112 réponses à ce sujet

[dragonsteak]

Yes. The title for DA4 is 'Quantum of Solas - Dragon Age' 

[Donquijote and 59 others]

That's not to say they won't try to put a positive spin on the truth, but statements like "best launch" and "beat expectations" are pretty black and white.

Successful launch it means nothing one has to see how it sold afterwards no numbers no facts it is simple.

[CoM Solaufein]

Nope. No DA4 4 U.

[Heimdall]

Successful launch it means nothing one has to see how it sold afterwards no numbers no facts it is simple.

Sure, but there's indications it was highly successful to start with and no indication it performed terribly subsequently. That they persisted in making high production value DLC for the better part of a year certainly can be taken as indicative of continued profitability.

[equatorius]

What you're suggesting is that they should have been able to develop a full fledged sequel in under a year.  Even DA2, a widely acknowledged rush job, took 18 months if I recall.

 

No company runs like that, not unless they have multiple teams working simultaneously on the next project, and only much larger studios than Bioware run like that.

 

I think 2-3 years would be the optimal number these days, depending on how they schedule their other titles like Mass Effect (and also depending on how much time they spent on post-release DLCs for the previous installment and how much content they are planning to cut out from the next for futures post-release DLCs). If they schedule 1 ME, 1 DA, 1 "something else" (like that mysterious new thing they talked about a few years ago) in every 3 years each, they can have a decent game in roughly every single year.

 

Don't forget they use EA/Dice's "omnipotent" Frostbite engine for every titles now, so they don't need to create their own and given the status of Frotbite (it's designed to be "the omnipotent EA engine") it's probably easier to work with than Unreal 3.x was for ME 1-3 (they can probably talk with the Frotbite guys and receive quick help and/or file feature requests inside EA rather than "negotiate" with a third-party or hire more programmers to solve the issue...) because they had to learn it once and now pretty much just reuse the knowledge (and they did a decent job with Inquisition in this regard, so I see no problem with that - although Mantle improvements should have been back-ported from up to the last DAI patch, DX11 worked better on my Radeon 290X than Mantle).

 

5 years could be a little too much for long series, especially for series which have their ups and downs (though I enjoyed DA2 even if I agree it was "cheaper" than DAO or even DAI) and pretty much always have an open ending (think about ME3 which was supposed to be the definitive end for Shep, but...). If these kind of episodes take too long, you can easily loose many of the old fans and also the original developers (the sum might remain the same but old people leave, new people join, so it's not the same company and not the same fanbase...).

 

 

To be honest, I think I should probably say something like "I had enough of Dragon Age" already if I wasn't a junky. I mean, DAO was almost perfect for me. That was the first fantasy RPG I ever played, so I personally compare them all to that one. But Inquisition felt empty.

- The completely useless areas of the maps were a little too big for the game style I had built during the earlier games (I expected to be able to "touch" every single square meters and find every hidden spots by merely walking around on the map but that proved to be almost impossible and very impractical, even though that's how I loved to play the earlier Bioware games).

- The characters as a whole were plenty but "spars". There was enough of them to feel free and completely ignore some but then I faced the fact that "the total sum of intellect" is about the same, just spread among more characters, so I shouldn't.

- The story, yet again, basically went nowhere. Yes, there was plenty of material to keep you interested and to speculate about further (outside the game) but we are still learning about elvs and darkspawns, tevinters, etc in small increments. And, of course, we just save the entire world yet again, just because "somebody had to do it" even though they promised to mix up the old Bioware recipe a little for this one.

 

Don't get me wrong, I will probably buy and enjoy a lot more more DA games if they continue to make them but my overall expectations (on DA as a whole) are set lower with every passing years.

 

Also, I think the best unique and somewhat original thing about DAI was "time travel magic", yet you had 50/50 chance of picking that route and the whole idea died out when the alternative plot-lines merged back together.

 

Oh, and I still don't get why the Inquisitor sends Cory to the fade at the end because it was presumed that was top priority on "Cory's goals list" (even if we somewhat misunderstood his intentions and goals at the time and sabotaged his bigger plot in an unclear way). So, I can clearly see him resurrected once again if/when the need arises, so the main plot was a mere circle (like the snake which eats it's own tail).

 

- 

 

Ah, and I think the official reason to close this forum is ridiculous. I rarely used it but loved it when I did (I lost my old pre-EA account though).

I think this decision reeks from sweating company managers trying to pre-sabotage any possibility of a new "Mass Effect 3's endings rage" scenario by blowing up their own bridges in advance.

[Al Foley]

I'm also one of the ones who think BioWare might be shutting down after the newest Mass Effect.

Why?  

DA I was successful.  ME 3 was successful at least from a sales POV and there's little reason to assume ME A won't be successful.  Granted EA is weird and granted ME A could flop but I would be a lot more worried about BWs fate based on how well or not well ME A does.  All this Cassandra screeching is a bit...weird. 

[Nefla]

Why?  

DA I was successful.  ME 3 was successful at least from a sales POV and there's little reason to assume ME A won't be successful.  Granted EA is weird and granted ME A could flop but I would be a lot more worried about BWs fate based on how well or not well ME A does.  All this Cassandra screeching is a bit...weird. 

Well maybe not "shutting down" exactly but rather dissolved, and the remaining employees and resources redistributed between different EA divisions. Possibly the bulk going into making strictly facebook and cellphone games. So many key employees leaving the company, the increasing push towards more casual games with required online interactions, the forums being completely deleted, EA's focus on the bottom line above all else and their track record for absorbing and demolishing other studios in the past, etc...doesn't give me much faith that BioWare as we've known it is long for this world.

[Al Foley]

Well maybe not "shutting down" exactly but rather dissolved, and the remaining employees and resources redistributed between different EA divisions. Possibly the bulk going into making strictly facebook and cellphone games. So many key employees leaving the company, the increasing push towards more casual games with required online interactions, the forums being completely deleted, EA's focus on the bottom line above all else and their track record for absorbing and demolishing other studios in the past, etc...doesn't give me much faith that BioWare as we've known it is long for this world.

Casual games?

[Nefla]

Casual games?

Easier games, "streamlined" features, unwillingness to "punish" players with negative consequences for a "bad" decision, seemingly less effort put into storytelling and roleplaying options vs visuals and flair, dark themes toned down, etc...Obviously you're free to disagree with me, this is just how I feel and I could be totally wrong.

[Al Foley]

Easier games, "streamlined" features, unwillingness to "punish" players with negative consequences for a "bad" decision, seemingly less effort put into storytelling and roleplaying options vs visuals and flair, dark themes toned down, etc...Obviously you're free to disagree with me, this is just how I feel and I could be totally wrong.

I just would not qualify as any of that as 'casual' games.  To me, Casual games imply a whole different genre.  And to me a game where you can spend upwards of 150 hours in that game's world, and has any sort of story, and makes you 'think' is not a casual game.  

[Nefla]

I just would not qualify as any of that as 'casual' games.  To me, Casual games imply a whole different genre.  And to me a game where you can spend upwards of 150 hours in that game's world, and has any sort of story, and makes you 'think' is not a casual game.  

I've known people to spend hundreds of hours playing candy crush so that's not exactly an indicator for me. I'm not saying BioWare's games are completely there yet (though they have made facebook games) but IMO they are heading in that direction. I remember EA had made a statement some time ago that games were too hard and they wanted to make their games easy to appeal to new players. I also feel like the stories have been more watered down lately and they did not make me "think" or have any kind of moral dilemma.

[Al Foley]

I've known people to spend hundreds of hours playing candy crush so that's not exactly an indicator for me. I'm not saying BioWare's games are completely there yet (though they have made facebook games) but IMO they are heading in that direction. I remember EA had made a statement some time ago that games were too hard and they wanted to make their games easy to appeal to new players. I also feel like the stories have been more watered down lately and they did not make me "think" or have any kind of moral dilemma.

I just have a hard time calling any game a casual game that is released on Console or PCs unless its some shooters and sports games. 

[Reznore57]

Sure, but there's indications it was highly successful to start with and no indication it performed terribly subsequently. That they persisted in making high production value DLC for the better part of a year certainly can be taken as indicative of continued profitability.

 

It probably was successful , but David Gaider also said DA2 was also successful despite the overall disapointment.

The issue is we don't know how successful DAI was supposed to be.What was the goal?

 

If Youtube playthrough are any indication , and I believe they can show a trend , well DAI isn't all that trendy compared to this other RPG I shall not name.

[Al Foley]

It probably was successful , but David Gaider also said DA2 was also successful despite the overall disapointment.

The issue is we don't know how successful DAI was supposed to be.What was the goal?

 

If Youtube playthrough are any indication , and I believe they can show a trend , well DAI isn't all that trendy compared to this other RPG I shall not name.

And the only thing that other RPG has got going for it as that it is grim dark.  Which apparenty is the 'in' thing now. 

[Seraphim24]

Well gaming has been in the process of being harvested for some time, I tended to look at the longer Bioware produces high quality experiences as being an unexpected bonus, but the trolls have targeted them for termination for a long time. 

 

Cynical perverse logic, but it's true. 

[Al Foley]

Well gaming has been in the process of being harvested for some time, I tended to look at the longer Bioware produces high quality experiences as being an unexpected bonus, but the trolls have targeted them for termination for a long time. 

 

Cynical perverse logic, but it's true. 

Exactly.  The trend in gaming, indeed in our society is to make cheaper, quicker products that are easily marketable and easy to sell.  It is why companies like CD Projekt Red and BioWare should be applauded for their efforts, not hustled.  

[Seraphim24]

I actually think the fact that they managed to make Dragon Age Inquisition as good as it was and get that game out was amazing considering the disruption they were experiencing, and it was clearly immensely disruptive to the troll's schedule of harvesting and consumption. 

[phoray]

I wouldn't worry about that.

I'm slow on the politics of the gaming industry. Can someone break this down even further? Or is it just "EA has lots of money to sell poor games"?

[Seraphim24]

Exactly.  The trend in gaming, indeed in our society is to make cheaper, quicker products that are easily marketable and easy to sell.  It is why companies like CD Projekt Red and BioWare should be applauded for their efforts, not hustled.  

 

Yeah plus CDPR isn't even going a corporate supermensch route at all, the onus and burden is on them to demonstrate some value to the world when they traditionally gave none, that to me is worth about as much as a Dragon Age 4. 

[Al Foley]

I actually think the fact that they managed to make Dragon Age Inquisition as good as it was and get that game out was amazing considering the disruption they were experiencing, and it was clearly immensely disruptive to the troll's schedule of harvesting and consumption. 

Well I think its amazing that DA I turned out as well as it did given it was A.essentially the first Tripple A RPG on the market and B developed for many many different platforms (five I think?) Whereas Witcher was developed only for Next Gen platforms. 

[Seraphim24]

Well I think its amazing that DA I turned out as well as it did given it was A.essentially the first Tripple A RPG on the market and B developed for many many different platforms (five I think?) Whereas Witcher was developed only for Next Gen platforms. 

 

I mean I was around when they were releasing that game like I guess a year and a half ago or something? Or no... 2 years ago.. And holy smokes it was one crazy pile of rotten... anyway... 

 

I can't believe they managed to make anything in that situation, I want to just give like Lukas Kristjansen and all those people free coca-cola for life, although I lack such power. 

[Riverdaleswhiteflash]

I must admit it is worrying considering they are closing the whole Forum, that includes Mass Effect: Andromeda.

It is. But since we know they're working on that, and they're still closing down the ME forums, it means closing down the DA forums is less of a worrying sign than it otherwise would be.

[rapscallioness]

is there anyone who know where can we go to talk about dragon age and mass effect?

 

We're working on it. For right now, though, here is still good. We have a few weeks yet.

[BansheeOwnage]

I hope there is a DA4. And I only found these forums recently, like a month or two and now they're going. Seems a shame, but if it takes time and money away from creating the games, I'd rather they spent time and money on the games.

I doubt that's a factor, it's more likely EA just wants to cut costs in general. I can't imagine this place costs a huge amount to run though, especially if they had mostly volunteer moderators. It would be better than what we have now.

 

Regardless, no matter how much it costs to keep this forum up, I seriously doubt it's taken from Bioware's game-making budget, so they won't get any more money to make games from this place closing.

[Al Foley]

I mean I was around when they were releasing that game like I guess a year and a half ago or something? Or no... 2 years ago.. And holy smokes it was one crazy pile of rotten... anyway... 

 

I can't believe they managed to make anything in that situation, I want to just give like Lukas Kristjansen and all those people free coca-cola for life, although I lack such power. 

I owe BioWare a lot trust me.  Practically a fan for life.  I may just buy their products New even if I think they are crap in the future just out of loyalty and to repay my debts to them lol.  

 

I just think though that most BioWare fans just take for granted what BioWare and to some extent EA does because they don't often venture out into the rest of the gaming industry and don't know just how bad it has gotten.  Granted the state of RPGs for this generation is very strong so far with FO 4, Dragon Age Inquisition, and Witcher, but the rest of the gaming industry?  Only games I am interested in right now are essentially remakes of old generation games or if Ace Combat actually does release another installment.