Bomshell: Bioware founders leaving company

[acerinpa]

Some good competition would help the gaming industry. I hope they do move on and create a new company.

 

[Puckett]

You'll note they both said they're leaving the industry entirely.

After the string of hits Bioware has taken recently, I can understand why.

Jcap, I understand your points, but from a writer's perspective, ME3 was a failure. Not a minor screw-up, an absolute, total, utter failure. A screenwriter dissected on the Bioware forums (sadly, I can't find the link anymore) and pointed out that the game introduces wildly new concepts and ideas at the very end, ideas that had no support anywhere else in any of the other games, and ended on those notes. There was no explanation, it was basically just hand-waving and saying "MAGIC!" and the game was done.

Some folks have countered that argument by citing the old canard that any sufficiently advanced science would be indistinguishable from magic, and that much of the tech in the ME universe supports that idea (like, for example, the mass relays).

To that, I say nonsense. While that may be true, ending the story on that note is a failure of storytelling because it doesn't explain any of it. It doesn't support any of it.

There wasn't ANYTHING to support it, not "Hey, the Citadel is acting a little weird and we're getting anomalous power readings / sensor readings / it's kinda doing stuff on its own," etc. At the end, out of the blue, hand-waving and magic. With no build-up and no support. Folks can argue whether it's deus ex machina or diabolos ex machina, but at the end, an idiot sparkling god-child that looks more like one of Stephenie Meyer's twinkling little vampires kills the game.

The rest of your point is spot on, and the BBB concluded that Bioware had, in fact, made knowingly and provably false statements in marketing the game. The BBB also concluded that some statements were worded in such a way as to seem like statements of fact, and that only the most perceptive readers would be able to think of them as anything other than statements of fact.

And THEN there was releasing mid-game DLC AFTER that mess.

If I had a run of financial boondoggles and controversy like DA2, SWTOR and ME3, I think I'd say "screw it" and go learn how to brew beer too. I can't blame them for leaving, but if DA2, SWTOR and ME3 happened with two of the brighter people in games at the helm, I shudder to think at what we'll get next.

 

[PP Mguire]

You'll note they both said they're leaving the industry entirely.

After the string of hits Bioware has taken recently, I can understand why.

Jcap, I understand your points, but from a writer's perspective, ME3 was a failure. Not a minor screw-up, an absolute, total, utter failure. A screenwriter dissected on the Bioware forums (sadly, I can't find the link anymore) and pointed out that the game introduces wildly new concepts and ideas at the very end, ideas that had no support anywhere else in any of the other games, and ended on those notes. There was no explanation, it was basically just hand-waving and saying "MAGIC!" and the game was done.

Some folks have countered that argument by citing the old canard that any sufficiently advanced science would be indistinguishable from magic, and that much of the tech in the ME universe supports that idea (like, for example, the mass relays).

To that, I say nonsense. While that may be true, ending the story on that note is a failure of storytelling because it doesn't explain any of it. It doesn't support any of it.

There wasn't ANYTHING to support it, not "Hey, the Citadel is acting a little weird and we're getting anomalous power readings / sensor readings / it's kinda doing stuff on its own," etc. At the end, out of the blue, hand-waving and magic. With no build-up and no support. Folks can argue whether it's deus ex machina or diabolos ex machina, but at the end, an idiot sparkling god-child that looks more like one of Stephenie Meyer's twinkling little vampires kills the game.

The rest of your point is spot on, and the BBB concluded that Bioware had, in fact, made knowingly and provably false statements in marketing the game. The BBB also concluded that some statements were worded in such a way as to seem like statements of fact, and that only the most perceptive readers would be able to think of them as anything other than statements of fact.

And THEN there was releasing mid-game DLC AFTER that mess.

If I had a run of financial boondoggles and controversy like DA2, SWTOR and ME3, I think I'd say "screw it" and go learn how to brew beer too. I can't blame them for leaving, but if DA2, SWTOR and ME3 happened with two of the brighter people in games at the helm, I shudder to think at what we'll get next.

We heard the same old song and dance before and we keep getting greats like Valve and others. They get butthurt because a bigger company screwed them, then they come back swinging and usually wind up with hit titles and lots of cash.

I can pretty much guarantee you the screw up these games have become were because of the EA buyout and their BS. EVERY company EA buys out becomes a total failure and winds up in the game developer grave of fail.

 

[xIx EDGE xIx]

You'll note they both said they're leaving the industry entirely.

After the string of hits Bioware has taken recently, I can understand why.

Jcap, I understand your points, but from a writer's perspective, ME3 was a failure. Not a minor screw-up, an absolute, total, utter failure. A screenwriter dissected on the Bioware forums (sadly, I can't find the link anymore) and pointed out that the game introduces wildly new concepts and ideas at the very end, ideas that had no support anywhere else in any of the other games, and ended on those notes. There was no explanation, it was basically just hand-waving and saying "MAGIC!" and the game was done.

Some folks have countered that argument by citing the old canard that any sufficiently advanced science would be indistinguishable from magic, and that much of the tech in the ME universe supports that idea (like, for example, the mass relays).

To that, I say nonsense. While that may be true, ending the story on that note is a failure of storytelling because it doesn't explain any of it. It doesn't support any of it.

There wasn't ANYTHING to support it, not "Hey, the Citadel is acting a little weird and we're getting anomalous power readings / sensor readings / it's kinda doing stuff on its own," etc. At the end, out of the blue, hand-waving and magic. With no build-up and no support. Folks can argue whether it's deus ex machina or diabolos ex machina, but at the end, an idiot sparkling god-child that looks more like one of Stephenie Meyer's twinkling little vampires kills the game.

The rest of your point is spot on, and the BBB concluded that Bioware had, in fact, made knowingly and provably false statements in marketing the game. The BBB also concluded that some statements were worded in such a way as to seem like statements of fact, and that only the most perceptive readers would be able to think of them as anything other than statements of fact.

And THEN there was releasing mid-game DLC AFTER that mess.

If I had a run of financial boondoggles and controversy like DA2, SWTOR and ME3, I think I'd say "screw it" and go learn how to brew beer too. I can't blame them for leaving, but if DA2, SWTOR and ME3 happened with two of the brighter people in games at the helm, I shudder to think at what we'll get next.

I agree with everything you said here, especially the fact that ME3's writing was a disgrace. Concluding a story arc at the end of a trilogy and not introducing new characters and ideas in the final 15 minutes is storytelling 101. And as I said before, I don't like how it went against a lot of already established lore.

The original ending that Drew Karpyshyn had conceived in his mind was that the game was to end on a note revolving around dark matter, and it was to be revealed that the reapers were "guardians" that were seeking a solution to this problem, hence the phrase, "vanguard of your destruction" in the sense that they had to destroy you in order to save others. In order to achieve their goal and prevent the galaxy from being annihilated from the dark matter, they needed to harvest the DNA of different species to come up with a solution.

By the time you get to the end of the game, it was to be revealed that the galaxy was running out of time, and that the reapers had taken extra interest in humanity because of both Shepard's will, and the fact that human DNA was more or less the "X" factor ingredient the reapers needed to be able to stop the destruction of the galaxy. At this point the player would be asked to make one of two major choices:

1.) Fire the crucible (war assets would determine whether you could focus the energy on the reapers alone, or if the blast would affect other technology as well). In doing so, you tell the reapers that you'll figure out a solution on your own and won't sacrifice lives doing so; you destroy the reapers, and the galaxy is left in a mad scramble to figure out how to prevent the oncoming dark matter apocalypse.

2.) You accept the reapers plan and agree to sacrifice humanity for the greater good. The reapers stop attacking all other species and focus on harvesting enough humans to end the galactic threat (also, apparently the reason they attacked all of the other races before was in part due to them seeking the answer to their solution, and part because they allied with humans in ME3).

It's not a picture perfect ending by any means, but it makes sense with already established lore - the collectors gathering humans in ME2, the foreshadowing during Tali's recruitment mission on Haestrom with the dark energy / sun dying, etc. It's also interesting because it really makes you think - either way seems like a lose-lose situation, so it's the type of choice that feels like a kick in the gut (Kaidan/Ashley anyone?) that will toy with the player's emotions and moral values.

Are the reapers telling the truth? Do you destroy them? If you do, is the galaxy doomed? Do you believe them? Do you sacrifice humanity for the greater good? Or are they trying to pull one over on you and by throwing in the towel are you in actuality dooming the galaxy? So many questions, so many variables; it really would have been interesting to see how it would have played out.

The whole catalyst / start child idea on the other hand was never "artistic integrity", it was simply a mix of the lead writer leaving the project, the original ending leaking onto the internet, and BioWare having to come up with a new ending because they wanted a surprise one and not a leaked one, all the meanwhile having EA breathing down their necks saying, "Ahem! March 6th!"