Why BioWare is special. (To Me)

I mean if Bioware's niche is that they have diverse characters in terms of race and gender, then they really need to step it up in other areas cause many developers are catching on and Horizon is a prime example.

And I say it again, Bioware while always being praised as progressive....has yet to use a female exclusively in their marketing and they have yet to use a non white person in their marketing even though other developers have.

Agreed that BW could do this better, but not sure what this has to do with the OP's post?... I think by "diverse casts" he means "different characters with different stories and personalities," not diverse in terms of race or gender.

I am on 4 hours of sleep from that other thread/trashfire and won't be commenting extensively on diversity/progressiveness in video games anytime soon.

But while "Geralt and his girls" is kind of accurate (lol), I thought TW3 was quite moving at times for a video game, re: Geralt's relationship with Ciri, and Vesemir, and some moments with Yen. TW3 is very much about family relationships and certainly has more heart in it than any Bethesda RPG, and more emotionally resonant moments than MEA or DAI (for me, anyway).

It's not really that dark, either, imo...Darker than MEA and DAI, yes, but it's not even approaching the darkness of the MET for me, which most here obviously love, and which is still lighter than many games out there. I don't think that's why most people don't like it.

I really think people just don't like that you can't create a unique character, as they're saying. 

BW allows you to (1) create a character with a unique appearance, (2) make decisions with that character that either change the course of the narrative or say something about the personality of your character, and (3) play as part of a "crew" with a range of personalities + (mostly) memorable loyalty missions that reveal things about who they are as "people" (some members that you hate and never take with you, some you love to hate, and some you really like). There aren't too many other options in gaming for this, and that is what makes BW games different and special. (Or did, if DA4 is the last of this and Anthem is the new future... :/ )

Ryder and the Inquistor may not have the range of dialogue options as Shepard and the Warden, and there may be more auto-dialogue in both, but you do craft a face in CC and make behaviorial and narrative choices throughout the entire game, the kinds (and #) of choices that are not available in TW3, HZD, any other game, or are only available at rare moments. 

And then the TW3 has no companions, as the OP points out. And other games with companions implement them differently. Bethesda's companions mostly feel like guns for hire instead of your character's friends. I felt a little attached to my dog in FO4, I guess... but after their individual quests, I mostly left the rest at the gas station and played without them... Walking around with Garrus is really different than walking around with Deacon. BW games have a certain "feel" to them, and revolve around virtual "friendship" in ways other games don't. This is I think in part why people find them so comforting to play. (Including me!)

Maybe it's just okay that people don't like TW3 as much as BW games for these differences or other reasons, and state this publicly as often as they'd like -- no need to psychoanalyze them.

So been sitting on this one for a while and given the recent news it seemed like a good time to post it.  

Now awhile ago I made a comment in a thread (I forget which one) that BioWare made stories like no one else in gaming.  Instantly someone said 'well, that's not true.'  

But in thinking about it, and in anylizing the problem, what I mean is that BioWare writes about families.  Or groups of people who would then become families.  And a sense of family, is something I really appreciate in fiction.  Whether it was SG-1, Amy, Rory, and the Eleventh Doctor, the crews of the Enterprise, and the list goes on.  Family is important for me to enjoy my fiction.  

And this is something the gaming industry really lacks.  Most gaming companies and protagonists are usually one in a game, and then they go off and do a bunch of missions in a game interacting with other characters only when barely neccessary.  There are a few examples these days where games have now had two major characters.  Like, the Last of Us, and Bioshock Infinite.  But, the games that have...diverse casts...that aren't BioWare games?  I can think of pretty much a single game.  The Witcher 3.  Geralt and his girls.  

But BioWare?  Every single game they have wonderful diverse casts who come together, often hating or disliking each other, and in the end they become like family to one another.  Even Mass Effect Andromeda, though its cast may have not been the 'strongest', the crew at the end...after facing adversity and challenges, came together to be a family in the end.  And that is why this game is special.  That is why BioWare is special.  

So, what say you BSN?

SG-1 Was always one of my favorite shows.

i love farscape too. And its funny as much as i.love SG-1 they really underutilized Ben browder. Man's an amazing talent.

I love Stargate the movie, but I hate the tv show.

he did?!

I pretty much always only played BioWare and related Obsidian games. I've played each of them, including SWTOR that were release after 1998.

Overtime, from 1998 onward, there were different things that attracted me to them. Ability to create mods in Infinity years, romances, modular story in MET, collecting gear, gathering (I hate crafting but love gathering), PvP, Operations, horde mode... all of it attracted me at some time or another.

I've tried a couple of games other than Bio's. Arcanum, Blade and Soul, FO4 and Revelation on line. I did not like them. What they did not have, but Bio did in all their games (NWN1is an exception) are:

Co-creation - the story is theirs, the hero is mine
Companions - named every which way over time, from joinable NPCs to squadmates, in essence there is always the team
Good basic quality - graphics, writing, game's guts and gameplay are never terrible. One might not like this or that in any particular game, or prefer different style, but it's solid
Just enough of not taking itself seriously -dialled up and down in each game, it's neither over the top wink-wink, or the pretencious dark stuff
BioWare anticipates it's player to be diverse - there is less and less in your face signs in Bio games that they expect you to be a horny male teen dissatisfied and bored with his lot in life

I'd actually put MEA on par with ME1. They're both semi-open worlds with a lot of driving around and fetch quests, but I think Andromeda did a better job nailing down the characters. I knew more about my crew at the end of Andromeda than I did at the end of ME1. The rest of the OT helped me get to know the supporting cast, but I think Andromeda gave a better foundation than ME1. That said, I could offset that by saying that ME1 set up a more interesting bad guy, but that depends. I mean, there's still a lot I don't know, and I sense a threat, but I just don't know what it is, when at the end of ME1 I knew exactly what the threat was.

So yeah, I'd put Andromeda on equal footing with ME1. Both had weaknesses but both have solid foundations for future storytelling, and that's what I'm looking forward to in Andromeda.

MEA has the better story, character, gameplay, and RP advantage.  And I think it did a much better job setting up a trilogy or ongoing storyline then ME 1.  I say that with the proviso though that I know how the MET turned out.  Let me put it this way: The MET was three fantastic games loosely connected but a rather lacklustre trilogy of games.  However, ME 1 had the much better antagonist, in Saren.  I've said it before, and I will say it again.  Saren was more interesting then the Archon but the Kett are more interesting then the Reapers. 

Better RPG? not even close  ME1 by a country mile.. Gameplay? probably... better characters?  No... just more... and I'd argue there's only 2 on the ship worth getting to know.  MET was Shepard's story and will still be the gold standard depending on which way ME goes next.  There's not even a guarantee this is going to be a Ryder trilogy... if the twins get another chance to lead the way I'd be fine with it... I just hope we get a chance to flesh out their character some more.