Poll: Bioware or EA?

[Gizmo1990]

Many fans of Dragon Age and Mass Effect did not like their sequals. They say that Mass Effect was dumbed down so as to entice as many new players as possible and that the story was weak and a bit quick compared to the first. While these things may be true I liked Mass Effect 2. Not as much as the first but I liked it.

I did not like Dragon Age 2. It looked bad, most of the characters were bad, the story was crap, and the gameplay was so easy there was no point to being able to control others or plan things out in combat. All in all it felt rushed and compared the the first it was REALLY dumbed down.

I have not played Star Wars TOR so I cannot judge.

So are these problems because of Bioware not giving as much of a shit as they used to or is it because of EA giving them short development times and insiting that gameplay be as simple as possible so as to appeal to as many people as possible and making the story take a back seat?

Edit: I have added an option for people who liked those games and thinks that there is notheing wrong.

 

[Zhukov]

The gradual move away from traditional D&D-based number-crunching RPGs is mostly due to decisions made within Bioware.

The rushed release of DA2 was due to EA. No developer in the history of anything ever wants to release their game before it's ready.

PS. I shall resist them temptation to bite regarding your views on DA2.

 

[veloper]

Does it even matter? Bioware is a part of EA. They are just another inhouse studio.

 

[StarCecil]

I think "dumbed down" is the wrong phrase, and would be glad to see it cease to exist entirely, but I do think EA has a great deal of blame in the situation. I'm willing to bet that EA has been putting increasing pressure on BioWare to conform to their standards regarding production (I'm sure they're putting more and more emphasis on volume).

Dragon Age Origins got through mostly unscathed due to its long development period pre-EA, and ME 2 as well, but DA2, Medal of Honor, and Battlefield 3 shared a great deal in terms of flaws, with EA being the common factor between them.

 

[Sp3ratus]

I did not like Dragon Age 2. It looked bad, most of the characters were bad, the story was crap, and the gameplay was so easy there was no point to being able to control others or plan things out in combat. All in all it felt rushed and compared the the first it was REALLY dumbed down.

So, I assume you finished the game on nightmare with all the optional bosses and sidequests beaten/completed? No? Well, don't call it easy then, because it's not. Playing on nightmare requires positioning, strategy and a well-balanced party, not just letting each NPC do their own thing. If you do that on nightmare, you'll be dead in seconds. I know I'm not likely to change your opinion about the game, you seem to have made up your mind, but don't just make up reasons for not liking the game.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with that the game was rushed, it's undeniable and it definitely shows, most of all in the locations that are reused over and over again, but the game isn't nearly as bad as so many people make it out to be, at least I don't think so. I think most of the reactions stem from disappointment, rather than from DA2 being a bad game, because it really isn't, it's merely just not up to what we expect from Bioware.

As for the who's to blame, I agree with Zhukov and specifically, in regards to DA2, with:

The rushed release of DA2 was due to EA. No developer in the history of anything ever wants to release their game before it's ready.

 

[Gizmo1990]

I did not like Dragon Age 2. It looked bad, most of the characters were bad, the story was crap, and the gameplay was so easy there was no point to being able to control others or plan things out in combat. All in all it felt rushed and compared the the first it was REALLY dumbed down.

So, I assume you finished the game on nightmare with all the optional bosses and sidequests beaten/completed? No? Well, don't call it easy then, because it's not. Playing on nightmare requires positioning, strategy and a well-balanced party, not just letting each NPC do their own thing. If you do that on nightmare, you'll be dead in seconds. I know I'm not likely to change your opinion about the game, you seem to have made up your mind, but don't just make up reasons for not liking the game.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with that the game was rushed, it's undeniable and it definitely shows, most of all in the locations that are reused over and over again, but the game isn't nearly as bad as so many people make it out to be, at least I don't think so. I think most of the reactions stem from disappointment, rather than from DA2 being a bad game, because it really isn't, it's merely just not up to what we expect from Bioware.

As for the who's to blame, I agree with Zhukov and specifically, in regards to DA2, with:

The rushed release of DA2 was due to EA. No developer in the history of anything ever wants to release their game before it's ready.

Thats a fair point. I did not play DA 2 on nightmare. I did it on hard and did not have much trouble but you are right. I have been looking for something to do so I might try it on nightmare.

 

[Pandabearparade]

Pshaw! Didn't you read Greg Tito's review?!

No?! Well if you had you'd know that Dragon Age 2 is a game that all future games are going to be measured up to! A gaming masterpiece that radiates brilliance and polish! How -dare- you question his judgment?!

 

[Sp3ratus]

-snip-

Thats a fair point. I did not play DA 2 on nightmare. I did it on hard and did not have much trouble but you are right. I have been looking for something to do so I might try it on nightmare.

I highly recommend doing that. Playing it on nightmare really brings out how amazing this game could've been, given enough development time. I actually really enjoy the gameplay and while some might dislike the spawning waves system, I quite like how it adds to the difficulty, having to account for that and not just burning through all your abilites once.

Also, some of the optional sidequests and bosses are actually really fun. There's one in particular, with a demon called

Spoiler: Not wanting to spoil, in case you want to find out for yourself.

Hybris

where both the lead-up and the conclusion to that quest is pretty damn hard, doing it the straight-up way and not cheesing it out.

One the of the biggest thing that annoy me about the game(without modding) is that there's only one true tank and one true healer, forcing you to go with Anders or Aveline each time, depending on what class you choose to be.

 

[Zhukov]

One the of the biggest thing that annoy me about the game(without modding) is that there's only one true tank and one true healer, forcing you to go with Anders or Aveline each time, depending on what class you choose to be.

You can get through the game on hard without a healer. The only mage I ever had in my group was Merrill.

Don't know about tanks. I always had Avaline on board, just 'cause I liked her character.

 

[Sp3ratus]

One the of the biggest thing that annoy me about the game(without modding) is that there's only one true tank and one true healer, forcing you to go with Anders or Aveline each time, depending on what class you choose to be.

You can get through the game on hard without a healer. The only mage I ever had in my group was Merrill.

Don't know about tanks. I always had Avaline on board, just 'cause I liked her character.

I haven't played that much on hard, but I don't doubt it. I'm not sure you can get through the game on nightmare without a healer, not that I really want to try. The thing is though, that besides the delicious healing, Anders or your player character can bring lots of awesome combat bonuses, such as haste, elemental weapons etc., if you spec them correctly. It really ramps up the damage from your DPS.

It's not so much a question of me not liking the characters, Aveline is just fine, it's more a case of wanting to try different combinations, like you could in DA:O for an example. There, I've gone with Alistair as a tank, Shale as a tank and the next playthrough I'm doing, I'll mostly likely try with Oghren as the tank, however ill-advised that might be. As for healers there, I've gone with both myself, Morrigan and Wynne. All of those various combinations worked just fine, even on nightmare and that's something I really liked. I mean, I guess you could spec Fenris as a tank, but that still only leaves you with two potential tanks versus DA:O's four, not counting yourself in either case. Hmm... this has actually got me wanting to try with Fenris as the tank. Anyway, all of those above combinations in DA:O worked perfectly fine on nightmare and it just annoys me a bit that you're being limited as to what role the different characters can fill. Sure, I guess it does make sense from the lore perspective that Merill can't heal at all, but that didn't stop you from being able to completely change Morrigan's role in DA:O.

Ah, well, enough rambling from me, time to see if I can do something about Fenris and the whole tanking business!

 

[Jandau]

EA is to blame, but not for making them do bad stuff, but rather because they are bloating the Bioware team, splitting up the actual Bioware people into smaller subdivisions and diluting the talent that made so many great games. Heck, they are flat out buying up other dev teams and slapping the Bioware name on them (for instance, Mythic).

The result is that the Bioware doesn't really exist. There are a bunch of dev studios bearing the Bioware name and some of the original team. They may or may not be bad teams, time will tell, but EA killed off the Bioware that made games like Jade Empire or KotOR. Not directly and obviously, but dead is dead.

However, the new Bioware studios have potential to be good and they do hold some awesome IPs (Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc.), so I have to hope for the best. I would preffer if they didn't lump so many teams under the Bioware title, it's bit misleading. People who made TOR are not the people who made Mass Effect 2, while Dragon Age 2 was yet another team. Sure, some people might work on multiple projects, but it's still different and separate teams...

 

[Smooth Operator]

EA, as in their business practices extended into Bioware (probably along with some execs) and things will never be the same.
Now Bioware has become the big pimp taking numerous devs under their wing to crack the whip and produce the next game pumping flagship, that's why they are steering straight to casual and fast productions.

That is just what the big wig corporate direction demands.

 

[cookyy2k]

Is Bioware even Bioware any more? Haven't EA split the team up in to a few teams for different games and watered them down with new hires/transfers from other dev teams? I mean the DA:O lead dev bailed before DA2 so that could explain a lot of the shift.

OT I blame EA, as I always have for when they buy a studio. Pre-EA westwood was my studio of choice and I bought everything they ever made instantly, when EA took over they pilaged the hell out of the IPs and messed with the team so much it wasn't the same developer in reality, only the name remained. I feel this has happened, to a much lesser extent, to Bioware. Incidentally since the westwood takeover I have never given any money to EA, any games I wanted to play of theirs were purchased used.

 

[boag]

I dont understand this hatred for ME2, I can understand it for DA2, but ME2 generally improve gameplay, had more missions, and overall had a self contained plot that tied into the main one.

I simply dont see why it gets derided so much, aside from a couple of superficial choices.

 

[Erttheking]

What do I put if I think ME2 was a massive improvement in everyway possible

 

[Jodah]

I did not like Dragon Age 2. It looked bad, most of the characters were bad, the story was crap, and the gameplay was so easy there was no point to being able to control others or plan things out in combat. All in all it felt rushed and compared the the first it was REALLY dumbed down.

So, I assume you finished the game on nightmare with all the optional bosses and sidequests beaten/completed? No? Well, don't call it easy then, because it's not. Playing on nightmare requires positioning, strategy and a well-balanced party, not just letting each NPC do their own thing. If you do that on nightmare, you'll be dead in seconds. I know I'm not likely to change your opinion about the game, you seem to have made up your mind, but don't just make up reasons for not liking the game.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with that the game was rushed, it's undeniable and it definitely shows, most of all in the locations that are reused over and over again, but the game isn't nearly as bad as so many people make it out to be, at least I don't think so. I think most of the reactions stem from disappointment, rather than from DA2 being a bad game, because it really isn't, it's merely just not up to what we expect from Bioware.

As for the who's to blame, I agree with Zhukov and specifically, in regards to DA2, with:

The rushed release of DA2 was due to EA. No developer in the history of anything ever wants to release their game before it's ready.

Thats a fair point. I did not play DA 2 on nightmare. I did it on hard and did not have much trouble but you are right. I have been looking for something to do so I might try it on nightmare.

There really is no comparison between hard and nightmare. Hard is like jogging for a mile. Nightmare is like sprinting for three.

-snip-

Thats a fair point. I did not play DA 2 on nightmare. I did it on hard and did not have much trouble but you are right. I have been looking for something to do so I might try it on nightmare.

I highly recommend doing that. Playing it on nightmare really brings out how amazing this game could've been, given enough development time. I actually really enjoy the gameplay and while some might dislike the spawning waves system, I quite like how it adds to the difficulty, having to account for that and not just burning through all your abilites once.

Also, some of the optional sidequests and bosses are actually really fun. There's one in particular, with a demon called

Spoiler: Not wanting to spoil, in case you want to find out for yourself.

Hybris

where both the lead-up and the conclusion to that quest is pretty damn hard, doing it the straight-up way and not cheesing it out.

One the of the biggest thing that annoy me about the game(without modding) is that there's only one true tank and one true healer, forcing you to go with Anders or Aveline each time, depending on what class you choose to be.

Did you play on PC? If so you can mod it so Merrill has healing. I did that and ran with Varick, Merrill, Hawke (as a 2 handed warrior), and whoever I wanted at the time, usually Isabella.

 

[Chicago Ted]

One the of the biggest thing that annoy me about the game(without modding) is that there's only one true tank and one true healer, forcing you to go with Anders or Aveline each time, depending on what class you choose to be.

You can get through the game on hard without a healer. The only mage I ever had in my group was Merrill.

Don't know about tanks. I always had Avaline on board, just 'cause I liked her character.

I haven't played that much on hard, but I don't doubt it. I'm not sure you can get through the game on nightmare without a healer, not that I really want to try. The thing is though, that besides the delicious healing, Anders or your player character can bring lots of awesome combat bonuses, such as haste, elemental weapons etc., if you spec them correctly. It really ramps up the damage from your DPS.

It's not so much a question of me not liking the characters, Aveline is just fine, it's more a case of wanting to try different combinations, like you could in DA:O for an example. There, I've gone with Alistair as a tank, Shale as a tank and the next playthrough I'm doing, I'll mostly likely try with Oghren as the tank, however ill-advised that might be. As for healers there, I've gone with both myself, Morrigan and Wynne. All of those various combinations worked just fine, even on nightmare and that's something I really liked. I mean, I guess you could spec Fenris as a tank, but that still only leaves you with two potential tanks versus DA:O's four, not counting yourself in either case. Hmm... this has actually got me wanting to try with Fenris as the tank. Anyway, all of those above combinations in DA:O worked perfectly fine on nightmare and it just annoys me a bit that you're being limited as to what role the different characters can fill. Sure, I guess it does make sense from the lore perspective that Merill can't heal at all, but that didn't stop you from being able to completely change Morrigan's role in DA:O.

Ah, well, enough rambling from me, time to see if I can do something about Fenris and the whole tanking business!

Except that as you said at the end, with the skills and abilities cut from them, it would make it very hard if not impossible to make Fenris into a decent tank. You can't choose what equipment he goes with, so no sword and shield instead of a two handed, nor can you add any of the abilities that would go along with that.

That was one of my biggest problems with DA2. The game honestly does FORCE certain characters into your party. If you're not playing a tank, you're going to need Avaline. You're not playing a Healer, you're going to need Anders. Anders especially pisses me off because he doesn't feel at all like the character he was in Awakening, and his survival can be questionable depending on how your game ended.

 

[brainslurper]

Both. But I hate EA for other reasons, so I chose them.

 

[DSK-]

Well, considering all the issues started when EA bought Bioware (but not in time for them to influence Mass Effect 1 in a major way, if any if my memory serves), I'd say that EA is the contributor to Biowares....um....how should I say it? "Performance" in the last few years?

Having said that, Bioware didn't have to agree to be bought :/

 

[DyranLK]

EA already has a generally negative reputation, and in all honesty, I voted for them as well, lol.

BioWare isn't even exactly the same kind of BioWare of the olden days now, anyway. Not to mention the fact that they're practically a part of EA to begin with, iirc.

Nonetheless, they're still strong developers. Hopefully, that shows through their numerous, upcoming games as the future grows nearer and nearer, 'ey.