Poll: When do you think Bioware started going downhill?

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

I am mildly shocked, and happy, to see that my choice is currently the second most popular pick.

I still like Bioware. They aren't perfect, but they've proven, through the EC and the wealth of free updates to the multiplayer, that they still care about the fans.

 

[Sara Fontaine]

For me, changes were beginning to become noticeable in Mass Effect 2, but Dragon Age 2 was the point where I noticed a shift in my enjoyment. While Mass Effect 2 was incredibly different from the first, the changes weren't problematic for me, the story still managed to keep me interested, and I enjoyed it a lot. Dragon Age 2 was just so many mistakes in one game. I enjoyed aspects of it, but at the end I just felt let down.

Dragon Age 3 is their last chance to make a game that I will actively want to buy, and if that fails then Bioware no longer be a developer that I keep up to date with.

 

[Jackalb]

They haven't even got that bad, they're still there somewhere at the core. The evil surrounding them is EA that's what caused them to lose part of their soul but I still believe in them.

 

[dimensional]

Well none of there games seem to have had the ambition of Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 but I dont think they are going downhill as such they are just all over the place but I am fully expecting EA to ruin them utterly before long. I think I am one of the few who just quite likes a lot of their games but dosent fall over backwards to kiss their ass and proclaim them the gaming messiahs along with Valve.

 

[Jaeke]

ME2 (which is my favorite of the series) was the last great, and more importantly real, BioWare game for me.

DA2 I liked, but it was a sheer sign of the end. (pun intended)

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

I really like the Baldur's Gate series, and KotoR was great fun, but I haven't really been hooked by anything else they've done. I own Dragon Age Origins, and despite the attempt at "freedom", I felt like it was very linear and none of the dialogue options were really diverse enough for my taste. One good thing about no voice work is that it makes it easier to have tons of dialogue options for just about any character type.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I don't think they have at all. Yes, they may not be making the games "you" in particular like playing anymore, either because what they are doing has changed and/or because your own tastes have changed, but that doesn't instantly mean they are making worse games.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

While I was a little late to the party (I got Neverwinter Nights a year or two before Mass Effect came out) it was Dragon Age 2 that Bioware jumped off the 'Must Buy Developers List.' ME3's combination of Origin release, The massive amount of DLC floating around before the game was even released and the ending just confirmed it for me. The first two issues are with EA but the third there is no excuse for it

 

[Someone Depressing]

ME2. I think that's when they lost the whole "RPG" part of the RPG and in an attempt to focus on the action just made it worse in general.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Going down hill? I don't feel that way, but I do think they tripped a little with Mass Effect 2's gameplay changes in order to appeal to more people. Still, it wasn't that big of a trip to me, and they were getting up nicely with Mass Effect 3 and then they had that ending. Fell back in the ditch and cracked their head. Very sad, but hopefully they'll recover. We'll see with Dragon Age 3. They listened to fans in Dragon Age 2 with the expansion packs, so there's hope.

 

[Jynthor]

Warden's Keep DLC for Dragon Age Origins. That's where it all started.

 

[Thoric485]

DA:O

The core game was great, but the DLC and the post-launch support had EA written all over it.

 

[Spearmaster]

How could you forget the "The second they started working with EA" option?

I would have added that option but there are games that represent that option and I did not want it to be a "EA ruined bioware" thread rather a "what game made you fall out of love with bioware" thread mainly for bioware fans from the begining.

Right after Torment, Bioware stopped innovating and started making the same game over and over again. Changing the setting for every game sure, but they did not change character's motivation, overall plot and general ending.

Black Isle did Torment not Bioware.

And my vote goes to.. after the Baldurs Gate series.

What the hell OP ? The most obvious answer is not even an option in your poll ! lol

I loved Baldurs gate and BG2 was a sequel plus those were the originals so I left those out as an option, SW:KotOR being a star wars game I felt had a dual fan base so I left that out because of it being a star wars genre game.

Neverwinter Nights would have been an intersting option mainly because of the change in style from baldurs gate.

 

[Spearmaster]

I really like the Baldur's Gate series, and KotoR was great fun, but I haven't really been hooked by anything else they've done. I own Dragon Age Origins, and despite the attempt at "freedom", I felt like it was very linear and none of the dialogue options were really diverse enough for my taste. One good thing about no voice work is that it makes it easier to have tons of dialogue options for just about any character type.

Yes, pretty much the way I feel as well.

 

[Zhukov]

In my eyes Bioware games only started getting really good about halfway through the first Mass Effect game.

I find their old stuff (Balder's Gate, KOTOR etc) pretty forgettable

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

In my eyes Bioware games only started getting really good about halfway through the first Mass Effect.

I find their old stuff (Balder's Gate, KOTOR etc) pretty forgettable

Heretic! Burn him!

And burn me, too, because I almost completely agree with him, but I'd put the point of the games starting to get really good instead of just pretty good at Jade Empire.

 

[Jandau]

Dragon Age 2 was the first poop in the pool, so to speak.

I see people dropping the old Baldur's Gate games as the start of the fall. I'd call bullshit on that, myself. Jade Empire, KotOR, Mass Effect, Dragon Age - all of these were awesome games. Hell, I'd argue that Mass Effect 2 was overall the best ME game (ME1 had a stronger main plot, ME2 had better gameplay and stronger characters).

But Dragon Age 2 was the first time they truly dropped the ball. Too many cut corners, sloppy design and shoddy writing resulted in a "meh" game. It wasn't terrible, it was simply not up to the standard set by the first game and previous Bioware games in general.

TOR was a letdown considering the level of hype and, more importantly, the funds sunk into it. Heck, it's the likely cause of DA2's suckage (resources being shifted to TOR). While DA2 was a failure from a design standpoint, TOR is a failure from a financial one. And the game itself is, again, kinda "meh"...

Now, it's not all gloom and doom. Mass Effect 3 is a genuinely good game, solid on all fronts, right up until the ending. The other major complaints regarding ME3 have been about it's business model (the Day 1 DLC and all that).

All this indicates that Bioware still has talented people who want to make great games, but are being pushed around by EA to the extent that projects don't receive the attention they deserve, resulting in an inferior product (DA2) and good games get saddled with baggage that drags them down (TOR, ME3).

I wish Valve would start buying up major developers from shitty publishers...

 

[Zaik]

I'd say DA:O was the begin of the downward spiral.

I mean really. Generic fantasy races set aside their differences and join together to defend themselves against generic faceless evil from the dark world lead by a dragon.

It's kind of like they went cherry picking for the most overused tropes they could find, and then combined them all together.

 

[Reaper195]

I never got around to playing the Dragon Age games, so I can;t comment on those, but I have played all their other games, and loved them. Including ME3 with its ending, which I liked. So...never.