Anthem - Bioware's main focus now

Mustawd said:
It kind of makes me start questioning almost every other statement that's new to me in the article. *shrug*
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I agree. That said, completely abandoning support/DLC and closing the entire studio that worked on ME:A seems to suggest, fairly strongly, that it didn't meet even minimum sales numbers. The only thing they didn't do was bury a million copies in a landfill.
 
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ChaosTheory said:
I agree. That said, completely abandoning support/DLC and closing the entire studio that worked on ME:A seems to suggest, fairly strongly, that it didn't meet even minimum sales numbers. The only thing they didn't do was bury a million copies in a landfill.
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EA financials reports in July 2017 praised MEA revenues. They don't praise games that underperform in those…

BioWare Montréal merging with Motives Studios has nothing to do with MEA revenues, 2.5 months is way too short for that to be the cause. I suspect the interpersonal problem between Edmonton and Montréal studio is the cause along EA wanting Motive to make a new IP ASAP. Also, most of the MEA dev team was moved to other games 2 weeks before release (which I have never seen before, usually the team is split after the first patch).
 
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Wow that's some interesting spin. One thing you're right about, BioWare Montreal being closed isn't because of revenue, I'm pretty sure it has to do with the the awful reception of the game by critics. If the game had been a critical success, instead of BioWare's biggest bomb ever, you can be fairly sure it'd still be open.
 
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Saying EA closed them because of critics received would mean they didn't like the team and fired everyone (which they didn't do, they merged it with Motive Studios so these people are still working on EA games). In fact, if the reasons was really the critics the game received then it was BioWare Edmonton who should have been closed down, that's where the director, 2 of the 3 producers and the majority of the design leads where (and still are, they were moved on Anthem).
 
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I have greatly enjoyed every single-player Bioware game from Baldur's Gate 1 in the late 1990s through today (I tried Old Republic but I don't enjoy MMOs), even games which are not thought of that well such as Jade Empire and Mass Effect 4.

However, I am not interested much at all in Anthem, with its apparent focus on multiplayer. I will wait to see how it goes, but I am not hopeful.

I am very much looking forward to Dragon Age 4, though.
 
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you said:
Show some sympathy - they are being forced to do something that is against their innate grain.
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To be forced to do something against the innate grain one needs to have an innate grain. Bioware did have their surgically removed in 2007. They did experience fathom pain for a while but, eventually, even that went away.
 
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My point is that I believe these attacks should be made against EA not bioware which does EA bidding. Of course they did make the choice to sell out to EA but the ones who made that choice are long gone....

zahratustra said:
To be forced to do something against the innate grain one needs to have an innate grain. Bioware did have their surgically removed in 2007. They did experience fathom pain for a while but, eventually, even that went away.
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My main focus won't be Bioware. It's a shame. Because, at one time, they were the main gaming company i would focus on.
 
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zahratustra said:
To be forced to do something against the innate grain one needs to have an innate grain. Bioware did have their surgically removed in 2007. They did experience fathom pain for a while but, eventually, even that went away.
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I'd disagree. The innate grain of the modern Bioware is to make story based party based rpg-shooters and actionrpgs. In many ways they are like modern JRPS with story followed by action, and exploration and mechanics are more afterthoughts. A multiplayer shooter is completely different with a completely different core audiences, and in no way does their experience with Mass Effect 4, Dragon Age 3, or The Old Republic indicate that they can make this kind of game or win over an audiences for it. Combat was never the better part of any modern Bioware game. In addition the Modern Bioware never had to create their own IP. They've just made sequels. It will be interesting if they can create something very original.
 
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you said:
My point is that I believe these attacks should be made against EA not bioware which does EA bidding. Of course they did make the choice to sell out to EA but the ones who made that choice are long gone….
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I didn't say that it was Bioware's fault. I said that they had their core values surgically removed. And yes, sellouts are gone but didn't they also took whatever core values where left with them?
 
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In a way, I look at Bioware as victims of their own success. For many people, they start a company with a clear plan and exit strategy - to get to an endgame where they "sell out" is the whole point. In one sense, what the Bioware founders did was textbook.

The sad part is, I don't actually think that's what those guys had in mind - I think they'd hoped they could grow the business with the right deal, and make bigger and better games. But then they realized they'd sold their souls to the Man.
 
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Bioware as we once knew it just doesn't exist anymore. It is the proverbial axe, with both the blade and head having been replaced. Except in Bioware's case, the axe is now a shovel ;)
 
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Ripper said:
In a way, I look at Bioware as victims of their own success. For many people, they start a company with a clear plan and exit strategy - to get to an endgame where they "sell out" is the whole point. In one sense, what the Bioware founders did was textbook.

The sad part is, I don't actually think that's what those guys had in mind - I think they'd hoped they could grow the business with the right deal, and make bigger and better games. But then they realized they'd sold their souls to the Man.
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Sorry Ripper but this statement is incorrect.
Ray and Greg became EA VPs and knew exactly what was going on.

I've met both Greg and Yip in late 90s and while they are regarded as rpg folklore legends, they sold as a business decision and had zero regrets.
 
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Well, the statement was only of my own impression of the situation, not a statement of fact. If you have a direct account to the contrary, I'll take your word for it.

Out of curiosity, you say you spoke to them in the late 90s, which would have been well before their departure. Did you hear from them at or after their leaving from EA?
 
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I've never talked to Greg again after he moved away and went to work for EA.
Yip was the first to exit Bioware and while I have been in meetings with him since then we did not have any discussion about it. It doesnt occupy any of his current life.

Didnt mean to sound harsh above. It just seems like Bioware is idolized for something that it was and EA is vilified for something it is. In this day and age its never been simpler to make the games that people want to make. If someone truly wanted to make something... they would.
 
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Don't worry about sounding harsh - I prefer direct talk. What I see in the nature of your general position is that "corporate" is not a dirty word, and not everything so associated should be treated as dubious, in a naive and populist way.

I can understand that, but at the same time, I do think there are people who consider the nature of their business worthwhile for its own sake, rather than taking the perhaps more pragmatic, economic view; an idea that my craft is worthwhile in itself, and that I want to make a business of doing that, rather than necessarily maximizing returns by any means.
 
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Bioware was never my favorite developer but these used to make true blooded CRPGs. Even though NWN OC is utterly awful IMO and I've never played it to completion (did manage to slog all the way through SoU once), I've technically played NWN more than any other game- because of the UGC. I am still discovering new (to me) NWN modules to enjoy. DAO is not my favorite RPG but it's up there.

Now "Bioware" make games that are geared towards more mainstream / console audiences. They have great production values, and still have RPG elements, but overall quality / complexity seems to have been on a steady decline. (I assume, at least as I have never played DA:I, or ME: A but after DA2 & ME3 I just have little desire to).

Bioware is dead, long live CRPGs!
 
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