Why is BioWare the only company making games like Mass Effect?

Megalith

Megalith

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Am I just not looking hard enough, or is BioWare the only company that makes RPGs like Mass Effect and KOTOR? You know, the dialogue-heavy, choice-driven RPG with lots of exploration. It's basically the only type of game that will keep me entertained these days, but I feel like no one is making them, which is weird because they have been successful.
 
Like.. Deus Ex? and Witcher 3? I'd say DA but it's bioware isn't it. Though, that said, I would like to see more games that are like that. Maybe it's the effort into the story.

Had I the skill, I would make it though.
 
Not many developers are willing to record hundreds of hours of dialogue for every possible outcome and adjustment you make during the game. It's a crap ton of work and just not feasible for most devs who can make just as much money making Call of Crapper Brown Deuce 3. Your best bet is to focus on more text heavy RPGs like Divinity Original Sin, Shadowrun etc..
 
pothb said:
Like.. Deus Ex? and Witcher 3? I'd say DA but it's bioware isn't it. Though, that said, I would like to see more games that are like that. Maybe it's the effort into the story.

Had I the skill, I would make it though.
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+Fallout, Elder Scrolls. You might want to try GTA V too, it doesn't have the narrative choice (but realistically, Mass Effect was pretty limited) but it's a fun narrative-based game.
 
Dont know why more companies aren't making more games like Red Dead Redemption!
 
They do! Look at all those Ubisoft games.

And when I say skill, I mean programming/art. I think I can just get a bunch of friends to do the talking, it'll sound terrible, most probably, but it'll work!

I never really played Fallout, I never got into those. And elder scroll does ... work, in a way, less in the dialogue though, but very rpg-y.
 
Human Revolution reminded me a lot of Mass Effect with stealth. Actually, I thought HR did a lot of things better. It doesn't have the interesting world building of Mass Effect though.
 
I played the original Mass Effect and spent 20 minutes choosing from dialog trees that didn't suit my personality at all. I miss the old days when every dialog was keyworded so you could just type whatever or start a game stab the king because fuck you thats why.
 
The short and simplified answer, but really true at the same time, it is magnitudes easier and less resource intensive to have the concept than to implement it. Which is why in general you can see a lot of the former when people armchair game design but very little of the latter.
 
Take a look at wasteland 2 as well as inxile's upcoming torment game
 
Kinsaras said:
Alpha Protocol does this well. Underrated title if you ask me.
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Absolutely agree. Too bad the AI sometimes screws up completely when you die causing the AI to stop working until they see you. Which, was really my only complaint, iirc.
 
Kinsaras said:
Alpha Protocol does this well. Underrated title if you ask me.
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Ah, thanks for reminding me. That is a game I always intented to check out but due to buggy release and crappy AI I kept pushing it forward and sort of forgot about it.
 
Megalith said:
Am I just not looking hard enough, or is BioWare the only company that makes RPGs like Mass Effect and KOTOR? You know, the dialogue-heavy, choice-driven RPG with lots of exploration. It's basically the only type of game that will keep me entertained these days, but I feel like no one is making them, which is weird because they have been successful.
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I'm not sure bioware makes those anymore either, given their recent releases.
 
felt said:
Dont know why more companies aren't making more games like Red Dead Redemption!
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Seriously! A one of a kind game that takes 5 years and a hundred million dollars to make should be EZ. These companies are just lazy!

How hard can it be? Just make some gifs from a few John Wayne movies and hit compile!
 
DPI said:
Seriously! A one of a kind game that takes 5 years and a hundred million dollars to make should be EZ. These companies are just lazy!

How hard can it be? Just make some gifs from a few John Wayne movies and hit compile!
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are you lonely?:D
 
MaZa said:
Ah, thanks for reminding me. That is a game I always intented to check out but due to buggy release and crappy AI I kept pushing it forward and sort of forgot about it.
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I think the AI bug is still there. If you find that AI don't move their respective routes, afaik, you can only solve it by restarting the game in it's entirety. Seems to not update their ai after you reload your game, some times. Possibly when you die.
 
Because BioWare is the only company shit enough to make games like Mass Effect or Dragon Age. There are plenty that make games that are similar but far less compromised, like CDPR and Obsidian.
 
He doesn't like Bioware Games, which is fair enough. But he thinks that's enough to question the mere existence of Bioware. Like he and only he is the consumer base that matters.

In turn I don't like the Witcher series, but I would not retort to calling Cd Projekt Red shit because of that, or for any reason.
 
Megalith said:
Am I just not looking hard enough, or is BioWare the only company that makes RPGs like Mass Effect and KOTOR? You know, the dialogue-heavy, choice-driven RPG with lots of exploration. It's basically the only type of game that will keep me entertained these days, but I feel like no one is making them, which is weird because they have been successful.
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elder scrolls do not fall into this category.

games in this category.
1. Planescape torment, the originator, and probably still the best example
3. Dues EX
2. Arx Fatalis - very challenging very old school, unlike mass effect 2, this is also a game and not just an interactive movie
4. Gothic 1, 2, gothic 2 night of the raven, not so much 3, risen 1, not so much 2 or 3
 
Megalith said:
Am I just not looking hard enough, or is BioWare the only company that makes RPGs like Mass Effect and KOTOR? You know, the dialogue-heavy, choice-driven RPG with lots of exploration. It's basically the only type of game that will keep me entertained these days, but I feel like no one is making them, which is weird because they have been successful.
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All three of the Witcher games are like this, as was the Deus Ex reboot.

Bioware has the formula down, but CDPR does this quite well too. I feel like there must be others, but I can't think of them immediately.
 
What I'd like to know is why there are so few futuristic or sci fi action RPG games. We have Mass Effect and Deus Ex. I don't count the new Fallouts because they are hardly sci fi at all. It is more post apocalyptic (obviously) mixed with a cartoon feel.
 
Flogger23m said:
What I'd like to know is why there are so few futuristic or sci fi action RPG games. We have Mass Effect and Deus Ex. I don't count the new Fallouts because they are hardly sci fi at all. It is more post apocalyptic (obviously) mixed with a cartoon feel.
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You'd be surprised. Fallout isn't as cartoony as the pip boy makes you believe. Sci fi is there, it's just that the tech is lost and is more elusive, especially early on in the game. Choices and consequences? Check out new Vegas especially. Dark bleak world? Check, especially some of the the NV expansions. The humor doesn't take away from the serious parts. Main thing is that your char doesn't have a voice actor with cinematic camera angles during conversation and a battleship is missing.

Never played XCOM, but the up and coming sequel looks like they are trying to go mass effect somewhat.
 
Parmenides said:
You'd be surprised. Fallout isn't as cartoony as the pip boy makes you believe. Sci fi is there, it's just that the tech is lost and is more elusive, especially early on in the game. Choices and consequences? Check out new Vegas especially. Dark bleak world? Check, especially some of the the NV expansions. The humor doesn't take away from the serious parts. Main thing is that your char doesn't have a voice actor with cinematic camera angles during conversation and a battleship is missing.
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I don't really consider slapping in a few energy weapons as sci fi. There is literately no reason to use them, unless you like the ugly designs they had. Ditto for all the other tech. Its just slapped in there. Which is why I said I hardly count it as sci fi. :p
 
Flogger23m said:
I don't really consider slapping in a few energy weapons as sci fi. There is literately no reason to use them, unless you like the ugly designs they had. Ditto for all the other tech. Its just slapped in there. Which is why I said I hardly count it as sci fi. :p
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Tech is something to be discovered/recovered. Brootherhood of steel style. Sci fi is a general term anyways.
 
Flogger23m said:
I don't really consider slapping in a few energy weapons as sci fi. There is literately no reason to use them, unless you like the ugly designs they had. Ditto for all the other tech. Its just slapped in there. Which is why I said I hardly count it as sci fi. :p
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being a walking tank in power armor doesn't count as sci fi?
 
ikarinokami said:
elder scrolls do not fall into this category.

games in this category.
1. Planescape torment, the originator, and probably still the best example
3. Dues EX
2. Arx Fatalis - very challenging very old school, unlike mass effect 2, this is also a game and not just an interactive movie
4. Gothic 1, 2, gothic 2 night of the raven, not so much 3, risen 1, not so much 2 or 3
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What do you have against the gameplay in Mass Effect 2? I think it was great. Much better than ME1, or any of the other games you listed, you just need to set difficulty to insanity.
 
Time and money, with a very limited market. For the most part, even western RPGs don't sell well, with Bioware's stuff being one of the few exceptions. Very few companies are willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars over half a decade for a small market, when another generic FPS makes more money with half the cost and development time.

Pretty much that simple.
 
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