Poll: The greatest RPG developer ever?

[Woodsey]

Bioware.

They made KotOR, Dragon Age: Origins and the Mass Effect games for fuck's sake!

[small]Yes, the ME games are RPGs, just because the combat is good doesn't change that.[/small]

The combat wasn't good, hide as far away from enemies as possible behind cover and snipe them. The AI was extremely poor and there was no real way to flush enemies out of cover like a grenade would. Combat was just a poor Gears of War clone.

I meant ME2 (I know didn't say that). If you're talking about ME2 anyway, then we'll have to agree to disagree.

Newbie generations only know Bioware, which is like the bastard son of Black Isle Studios...

What wisdom you're showing in your old age (of 21).

Anyway, most of Black Isle's staff went on to found and join Obsidian - and look how they're doing.

[small]The answer is poorly.[/small]

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

Bioware hands down. I have loved every Bioware game i have played and they are my favourite developer by a mile.

 

[Krantos]

Why is lionhe... oh wait, Fable. Sure, if we're counting JRPGs then we might as well count Fable, too.
For me it's a toss up between BioWare and Bethesda. I think Beth wins though, imo, just because they do open world so well.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Bioware is ok but all their recent(ish) games are the same but with a different filter:

Star wars/mass effect/dragon age---> Become a Jedi/Specter/grey warden-----> save the universe (x2)/kill a dragon

Their games are very similar,linear and have minimal "role playing", there good games though dont get me wrong. But over all I had to choose Bethesda:

A: Because Morrowind made me an RPG fan
B: Morrowind AND Fallout 3 are in my top 5 games EVER
C: the freedom of their worlds is near limitless
D: The "TES-CS/G.E.C.K" on PC

 

[Nowheremaan]

Haven't played a bad BioWare title yet!

 

[AMMO Kid]

BioWare for me. Don't get me wrong, the others are great but i just think BioWare tops them.

Honestly it's a fight between Square, Ware and Isle. Other 4 are all filler.

What about Bethesda??? They made Oblivion and Fallout 3.

OT: When I first saw this thread I was like - Yea BioWare, the obvious choice - And then I remembered the 300+ hours I poured into Oblivion and the 40+ I'm still pouring into Fallout 3 and was like - Yea, Bethesda all the way.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

Bethesdaaahahahahahaa.....

Bioware, of course.

But Bethesda is still brilliant.

 

[AMMO Kid]

Bioware is ok but all their recent(ish) games are the same but with a different filter:

Star wars/mass effect/dragon age---> Become a Jedi/Specter/grey warden-----> save the universe (x2)/kill a dragon

Their games are very similar,linear and have minimal "role playing", there good games though dont get me wrong. But over all I had to choose Bethesda:

A: Because Morrowind made me an RPG fan
B: Morrowind AND Fallout 3 are in my top 5 games EVER
C: the freedom of their worlds is near limitless
D: The "TES-CS/G.E.C.K" on PC

Yea I had the same feeling. All BioWare RPGs make you something special right at the start...

 

[imaloony]

Bioware, obviously.

Blizzard and Square, I've heard, are good, but they take ages to release games. Bioware consistently releases games of top quality. Mass Effect and Dragon Age, anyone?

 

[Shimoku]

Bioware, hands down

Atlus close second as Shin Megami and Persona are masterpieces.

 

[LiftYourSkinnyFists]

Most of the Bioware games I've seen don't really let you have much choice, not much more than that of the dialogue imagine it as one of those interactive movies; click this button for him to _______ and _____ or click the other button for him to ________ a boring sequence. I prefer the RPGs like Oblivion, Diablo, Dragon Age and Fallout 3.

Each to their own I guess.

 

[EBHughsThe1st]

Gamefreak.
Pokemon!
Or the one that makes the Paper Mario Games.

 

[P.Tsunami]

Anyway, most of Black Isle's staff went on to found and join Obsidian - and look how they're doing.

[small]The answer is poorly.[/small]

This is, of course, correct. I'm not sure I'd say they're doing poorly, though. NWN2 was a bad game, but it got good reviews and sales. KotOR II had some flaws, but was a good game, and I seem to remember it sold well. Now Fallout: New Vegas is waiting, and is highly anticipated. They may not have the same steam Bioware has, but they're doing okay.

At any rate, I'd say you're right in your criticism of the claim that Bioware owes something to Black Isle. If anything, it'd be the other way around; Baldur's Gate (Bioware) probably was something of an inspiration to many of Black Isle's titles, chiefly including Planescape: Torment and the Icewind Dale games. And this comes from a Black Isle fanboy, mind you.

 

[Ickorus]

Bethesda because i've played through Oblivion and Morrowind countless times.

 

[LeonLethality]

Square Enix for their current and old work. Final Fantasy (series, Minus FFVII as it was shit), Dragon Warrior/Quest(series) and Chrono trigger are some of the greatest things I have seen in gaming.

Then there is Level 5 for things like Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2, Tri Ace for Star Ocean, Namco Tales Studio... ARGH so many to choose from.

I guess Square Enix.

 

[Woodsey]

Anyway, most of Black Isle's staff went on to found and join Obsidian - and look how they're doing.

[small]The answer is poorly.[/small]

This is, of course, correct. I'm not sure I'd say they're doing poorly, though. NWN2 was a bad game, but it got good reviews and sales. KotOR II had some flaws, but was a good game, and I seem to remember it sold well. Now Fallout: New Vegas is waiting, and is highly anticipated. They may not have the same steam Bioware has, but they're doing okay.

The thing you have to ask yourself though is if the sales/anticipation were generated primarily from the prior games in those series - all of which were made by Bioware; assuming that Fallout 3 was quite a strong departure in gameplay terms from the previous 2, and that it and New Vegas can be counted as separate entities from the rest of the series.

In many ways it goes back to the Call of Duty IW vs. Treyarch argument; a surprisingly large number of people don't realise that the games aren't developed by the same people each time.

 

[John_Dillinger]

Im at a loss here, I want to vote for squaresoft because the early final fantasy games were many shades of awesome. But all they want to do with enix is to make me cry nostalgicly over FF6 and 7 like a demented fanboy. So its got to be Bethesda

 

[Hawgh]

A question of Bioware versus Black Isle for me. Going with Bioware on account of them still being open for business.

 

[P.Tsunami]

The thing you have to ask yourself though is if the sales/anticipation were generated primarily from the prior games in those series - all of which were made by Bioware; assuming that Fallout 3 was quite a strong departure in gameplay terms from the previous 2, and that it and New Vegas can be counted as separate entities from the rest of the series.

In many ways it goes back to the Call of Duty IW vs. Treyarch argument; a surprisingly large number of people don't realise that the games aren't developed by the same people each time.

I think this is an entirely fair argument. And yes, I think that Fallout 3 and New Vegas can be counted as departures, and be credited at least partially to Bethesda. For now, Oblivion has surfed on sequels, with mixed results. However, I'm not sure the gamer audience has turned their backs on them completely yet. Let them sharpen their claws on New Vegas, and let's see what Oblivion can come up with. I'm hopeful, yet realistic. At any rate, I figure this is a tangent from the original topic, seeing as only 2.3% have voted Obsidian in the poll; they're clearly not what The Escapist considers the greatest RPG developer ever.

 

[Above]

Bethesda,oblivion FTW!