BioWare: RPGs Are Becoming "Less Relevant"

[sgc_meltdown]

But did it outsell Mass Effect...on the codex itself?!

 

[Gord]

Just to give some different perspective:
From when I started really playing cRPGs somewhen in the mid-to-late 90s (yeah, I'm a bit late to the party, although I started gaming earlier and had a few short flirts with the genre, this is when I really started looking for cRPGs I think), I remember gaming journalists lamenting about how the rpg genre is almost dead/in hibernation/has become a niche genre.

Nothing there that is not being told for about 15 years now...

 

[sgc_meltdown]

That problem has been solved by redefining the RPG brand until it is no longer exclusionary.

 

[Haba]

[--]in the mid-to-late 90s [--], I remember gaming journalists lamenting about how the rpg genre is almost dead/in hibernation/has become a niche genre.

It has been in steady decline. The few occasional "golden era's" each being just a little bit less bright than the previous one.

 

[Duckard]

Even if DA:O outsold Mass Effect, you have to look at what takes longer to make and what has higher profit margins. Naturally, they wouldn't have made DA2 like it was if there wasn't money to be gained in it. As much as companies like EA and Bioware like to cater to retards, the folks in charge aren't retarded.

 

[Norfleet]

Quite frankly, this is entirely true: The RPG as a genre has always been the game genre of nerds. As the gaming market moves increasingly mainstream with "regular people" playing games, the RPG will become a niche market. On the other hand, even while RPGs become an increasingly small percentage of the market, the absolute size of the RPG market will continue to increase anyway, so there will always be the niche indy game. Nerds, after all, are the ones who make those games.

 

[Spectacle]

I'm really looking forward to the time when RPGs are as dead as adventure games. We'd be getting hardcore RPGs by the truckload.

 

[Morkar Left]

Biowhore seems to be more assimilated than I thought. Wasn't "less relevant" used by Kotick for pc gaming, too?

Btw you don't make outstanding hits by "following the market". Sorry bioware you will never be as successful as CoD. The first CoD was successful because it was innovative. The sequels still profit from the innovation and success of the first game, even if it's a shallower product.

 

[deus101]

If they stopped calling their games for RPG's...I'd love them for it!

 

[thesisko]

Quite frankly, this is entirely true: The RPG as a genre has always been the game genre of nerds. As the gaming market moves increasingly mainstream with "regular people" playing games, the RPG will become a niche market. On the other hand, even while RPGs become an increasingly small percentage of the market, the absolute size of the RPG market will continue to increase anyway, so there will always be the niche indy game. Nerds, after all, are the ones who make those games.

A hardcore RPG doesn't have to be indie as it would probably sell 300-500K copies. The issue is that there's no companies who can make something that is targeted at that market. The only companies who have any experience with party-based tactical RPG's are now making "AAA" games. We need the RPG equivalent of Paradox to appear.

 

[Hobo Elf]

This is like a bartender who keeps watering down his brew with water announces that beer is becoming less relevant. Fuck you Bioware.

 

[Angthoron]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112502-BioWare-Co-Founder-RPGs-Are-Becoming-Less-Relevant

BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk says RPGs are becoming "less relevant" as a genre to the current state of videogaming.

"RPGs are and always have been our bread and butter, our heart is there, but at the same time I think - well, we had the RPG panel breakfast at GDC yesterday - and what was interesting about that was that we had the conversation about 'what is an RPG,' and it's a blend," he told VG247. "The genres are blending right now, you're getting lots and lots of progression and RPG elements in shooters - online persistence and so on."

"It's funny because the RPG in the context of the current world is - well, it's not specifically irrelevant, but it's becoming less relevant in and of itself," he continued. "It's more a function of, 'Hey, this game has a great story.' For us, [it's] having that emotion but also having other great features like combat and persistence of character progression and stuff."

It's not hard to see BioWare's changing attitude reflected in its more recent games, particularly Mass Effect, which is not so much an RPG as it is a conversational shooter. "We're just about great games," Zeschuk added, and RPG or not, the Mass Effect series has most definitely been hot stuff.

How can that not remind of this?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3pclUiro-4

 

[villain of the story]

This is like a bartender who keeps watering down his brew with water announces that beer is becoming less relevant. Fuck you Bioware.

That's a beautiful analogy. So simple and so true. I'd sig it if I didn't think quoting people in sigs were gay.

 

[curry]

maybe RPGs becoming less relevant has something to do with the fact that because of shitty RPGs by companies like Bioware people think less of modern "RPGs"

Dragon Age 2 is a good RPG

0/10

worst troll attempt in years

 

[Konjad]

but it's true. i have explained why is it so in my review

 

[mondblut]

Good riddance.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

A hardcore RPG doesn't have to be indie as it would probably sell 300-500K copies. The issue is that there's no companies who can make something that is targeted at that market. The only companies who have any experience with party-based tactical RPG's are now making "AAA" games. We need the RPG equivalent of Paradox to appear.

why spend a shitload of time writing and balancing a detailed rpg (even if you reuse everything down to the party member portraits for several sequels) when you can make a hidden object game with lavishly drawn item hunting scenes, a time management serve all the customers copypaste, or a beautifully drawn quirky and atmospheric indie platformer with a refreshing soundtrack genre choice
glorious indies are not afraid to be different and challenge the big boys and make games out of love instead for money

the extent of my hope is that someone comes up with a free roaming dungeon crawler thing that's moddable and just like talesworlds lets the community do the work and make so much custom content for free that the shittiness of the basic game is no longer what people think they're paying for and thus money will fuel faster engine development than any number of open source part-time efforts

 

[Menckenstein]

"Should quit while you're ahead, bros."

 

[Falkner]

the extent of my hope is that someone comes up with a free roaming dungeon crawler thing that's moddable and just like talesworlds lets the community do the work and make so much custom content for free that the shittiness of the basic game is no longer what people think they're paying for and thus money will fuel faster engine development than any number of open source part-time efforts

So... you hope for Skyrim?

 

[sgc_meltdown]

So... you hope for Skyrim?

I said dungeon crawler, not dragonspotting memory leak snow amusement parkland hiking and dress-up house decoration simulator for special-ed remedial students

 

[Falkner]

Fair enough.

 

[Stinger]

How is NWN's/NWN2's modding community?

 

[J_C]

How is NWN's/NWN2's modding community?

NWN's is fantastic in this regard. NWN2 also has great mods, but less than the first game. The engine is not as flexible.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

there are some amazing modules for NWN1, quite a few fun ones and a shitload of derp ones so go ahead and browse nwnvault

as for NWN2 the last I heard was that the toolset was shit and most of the old guard didn't bother

 

[Trash]

What we are seeing here is simply that which happens with every developer that gets taken into the EA fold. They get assimilated, they cram out yearly sequels to their past hits, their ip gets milked and when they are drained of talent and brand recognition they get closed. It's simply what EA does.

 

[Infinitron]

Bioware now believes they can make any type of game, throw in some cutscenes with Gaider-esque writing, and sell purely on the merits of their "character drivenness" and "story driveness". Genre and gameplay conventions no longer matter.
This may be unprecedented in the gaming industry. We're talking about a company that has fallen in love with the legend of its own writing team. In the past you've had companies that were obsessed with their graphics technology, or with multiplayer-vs-singleplayer, but never with storytelling and writing.
You have to admire their balls. Too bad their writing isn't actually that good.