a success as a game. It just means it was profitable for EA and bioware.

Awards for video games mean as much as awards for doing porn. Not much of anything as anyone one can fake it. The same companies that spend tons of money to addvertise in their magazines, send them free copies to play…

I haven't played the game so I don't know if I like it or not. But to call it a success because of sales and awards from people that if they don't sing their praises of the game don't get first looks at their next games. I don't know if I would call that a success.

Update: I have had it with this sites anti-BioWare attitude for the last four years. I'll let my new signature say all I need to say about BioWare games from now on.:cool:

"I Am a Proud BioWare Fanboy and Have Been One for Fifteen Years."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fluent (Post 1061301910) I'm not saying Inquisition is crap, but I'd rather play some old ultimate RPG that I haven't experienced yet, rather than an action-adventure/RPG hybrid. But that's just me.

I have no problem with your opinion Fluent as you always have a valid reason, and you always politely provide the data to back it up without bashing a game.:thumbsup:

I'll end my post with a small quote from Brumbek.
You my friend deserve a cookie, and an award for the sage advise.:cookie:

There is no point to make to me I am not trying to fight with you or tell you what to like in a game.

My point are:

Awards in video games are a joke at best and I haven't laughed at one of them in years. They are made by the same companies that make money off of the same companies that make the games.

Sales in a game means doesn't mean the game is any good. I am not saying DA I is or isn't a good game. I haven't played it and not sure when I will get around to it.

I did like the first DA, hated the second but in no means am I anti bioware. Even if I have no use for EA PERIOD. Though I don't blame smaller companies for selling their souls to EA for money. Not something I would do but I don't blame people as it is their life and their choice in what is important to them.

But to your tag as you brought it up. The minority in most case are the loudest as they are the ones that demand change. As they are not willing to sit back and be force feed what the majority just goes along with. All you have to do is look back through history. It was never the majority fighting for change, it was always the minority….

Edited notes:

Watch Citezenfour, the documentary on Edward Snowden…I am pretty sure he was is in the minority. BUT DAM did he Shout Loud, so Loud he is still hiding in Russia from the American's NSA.

I put my big boy pants on every morning when I go to work. I can never please everyone nor do I try. Though I do choice to work for a smaller company for less money then what I could make for a larger one. This way I have more control over how I treat my customers.

So I guess when you put yourself in the spot light like Bioware does, they should be able to take all the bad with the good.

For the record, when did compromising yourself for the sake of others become something to even consider? If these hard working people are proud of what they have done isn't that all that should matter to them?

I am sorry, I love the hard work you do here Mr. Potato but I can not agree with any of this. Your though process on this subject just isn't logical to me in anyway. It is a game that is all it is. They are just people making a game that is all they are doing.

If people remember how great Bioware games were and don't like the EA direction. Why shouldn't they want to have that again? It doesn't mean they will but it shouldn't effect how you feel about it nor the people making the game..

I wish Lord British would make Ulitima 3 or 4 again, but he won't or hasn't yet nor lead me to believe he ever will.

You have no idea what you're talking about… McDonalds burgers are awesome!

I agree Caddy.:)

They are both awesome, and delicious especially the triple burger. Yet the press, and thousands of people still complain everyday. Just like BioWare games.

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/ea…ing-burger.gif

It's a crazy world I tell ya. Let me eat my McDonalds burgers now.

But how's their porn? :p

Good rebuttal….

Sorry for making counter points to your post, let that be a lesson to myself when it comes to you and Bioware games.

Well if we were talking about cd projekt red it is very well done in their games.

Nice post, Fluent. Couch, I've been Bioware fangirl ever since I started playing RPG, but even I feel that their latest games are more like dating SIMS plus minor RPG tweeks…. I like the diversity and all, but as a BG lover, I can only hope one day they will go back to more hardcore/true cRPG root…. (DA:O was in right direction).

The success of DA: I is good news, as it's proof to EA that it is actually possible to make money on games that cost a lot of time/money to develop. The money's not only in all that annual crap they're doing.

Also, I see no reason to focus on the romances of DA: I . It's probably the most toned down system in a BioWare game since BG1 (where NPCs were very static). The romances are less intruding than they were in BG2 even, where every flirty character in the party would pop up a massive dialogue in your face from time to time, accompanied by music and everything. How many times has Aerie annoyed me by whining, with slow music in the background? I don't know, I've lost track. Still, it's not much of an issue, as I can just click it away fairly fast. In DA: I it's even easier, as it's simply a dialogue option that's very obvious and very easy to avoid.

At any rate, I don't think we'll ever see what we call a "hardcore RPG" with the kind of success that DA: I had. The closest we'll get are series like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Personally, I'm very glad we get games like those, as I do enjoy playing massive games with proper production values from time to time, even though I also enjoy things like D: OS.

That is certainly one way to look at it which I hadn't considered, and on the other hand we thankfully have the likes of Obsidian, Larian and InXile fulling the more "harcore" cRPG space. I guess it really is the best of both worlds.

I wasn't talking about DA:I when in terms of dating SIMS, but other recent Bioware titles. I actually don't mind romance, so long as it's not the main focus of the game.

Not sure why I dislike DA:I so much, but I don't enjoy it. It doesn't feel exciting, nor fresh. I used to be so excited to play Bioware games, really enjoyed most of them too. Sigh.

I suspect what you're experiencing is not antibioware but antiEA.
It's EA strategy to charge extreme amount of cash for something that is a few minutes of work. The proof? Dressup Barbie DLC in all their games, not just Bioware's.

I don't hate DA:I, but it's so damn empty compared even with DA2. Could have been so much better.

But you know what?! I'm kind of glad that the big companies are stating to think that the RPG market is not gonna bring them tremendous profits and they move out.

That RPG niche is now serviced by AA and indie companies. Companies that showed that the genre is not dead and can sell for a hefty profit, as long you are self-publishing, retain the control of the IP and manage the budgets in the right ways. We were spoiled last year with three nice games (Shadowrun, Wasteland 2 and Divinity: Original Sin), but there were plenty others. Good ones, too.

DA:I had a Hollywood budget and yet they've sold 2.5-3 million copies?! And it went on sale pretty fast: 40% on Christmas, followed by 33% sales and even a 50% sales. Gonna add that South America and the ex-russian territories have special pricing due to their economical situation (and no EA did not include Eastern Europe or Africa or some asian countries in the c…p economy mix). So, it might look like a success on paper, but i seriously doubt that's what it is. Also the reports tend to add to the units sold whatever was given to the major retailers like Gamestop, ebgames and so on. That doesn't mean that the said retailers managed to sell that inventory to the customers. But let's agree to disagree…

P.S.: i was still foolish enough to grab DA:I in the Christmas sale and enjoy my time with it. That doesn't mean that i will forgive its flaws.:)