iconmaster
Banned
Ooh, I like Biowere.
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The Studio Head of BioWare and Executive Producer of Dragon Age 4 have both abruptly resigned
- Thread starter saintjules
- Start date
Ooh, I like Biowere.
drganon
Member
Doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. There was never a chance of DA4 being good , mass effect is dead, no one gives a shit about anthem, and they'll never be allowed to make a cool star wars rpg again because EA is run by sociopaths. Bioware is already dead. There is just a studio wearing its face as a dead skin mask hoping no one notices.
eyesabitdull
Banned
Probably right behind MS acquisition of Rare?
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McCheese
Member
Less white males at the top is a good thing, hopefully they replace them with a more diverse team who can lead bioware into the 21st century.
No more hetrosexual locked romances, more genderfluid voice options, less demonisation and typecasting of entire races, and addressing real world political concerns such as BLM and police brutality.
Just imagine how much better Anthem could have been if I was a flying lesbian orc fighting sis-male privilege using nothing but my wits, and a cached version of their twitter history from highschool.
EA take note, I'll PM evilore and ask him to sticky this during LBHTQAXTAPW week!
No more hetrosexual locked romances, more genderfluid voice options, less demonisation and typecasting of entire races, and addressing real world political concerns such as BLM and police brutality.
Just imagine how much better Anthem could have been if I was a flying lesbian orc fighting sis-male privilege using nothing but my wits, and a cached version of their twitter history from highschool.
EA take note, I'll PM evilore and ask him to sticky this during LBHTQAXTAPW week!
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wipeout364
Member
Reading the good bye letters it is interesting that Samantha Ryan is mentioned so prominently as one of the strongest leaders in the industry by Laura Miele yet the two people who are leaving do not mention her at all, nor do they mention Laura Miele.
It comes across as this was not a collegial departure. No way of knowing for sure but odd for sure.
It comes across as this was not a collegial departure. No way of knowing for sure but odd for sure.
Given that BioWare is Woke Central it *has* to be white men being pushed out to make room for people whose lives matter.
In Your Vase
Member
The quitting here may not have been "suddenly," they may have resigned 2 weeks ago or more, and they had to work with EA on the messaging, wrapping up project responsibilities, then finding a way to announce it.
Also, the internal studio may have known before the rest of the world, obviously.
OR, there was a really bad meeting the day before, the two went out drinking (or drank together on Zoom) and finally said, "why do we do this to ourselves?"
I like Biowere, too! (Biowas was a close second)
Also, the internal studio may have known before the rest of the world, obviously.
OR, there was a really bad meeting the day before, the two went out drinking (or drank together on Zoom) and finally said, "why do we do this to ourselves?"
I like Biowere, too! (Biowas was a close second)
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LarknThe4th
Member
This studio is going through the "Criterion Cycle"
Sad to see it, at one time they where on the cutting edge of RPG design
Sad to see it, at one time they where on the cutting edge of RPG design
Michael Hawk
Member
Depends. Do you think EA wants another Anthem?
RetroRibosome
Member
Mass Effect 2 was their only good game in like 2 decades of output and it is obviously a fluke at this point.
Their design formula is beyond dated and a focus on “cinematic storytelling” is irrelevant when everyone is doing it. They finally got their gameplay to a passable level but who cares at this point.
Whatever.
Their design formula is beyond dated and a focus on “cinematic storytelling” is irrelevant when everyone is doing it. They finally got their gameplay to a passable level but who cares at this point.
Whatever.
Touch fuzZy. get BizZay
Member
What about.... "Pronouns-in-Bio-ware?"
Edgelord79
Gold Member
I don't buy the EA narrative anymore either. Clearly Bioware themselves have some issues. It's not like EA tells them to make bad games. That doesn't make them any money.
Touch fuzZy. get BizZay
Member
That's a lot of companies that get acquired by EA and have to do as EA directs and then go to shit, they can't all be coincidences
And I'd argue that if you're making a single player story focused rpg and EA says make the combat simpler and more accessible to people who don't like rpgs and add multiplayer with in game purchases like loot boxes I'd say that IS telling them to make bad games
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Killer8
Member
The gaming industry just fucking sucks to work in honestly, it has none of the magic people expect.
A lot of people are out of it in under 6 years.
"Thirty-two percent of respondents – the largest group -- to the 2018 GDC State of the Industry survey have worked in the industry fewer than six years, with a major drop-off in those who have stayed for longer. Only seventeen percent of the 30,000 attendees to this year’s Game Developers Conference worked in the industry for seven to ten years, and just thirteen percent for between eleven and fifteen years."
GenericUser
Member
Let it all burn down so that maybe something good will arise from the ashes. Bioware is long overdue to be cleansed. This could be huge and the start of something eruptive.
Edgelord79
Gold Member
The biggest issue wit
Loot boxes had nothing to do with Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda failing. Making the combat "simpler" had nothing to do with either of those games failing.
I think Schreier even debunked the EA thing already.
Touch fuzZy. get BizZay
Member
I'm saying their output got worse before it starting failing on the level of Andromeda (e.g. the much hated mass effect 3 ending.) I really don't think the Mass Effect series would have gone in the direction it went if EA wasn't the one who acquired them. I see a consistent pattern of EA acquiring studios and who then become worse.
Spaceman292
Banned
ppfffHAHAHAHAHAAAHA
EA make more money than ever thanks to microtransactions and EA access. They don't make as many games though.
Edgelord79
Gold Member
EA didn't write the games or decided to put uninteresting quests in the games. They didn't shorthorn narrative elements in that didn't make sense. Even Inquisition wasn't that fun by a lot of people's standards.
The truth is most likely that Bioware isn't the same studio that it used to be. The people that worked on those successful games (i.e. original dragons age and mass effect) are largely gone and maybe that magic just isn't there anymore.
I think using the Frostbite engine hurt Bioware as well. Apparently it was a nightmare to work with in Andromeda and Anthem and caused all sorts of delays and technical issues. That may have been pushed by EA, I don't know.
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Chukhopops
Member
Honestly Andromeda was not THAT bad, it went viral because of the faces animations but I enjoyed it overall. Exploring the different planets with the rover thingy was fun, there were a lot of pretty environments (you can see they spent most of the time on that part), the combat was the same as previous ME games.
The writing was sometimes very cringy but that could be said of ME3 as well. The worst part was really the main antagonist race which was just boring green guys with guns.
I'm not saying it's a masterpiece but it's a 7/10 imo.
The writing was sometimes very cringy but that could be said of ME3 as well. The worst part was really the main antagonist race which was just boring green guys with guns.
I'm not saying it's a masterpiece but it's a 7/10 imo.
Truly the worst things about Andromeda... and do note here just how much I hate SJWs... are the default female character model and the run animation out of armour. Which are truly apocalyptically should never have shipped god awful and probably the first thing you see. But other than that it’s quite a fun game.
If anyone out there wants a Space RPG... its *good* guys.
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GeorgPrime
Banned
A Message From Laura Miele, Chief Studios Officer, Electronic Arts
We strive for all of our studios to be places where talented creative people come to do career-defining work. A dimension of this ambition is that sometimes those people want to try something diffe…blog.bioware.com
Seems like i will quit the series after Inquisition. Iam sure they a resigning due to huge changes to Dragon AGe
johntown
Banned
I would yes in the fact that they want another MMO like hybrid game that does not cost much to make and can be filled with digital content to sell.
Also no because Anthem was a disaster.
I don't think EA really knows how to make good games anymore. The Star Wars game was a step in the right direction but they have a long way to go to win me back.
Ascend
Member
He's also the one that invented Mass Effect in the first place.
CthulhuPL
Member
It doesn't matter how you start, it does matter how you finish...
Fuz
Banned
Peter principle - Wikipedia
Ascend
Member
That's one philosophy... Another one might be;
It's not about the destination. It's about the journey.
diffusionx
Gold Member
Bioware definitely started declining around that time (see the horrible Dragon Age 2), but I really doubt it is as simple as the EA acquisition. They had some major, major success and people left and they suddenly became a very different studio both internally and externally. People need to stop blaming EA for everything. I really doubt EA corporate interjected to turn the ending from brilliant to horrible. Bioware screwed that game up.
Stilton Disco
Member
How Biowere (which I'm incidentally very jealous of not having thought of myself) haven't been closed down already, I do not know.
Between Anthem and Andromeda they've lost a fuckton of money, and the costs sunk into the oft rebooted DA4 by now must be impossible to ever hope to make back.
I can only assume EA have made such a fuss about what a progressive and diverse studio it is, that they don't want the bad press and twitter mob shutting it down would invoke.
Still, it's got to just be a matter of time at this point.
I don't think the ME Remasters will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but if that underperformed you've got to assume ME5 will be on the chopping block.
Between Anthem and Andromeda they've lost a fuckton of money, and the costs sunk into the oft rebooted DA4 by now must be impossible to ever hope to make back.
I can only assume EA have made such a fuss about what a progressive and diverse studio it is, that they don't want the bad press and twitter mob shutting it down would invoke.
Still, it's got to just be a matter of time at this point.
I don't think the ME Remasters will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but if that underperformed you've got to assume ME5 will be on the chopping block.
cormack12
Gold Member
Didn't they make a video not long ago about DA4? Usually if it's sudden it's down to being unhappy. We won't know until we see where they end up (maybe that Greedfall studio?). Maybe they got dragged into Anthem 2.0 and hated it. Maybe they lost control of creative decisions to include in the game. Be interesting when we see the next tease reveals of the IPs
Well... if you had the misfortune to be born a man with white skin and work in a visible position at BioWare how often would you check your back for knives after a meeting with Kaitlin, VP of Diversity and Inclusion?
Plus is *Bioware*. ‘I drink white tears’ is literally an acceptable slogan to display on your desk there.
They hate men, they hate white people, and they want them gone. This is that.
Stilton Disco
Member
A lot of people left because of EA though. Several of the prominent writers on ME1&2 particularly quit sighting EA interference being the main reason, in particular Chris L'Etoile who wrote Legion and basically all the hard sci fi underpinnings, that kept the more fantastical space opera stuff grounded.
Once he and Drew Karpashyn left, having himself been forced onto SWTOR by EA half way through ME2, there was no one that gave a shit about the fundamentals and established lore of the series, hence ME3 breaking continuity and not making a lick of sense most of the time if you stop to think about what's happening.
So yeah,the studio fell apart because the old guard left, but they left because EA just cannot help but to fuck over ever studio they acquire.
Trimesh
Banned
Everything EA touches seems to turn to shit - like a strange inversion of the touch of Midas. After a while, it becomes impossible to shake the feeling this has to be more than a coincidence...
Doubt it. Being flamboyantly gay would probably have safeguarded their jobs for a few more months.
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