What if Obsidian picked up Mass Effect after ME3...

[Norris IV]

Completely ruin it with awful gameplay bugs, average story and rubbish dialogue, as they usually do.

 

[Zen Toombs]

I would probably enjoy that, if Bioware would otherwise abandon the series.

[small]Which they won't, because money.[/small]

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

I love Obsidian, that game could be awesome i'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[jklinders]

Obsidian would bring some much needed good writing to the franchise. Something rather lacking since Lair of the Shadow Broker.

They would need a new QA team before I would think about buying it day one though. They just seem to have an infestation problem with many of the buggy releases they have had.

Won't happen though.

EA owns Bioware now and I have a feeling that the Mass Effect IP belongs to them. It's doubtful that EA would let anyone outside their control touch it if only to not have to share in any profits.

 

[Geo88]

I'd pick it up. Blaming Obsidian for KotOR II isn't fair, seeing as LucasArts forced the game out nearly a year early. But even then, you can tell they had a lot of good ideas rolling, and they tweaked the gameplay in a lot of good ways.

I've never played New Vegas, but I hear good things about that. And if anyone has played KotOR II with the Restored Content Mod, you know the game would have probably been even better than KotOR I.

Them actually getting the IP for Mass Effect aside (unlikely), I'd definitely pick the game up.

 

[Aris Khandr]

To all those saying that KotOR2 was not Obsidian's fault: If we were two, four, six months out from launch, I'd agree. KotOR2 was released in 2004/5. We've been able to patch games over the internet for quite a bit longer than that. It may have been LucasArts who screwed up the launch, but the blame for not fixing their knowingly buggy and unfinished monstrosity falls firmly on Obsidian. If they had any integrity, they'd have made it work through patches after the forced release date. They didn't. They just dropped it on us and said "It's out of our hands."

 

[Flight]

I'd definitely be opposed. Both companies have their merits (though I favor tend to Bioware over Obsidian), but both have completely different styles of writing and gameplay, naturally. Bioware does good writing and storylines, while I tend to find Obsidian lacking in that department. I really hope that if Bioware does drop the series, it's drawn to a close rather than allowing another company to get their hands on it.

 

[jklinders]

To all those saying that KotOR2 was not Obsidian's fault: If we were two, four, six months out from launch, I'd agree. KotOR2 was released in 2004/5. We've been able to patch games over the internet for quite a bit longer than that. It may have been LucasArts who screwed up the launch, but the blame for not fixing their knowingly buggy and unfinished monstrosity falls firmly on Obsidian. If they had any integrity, they'd have made it work through patches after the forced release date. They didn't. They just dropped it on us and said "It's out of our hands."

I'm afraid I will have to disagree here. It's not like Lucasarts had any intention of funding any further patches for a single player game in this case. The money for that has to come from somewhere and if the publisher and owner of the property says no then Obsidian's hands really were tied.

This was a few years back so the details were fuzzy but Lucasarts did shove an early launch on them and refused to fund any more patches. Obsidian's biggest sin in this case was having far more ambition than time. Much like Alpha Protocol. This is not a bad thing that they are trying to do different things. But they seem to bite off more than they chew.

For trying to do different things I am inclined to give them a chance more often than not.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

Lease the engine to them and it will likely be one of the best games ever made. ME2(presumably 3) has a solid engine, which is obsidian's only weakness.

Bioware does good writing and storylines, while I tend to find Obsidian lacking in that department.

What is this? I don't even...

I really hope that if Bioware does drop the series, it's drawn to a close rather than allowing another company to get their hands on it.

Unless the entire universe gets annihilated at the end there's no reason other games can't be made from the series. They will undoubtedly conclude Shepards saga, so there's no problem of other companies making more commander Shepard content, I would guess. But there's no reason why other studios or Bioware can't make more games based in the IP.

 

[Irridium]

Then the game would have a very good story with actual choices and consequences. And if Dungeon Siege 3 is any indication, they seemed to have fixed their bug problem.

So yeah. It'd be a very well written game with actual choices and consequences minus the bug problem Obsidian is infamous for. I'd love to see it happen.

 

[Heaven's Guardian]

Why is this a sandbox? Why do I have a dozen guns that I can't find ammo for? Why are there even more people asking me to do stuff than usual, why is Commander Shepard pick pocketing everyone? Why am I playing a Fallout 3 mod?

Thank you. Notwithstanding the fact that there is zero chance EA allows a potential decades-spanning cash cow to get out of their hands for a second, I don't see why a Mass Effect game made by someone different would be of the same quality, considering that Mass Effect is a pretty damn good franchise to begin with. ME has a very specific feel to it, and I have trouble figuring out how a completely new dev team could adjust to that. Even the example a lot of people want to bring up, KoToR 2, played a lot more loosely than the first game, and while it still could have been a very good game it never would have matched the original.

 

[Imbechile]

Sicne Obsidian often picks up franchises after Bioware is finished with them, would you be opposed to Obsidian making a Mass Effect game after the Reaper storyline is concluded in Mass Effect 3?

What do you think they could bring to the franchise?

Mass effect is a piece of shit not even Obsidian can salvage. The rpg (if you could even call it an rpg) equivalent for Call of Duty.
I'm sure Obsidian could again write a good story for a piece of shit setting(star wars), but the shit gameplay will still ruin the experience.

 

[demotion1]

Screw Mass Effect. I would rather see Obsidian make something different.

And ppl, Obsidian has better writing and ACTUAL choices and consequences that effect the game/characters. Not like Bioware, who stated themselves that they don't want to make content that never gets seen or played, due to their research showing that most ppl don't replay their games. So your dialog choices in Bioware games basically just amount to some different lines of dialog or a different cutscene.

And bugs get fixed, weak game design doesn't.

Then why did they brag about the amount of times people replayed Mass Effect 2? I have personally replayed it at least 3 times. I really do not get why some people feel the need to compare Bioware and Obsidian. I think both companies are great and they have actually collaborated many times in the past (infinity engine games).

I would not like Obsidian to do a remake. They are one of the companies that can come up with original ideas. We want them to make new games. As a matter of fact i would like Bioware to do something new after this. They can always come back to Mass Effect in the future with fresh ideas.

 

[darthzew]

I always saw Obsidian as the Bioware wannabe company. If there's any company to handle the franchise if Bioware ditches it, it's Obsidian, but it'll always be second-rate to the original.

 

[Something Amyss]

You mean what if Obsidian added game-breaking bugs to an already hackneyed story?

 

[Zipa]

I don't want to have to wait for patches so I can play a ME game so no . Do not want. Plus Bioware IPs are now EAs and you won't prize that from their cold dead fingers.

 

[Steampunk Viking]

I doubt they would do this, Mass Effect is Bioware IP and, to my knowledge, all projects passed to Obsidian were based on IP from other companies.

But IF they did... I would weep bitter tears as I play Mass Effects 1-3 over and over again to relive the glory days. Obsidian have a habit of missing game breaking bugs which are eventually fixed after no-one cares anymore.

For me, Obsidian have only outdone Bioware in one game... Neverwinter Nights (I know I'll get shtick for that, but seriously, Neverwinter Nights 1 was Bioware's worst game for me).