Should DA (and BioWARE in general) go for more linear experiences?

Sounds like there's a lot of etiquette for GMs and none for players at all.

But again, what does any of this have to do with BioWare or video games?

Lol it doesn't. CRPGs aren't paper RPGs, they're completely different. But there's nothing really Biowarey to talk about *shrugs*

But you're right. I'll check back into Bioware in about a year

Which community? How do you know? This forum only represents a small fraction of the people who buy and play BioWare games.

In my perfect world Camelot Software would be making more Golden Sun, but instead Nintendo has them churning out Mario sports games that I have absolutely no interest in. I also haven't met a single person anywhere who gives half a fuck about Mario sports games, but they must be making more money than Golden Sun, or else Nintendo would make more Golden Sun and less Mario Sports games.

And if BioWare really is incapable of making good rpgs anymore because "everyone who knew how is gone" or whatever reason people come up with, then what good comes of having them continue making rpgs? Why would someone ask for something they've already decided will suck?

All the people i talk with in this and other forums, plus sales figures and plus the experience with the resurgence of 2d games, where it was also said that nobody wants to have it and lo and behold, divnity sin 2 hit like a bomb.

I'd say what you're outlining is more a symptom of what's wrong with modern BioWare; not the cause. I'd say the biggest issue the studio is facing primarily has to do with not finding an identity they can plant themselves into and run with. In a market with other competitive RPGs and strong narrative experiences, they've sought - too often - to try and copy what others have done, rather than put their own spin on what they're good at. This is indicative of Inquisition trying to copy Skyrims open world design, or Andromeda being stuck in preproduction so long because the studio wanted to integrate procedural generation elements like No Mans Sky. Even Anthems final form is likely the result of copying a genre that seemed financially lucrative at the time (GaaS looter shooters).

More importantly, is the narrative and philosophical shifts in the design of the games. I think it's pretty clear that, since Inquisition, the studio has been moving more toward light-hearted experiences and romps. This is most apparent within the Dragon Age series, as the darker tone has now been replaced by elements that are more "clean" in tone. Until BioWare finds out where they want to be in this current market of games, theyll continue to struggle with development. We may or may not like where they finally stop at, but at least theyll be making games with a clearer head.

They've literally said they look to Skyrim for inspiration and they want the CoD audience. These games are not like the games Bioware use to make. And it's not like you can't see the changes in Bioware's game design, so there definitely is a shift in their game design philosophy, compared to a studio like Larian, which keeps making isometric or 3/4 perspective games, like they did with Divine Divinity etc. I don't think it's something to deny or even worth denying. They're not the same games.

Alright.


That's a good philosophy to have. I don't think they have adopted it, though.

I don't know that I agree that a marketing catchphrase indicates the existence of a philosophy, indeed both statements are so vague as to be utterly meaningless.

But I was really remarking on the absurdity of claiming that BioWare has undergone a "philosophical shift" which, even if that were true, isn't something you can really tell from their output. Nobody here has any genuine insight into the internal workings of BioWare.

Too much time was spent riding on Horseback for me in DAI; it was just going from one end of the extreme in DA2 (Small location, same places to go through again and again) to the other (large forgettable open worlds, many forgettable quests that are just fetching quests etc)

DA:O was the best of both worlds. Obviously bigger then Kikwall, obviously smaller than Inquistion, yet superior to both of them. The locations when recruiting the allies always felt much markedly different than in Inquisition too.