News from the lovely world of the Games Industry.

[Syt]

Not poker, but Schwimmen was very popular in my youth, generally you'd play for matches or other chits, or use (low denomination) coins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwimmen

[Solmyr]

I think it's hard to imagine a game company releasing content, for free, years after a game has first been sold.  There's just no revenue in it.

Larian seems to be doing it.

[Legbiter]

In Bioware news, the new DA game flopped big time (3rd dud in a row) and the game director quit, plus the entire writing team has subsequently been fired. Everyone else has been dispersed to other EA projects. There's supposedly a skeleton crew working on a new Mass effect game but I wouldn't bet on them ever releasing anything at this point. An end of an era for sure. 

BioWare's Restructuring Sees Departure of Entire 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' Writing Team

[Grey Fox]

I liked that game. I played in it's entirety for 66 hours. The writing was piss poor at best.

[Legbiter]

I didn't feel any need to play it after seeing the reveal trailer. The only Bioware-adjacent game I keep an eye out for is Exodus. It's an RPG being developed by a lot of ex-Bioware OG devs.

[crazy canuck]

DA?

[garbon]

DA?

Dragon Age

[Neil]

Mass Effect is very likely to happen. 

It's an odd feeling seeing people you know losing their jobs, but also knowing that there's a reason for it. 

[Crazy_Ivan80]

So failguard after all...

All those reviewers calling it a return to form have their pants on their ankles, especially since a number of publications have already disavowed their earlier stellar score.

I do hope mass effect is a real return to form. Curious about exodus where iirc Peter Hamilton is writing accompanying books

[Legbiter]

So failguard after all...

All those reviewers calling it a return to form have their pants on their ankles, especially since a number of publications have already disavowed their earlier stellar score.

I do hope mass effect is a real return to form. Curious about exodus where iirc Peter Hamilton is writing accompanying books

Bioware is a classic example of how a once-great organization dies from within.

[Valmy]

So failguard after all...

All those reviewers calling it a return to form have their pants on their ankles, especially since a number of publications have already disavowed their earlier stellar score.

I do hope mass effect is a real return to form. Curious about exodus where iirc Peter Hamilton is writing accompanying books

Bioware is a classic example of how a once-great organization dies from within.

Oh it was very much killed from without. When EA drove off the founders I knew it was a matter of time.

Still collapsed far quicker than I thought. It was a damn miracle Dragon Age Inquisition was decent in retrospect.

[Neil]

I wouldn't say the founders were 'driven out' so much as they decided to retire with tens of millions of dollars in their pockets.  It's pretty telling that neither is involved in the industry anymore.  Ray is focused on philanthropic investment while Greg has been dedicated to micro-brewing.  EA's main contribution to their exits was making them fabulously wealthy (although Greg was already losing interest before EA was in the picture). 

BioWare had all kinds of problems, and EA was part of it, but the lion's share of the problem was bad leadership that couldn't establish a strong vision for what they wanted to do, and when they finally had something imposed on them, couldn't deliver. 

My personal thoughts on Veilguard are that it wasn't my kind of game.  I prefer the more isometric, less action-oriented RPGs.  That said, I think that the combat system was reasonably good, although not exactly breaking new ground.  The character writing was a big problem for me though.  I don't know who played the last DLC for Mass Effect 3, but in it many characters are at a party being quippy and light.  It seemed like they were trying to replicate that tone, only we didn't have anything like the same level of relationship with these characters.  It worked at the end of ME3 because we'd faced everything over three games with these characters, we'd passed through professional and serious and become real friends.  Not only that, but the situation allowed for a somewhat lighter tone.  We hardly know who most of the characters in Veilguard are, and they're quipping us like we're the Guardians of the Galaxy or something.  And really, that was part of the problem:  Marvel has drained the well dry there and salted the earth with quip-machine dialogue.  When the elf mechanic girl I've just met is cracking wise to me in this survival situation like she's a Zoomer on drugs who has never faced any kind of hardship or struggle before, I roll my eyes so hard.

[Valmy]

I wouldn't say the founders were 'driven out' so much as they decided to retire with tens of millions of dollars in their pockets.  It's pretty telling that neither is involved in the industry anymore.  Ray is focused on philanthropic investment while Greg has been dedicated to micro-brewing.  EA's main contribution to their exits was making them fabulously wealthy (although Greg was already losing interest before EA was in the picture). 

Fair enough. For whatever reason, them leaving the company was a worrying sign. Nobody really stepped in to take their place.

[viper37]

here's supposedly a skeleton crew working on a new Mass effect game

100 developers, exactly.

And the game isn't very advanced as they haven't yet figured what kind of game they really want to make.

[viper37]

but also knowing that there's a reason for it. 

I can understand the writing team losing their job.

Or they were given constraints by the studio, tried to work within it and failed, in that case, it's unfair.